About a year ago I signed up for the Warren Ellis “Bad Signal” email list. I sign up for a lot of online newsletters, usually from filmmakers and movie websites. Ellis is a British comic book writer, and though I hadn’t read any of his work at the time, I soon found his style of internet communication fascinating.
I was expecting a monthly newsletter about comics and upcoming projects. Intstead, I started receiving emails from Ellis on a wide range of topics, similar to blog entries. (Ellis maintains an actual blog at warrenellis.com, which incorporates Bad Signal with other stuff.) His streaming thoughts on blogging, internet communities, bit torrents, and podcasting have inspired me to become more active with my web behavior.
So it was with great enthusiasm that I awaited the premiere of a WB show based on his comic, Global Frequency. Unfortunately, the show was pushed from the fall to the spring, and then never aired at all. It still might get going again, but it doesn’t seem likely.
Screener copies of the pilot did go out to people in the industry, however, and recently it was distributed through the bit torrent community. Global Frequency has now become what UK’s Metro newspaper refers to as “The Most Popular TV Show Never Screened.”
I’ve seen it myself, and though it has a few flaws, Global Frequency is definitely something I would watch more of, given the chance.
The show comes across as a cyberpunk/X-Files/Mission Impossible hybrid. The plot deals with a man with deadly psychic powers, a former guinea pig of a secret Soviet paranormal research program. The only people who can stop Mr. Psychic Bomb are the Global Frequency, a not-so-secret organization that cleans up problems that official agencies can’t deal with.
Josh Hopkins plays an ex-cop who accidentally gets involved in the action. He’s very good at holding the show together, which is important as he represents our point of view. We learn about how the Frequency works through his eyes.
Michelle Forbes, who I’ve enjoyed in the past on Star Trek TNG and Homicide, is rather severe as Miranda Zero, the head of the Frequency. It’s a tricky role, as she must appear cool, ruthless, intelligent, and (least successfully) lethal. Yes, the show’s big disappointing moment was when it dipped a little too much into Matrix territory. Zero, clad in black leather, strides into a government facility and kung fu’s her way through a team of armed guards. It seemed out of place and too Wachowski-wannabee.
Jenni Baird is likeable as the genius scientist who knows all the answers, but has little in the way of a personal life. She gets the job of explaining the sci-fi plot, which was interesting in a way that many of X-Files’ bizarre stories were. I also liked the way the “quantum energy” effects were carried out. The Russian psychic has seizures periodically (triggered by a chip in his brain), and these outbursts translate into shards of energy that erupt from his head. The energy bubbles out in flat planes, a sort of 2D look which I haven’t seen done before.
The real triumph of the show is in getting across the nature of Global Frequency. The premise is that the Frequency seeks out experts in varied fields all over the world. Then, when a problem arises that requires their specific talents, the Frequency calls upon these experts to act. What’s striking is that this is how Warren Ellis works in his daily life. His emails go out to over 7500 people, and he makes use of them as his own personal research network. He’ll post a question about music, movies, or computer code and get responses from those who actually know the answers. He “thinks out loud” through his web presence, and he gets results.
So what’s the future for Global Frequency? Ellis isn’t saying for now:
“…friends in high places have asked me to not talk about the show in specifics, for conversations are still being had. (And not, as one piece of hatemail had it, because I have other irons in the fire.) So that is now as much as I’m going to say about it all.”
Since Ellis wants to distance himself from commenting directly on the show’s status, he recommends people read the exectutive producer’s blog:
“If you like the show, keep reading Rogers’ blog at http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com… Rogers will keep you updated on developments.”
As for those fans who set up petitions and organize letter campaigns, Ellis thinks their time could be better spent:
“If you like the concept behind the show, then, you know, take part in some kind of political or cultural activism. Because there are more important things for a group of smart, passionate people to worry about than a TV show.”
For more about Ellis and his work, visit www.warrenellis.com. For more about GF and its fans, visit www.frequencysite.com.
EDITED TO ADD:
Mr. Ellis has just posted (on July 29) that the popularity of the download may be the show’s downfall:
“It’s my current understanding that the bittorrenting of GLOBAL FREQUENCY has rendered it as dead as dead can get as a TV series. It seems that people in high places did not take kindly to the leak. I have no further details, so don’t ask.”
Sounds like the politics of TV. Rather than embracing a potential audience, the suits would rather penalize the show, discouraging other insiders from instigating illegal distribution in the future.
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