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''TekWar'' is a television series, based on the ''TekWar'' novels
ghost-written A ghostwriter is a person hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often hir ...
by
Ron Goulart Ronald Joseph Goulart (; January 13, 1933 – January 14, 2022) was an American popular culture historian and mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. He worked on novels and novelizations (and other works) being published under various ps ...
from outlines by
William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...
and developed for television by Stephen Roloff. The series follows Jake Cardigan (played by
Greg Evigan Gregory Ralph Evigan (born October 14, 1953) is an American film, stage, and television actor. He began his career in theater, appearing in the Broadway production of '' Jesus Christ Superstar'', followed by a stage production of the musical '' ...
), a former police officer turned private investigator working for Cosmos, a private security firm owned and operated by Walter Bascom. The series was broadcast in Canada on CTV and in the United States on
USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...
and the Sci Fi Channel. The series, which was a co-production between
Atlantis Films Atlantis Communications was a Canadian production company and television broadcaster that was formed in 1978 by Queen's University students Michael MacMillan, Janice L. Platt and Seaton S. MacLean. It was later merged in 1998 with Alliance Comm ...
and
Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is ...
premiered on January 17, 1994 and ended on February 9, 1996.


Overview

Set in the year 2044, the series follows Jake Cardigan, a former
police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...
who lost his badge after being framed for dealing in ''tek'' (an illicit
narcotic The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "I make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...
-like substance) and murdering his fellow officers on a bust. Sentenced to fifteen years in cryo-detainment, Jake is released after four years, three months, and twenty-seven days. Shortly after his release, Jake is contacted by Sid Gomez, his former partner. Sid is now in the private sector, working as an investigator for the large security firm Cosmos. After Sid reveals that it was Cosmos's CEO, Walter Bascom, who arranged to have him released early, Jake agrees to meet him. At the meeting, Jake agrees to work for Bascom as a private investigator going after Tek Lords, in return for Bascom's help in clearing his name.


Cast


Main cast

*
Greg Evigan Gregory Ralph Evigan (born October 14, 1953) is an American film, stage, and television actor. He began his career in theater, appearing in the Broadway production of '' Jesus Christ Superstar'', followed by a stage production of the musical '' ...
as Jake Cardigan, a former police officer who, after being framed for crimes he did not commit goes to work for Walter Bascom at Cosmos. Jake uses a plasma propellant gun given to him by Bascom that fires non-lethal transparent pulses of plasma of varying intensities. * Eugene Clark as Sid Gomez, a former police officer and Jake's partner at Cosmos. *Catherine Blythe as Centra, Walter Bascom's assistant who provides technical support for Jake on his cases. She is a highly intelligent and a gifted technological expert. *
Torri Higginson Sarah Victoria Higginson (born December 6, 1969) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles in the '' TekWar'' movies and series, and for portraying Elizabeth Weir in ''Stargate SG-1'' and ''Stargate Atlantis'' (2004–2008), Jordan ...
as Beth Kittridge, an android who possesses all of the memories of the real Beth Kittridge. The android Beth discovers that the real Beth was a witness to the murders of Jake's partners and his near-death from a massive Tek overdose, from which she saved him. She grows to care for him and ultimately sacrifices herself to save Jake from a kamikaze android in the form of Jake's son. Near the end of the first TekWar movie, the real Beth is revealed to be alive. She is a doctor and is romantically involved with Jake Cardigan. * Natalie Radford as Nika, another of Walter Bascom's assistants who provides technical support for Jake on his cases. * Maria del Mar as Sam Houston, a police
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
and later Jake's partner at Cosmos. *
William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...
as Walter Bascom, President and
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
of Cosmos. He is Jake's boss. He is shrewd, calculating and always seems to have an ulterior motive to his actions, but is a good man overall.


Recurring cast

*
Maurice Dean Wint Maurice Dean Wint (born 1 May 1964) is a British-born Canadian actor who has starred in both films and television series. Life and career Wint was born in Leicestershire, England, and moved to Canada in 1967 with his family. He began his acting ...
as Lieutenant Winger, an android police lieutenant who has an ongoing feud with Jake Cardigan. He was re-programmed by Sonny Hokori and was also responsible for the murders of Jake's partners and Jake's near-death of a Tek overdose. He was destroyed by Jake at the end of ''TekWar'' Season 1, but a new version of him returns to the job in Season 2. *
David Hemblen David Hemblen (16 September 1941 – 16 November 2020) was an English–Canadian actor who frequently worked in Canadian film, television and theatre. He was born in London, England, and grew up in Toronto, Ontario. He is known for his role as ...
as Inspector Winterguild, Winger's partner. He doesn't believe that Jake was framed by the Tek Lords. *
Von Flores Valentin Andres Tanga Flores IV, known by his professional name as Von Flores, is a Filipino-Canadian actor. He is often cast as commanding or aggressive characters. Early life and education Von was born in Malabon and lived in Pateros until a ...
as Sonny Hokori, a Tek Lord. He framed Jake for dealing Tek and murder. *
Marc Marut Marc Marut (born April 11, 1979) is a Canadian actor best known for playing the mentally deranged Johnny McFarley in the 1994 horror film '' The Paperboy'' when he was 14 years old. He has acted and appeared in various television series and films ...
and
Christian Campbell Christian Campbell (born May 12, 1972) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his roles as Gabriel in the film '' Trick'' and Greg Ivey in the television series ''Big Love''. On stage, he has performed as Jimmy Harper in the musical ''Reefer Madn ...
as Danny Cardigan, Jake and Kate Cardigan's fifteen-year-old son. Danny is initially resentful of Jake's sudden return in TekWar, but it is shown in ''TekLords'' that they are rebuilding their relationship. *
Sonja Smits Sonja Smits (born September 8, 1958) is a Canadian actress. She was nominated for two Genie Awards: for '' Videodrome'' (1983) and '' That's My Baby!'' (1984). On television, she starred in '' Street Legal'' (1987-1992) and '' Traders'' (1996-2000 ...
as Kate Cardigan, Jake's ex-wife and Danny's mother. She is married to wealthy industrialist Bennett Sands. * Ray Jewers as Bennett Sands, a wealthy industrialist who is married to Kate Cardigan. * Dee McCafferty as Wiz, a criminal Jake knows from his time as a police officer. He introduces Jake to Wildside and Cowgirl. *
Lexa Doig Alexandra L. Doig (born June 8, 1973) is a Canadian actress. She played the title role in the science fiction television series '' Andromeda'' (2000–2005). She also played the lead female role of Rowan in the science fiction-action horror fil ...
as Cowgirl, a hacker who frequently assists Jake on cases when he can't turn to Centra or Nika. *
Richard Chevolleau Richard Chevolleau is a Jamaican Canadians, Jamaican–Canadian actor, best known for playing Augur on ''Earth: Final Conflict'' from 1997 to 2002.Chris Krejlgaard, "Black actor hoping to play a superhero". ''Times and Transcript'', May 14, 1999. ...
as Wildside, a hacker who works with Cowgirl. * Dana Brooks as Shelley Grout, a government agent working for Government Special Services. *
Ernie Grunwald Ernie Grunwald (born 1970) is a Canadian actor who has made guest appearances in a number of notable television series. Career Grunwald has had recurring roles on '' One on One'', ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' (as Mr. Forgess), and '' Two ...
as Spaz, a hacker who works with Cowgirl. * David Calderisi as Carlyle Rossi, CEO of Rossi Enterprises and foe of Jake Cardigan.


Episodes

''Tekwar'' began as a series of four television films which originally aired from January 17, 1994 to May 9, 1994. These are often referred to as the show's "first season" by fans and in episode guides despite not technically being a proper season. The series proper, or the "second season" if counting the movies as a season, consists of 18 hour-long episodes which originally aired between December 22, 1994 and February 9, 1996.


Development and production

''TekWar'' was based on the series of ''Tek'' novels written by
Ron Goulart Ronald Joseph Goulart (; January 13, 1933 – January 14, 2022) was an American popular culture historian and mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. He worked on novels and novelizations (and other works) being published under various ps ...
from outlines by
William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...
. The initial idea for the novels occurred to Shatner in the 1980s. He said, "In the beginning I planned ''TekWar'' as a screenplay for myself to star in. I had this idea of putting ''
T.J. Hooker ''T. J. Hooker'' is an American police drama television program starring William Shatner in the title role as a 15-year veteran police sergeant. The series premiered as a mid-season replacement on March 13, 1982, on ABC and ran on the network u ...
'' into a futuristic milieu." But it was not until the
1988 Writers Guild of America strike The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike was a strike action taken by members of both the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) against major United States television and film studios represented by ...
stalled production on '' Star Trek V: The Final Frontier'' that he found time to write. Shatner said, "I'd doodle with a paragraph and it would grow into two pages. Then I'd fiddle with the two pages and that would become 20 pages. Eventually the book sort of evolved by itself." While the novels and the later television series follow the same general storyline, setting the story 200 years in the future almost derailed any film or television adaptation. When Shatner approached networks and studios to pitch the idea of a ''TekWar'' project, he was told that it would be too expensive to produce. Marvel Comics eventually approached Shatner with the idea of launching a series of ''TekWar'' comic books. William Shatner sold the rights to Marvel for a comic book series under the condition that it be set only 50 years in the future. Following the first ''TekWar'' comic book, Shatner was approached by studios interested in a film. Shatner's own production company, Lemli Productions, took a deal with
Atlantis Films Atlantis Communications was a Canadian production company and television broadcaster that was formed in 1978 by Queen's University students Michael MacMillan, Janice L. Platt and Seaton S. MacLean. It was later merged in 1998 with Alliance Comm ...
. Shortly thereafter, Steven Roloff was hired to develop the series for television. Roloff explained his role by saying "I was just supposed to sit around and think about how we would actually try to create the future for television on a television budget with those restrictions, knowing that we wouldn't be financed like ''Star Trek'', and to put together a pitch book. So, I did that over a period of a few months and put together a pitch document which included a series of images and a kind of written description of our world. That went out and, after a little bit of wheeling and dealing,
Atlantis Films Atlantis Communications was a Canadian production company and television broadcaster that was formed in 1978 by Queen's University students Michael MacMillan, Janice L. Platt and Seaton S. MacLean. It was later merged in 1998 with Alliance Comm ...
struck a deal with
Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...
." Shatner began to have second thoughts about the project when both studios insisted that his name be attached for marketing reasons. He thought, "How would it be received? If it's a failure, it's awful because my name is right there. In fact, they advertised it as ''William Shatner's TekWar''. My God, the responsibility!" Universal and Atlantis green-lit production on four two-hour TV movies for the show's first season. If they proved successful, an hour-long series would be commissioned to air in both Canada and the United States. Filming took place at Cinevillage Studios in
Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Canada and on locations in Toronto including
Eaton Centre Eaton Centre () is a name associated with shopping centres in Canada, originating with Eaton's, one of Canada's largest department store chains at the time that these malls were developed. Eaton's partnered with development companies through ...
to
Ontario Place Ontario Place was an entertainment venue, event venue, and park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The venue is located on three artificial landscaped islands just off-shore in Lake Ontario, south of Exhibition Place, and southwest of Downtown Toron ...
.


Broadcast history

The four movies were first broadcast in 1994 on CTV in Canada and in syndication in the United States as part of Universal Television's Action Pack. The US broadcasts came 7 – 10 days ahead of those in Canada, on January 17, 1994 and January 25, 1994, respectively. ''TekWar'' was a ratings success, with some US stations reporting an increase of 44% compared to the same timeslot in November. This success prompted CTV and Universal to commission eighteen hour-long episodes. While the series continued on CTV in Canada, Universal moved the series to
USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...
. The show's second season premiered on CTV on December 22, 1994 and on USA on January 7, 1995. The season premiered strongly, scoring a 3.4 rating, which at the time was the highest rated premiere in the history of
basic cable Cable television first became available in the United States in 1948. By 1989, 53 million American households received cable television subscriptions, with 60 percent of all U.S. households doing so in 1992. A 2021 Pew Research Center survey found ...
. As time went viewership declined in both Canada and the United States with the season's fourth episode ("Promises To Keep") only attracting 600-700,000 viewers on CTV. Ratings continued to slide during the season. USA Network canceled the series on June 13, 1995. Due to a simulcast agreement, both CTV and USA Network pulled the series from their respective schedules shortly after airing the season's fourteenth episode ("Forget Me Not") on July 1, 1995, leaving four episodes unaired. The Sci Fi Channel, a corporate sibling of
USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...
, subsequently purchased the rights to rebroadcast the series and began airing the series in late 1995. In early 1996, as the Sci Fi Channel was about to begin broadcasting the four unaired episodes in the United States, CTV announced they would air the remaining episodes of ''TekWar''. The four unaired episodes began airing on CTV and Sci Fi Channel on January 20, 1996 and concluded on CTV on February 9, 1996 and on the Sci Fi Channel on February 10, 1996.


Adult animated adaptation

A reboot as an adult animated adaptation was announced in September 2021. The project will be developed and written by Matt Michnovetz and produced by Pure Imagination Studios with Shatner's Shatner Universe.


Critical reception

''TekWar'' received average reviews. The ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' said of the series: "No one will confuse William Shatner's ''TekWar'' with serious science-fiction. With Greg Evigan as a disgraced ex-cop teaming with another ex-cop, who's black, and a female android, it's a lot like
The Mod Squad ''The Mod Squad'' is an American crime drama series, originally broadcast for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 1968, to March 1, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Peter "Pete" Cochran, Clarence Williams III as Lincoln "Linc" Hayes, Pegg ...
'' Visits ''
Wild Palms ''Wild Palms'' is a five-hour miniseries which was produced by Greengrass Productions and first aired in May 1993 on the ABC network in the United States. The sci-fi drama, announced as an "event series", deals with the dangers of politically ...
''." The ''
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...
'' gave a negative review: "Keep the action flowing and the gizmos glowing and maybe no one will notice that your plot lacks the credibility of a politician's promise. It almost works for William Shatner, who has produced and directed the first of four telemovies based on his ''TekWar'' science-fiction novels." ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' gave ''TekWar'' a grade of "D" saying: "This is basically your average cop show in a post-20th-century setting: Dullbladerunner. In this vision of the future, your house can be invested with enough artificial intelligence to tell you when your wife left to run errands, but society still hasn't found a cure for crime: there are a lot of rotten, poorly-shaven thugs out on those mean streets. Intended to be hard-boiled, the dialogue in ''TekWar'' is instead just pitiful. When a policeman tells Jake, 'I play by the rules,' our hero snaps back, 'Then start a band.' Huh?" Matt Roush of ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' also gave a mixed review: "''TekWar'', the first of several futuristic B-thrillers based on William Shatner's genre novels, suggests a cross of ''Wild Palms'' with ''Starsky and Hutch''. The gizmos and visual shimmer rarely disguise the fact this is just a gussied-up cop show. ''TekWar'', directed by Shatner, gets the project off to a slick and zippy start, from the moment framed cop Jake Cardigan is revived after four years in cryo-submersion. Since Jake is played by plastic hunk Greg Evigan, awake is merely a relative term."


Home video releases


VHS releases

Universal Studios Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment LLC (UPHE) is the home video distribution division of Universal Pictures, an American film studio owned by NBCUniversal, the entertainment unit of Comcast. UPHE is the home video distributor for all of the ...
and
CIC Video CIC Video was a home video distributor, established in 1980, owned by Cinema International Corporation (the forerunner of United International Pictures), and operated in some countries (such as United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Japan, France, Ge ...
released the TV movies, comprising the show's first season, on 4
VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...
tapes in 1995 in the United Kingdom and the United States. CIC Video also released the first TV movie, TekWar, on VHS in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
in 1995. The 18 hour-long episodes, which constitute the show's second season, were never released on VHS in the US, however one tape was released in the UK in 2000 by Universal/Sci-Fi under the Cult TV Classics branding. It contained three episodes, Killer Instinct, Chill Factor and Deadline.


DVD releases

Koch International Koch Entertainment was an American record label and a distributor of film, television, and music. It was purchased by Canadian entertainment company Lionsgate Canada, ROW Entertainment in 2005. History First years The company began in 1975 as ...
released a DVD set titled ''TekWar - The Complete First Season (Volumes 1 - 5)'' in Canada on April 20, 2004. Despite its title, the set only contained the 18 hour-long episodes. Several years later, on June 10, 2008,
Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...
released a DVD set titled ''TekWar'' in the United States, also containing the 18 episodes. After repeated delays, Alliance Home Entertainment released a DVD set in Canada titled ''TekWar - The Complete Series'' on May 24, 2011.
*
*
*
*
*
The DVD set utilised cover art licensed from
Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...
.
*
*
It was later reported that Alliance's DVD release did, in fact, include the four TV movies, billed on the set as being "the original 4 part pilot". The series has yet to be released on DVD in
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
(Region 2). There was also a DOS video game developed and published by Capstone, featuring digitized scenes recorded in front of a blue screen starring William Shatner. The first person shooter is considered one of the worst games made using the
Build Engine The Build Engine is a first-person shooter engine created by Ken Silverman, author of ''Ken's Labyrinth'', for 3D Realms. Like the Doom engine, ''Doom'' engine, the Build Engine represents its world on a 2D computer graphics, two-dimensional grid ...
, which was used to create other popular games such as Duke Nukem 3D and Blood.


International broadcasting


References


External links


Season 1

* * * *


Season 2

* {{DEFAULTSORT:TekWar (Tv Series) Television series by Universal Television Television series by Alliance Atlantis 1990s American science fiction television series 1994 American television series debuts 1996 American television series endings 1990s Canadian science fiction television series 1994 Canadian television series debuts 1996 Canadian television series endings First-run syndicated television shows in Canada First-run syndicated television programs in the United States CTV Television Network original programming Action Pack (TV programming block) Syfy original programming USA Network original programming Simulcasts Speculative crime and thriller fiction television series American English-language television shows Television series set in the 2040s Fiction set in 2044