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Perversions of Science
SF meets Tales from the Crypt in HBO's new anthology series
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Perversions of Science
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Starring Keith Carradine, Lolita Davidovich, Jeremy London, Jeff Fahey, Kevin Pollak, William Shatner
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HBO
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June 18, 20, 23, 25, 27, 29
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11 p.m.
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Review by Kathie Huddleston
 family is gathered around a television set. The son sits on the floor eating popcorn. One of the kernels falls to the ground and the camera travels into the kernel, past atoms and into Perversions of Science, a new HBO anthology series.
The host of the series is Chrome (voice by Maureen Teefy), a well-endowed, computer generated android who purrs that she's just "perfect," and uses sexual innuendo to introduce each episode.
In the first episode of the pilot trilogy -- "Dream of Doom" -- Arthur Bristol (Carradine) can't seem to wake up from his dreams no matter what he tries. In the second episode -- "Anatomy Lesson" -- a teenager (London) admires the local serial killer and is ready to kill himself. If only he could get rid of that bum that seems to show up just when he's ready to start his own little murder spree. The final episode offers "Boxed In," a galactic tale about a great fighter pilot (Pollak) who's grounded at the end of the war when his ship needs repairs. He's engaged to the admiral's daughter and he's made a promise to be faithful. The only problem is that he's become too attached to a beautiful sex droid he won in a poker game.
So where's the depravity, dementia and doom?
Anthology series are traditionally uneven, especially these days when there isn't a Rod Serling or Alfred Hitchcock to guide them. Perversions of Science was created by the makers of Tales from the Crypt and has the same handicaps and advantages. The advantages, of course, are that big names are willing to line up to get involved in a high-profile shot on HBO. That has the potential to create some quality episodes. One of the key disadvantages is the half-hour format, which doesn't allow the kind of quality a one-hour series like The Outer Limits can achieve.
This "adult" series promises to take "you into a warped world where man's darkest obsessions become even darker realities." That sounds an awful lot like the premise of Tales from the Crypt, except with a little science fiction thrown in. Sex is supposed to feature quite prominently in this series, but in the first episodes it's mainly been an excuse to show the majority of the female cast members topless. Reason enough for many to watch.
"Dream of Doom," directed by Walter Hill from a screenplay by David Goyer, could be in any generic anthology series despite the talents of Keith Carradine and Lolita Davidovich. There didn't seem to be any of the "depravity, dementia and doom" the producers promised. Likewise with "Boxed In." Directed by William Shatner and based on a short story by Chris Miller, "Boxed In" goes for the funny bone but just didn't seem very depraved. Only "Anatomy Lesson," which has its own take on a future serial killer, offers a nice science fictional spin. There's even just a little depravity and dementia for good measure.
While the first episodes seem weak, this series promises to live up to its predecessor. If you like Tales from the Crypt you'll probably like Perversions of Science. -- Kathie
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Dark Planet
It's a rocky road to the Dark Planet
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Dark Planet
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Starring Paul Mercurio, Harley Jane Kozak, Michael York
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The Sci-Fi Channel
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June 21, 9 p.m. and 1 a.m., ET
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June 22, 5 p.m. ET
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June 28, 2 p.m. ET
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Review by Kathie Huddleston
 n the year 2638, a series of world wars has decimated the population, leaving two warring factions: the Alphas and the Rebels. The Alphas are genetically enhanced humans, while the Rebels are mutants and non-altered humans.
The Alphas and the Rebels call a tenuous truce to join forces for a top secret mission. They put together two teams that will travel through a wormhole in a specially designed ship in order to reach the Dark Planet. Little is known about the planet, except to the leaders of the mission, Alpha Commander Winter (York) and Rebel Colonel Brendon (Kozak). The trip has only been successfully made once, by Hawk (Mercurio), a non-altered human renegade who fights for neither side and who has been imprisoned by the Alphas.
When Hawk saves the ship from a minefield, he also discovers that the Alphas may have something to hide. He joins Brendon to try and find out the truth, even as the truce between sides dissolves and all-out war erupts between the mission's two factions. As the ship heads for the dangerous wormhole, Hawk and Brendon struggle against Winter for control of the ship, and also for the future of the Dark Planet.
Wormholes and plot holes
Dark Planet is an uneven film that has its moments. As directed by Albert Magnoli and written by S.O. Lee and J. Reifel, Dark Planet has an interesting story with lots of action, big plot holes, stock characters and special effects that look more like they belong in a videogame than in a movie.
As with so many films which take place on a stock space ship, Dark Planet is a dark movie: The lighting is dark, dank and uninteresting. Luckily, it's not a talking-heads movie and there is a fair amount of action to keep the plot moving. The Alphas and the Rebels hate each other, a rivalry that plays out well. It's also fortunate that the film's creators decided to spend a bit of money on solid character actors to carry the story.
Mercurio's Hawk is the hero and, while it's a little hard to believe he could make both of the women fall for him so quickly, he does the hero thing fine. York's Winter is the standard bad guy character he seems to be playing a lot lately. He does it well but doesn't offer any surprises. Kozak, an excellent character actor, does what she can with Brendon, but both she and Ford are forced to play their characters far too vulnerably. It's not believable that either one could possibly be the tough cookie they would have had to have been to reach their positions.
The actors do what they can and almost get the audience past the huge plot holes (almost as big as the wormhole) which threaten to ground the story entirely. However, once the action kicks in, the lapses in logic are easier to forgive.
There's enough mystery and action to keep the story going. If you're not concerned about logic, then you'll be entertained (a common situation considering most successful action movies don't worry about logic these days). However, if you want good, solid SF, you're not going to get it here. -- Kathie
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