Defying Gravity (TV series)
Eight astronauts, six years, one mysterious influence.
Defying Gravity was a multinational sci-fi series that premiered on ABC and CTV on August 2, 2009, and was canceled that October. Set in 2052, it tracked eight astronauts from four countries on a six-year solar system mission, with Earth monitoring them via live communication. The show was described to networks as "Grey's Anatomy in space."
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Drama; Science fiction
- Creator
- James D. Parriott
- Composer
- Shawn Pierce
- Country
- United States
- Canada
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- Language
- English
- Seasons
- 1
- Episodes
- 13
- Executive producers
- Michael Edelstein
- James Parriott
- Brian Hamilton
- Michael Chechik
Facts from the source article.
Premise
Eight astronauts crew the international spacecraft Antares on humanity's next big mission after landing on Mars. Cameras constantly record their lives for a documentary and mission monitoring back on Earth. Each astronaut wears a HALO device to suppress libido, yet romantic feelings still emerge. A sealed storage pod holds something called Beta, which begins to affect the mission.
Characters
Evram Mintz, played by Eyal Podell, serves as both the ship's doctor and its psychiatrist. He is in a relationship with Claire Dereux and hails from Israel, where he previously served in the IDF. Jen Crane, portrayed by Christina Cox, works as a biologist. She is Canadian, married to Rollie Crane, and once had a romantic history with Ted Shaw. Maddux Donner, played by Ron Livingston, is the chief engineer from Iowa. His former lover, Sharon Lewis, died during a mission on Mars. He currently shares a casual sexual relationship with Nadia Schilling and has an awkward dynamic with Zoe Barnes. Nadia Schilling, played by Florentine Lahme, is a German pilot who is in a casual sexual relationship with Maddux Donner. Series creator James Parriott later indicated that the plan was to eventually reveal Nadia as intersex, with the beta object transforming her into the male form she might have been. Paula Morales, portrayed by Paula Garcés, is the payload specialist and lander pilot, and she also manages an on-board documentary for children. She comes from Brownsville, Texas. Steve Wassenfelder, played by Dylan Taylor, is a theoretical physicist and a connoisseur of pornography. He is American. Ted Shaw, played by Malik Yoba, is the commander of the Antares. He is married to Eve Weller and previously had a relationship with Jen Crane. He is from the United States. Zoe Barnes, portrayed by Laura Harris, is a geologist from Canada. She had a one-night stand with Maddux Donner, who remains unaware that it led to an aborted pregnancy. In the episode Deja Vu, she also casts a vote for the next American president. Ajay Sharma, played by Zahf Paroo, was originally the flight engineer from Mumbai, India, but after a heart condition triggered by Beta, he was reassigned to mission control. Claire Dereux, played by Maxim Roy, is the flight surgeon from Montreal, Canada, and the girlfriend of Evram Mintz. Eve Weller-Shaw, portrayed by Karen LeBlanc, works alongside Goss for the Bertram Corporation and was responsible for crew selection. She is married to Ted Shaw and is from New Orleans, Louisiana. Mike Goss, played by Andrew Airlie, is the flight director at mission control and was part of the Mars mission. Rollie Crane, played by Ty Olsson, is the former Antares commander now working in mission control. He is married to Jen Crane and is from the United States.
Development
The series took its inspiration from the 2004 BBC One docudrama Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets. A co-production between the BBC, Fox Television Studios, and Omni Film Productions, it also involved Canadian broadcasters CTV and SPACE, plus Germany's ProSieben. An initial order of thirteen episodes was made. Principal photography started on January 19, 2009, in Vancouver, Canada, and ran for six months. Stargate Studios provided the CGI, while Stephen Geaghan designed the sets.
Broadcast
ABC ordered the series for a summer 2009 run in the United States on June 30, 2009. It premiered on BBC Two and BBC HD in the United Kingdom on October 21, 2009, and also aired on CTV and SPACE in Canada, with a planned German broadcast on ProSieben. Australia’s Arena TV showed all 13 episodes in November and December 2009. On August 26, 2009, CTV shifted the show from Sunday to Friday nights, sparking rumors of cancellation. By September 14, 2009, online reports indicated ABC had apparently canceled the series, with most referring to the eighth episode as the series finale, though some called it a season finale. Publicist Nicole Marostica stated that day that ABC was not canceling the show but was deciding on a time slot for the remaining five episodes of season one. CTV aired episode nine, "Eve Ate the Apple," on September 18, 2009, but did not schedule the show the following week; the final four episodes aired only on SPACE, a Canadian channel. On October 22, 2009, TV Squad reported that the sets had been destroyed and the series was canceled. Creator James Parriott told CliqueClack TV on October 29, 2009, that he had outlined three seasons in a show bible, including the ending, and that the unaired U.S. episodes would later be available on Hulu and iTunes. The series came out on DVD on January 19, 2010. All online content was removed from ABC’s website by November 18, 2009, and is no longer on Hulu.
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