A group of newly trained US Marine Corps aviators took to the dark vacuum of space to combat a ruthless, silent and murderous enemy bent on the destruction of humankind. A cast of mostly unknown actors comprised the main players, which helped add to its rustic appeal. While the acting was sometimes wooden, the lack of star power made the bleakness of war against the technologically superior Chigs more realistic; the show’s stars came across as ordinary and therefore more credible. Kristin Cloke, Morgan Weisser and Rodney Roland got top billing, with Joel de la Fuente, Lanei Chapman and James Morrison (no relation to the Doors frontman) rounding out the cast. This show is an obvious source of inspiration for the hugely successful “Battlestar Galactica” reboot, which drew heavily from the the dark tone and realism presented in “S: A and B.” The special effects were downright laughable at times, but some of the CG work — particularly the space battle scenes — still stands up today as passable.
The marines in “S: A and B” definitely owe a lot to James Cameron’s marines from “Aliens,” but there’s something to be said for a successful Sci-Fi concept; it never gets stale. Judging by how much better the show got as it went along, if “S: A and B” had been allowed to continue into its second season, it’s safe to say it would have hit its stride. A lot of the camp and rough edges that popped up in the initial run would have been addressed and the program would have been for the mid-90s what “BSG” has been for the mid-2000s.
Stuffed in a poor timeslot and constantly shifted around the schedule, this short-lived show was crippled out of the gate. Despite this, its ratings were said to be stronger than the first few seasons of the “X-Files.” The true kiss of death purportedly came from a rancorous FOX TV executive who hadn’t wanted to green-light the production. When the show was given the go ahead, the executive allegedly vowed to kill it and his desire only grew stronger when the show’s initial run of 13 episodes was expanded to 23. In a bitter twist of fate, the aforesaid exec was promoted to a position where he could finally kill the show and ensured a second season would never happen. – Steve Soldwedel