Underplayed Gems

The Burning Zone (1996)

The Burning Zone poster
Genre
drama television series, science fiction television series
Country
United States
Length
1 season, 19 episodes
Rating
7.5 of 10 from 6 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More series like this

How it feels

A government task force investigates dangerous biological and chemical threats. A virologist and a doctor are the original leads, but the focus shifts to a new doctor and another recruit after the series retools its direction midway through.

suspensefultenseclinicalepisodicaction-orientedsupernaturaldarkrapid-paced

What happens

The Burning Zone is an American science fiction drama television series created by Coleman Luck that originally aired for one season on UPN from September 3, 1996 to May 20, 1997. The series follows a government task force assigned to investigate chemical and biological threats. Initially, the program focused on the virologist Edward Marcase (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Dr. Kimberly Shiroma (Tamlyn Tomita). In January 1997, after the 11th episode (of 19), and in response to the show's low ratings, the characters Marcase and Shiroma were dropped from the series. Dr. Daniel Cassian (Michael Harris) became the lead character, and a new character, Dr. Brian Taft (Bradford Tatum), joined the task force. The Burning Zone initially incorporated supernatural and religious elements but shifted towards more action-oriented storylines. The series was the only drama ordered by UPN for the 1996–97 television season. It was paired with the sitcoms Moesha and Homeboys in Outer Space. The Burning Zone has never been released on DVD or Blu-ray or made available on online-streaming services. Critical response to The Burning Zone was primarily negative; commentators were divided over its storylines and tone. It received negative comparisons to other science-fiction shows of the time, especially The X-Files. Kasumi Mihori and Billy Pittard were nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design for the 49th Primetime Emmy Awards for their contributions to the series. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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