Jeremiah
Entry updated 10 November 2023. Tagged: TV.
US tv series (2002-2004). Platinum Studios/Jeremiah Productions, Inc/Lions Gate Television for Showtime Network. Created by J Michael Straczynski and Sam Egan. Produced by George Horie. Directors included Michael Vejar, Neill Fearnley, and Martin Wood. Writers included Egan, Sara Barnes and Grant Rosenberg. Cast includes Luke Perry, Peter Stebbings and Malcolm-Jamal Warner. 35 45-minute episodes. Colour.
It is 2021, fifteen years after a Pandemic has killed off almost all of humanity save those under the age of puberty. A young loner, Jeremiah (Perry), sets out across the Post-Holocaust remains of the USA in search of a place his father had years before told him might offer refuge: Valhalla Sector. Arriving in the former state of Colorado, he meets Kurdy Malloy (Warner), and becomes friends with him. Both are captured by the "warlord" of the area and imprisoned, where they meet a mysterious, friendly stranger named Simon. Jeremiah and Kurdy escape; Simon dies in the effort, but not before telling them to find a place called Thunder Mountain. This proves to be the remains of the NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) military base in the Cheyenne Mountains, now the site of an advanced community led by Markus Alexander (Stebbings), for whom Simon was a scout in the outside world. Markus hopes to use the Technology preserved at the base to rebuild society. Jeremiah and Kurdy become his new scouts. Valhalla Sector is eventually located in the former state of West Virginia: a series of Underground complexes housing the remains of the US government and military, who have apparently developed immunity against the plague virus. Unfortunately, these people have their own plans for the world which involve setting up an authoritarian government. Valhalla is defeated by Markus and his forces at the start of the second season. A new threat then emerges, the Army of Daniel. This group is apparently from the Middle East, led by self-proclaimed prophet Daniel who means to rule what remains of the world. He too is defeated by the end of the second season, with most remaining storylines resolved.
At this stage Jeremiah was still popular, but creative differences between Straczynski and the network led to its cancellation. The basic premise of a plague killing everyone over the age of puberty is reminiscent of the "Miri" episode of the original Star Trek (1966-1969). [GSt]
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