Action Pack (TV programming block)
A syndicated block of TV movies and series from 1994 to 2001.
From 1994 to 2001, Universal Television ran a syndicated block called Action Pack (or Universal Action Pack). It featured two hours of television movies and series from Renaissance Pictures, distributed by MCA TV, later known as Universal Television Enterprises and Studios USA Television Distribution.
Quick Facts
- Premiered
- 17 January 1994
- Closed
- 2001
- Channel
- various; via syndication
- Country
- United States
- Parent
- MCA (1994–1996)
- Seagram (1996–2000)
- Vivendi Universal (2000–2001)
- Sister
- Universal Family Network
- Runtime
- 2 hours
Facts from the source article.
History
In 1994, the Action Pack began as a wheel series of television movies that served as pilots; successful ones would become series the following season. The initial plan included six franchises each with four movies: TekWar, Smokey and the Bandit, Midnight Run, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Vanishing Son, and the working title Fastlane. On January 17 and 18, 1994, a dozen stations aired TekWar, the block's premiere TV movie, and ratings increased significantly—KOFY in San Francisco saw a 350% rise. MCA reduced Rob Cohen's Midnight Run to three films so star Christopher McDonald could appear in a feature film, and Cohen replaced it with Knight Rider 2010. The first season ran until January 1995 and lost $30 million. TekWar was picked up as a regular series by the USA Network instead of Action Pack, starting in January 1995. From January to June 1995, the block included Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Vanishing Son. Hercules became a surprise hit, ranking as the third most-watched first-run syndicated action hour. From September 1995 through January 2000, Action Pack featured Hercules and its spinoff, Xena: Warrior Princess. A year after Hercules ended, the Universal Action Pack launched the Back2Back Action Hour, consisting of two thirty-minute series—Jack of All Trades and Cleopatra 2525—to air alongside Xena. This lineup lasted until the second quarter of 2001. Jack of All Trades and Xena were canceled, and Cleopatra 2525 was expanded to an hour-long show in January 2001. After Xena completed its final season's reruns in summer 2001, Cleopatra 2525 stopped production and the Action Pack block was discontinued.
Television series and movies
During its first year, the Action Pack aired several television series and movies. The Hercules films included Hercules and the Amazon Women, Hercules and the Lost Kingdom, Hercules and the Circle of Fire, Hercules in the Underworld, and Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur. The TekWar series, based on books by William Shatner, comprised Tekwar, TekLords, Teklab, and TekJustice, an original story. The Midnight Run Action Pack featured sequels to the 1988 film: Another Midnight Run, Midnight Runaround, and Midnight Run for Your Life. The Bandit TV series, a legacy sequel to Smokey and the Bandit Part 3, included four episodes: Bandit Goes Country, Bandit Bandit, Beauty and the Bandit, and Bandit's Silver Angel. Vanishing Son consisted of four made-for-television movies—Vanishing Son I, II, III, and IV—aired on February 28, July 18, July 25, and October 10, 1994, respectively; the series debuted on January 16, 1995, and was noted for casting an Asian male in an attractive leading-man role. An additional movie titled Fastlane, about two friends finding a spaceship/car hybrid vehicle and set to be directed by John Landis, never aired for unknown reasons; its prop shell, designed to fit over a Pontiac Fiero, was auctioned in 2007. Other films included Knight Rider 2010 (1994), The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space (December 9, 1995), Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus (May 24, 1996), and Atlantis: The Lost Continent, first shown on a Starz/Encore network channel in March 1997 before airing on Action Pack as a pilot TV film in August 1997 under the title Escape from Atlantis.
More in Television Series by Universal Television
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