As a seasoned gamer and long-time fan of all things Tremors, I can’t help but feel a sense of nostalgic disappointment mixed with a dash of hope when I delve into the tale of this elusive TV series. The Graboids have always been my go-to critters for underground terror, and the thought of weekly encounters with these slithering monstrosities was almost too good to be true.
Every now and then, we enjoy watching a new Tremors movie, but wouldn’t it be great to catch up with the Graboids and their explosive counterparts weekly? It was once imagined that this could happen, and attempts have been made to make it so. However, life proved that it did not have the ability to make this a reality, as it happened twice.
Prior to the “Tremors” film franchise exploding into numerous direct-to-video sequels (watch the original movie that started it all on Peacock), there were efforts to develop a TV series based on the Graboid action as early as 1993. Screenwriter Brent Maddock and director of “Tremors 2: Aftershocks,” S.S. Wilson, had ideas for the show from that time. The proposed series tone would have maintained the same atmosphere as the original “Tremors” films since one of the potential titles was “Val & Earl: Monster Hunters.”
The 2003 Tremors Series Explained
2003 saw the Sci-Fi Channel (later renamed SYFY) bring the concept they had envisioned to life with the television series, “Tremors”. This show continued the storyline from “Tremors 3: Back to Perdition”, providing answers about the bond between the graboid named El Blanco and character Burt Gummer (played by Michael Gross). Since no Tremors project is complete without him, Gross reprised his role. Neither Val (Kevin Bacon) nor Earl (Fred Ward) appeared in this cast, but Dean Norris from “Breaking Bad” was included. Christopher Lloyd, famous for “Back to the Future”, played a recurring character named Dr. Cletus Poffenberger in the series.
The show titled “Tremors: The Series” premiered on March 28, 2003, concurrently with the prequel movie “Tremors 4: The Legend Begins.” It started off setting new ratings records for its network. However, this success was short-lived as the critical response wasn’t favorable. Furthermore, some episodes were aired out of sequence, causing confusion in the storyline due to schedule changes. Consequently, re-editing became necessary in many instances to make the plot more coherent.
After some time, the network ultimately decided to cancel the series, managing to release just 13 episodes initially. Later on, G4 broadcasted the series in its planned sequence. Interestingly, when the series was previously available for purchase from Amazon and Apple, it seemed that only the original broadcasting order was accessible.
Kevin Bacon’s Tremors TV revival explained
If not for Kevin Bacon’s insistence, the Tremors TV series would have never continued beyond the pilot episode, as it never aired. It remained just a single, unrealized production.
In 2019, Bacon discussed this extensively during a panel titled “Tremors: The Pilot Presentation” at the ATX Television festival. He revealed exclusive footage and shared some intriguing insights about the project with the audience. As reported by IndieWire, Bacon expressed that he was the one who proposed revisiting Val McKee, the original protagonist of the Tremors movie. He found the character so intriguing that he felt it would be fascinating to catch up with him 25 years later: “This is a guy I’ve played in a film that I thought, ‘What a fun fellow to check on 25 years later – just because he was such a mess.’ Finding out what happened to him after the worms would make for an exciting adventure.”
Instead of continuing where previous series left off, this fresh production would have centered around the original movie exclusively, disregarding any sequels or additional lore developed afterward. The character of Val McKee, portrayed by Kevin Bacon, would have succumbed to alcoholism following his fame from worm hunting, and the show would delve into the perils of fixating on nostalgia. Spanning over a 72-hour period, season 1 would feature Fred Ward’s return, with no indication of Michael Gross being involved in this new version.
In 2017, SYFY acquired the pilot of a project that actor James Bacon was developing (alongside writer/showrunner Andrew Miller). However, the project didn’t progress any further. Miller informed IndieWire that they had no intentions of reviving the abandoned pilot. On the other hand, Bacon expressed optimism, stating “funny things sometimes happen.”
If we had resumed Val’s story, things would have taken a turn for the worse as cult-like hippies worshipping Graboids were ready to complicate his life even more. The pilot concluded with Graboids encircling the main characters, leaving us to assume they will remain in that predicament until another group takes interest.
Bacon suggested that with the right distributor, the Tremors series, devoid of Gummer, could be in safe hands under Jason Blum and Kevin Bacon. Given their enthusiasm for the project, could they prevent its demise? After six sequels, is it time for another round? The chances may not be high after all these years, but anything’s possible.
The original series might not have been as absurd as the subsequent films, but the pilot included Bacon being compelled to sing and dance as a graboid offering. Will audiences ever get to watch this pilot? Is there hope for its rescue? Only time will reveal the answer (as it often does), but until then, McKee and company find themselves imprisoned by the monsters who initially made them famous.
If only they had Burt Gummer on their side.
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2024-09-06 18:01