Join the Sci Fi Reunion on FOX’s Human Target
March 10th, 2010 CommentsCategories: Articles, John J. Joex
By John J. Joex
Have you tuned in for FOX’s adaptation of the DC comic series Human Target yet? If not, you need to clear you schedule on Wednesdays at 8 PM EST and make this appointment television. Not only does the show give us a witty, tightly-written, action/adventure yarn each week, it has also packed each episode with any of a number of faces familiar to Science Fiction and Fantasy fans. This of course begins with the show’s excellent cast which includes Mark Valley in the lead role (he played Olivia’s late beau John Scott in the early episodes of Fringe) along with his two assistants played by Chi McBride (cantankerous Emerson Cod from Pushing Daises), and Jackie Earl Haley (Rorschach from Watchmen and soon to appear on the big screen as the next Freddy Krueger).
These three along with the variety of veterans from other Science Fiction and Fantasy shows each episode has paraded across the screen have have really made this a standout series. I do not know if the producers have intentionally sought after these familiar faces to give Human Target some additional genre cred or if it just happened that way, but it gives yet another reason to tune in each week. Following are the faces that I have noticed so far across the first six episodes:
Ep 1 – “Pilot”: Two Battlestar Galactica vets joined in for the inaugural episode – Tricia Helfer (Number 6) and Donnelly Rhodes (Doctor Cottle)
Ep 2 – “Rewind”: Yet another ex-BSGer Alessandro Juliani (Felix Gaeta) stopped by along with Sean Owen Roberts (Painkiller Jane)
Ep 3 – “Embassy Row”: Smallville mainstay from that show’s early years Emmanuelle Vaugier (Dr. Helen Bryce) guest-starred.
Ep 4 – “Sanctuary”: Could the presence of William Mapother (Ethan from Lost) suggest a possible connection to that show’s sideways world? Also, Sam Huntington (Superman Returns, Fanboys) made an appearance.
Ep 5 – “Run”: Kristin Lehman (Strange World, Andromeda, Century City) stopped by, and the presence of William B. Davis (Smoking Man from The X-Files) made us a bit nervous (conspiracies and alternate universes colliding?).
Ep 6 – “Lockdown”: Alias uber-geek Kevin Weisman (Marshall Flinkman) stopped by to play, well, an uber-geek. And yet another X-Files vet, Mitch Pileggi (Assistant Director Skinner), made an appearance along with Autumn Reeser (Valentine).
The series returns tonight after taking a break for a few weeks and has a couple more faces that genre fans might recognize as well in Leonor Varela (guest-starred on Stargate: Atlantis) and Kim Coates (various guest-star and supporting roles including Smallville and the Hercules mini-series from 2005). In addition, an article on Sci Fi Wire reveals that Lenny James (Jericho), Grace Park (Battlestar Galactica), Amy Acker (Dollhouse), and Moon Bloodgood (Journeyman, Terminator: Salvation) will be showing up in the coming weeks. So be sure to tune in and play the game of “what genre show did that guest-star appear on?” Or just sit back and enjoy this comic book come to life which delivers a fun, very entertaining, over-the-top hour of television.
Watch Full Episodes of the Human Target Online at Hulu.com
Go to TV.com for more info on the Human Target including Episode guides and Cast bios
Pickup the first issue of the all-new Human Target comic book series as well as the collections of his previous adventures at TFAW.com:























