Tremors (TV series)


Tremors is a 2003 television show spun-off from the Tremors franchise. Originally airing with its episodes out of order on the Sci-Fi Channel, it was later aired in its proper sequence on the G4 Network.

Plot

The story for the TV series picks up from where leaves off. It follows the residents of Perfection Valley attempting to co-exist with an albino graboid, while dealing with problems caused by failed government experiments, mad scientists, or ruthless real-estate developers. When aired by Syfy, the series was shown out of order, with Episode 1 and Episode 6 shown on the premiere night. The second episode produced, "Shriek and Destroy", was the final episode shown. This out-of-order airing required the re-editing of various episodes. Changes included a new opening sequence for Episode 5, which aired as the eighth episode. This episode also introduced the character Cletus Poffenburger. The re-edited episode explained Cletus' appearance in a flashback sequence, occurring prior to Episode 6/"Ghost Dance", which had actually aired as the second in the series.

Cast

List of episodes

Episodes are listed in the order they were originally broadcast. However, the Sci-Fi Channel did not like the episode "Shriek and Destroy" and aired "Ghost Dance" in its place. Various other episodes are also aired out of order.
Episode #Orig. orderTitleDirectorWriterAirdate

The original intended order of the episodes is the following; this is also the order of the episodes on the DVD set:
  1. Feeding Frenzy
  2. Shriek and Destroy
  3. Blast from the Past
  4. Hit and Run
  5. Project 4-12
  6. Ghost Dance
  7. Night of the Shriekers
  8. A Little Paranoia Among Friends
  9. Flora or Fauna?
  10. Graboid Rights
  11. Water Hazard
  12. The Sounds of Silence
  13. The Key

    The Mixmaster episodes

  14. Project 4-12
  15. Ghost Dance
  16. Flora or Fauna
  17. Water Hazard
  18. The Sounds of Silence
  19. The Key

    Production

Tremors: The Series was produced at the same time as Tremors 4: The Legend Begins. The show was mistakenly believed to be a replacement for the canceled Farscape, which lead to a massive uproar from Farscapes fan base, despite the fact production for Tremors had begun prior to the cancellation of that series.
Brent Maddock and SS Wilson had penned up a
Tremors-based TV show as far back as 1993, under the titles Val & Earl: Monster Hunters, Tremors: The Lost Monsters, and Tremors: The Adventures of Val & Earl. Many plot and monster ideas from this failed television series would be recycled for Tremors: The Series, such as a giant shrimp, flesh-eating insects, and shriekers attacking an amusement park. Production took place at Fox Studios Baja Peninsula facilities and on locations in nearby Rosarito, Mexico. The pilot episode premiered on March 28, 2003, and broke records for the Sci-Fi Channel, becoming the highest-rated pilot episode in terms of views and one of the most-watched events in the history of the channel. While the show would continue to perform well, the amount of views per episode drastically declined over the ensuing months, failing to hit Farscape
s projected prime time air slot demographic numbers and was eventually deemed too expensive to continue. Tremors was canceled after one half-season of 13 episodes.

Home video

The series was taken off iTunes in August 2007; however, it returned to the online store in September 2008. It was later made available on Hulu and through Amazon.com's Unbox video download service.
On March 9, 2010, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released the complete series on a three-disc DVD set. The set contains all 13 episodes in their original production order and no bonus features. The set also contains the re-edited version of the episode "Project 4-12" with the alternate beginning and ending scenes.

Revival

In 2017, Syfy announced that it had ordered a pilot episode for a new television series in the franchise. Kevin Bacon would reprise his role from the first film. In August 2017, it was announced that Vincenzo Natali will direct the pilot. In April 2018, Bacon announced via his Instagram account that "the network has decided not to move forward."