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With Steven Spielberg’s name attached as an executive producer, the two-hour premiere of the Fox series “Terra Nova” arrives at 8 tonight on WUTV with bigger expectations than Buffalo Bills fans had Sunday before shocking the New England Patriots.
And unlike the Bills victory, the expectations for the $15 million pilot of “Terra Nova” eventually come crashing down like space debris.
This isn’t to say that there isn’t anything to recommend about “Terra Nova,” which revolves about the formation of a colony in the 22nd century so people can start over after the environment was destroyed by Republicans.
OK, I’m kidding about Republicans, though they seem willing to do just about anything to the environment these days if it would help the economy.
“Terra Nova” is apolitical but in this current political climate it does send a message to those willing to destroy the environment.
The series follows the five members of the Shannon family in 2149 when they flee from the environmentally-destroyed old world to a new exciting world 85 million years in the past with the help of a time fracture.
Set in Australia, “Terra Nova” (which is Latin for New Land) looks spectacular. The head of the Shannon family, Jason O’Mara (see above) of “Life on Mars,” has a Clooneyesque manner about him. Shelley Conn, the British actress cast as his doctor wife, Elisabeth, is very appealing and a newcomer to American television. Stephen Lang (“Avatar”), who plays Nathaniel Taylor, the leader of the 1,000 people on Terra Nova, gives off a strong vibe as a character who doesn’t seem to be all that he initially appears to be.
And the “slashers” or dinosaurs that roam the colony provide some pretty scary stuff.
But despite all the high-tech smoke and mirrors that shout “boy, this is one expensive series,” “Terra Nova” is pretty standard TV when it comes to the plot. It has obvious similarities to “Lost” and some implausible plot points that make one wonder how accountable people are held for their actions.
There is a renegade colony group, the Sixers, led by a powerful female Mira (Christine Adams), who by episode’s end gives a clue as to what Taylor is up to. This group is reminiscent of “The Others” on “Lost.” It is hard to tell upon first meeting if they are good or bad guys and girls.
Meanwhile, Taylor seems to be a stronger version of Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) on “Lost,” a leader whose agenda isn’t exactly like clear.
Unfortunately, the Shannon family dynamic comes wouldn’t have looked out of place in 1949 instead of 2149, except for the fact mom is the doctor. Dad is a strong former cop dealing with a rebellious teen-age son Josh (Landon Liboiron) interested in girls, a teen-age daughter Maddy (Naomi Scott) interested in boys and an adorable little girl Zoe (Alana Mansour) who the Shannons had despite an edict of not being allowed to have more than two children.
The action scenes involving the dinosaurs are really compelling and occasionally out of this world, but the family stuff brings the script crashing down to earth.
Maybe things will improve in subsequent hour episodes as the Shannons try to navigate a mysterious new world. But the first voyage that lands tonight is a little rocky and doesn’t have much that is really that new beyond the incredible special effects and the Australian scenery.
Rating: 2 and a half stars out of 4
* Not surprisingly, the Buffalo Bills 34-31 upset of the New England Patriots was the talk of the highlights shows on Sunday night.
NBC’s Sunday Night Football crew led the charge, with Al Michaels, Tony Dungy and ex-Patriot Rodney Harrison all chiming in on the Bills’ 3-0 start to the season. If you were too busy celebrating Sunday night to hear them, here’s what they had to say about the No Name Bills.
Michaels: “In the opener at Kansas City, they killed them, and I remember they said, ‘Well, maybe Kansas City is not that good.’ Then, last week, they were behind by three touchdowns against Oakland and they pulled off a miracle win. Today, they’re down 21-0 and then they do it again. So everyone in Buffalo is going crazy right now.”
Dungy: “I like the way they’re playing. They’re playing with confidence; they’re playing with attitude. These guys now know that they can score a lot of points. They can come back from deficits; they can get good quarterback play. These guys believe.”
Harrison, in calling the Bills victory the headline of the day: “It pains me to say this, the Buffalo Bills beat my New England Patriots. Everyone felt like this was a game for Buffalo to come out and prove they’re a legitimate team. They’re now in first place in the AFC East.”
Stay tuned for more superlatives about the Bills this week. And if the Bills continue playing like this, NBC might just flex them into a Sunday Night game later in the season. The most interesting statistic I heard Sunday was that 79 percent of teams that start the season 3-0 make the playoffs.
* Bills fans love to hate Patriot Coach Bill Belichick and probably were happy to hear CBS analyst Rich Gannon blame him for being assessed a timeout with the clock stopped in the final two minutes after a replay ruled Bills running back Fred Jackson down inside the 1-yard line. A Buffalo News photo caption also claimed today that Belichick was “charged with an extra timeout.”

But Gannon and the caption were wrong. Belichick wasn’t being penalized for arguing. According to the Buffalo News today, Belichick called the timeout after being told the clock was going to start once the ball was placed for play. In other words, he called the timeout to save time if the Bills tried to score a touchdown on the next down. The Bills played for the field goal and the Patriots were called for a penalty that gave the Bills an extra down, which made the Belichick timeout issue irrelevant.

pergament@msn.com

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