''Pandemic'' is a 2007

Hallmark Channel Hallmark Channel is an American cable television network owned by Hallmark Media, a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards. The channel broadcasts family-oriented general entertainment programming, including television series and made-for-TV movies. ...

original

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

with an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

. It premiered on May 26, 2007 at 8:00 PM as part of

's "Uncharted Adventures" weekend. It is now available on

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through Hallmark Entertainment.

Synopsis

On a beach in Australia, two American surfers say goodbye to each other as one is about to leave for his flight back to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The two men don't notice the large number of dead birds on the beach. On the flight, the surfer returning home starts coughing up blood and dies before the plane can land. Back in Australia, the other surfer is found dead in his apartment. Kayla Martin (

Tiffani Thiessen Tiffani Amber Thiessen (born January 23, 1974) is an American actress. Her roles as List of Saved by the Bell characters#Kelly Kapowski, Kelly Kapowski on NBC's ''Saved by the Bell'' (1989–1993) and its Saved by the Bell#Spin-offs, spin-off me ...

) is a medical doctor with the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...

(CDC) who has been assigned to the case. She and the local officials carry the body of the surfer out of the plane and start processing people to be put in

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...

until they can be evaluated for exposure. During the transfer, one of the passengers escapes to complete a business deal and unknowingly spreads the virus throughout Los Angeles. It is also revealed that outbreaks of the so-called "riptide virus" (as it comes to be known), an offshoot of the bird flu, are occurring in other cities around the world. The situation is complicated further when one of the passengers, a convicted

drug lord A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin, or lord of drugs is a type of crime boss in charge of a drug trafficking network, organization, or enterprise. Crime barons may be difficult to bring to justice: usually, they do not possess illegal goods. Ra ...

being transported by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

, escapes with the help of associates and a number of the other passengers, some of whom are infected. He proceeds to steal the medication needed to fight the outbreak and

blackmail Blackmail is a criminal act of coercion using a threat. As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a thr ...

s the local and state officials. As the epidemic worsens and the death toll rises all over California, the governor (

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Faye Dunaway, many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, ...

) and mayor (

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. He has amassed more than 700 film and television credits since his debut in 1978, making him one of the most prolific English-speaking screen actors of all time. Roberts' career ...

) have to find a way around their political differences so that they can make tough decisions dealing with the blackmail scheme, as well as a frightened populace and all of the problems associated with a widespread and deadly epidemic. At the end, Kayla and her scientist team are able to find a cure: the drug lord's clear immunity to the virus is caused by his concurrent

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

infection. Tubercular

antibodies An antibody (Ab) or immunoglobulin (Ig) is a large, Y-shaped protein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily which is used by the immune system to identify and neutralize antigens such as bacteria and viruses, including those that caus ...

stop the virus from attaching to his lungs. They discover that administering antibodies from persons who have tuberculosis will cure the infected and give the others immunity from the virus. Blood from tuberculosis-infected persons is purified and administered to people, and Los Angeles is saved.

Cast

as Dr. Kayla Martin *

as Governor Shaefer *

French Stewart Milton French-Stewart (born February 20, 1964), known professionally as French Stewart, is an American actor. He played Harry Solomon on the NBC sitcom ''3rd Rock from the Sun'', Inspector Gadget in the superhero comedy film '' Inspector Gadget ...

as Dr. Carl Ratner *

as Mayor D'Alesandro *

Bruce Boxleitner Bruce William Boxleitner (born May 12, 1950) is an American actor and science fiction and suspense writer. He is known for his leading roles in the television series '' How the West Was Won'', '' Bring 'Em Back Alive'', ''Scarecrow and Mrs. King ...

as Kenneth Friedlander * Vincent Spano as Troy Whitlock

Awards

The WGA awarded writers Bryce Zabel and Jackie Zabel in 2008 the WGA Award (TV) for Original Long Form programming for the series' script.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0802821 2007 television films 2007 films 2000s American television miniseries American aviation television series Television shows about influenza outbreaks Films directed by Armand Mastroianni Films set in Australia Films set in Los Angeles Films set on airplanes Hallmark Channel original films