If you can't afford the disaster porn at the multiplex, look no look no further than NBC's Survival Sundays. The action-packed miniseries events are a mixed bag of underworked actors and hackneyed natural disaster plots, but they do serve a purpose. Not only are they $14 cheaper than certain Katherine Heigl vehicles, but they make us wistful for a simpler time: the mid-to-late nineties. Even if you missed the first installment of The Storm last night, have no fear. There will be another installment next week and we have a few ideas for future events featuring your favorite Clinton-era television stars.
In the first chapter of The Storm, James Van Der Beek played a scientist who has to scramble to close the ionosphere to restore natural weather patterns after his own weather machine caused some serious disruptions in the five-day forecast. Ironically, the scariest weathering was present on guest star Luke Perry's face, but it was great to see John Larroquette and JAG alum David James Elliott cavorting about like they were still in their early 40's.
In the spirit of The Storm and the previous Survival Sunday potboiler Meteor (starring Jason Alexander, Marla Sokoloff and Christopher Lloyd), here are the cataclysms we hope are on the way:
Hail (Working title: Sleet)
A plucky research assistant, Erin Thompson (Larisa Oleynik), travels to the far reaches of the Yukon Territory to find rogue scientist Derek Fremantle (French Stewart), the only person who can explain the freak storms sweeping the Pacific Northwest. While racing against nature and Canadian death squads, Erin and Derek's precipitating romance threatens to distract them from stopping a regional ice-out.
Warm Front
When down-on-her-luck Kansas City masseuse (Tiffani Thiessen) notices an advancing mass of warm air, she is forced to contact the only person who can help: Her ex-husband. But can the Green Beret ex (Jonathan Silverman) overcome his post-traumatic stress disorder to prevent Western Missouri from experiencing hazy visibility and scattered thunderstorms?
Nor'easter
After an unexpected storm decimates the annual meteorologist conference in Hartford, Connecticut, untested Flagstaff, Arizona weatherman Skip Worthington (Jaleel White) must warn the residents of the greater New England area. But with television signal relays failing across the Eastern Seaboard, will Skip be able to get word to the fishing communities of Massachusetts in time to save them from destruction?
Tropical Depression
When low atmospheric pressure threatens the Caymans, melancholy scientist Cheryl Garrett (Sharon Lawrence) is forced out of isolation and into the storm. Out of hope, out of Zoloft and out of time, will Cheryl be able to track the depression (and cope with her own depression) before it develops into a full-blown hurricane? Jane Leeves voices a sentient computer program.
Eclipse
When a renegade astronaut (Andrew Shue) takes the shuttle into space during a solar flare-up, NASA has only 24 hours to save the crew before they temporarily lose the light. It is up to one NASA retiree (Jerry Van Dyke) and a department store manager (Lea Thompson) to stop the space tragedy. Meanwhile in Hong Kong, a gambling-addicted astrophysicist (Tia Carrere) attempts to convince a worried populous that the eclipse is not a harbinger of the end of days. Bronson Pinchot guest-stars as the Prime Minister of England.