TEK WAR

   Canadian/US tv miniseries (1994). Atlantis Films/Universal. Exec prods William SHATNER andPeter Sussman; line prod John Calvert; supervising prod Seaton McLean, based on theTek novels by Shatner. First episode written by Alfonse Ruggiero, Jr.and WestbrookClaridge, dir Shatner, starring Greg Evigan, Eugene Clark, Torri Higginson,Barry Morse, Sonja Smits, Sheena Easton and Shatner. Four 88-min episodes.

   TW was part of a syndicated package called "The Action Pack" inwhich it and other two-hour action/adventure miniseries were broadcast in rotation, 24 episodes inall, four being devoted to TW, and based with moderate fidelity on theTek novels attributed to Shatner. Evigan plays Jake Cardigan, a framed cop doing 15years in cryogenic sleep for murder and drug abuse, but mysteriously paroled after four. The first book was set in twenty-second century Los Angeles, but the miniseries, shot in Toronto, Canada, appears to be in a much closer future than that. The series' most intriguing aspect is its CYBERPUNK elements,and an interesting attempt is made to create a visual equivalent for theexperience of cruising in "cyberspace". In other respects - especially the cars and the cityitself - the series isless successfully futuristic. The story is a fairly routine affair about conspiracies involving drug lords ("tek" is a dangerous drug that enables fantasies to seem, temporarilyreal), android killers and so forth. One critic described it as "Miami Vice meets NEUROMANCER", and the latter aspect is more interesting than the former.The miniseries found a following, and a full series began in Jan 1995, Tek War:The Series, 18 one-hour episodes being planned.

   PN/GF