Defying Gravity

I am a member of the online survey group e-rewards. The most recent survey I took was to watch a one-hour tv show entitled Defying Gravity.

Basically, the plot is as follows: It takes place in 2052, and we have 9 astronauts beginning on a 6 year space voyage to the other planets in the solar system. Within the first, say, 48 hours, the mission commander and one other guy come down with convenient heart problems so their alternates had to be zoomed up on a shuttle to switch out with them. The two alternates are the only two surviving members of a mission to Mars from ten years earlier, where they had to leave their other two members there to die, and of course there's some underlying mystery about the hows and whys of that mission. Also, the guy in charge of mission command back on Earth is not a nice fellow and he has MAJOR issues with Donner (played by Ron Livingston of Office Space fame), even planning on firing him as soon as someone else can be "brought up to speed."

Meanwhile, there's another mystery going on about this mission in general. Something that the mission commander knew about and his alternate is told about, but the remaining crew members won't learn about until Day 43, when they get to Venus. (Duh, duh, dun!) And there's the obligatory sexual tension amongst several of the crew members - 6 years is a long time, after all.

All in all, I enjoyed the show alot. It was sort of slow starting... after the scene where they left the 2 crew members on Mars, that is. But it grabbed me, especially with the mystery about the mission. I don't know when or if this show'll ever really be on the air, but assuming it isn't opposite something like Lost or 24, I think I'll set my Tivo to watch it. Two thumbs up!