ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997 TAG: 9702190010
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
NBC tells us ``the biggest disaster in human history is about to arrive'' Sunday night. The network, of course, is not talking about the sort of disasters TV critics like to proclaim after viewing some of their shows. As usual, they're hoping for the best.
The ``disaster'' NBC has been promoting zealously is called ``Asteroid,'' a two-part miniseries that shows what happens when the citizens of Earth discover an asteroid is racing toward this planet at 34,000 mph, packing more than the equivalent of 10,000 megatons of explosive power.
The film, which was not available for preview by press deadline, is the latest in what seems to be a new wave of epic disaster films coming to both movie theaters and television. Last year's enormous box-office hit ``Twister'' reached viewers at about the same time as a pair of made-for-TV thrillers about cyclones - the Family Channel's ``Night of the Twisters'' and Fox's ``Tornado.'' The movie blockbuster ``Outbreak'' about an ebola-type epidemic was followed by ``Robin Cook's `Virus,''' then this season's ``Pandora's Clock,'' both on NBC. Two big volcanic eruption movies - ``Dante's Peak'' and the upcoming ``Volcano'' - are accompanied by ABC's ``Volcano: Fire on the Mountain,'' which arrives on the home screen later this month.
Though there have been feature films about planetary bodies striking Earth before - from the classic ``When Worlds Collide'' in 1951 to ``Meteor'' in 1979 - NBC pretty much has the asteroid market to itself this season, reacting quickly to real-life reports that such a disaster actually could strike any time soon.
In fact, it actually has happened before. Scientists now believe it was an asteroid that struck the Earth 65 million years ago, creating a 100-mile wide crater on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. It was so catastrophic that many suspect it was the mysterious event that ended the dinosaur era on our planet.
The comet that recently crashed into Jupiter might have ended all life on Earth had it struck here instead, scientists speculated at the time. So, that raises the fictional premise of ``Asteroid'' out of the realm of fantasy.
In NBC's story, such a comet has knocked several asteroids out of their normal orbits and sent them hurtling toward Earth. One fragment hits Kansas City with awesome results, but scientists discover an even bigger chunk is still en route.
Attempts to deflect it cause a deadly shower of meteorites on Dallas. A major piece threatens to strike the American West with such impact that it will trigger tremors between a 5 and 6 on the Richter scale, and a blast of atomic-bomb magnitude.
Key players in the drama of ``Asteroid'' are Dr. Lily McKee (Annabella Sciorra), the Colorado-based astronomer who first locates the approaching asteroid, and Jack Wallach (Michael Biehn), director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The story follows the time-honored formula for disaster movies: lots of vignettes showing lots of people trying to cope with the impossible and a central romance between the leading characters as the world comes apart around them.
``What we tried to do is create an event,'' says executive producer John Davis, who calls ``Asteroid'' a work of science ``faction'' rather than fiction, because ``We were all critically aware that asteroids hitting the Earth are quite possible.''
NBC, in fact, suggested such a film to Davis while the world counted the days until the comet collision with Jupiter. He now believes his film may have a beneficial social purpose beyond its initial goal of piling up big ratings during the crucial February ratings ``sweeps'' period: getting the public behind a government-financed program to find and chart orbiting asteroids that someday may pose a hazard to Earth.
``It's painstakingly researched,'' Davis says. ``Everything here is very real.''
Davis says he also wanted to reflect the resilience of the human spirit in the face of tragedy, something he believes was amply demonstrated in the reaction of Oklahoma City residents to the bombing of the federal building there.
``A lot of this is about how people respond and take care of each other and pull back together,'' Davis says.
NBC is hoping ``Asteroid'' will repeat the ratings success of ``Pandora's Clock'' last November. Still the top-rated miniseries for the season, ``Pandora's Clock'' attracted the attention of 24 percent of all those watching TV at the time. If it does, we may be in for an even longer cycle of TV disaster movies.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Annabella Sciorra and Michael Biehn race against time toby CNBsave the planet from a catastrophic natural disaster in NBC's
``Asteroid.'' The two-part drama airs Sunday and Monday at 9 p.m. on
WSLS-Channel 10. color.