Dylan Hunt
From Free net encyclopedia
- This article concerns several Gene Roddenberry characters named Dylan Hunt. For the Andromeda character, see Dylan Hunt (Andromeda character)
Overview
Image:Huntsorbo2.jpgThe common denominator of these characters is that each is a human who, through some plot device involving phenomena or technology such as black holes or suspended animation, unwittingly moves forward in time by hundreds of years. Upon his awakening/arrival in the future, he learns that the civilization that produced him has fallen and been replaced by a new dark age (described by one of his incarnations as "the long night"). He then either begins or joins a crusade by a small force of explorer/adventurers to restore civilization.
Hunt's most recent, most famous, and most developed incarnation is in the television series Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, in which he is the captain of the starship Andromeda Ascendant. In this series he is played by Kevin Sorbo.
Early Dylan Hunts
Image:Huntcord.jpgThe first Gene Roddenberry projects to feature Dylan Hunt appeared in the 1970s. In the 1973 pilot episode/made-for-TV film Genesis II, which introduced the character, Hunt is played by Alex Cord, a NASA scientist who is trapped in suspended animation in 1979 only to awaken 154 years later. In the 1974 TV movie Planet Earth, which was a heavily-reworked second pilot remake of Genesis II, Hunt's role was played by John Saxon. In an ironic twist, CBS rejected Roddenberry's proposed series in favor of the short-lived TV series Planet of the Apes, which also involved time travel.Image:Huntsaxon.jpg
In 1975, in an interesting development, Saxon starred in a third project entitled Strange New World. While this production was loosely based on Roddenberry's Dylan Hunt premise, Roddenberry himself chose not to participate. Although Saxon's character was named Captain Anthony Vico rather than Dylan Hunt, the movie shared the Hunt "time travel to dark age" premise (along with other plot devices and names) of Genesis II and Planet Earth.
Image:Huntsaxon2.jpgFollowing this trio of productions, the Dylan Hunt concept itself went into suspended animation, to be awakened by Roddenberry, this time with great success, a quarter of a century later.
