Total Recall 2070

[kevin1gamer]

In 1999 there was a science fiction TV show you probably never even heard of, Total Recall 2070. I highly recommend it, it is pretty dark and set in a dystopia future in which corporations run the government, but I like it. You can watch it for free on Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/total-recall-2070

 

[bryce]

I thought this show was very under-rated.

 

[Pilot Ace]

Noticed this on Hulu a few weeks ago and had heard random murmurings about it before that... I want to see what it's about, but I got a number of things on my plate before I can give it a watch.

 

[Truth_Seeker]

I've been watching this show for the past month and I think it's pretty good.

You should also try "Charlie Jade" - it's an awesome cyberpunk show.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Jade

 

[Chris_Johnston]

I really wish they'd release the entire series on DVD, rather than just the 2-hour Pilot.
Hulu carries the edited-for-syndication version.

 

[Pingfah]

I have high quality DVD rips of a Japanese release of it (in english though). I really enjoyed this show, however, it should have been called Blade Runner, not Total Recall.

I'm hoping it makes it to Region 2 DVD eventually, i'll buy it.

 

[MyCylon]

I enjoyed it. I certainly think it had a lot of potential and was appealing to me on a number of levels. I felt it could be a bit too simplistic in its approach to some rather complex issues and some of the protagonists' actions (please don't ask me to cite examples because I don't remember specific instances) were possibly more questionable than they should have been (or maybe it's part of the point and I'm missing it).

I certainly agree that the name "Blade Runner" would have been more fitting. Wasn't there some kind of rights issue preventing this?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I've been watching it on Hulu recently, myself. Good show, it's a shame it only lasted a season. There was a lot of potential there, and it's rare to see a sci-fi show with a setting like that actually taking itself seriously.

 

[Pingfah]

I enjoyed it. I certainly think it had a lot of potential and was appealing to me on a number of levels. I felt it could be a bit too simplistic in its approach to some rather complex issues and some of the protagonists' actions (please don't ask me to cite examples because I don't remember specific instances) were possibly more questionable than they should have been (or maybe it's part of the point and I'm missing it).

I certainly agree that the name "Blade Runner" would have been more fitting. Wasn't there some kind of rights issue preventing this?

I'm not sure, but it stands to reason they would have used the Blade Runner name if they had been able to. The show's only resemblance to TR is the fact that it is set on Mars. There those small elements of memory manipulation and they threw Rekall in there for good measure but they seemed far more concerned with androids overall.

And it certainly looks and feels like a Blade Runner spin-off.

 

[FalTorPan]

I'm going to have to watch this show soon. I liked the two-hour premiere quite a bit.

 

[Marc]

I've been watching it on Hulu recently, myself. Good show, it's a shame it only lasted a season. There was a lot of potential there, and it's rare to see a sci-fi show with a setting like that actually taking itself seriously.

Though iirc the show did get a fairly reasonable wrap up in the end so we didn't get a cliff hanger with no resolution.

 

[Aragorn]

I never watched this show but always thought Michael Easton (VR.5, Two) was destined to do better things... not return to soaps.

 

[Steve Roby]

I thought TR2070 got off to a bit of a weak start with a premiere that owed too much to Blade Runner (and, for that matter, to cheesy cable action TV series of the time), but it gradually found its own way over the course of the season, getting better and better.

The producers admitted that they'd have loved to do an official Blade Runner TV series, but figured it wasn't inappropriate to have BR-ish elements on something licenced from another Philip K. Dick-based property. And they did do some things with the ideas from "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale"/Total Recall, especially, as I recall, with the plotline involving the lead character's wife; they didn't take just the name.

I really wish the show had lasted another year or two. It had a distinct look and feel, some interesting characters, and some intriguing arc elements. It also had some occasionally weak actors in key roles, but nothing's perfect.

I'm still bummed the novelization (which was supposed to be by John Maddox Roberts, as I recall) was never published. At least I got the T-shirt, baseball cap, and briefcase sent out as a fancy media kit.