Writing partners look beyond 'Space'
By David Martindale. Reprinted without permission. CHRONOLOG, The Houston Chronicle's TV supplement, © February 15, 1998

They are the Lennon and McCartney of science fiction TV. S:AAB Cast

Only don't count on an eventual breakup for Glen Morgan and James Wong, creators of the short-lived SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND (1995-1996). Theirs is a bond that appears to be rock solid.

"We've been working together for so long," Morgan says. "We've probably known each other 20 years, since we were sophomores in high school. There was a period, maybe early on, when we started working together, where the partnership had growing pains. I think a lot of partnerships fall apart at that moment, like maybe a lot of marriages."

"But now," Wong notes, "we really are of one mind."

Adds Morgan: "Like if there's a situation where Jim has to be on the set or he's editing and there's a script due, I can write the scene without having to consult with him. He's just up in my brain going, 'Well, why don't you try that?' And I know the same is true for him.

The duo has written some of the most memorable episodes of THE X-FILES and now they serve as executive producers of MILLENNIUM. But the less-successful SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND, a WWII-style combat drama set against the backdrop of futuristic space, still holds a special place in their hearts.

"I think the main reason we're dead is the time slot we got," Wong says. "Fox had us on Sunday nights after football, so the start time would shift because of football overruns. And toward the middle of the season, they started messing with the schedule. They took us off the air for a while. We were on Wednesday night one time, on Saturday night. People didn't know where it was."

Says Morgan: "I believe that if we had been put on Friday night at 8, we still would be on the air. We've watched SLIDERS come and go and STRANGE LUCK come and go and THE VISITOR. Now they've got BEYOND BELIEF there. And you get sick wondering, 'Why not us?' You don't want to cry over spilled milk, but it was really disheartening.

Particularly given that SPACE, like The X-Files and MILLENNIUM, was a show of exceptional quality.

To learn the genesis of the show, which focused on a squadron of first-year Marine Corps fighter pilots, one must go back more than 15 years, to a time when Morgan and Wong were college sophomores at Loyola-Marymount.

Says Wong: "Glen and I had taken this class called The Fiction of War. It was kind of a literature class, chronicling war throughout history, from THE ILLIAD all the way through to future wares. It was a fascinating class. So we thought, we have this show set in space in the future, but why not do it as a war drama?"

Morgan and Wong are thrilled that SPACE reruns now have a home on the Sci-Fi Channel and are bringing in record ratings for the cable network. But don't count on there being any followup adventures for the members of the 58th Squadron.

"The desire to do that is absolute," Morgan says. "But the possibility is remote. Everyone always says, 'Well, they do ALIEN NATION as two-hour movies.' But as much as they handle on makeup and effects, they still have contemporary Los Angeles, whereas we built the flight deck of the Saratoga once in Australia, once here, each time at the cost of approximately $200,000. And they've since been burned up."

Literally.

"They were used as sets that were on fire in L.A. FIREFIGHTERS or in ALIEN RESURRECTION," Morgan says. "So the cost to get us up and running again really would be big."

Reruns of SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND air at 6:30 p.m. Sunday on Sci-Fi. Ironically, it's almost the same time slot it failed in on Fox.

And X-FILES episodes written by Morgan and Wong -- 3, in which Agent Fox Mulder encountered modern-day vampires and One Breath chronicling Agent Dana Scully's return after her mysterious abduction -- air at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday on FX.
Disclaimer: The characters and situations of Space: Above And Beyond are legal property of James Wong and Glen Morgan, Hard Eight Production and 20th Century Fox Television. No copyright infringement intended.
All site graphics, original texts, and content other than specified © DrkNite. Fan art, fan photos, and other contributed materials © to their respective owners. All rights reserved.

© 1996 - 2006