When the United Paramount Network launched in 1995, it’s primary draw was “Star Trek: Voyager.” The network ran a host of other shows to pad its line-up, including “Marker,” “Live Shot” (see below) and “Deadly Games,” among others. Some of the non-Star Trek programming was of surprisingly high quality, albeit not necessarily of the genre favored by the crowd UPN had drawn in with “Voyager.” “Deadly Games” had a distinct Sci-Fi bent: Gus Lloyd, an anti-matter physicist going through a divorce, diverts himself by creating a live-action video game where he’s the hero. He takes all of the people who’d ever done him wrong in his life and turns them into villains in the game. The jock from high school football throws missiles, an old boss lobs deadly pink slips… all well and good until a glitch in his program lets loose the villains in the real world, forcing Gus, his ex-wife Lauren (who was his sidekick in the video game) and his lab assistant Peter to play the game for real to rescue humanity (or, at least, Southern California).
The show had a bitchin’ theme song, too, but UPN pulled the plug without extending the series beyond its intitial 13-epsiode run. Not even the presence of Christopher Lloyd (as Gus’ dad and video game villain Jackal) was enough to keep it alive. – Steve Soldwedel