Prey
Things are not looking good for the human race. Another human look-a-like species has quietly been evolving and is now ready to knock us off the top of the food chain - and as their cheery motto implies ("You will all die") it doesn't look like they're too keen on keeping us as neighbours....
Fortunately for us, bioanthropologist Dr Sloan Parker (Debra Messing) has spotted the critters and is soon on the case trying to figure out who's human and who's not. This is not as easy as it sounds.
While the new species' DNA differs from ours by a staggering 1.6% (the reason we're not swinging in trees and chasing bananas is a 0.6% DNA difference between us and monkeys) they do unfortunately look like us, sound like us and occupy lots of creepy positions of power too. Just to make matters worse, they're also faster, stronger, have got brains that a Pentium chip would be jealous of, and annoyingly are mildly psychic as well...
As Parker and her friends [Tom "I'm-from-another-species-but-I-kinda-fan
cy you" Daniels (Adam Storke); Dr Ed "I'm-from-your-species-but-you-don't-fanc
y-me" Tate (Vincent Ventresca); Ray "Too-tough-a-cop-to-believe-this-1.6%-mal
arky" Peterson (Frankie R. Faison); and Dr "Conspiracy theories surround me in dark shrouds" Attwood (Larry Drake)] discover, time is running out for the human race and if they don't do something soon the score line will probably read - Superior Psychotic Human Hating Species: 1, Wimpy Homo Sapiens Burdened By Pointless Emotions: 0.
Cue the next war of evolution...
Prey is another one of those American shows that was cancelled right after the first series was complete. As with Brimstone and Vengeance Unlimited, dedicated fans have organised a multitude of websites, petitions and events in an attempt to bring back the show. You can find a selection of links, from the plethora available online, below.
Prey is a 13 part series broadcast on Thursday nights from April 27 onwards
Links
Prey For Us Campaign - petition information, latest news and events.
Prey Domain Page - unofficial fan site. Simple, informative and up to date.
PFU Message Board - a forum touted as : "the main gathering place for Prey enthusiasts since 1998! Very friendly!"
The Unofficial Prey Fan Site - out of date (1998) but good resources.
Prey Pursuits - out of date (1998) but site that expanded upon the theories Prey covered as they were developed.
Lucy's Prey Fiction Site - up to date (March 2000) fan fiction site with links.
Note: As of going to server there is no official Prey website.
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Show 6/13 "Infiltration" tx: June 01
Humanity's finest crack troops (three anthrobiologists, one wanna-be human and an overweight cop) play more king-of-the-evolutionary-castle games this week when an investigative journalist literally crashes and burns with a woman he picks up in a bar. Sloan and others realise he's being targeted by the new hostile species and try to find out why they want to kill him. But while Tom does his best 'I'm a walking detector of evil' radar impression, and Ed 'comforts' young suicidal girls, the harsh realities of fighting for humanity creep up on Detective Peterson. It may be a damn noble thing to do, but it just don't pay the bills...This week's inferior gene: - Ed Tate's minuscule "tact" gene - When faced with a young hysterical girl who's displaying suicidal tendencies, Ed decides to cheer her up by telling her that the serial killer who nearly executed her, did in fact belong to another species which is bent upon the total destruction of humanity. Nice one, Ed...
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Show 5/13 "Revelations" tx: May 25
More evolutionary war against "they who walk with the gods, carry big machine guns and live in easily combustible wooden houses" as humanities finest reveal how to steal ancient valuable artefacts buried in someone else's country (get a big truck and drive over everything in your way). After unearthing a giant metal pillar from the Mexican desert it's upto Sloan Parker and her cohorts to try and decipher the strange symbols etched upon it (and hope they haven't got it upside down) before its rather miffed owners turn up to reclaim it. Ed and Tom have a boys night in with computers, junk food and drugs; Dr Attwood continues to successfully practice his "I've got my own sinister agenda" hobby; and Detective Peterson discovers that hunting down hostile species in L.A. can upset your marriage, work and health - especially when there's hails of bullets flying at you...This week superior gene - the "armour plated wooden pallet" gene as humanities carpenters fight back against the new species by creating a wooden pallets capable of deflecting machine gun bullets, despite only being a few centimetres thick...
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Show 4/13 "Origins" tx: May 18
Humanity's rather under-covered war for survival continues when bioanthropologist Dr Sloan Parker (literally) trips across the mummified remains of a 10 year old "girl" buried in the Mexican desert. Is this the new species' garden of Eden? And if so, why is there a strange looking manhole buried in the ground? Meanwhile Dr "There's more to me than meets the eye" Attwood decides it's time that he admits to his extra-curricular activities and reveal exactly why he likes to hang out in car parks. Finally, bad-guy-turned-good Tom Daniels learns the high price of not phoning home and seeing how your mother is doing...This week's inferior gene: Ed Tate's "selective hearing" gene - Despite sitting next door to Parker while she screams "Tom?! Tom?!" down the phone, Ed demonstrates why humanity's psychic gene isn't quite dead when he asks "It's Tom, isn't it?"
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Show 3/13 "Pursuit" tx: May 11
Investments in police cork boards go up as, in this week's episode of mankind's war against evolution, escaped serial killer Randall Lynch goes on the rampage and triples the LAPD's workload. Help arrives in the female form of Dr Sloan Parker (bioanthropologist/increasingly professional private detective) who makes a startlingly discovery about Lynch's early warning system ("Ooh! Look at that!"). Can she gain the trust of fake FBI agent Tom Daniels ("I'm supposed to kill you but can't we just be friends?") and stop Lynch (who curiously despite being of a superior species still lives in a cave) before he adds to his handbag and glasses collection again? If she can, how will Daniels' old friends feel about him suddenly batting for the other side? And to top it off why is 7.50 pm such a fashionable time to set your house on fire? Questions, questions, questions. This week's superior gene: Randall Lynch's "Fire Proof Truck" gene - despite a hefty bout of self immolation a stolen truck miraculously survives intense flames without a lick of paint missing.
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Show 2/13 "Discovery" tx: May 04
Attwood hampers Sloan and Ray's attempts to investigate the new breed. Tom reveals the deadly truth to Sloan.This week's superior gene: Tom Daniels' "invisible bed" gene - Tom's secret inhuman bed, the source of all his power, has hitherto escaped all previous notice, despite being stuck in an empty room underneath his big bay windows.
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Show 1/13 "Existence" tx: April 27
Another chance to see the dark 'n' scary US action series. Dr Sloan Parker (Debra Messing) is a bioanthropologist working in a DNA research lab, when her normal day of squeezing liquid into tubes is interrupted by the murder of the head researcher. Sloan realises it's probably got something to do with their recent testimony in the trail of crazy (but still ruggedly good-looking) serial killer Randall Lynch. With the help of Dr Ed Tate (who clearly fancies her), she discovers that Randall isn't quite human. More specifically his genetic makeup differs from human by 1.6%. This isn't a freak occurrence - a new genotype of human is fighting for survival against Homo sapiens. FBI agent Tom Daniels appears to be keen on helping Sloan solve this mystery, but Sloan can't be sure who to trust... This week's superior gene: Randall Lynch's "bullet resistance" gene - he's shot in the chest by a military assault rifle, the only apparent effect of which is to make him fall over.
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