TV Is Back: Sanctuary

Sci-Fi Channel(as it still called for the moment) debuted the latest addition to its Friday night lineup tonight, "Sanctuary." It is an early example of a webseries making the jump to mainstream TV, and, with a full-season order already from a cable network, it may have a better shot of making it than such past jumpers as NBC's "Quarterlife," which lasted exactly one episode. The web roots are still apparent in this TV version, most prominently in the use of greenscreen techniques. Rather than building many of the sets, the actors play them against a greenscreen. This isn't as intrusive as you'd think, since the CGI is done well, and shows up most often in bizarre shots and angles that could only have been achieved with the use of a computer.

The series' pedigree stems largely from the "Stargate" franchise that has long been one of the corner stones of Sci-Fi Channel, as both of its executive producers, star Amanda Tapping, and cast members Ryan Robbins and Christopher Heyerdahl have their roots there. While the premise is very different, the feel of the series is actually similar. Both "Stargate" and "Sanctuary," ironically, are at their best when not being themselves, that is, when the characters are just hanging out talking rather than actually doing anything related to the plot. Those are the moments when we believe in the proceedings.

The idea of the series is that Tapping, rocking an English accent and long, brunette hair, runs, you guessed it, a sanctuary for monsters ("We prefer to call them abnormals"), dead ends or flukes or evolution and mutation that are persecuted by a fearful society. They also make it their mission to contain those that are a danger to the world. She has a hot blonde daughter (sans accent) whose job is to kick ass, as well as a resident nervous techie and a taciturn australopithecine/bigfoot/whatever. We enter their world in the premiere episode through the eyes of a young "forensic psychologist," (portrayed believably by Robin Dunne) who is supposed to be good at figuring out behavior but actually seems closer to the protagonists of "Psych" and "The Mentalist." We're shown the inner workings of his mind through a silly CGI gimmick that reminded me of that used in "The Da Vinci Code."

The premiere episode, "Sanctuary For All," suffers heavily from being one hour worth of story spread out over two hours. If we hadn't seen any of the ads (though I suppose we wouldn't be watching if we hadn't), we wouldn't have a clue what was going on until about 40 minutes in. The rest flows better, though as a coherent plot it works only in fits and starts, and we're occasionally asked to buy things that are a little sketchy. Then we get a denouement with a lengthy Jack the Ripper flashback. They really couldn't think of a more original backstory for their villain? (as one character asks, "Really? We care about this?")

I always root for web entertainment to make the successful transition to the old media mainstream, as it represents a democratization of the media in general. I wish "Sanctuary" all the best. It has a refreshing positive attitude that often gets lost in the formulaic hunger for villains on shows like this. However, it has yet to show any signs of being any more than the vaguely fun trifle the "Stargate" franchise has always been. That will probably get me to catch the occasional episode, but it won't make this appointment viewing.