MERCY POINT by Kelso

OTHER SCIENCE FICTION SERIES

MERCY POINT

POSTED BY: KELSO
UPDATED: Wednesday, May 4, 2005 10:54
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 2991
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Monday, January 5, 2004 10:31 AM

Hey, did anyone ever catch the series MERCY POINT when it was airing a few years back? It looked interesting, but I never got around to watching it.

I wonder if the episodes are available out there in any format... I'd be interested in checking it out.

-------
Well, here I am.

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Thursday, January 29, 2004 9:52 AM

SAMURAIX47

It sucked. What they should have done for that show was take James White's Sector General series of short stories and novels and used that as a basis for a hospital in space tv series.

Jaymes

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Saturday, January 31, 2004 1:11 AM

DYAIRVATREE

You know something I learned a lot from that series. You see they advertized the hell out of the piliot episode but I missed it. I ment to watch it but forgot. I thought it was a series and tooned in to the apointed time week after week but it was never on. This is the reason I was carefull to tape Firefly because I knew if I didn't it would dissapear without a trace.

I'm glad Firefly didn't dissapear but if it wasn't for Mercy Point I wouldn't have taped with such fear and wouldn't today be such a great fan of Firefly.

I'm glad SamuriX47 says it sucks it makes me feel beter about the thing. But I will allways remember Mercy Point teaching me to enjoy sci-fi while I can cause tomarrow my be to late.

God bless Mercy Point.

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Monday, September 20, 2004 8:13 AM

CREVANREAVER

Here is the Mercy Point Timeline that was posted on the now defunct official website for the show!

I managed to find it a long time ago, cached on the search engine Gigablast. However it can no longer be found.

Good thing I saved it!

YEAR EVENT

2001 First Comprehensive Computerized Medical Database Created (very early predecessor to HIPPOCRATES).

2002 International Space Station construction completed - becomes operational in Earth's orbit.

2009 AIDS virus cure found.

2012 Complete map of the human brain specifically identifies all physiological and emotional centers of activity.

2024 First Lunar Colony established - for mine workers and families.

2031 Advances in genetic technology make human organ growing and cloning possible.

2038 Energy Depletion Crisis on Earth - Global Environmental Alliance established to resolve crisis.

2046 Lunar Colony expanded to accomodate Earth's growing population.

2054 First experimental cyborg completed.

2097 Mars colony established - first officially documented encounter with alien life form - Krell species - lower life form used as slave labor.

2103 Human cloning experiment approved and successfully attempted - breed new workers, among other purposes.

2143 Space exploration to Jupiter discovers planet is too unstable for colonization.

2166 Space exploration goes beyond Neptune into Pluto's orbit.

2181 Probes dispatched into unknown areas of deep space known as the Sahartic Divide - none return.

2196 Visgear/Mem-print technology first successfully used to download/record human memory.

2200 HIPPOCRATES Medical Interface created.

2210 Grote Maxwell born on Callisto Gas Mine.

2213 Haylen Breslauer born on Earth.

2217 Caleb Jurado born on L.E.O. colony.

2218 Dru Breslauer born on Aries Station, off Venus.

2222 Grote Maxwell's mother dies from alien-contracted disease.

2230 As a member of an Environmental Response Team, Caleb Jurado makesfirst trip to Earth to fight the threat of deforestation.

2231 Haylen and Dru Breslauer are abandoned by their mother.

2233 Dru Breslauer leaves the supervision of sister, Haylen.

2239 Caleb Jurado meets Dru Breslauer and they become romantically involved.

2244 Haylen Breslauer arrives at Mercy Point.

2247 Grote Maxwell begins his tenure as Primary Alien Physiologist at Mercy Point.

2248 Caleb Jurado is made Director of Extra-Vehicular Medicine at Mercy Point.

2249 MERCY POINT IS FULLY FUNCTIONAL.

Here is the address I found it at. Like I wrote, it doesn't work anymore.

http://www.gigablast.com/get?q=mercy+point+timeline&rtq=0&d=1922440248
57

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Wednesday, May 4, 2005 10:54 AM

CREVANREAVER

Using the Internet Archive, I was able to find some other things from the now-defunct UPN site.

The World of Mercy Point

250 years into the future, the galaxy is a very different place. However,in many ways it is still very similar to the world we know today. Driven toward exploration and expansion, the people of Earth have ventured into the outer reaches of our solar system, encountering both higher and lower forms of life along the way - and with some difficulty, ultimately embracing the undeniable fact that we are not alone in the universe. Earth, once the only potential home for human beings in the galaxy, has now become the "beachfront property" of the universe, an exclusive enclave home only to those fortunate enough to be part of the upper crust of the galactic caste system. Other humans have been forced to take up residence on the mines of the moon or move to one of a series of space stations sprinkled throughout the galaxy. The end result thus far of this inter-stellar colonization is a flotilla of independent space stations known collectively as Jericho.

With approximately 50,000 human and alien residents, Jericho is a frontier outpost perched on the boundary of an unknown and "unstable" region of deepspace known as - the Sahartic Divide. Because many probes have been sent into the Sahartic but very few have returned, Jericho has sprung up overthe past two decades as part of an inter-species alliance so that collectively we may begin to explore the Sahartic interior. Yet, as competing interests actively direct these pursuits, they set the stage for the colony's socio-political structure. From corporate interest and financial opportunists, to independent prospecting and scientific research, to a continued presence of the military establishment, all of these often opposing forces are governed by a body known as the Inter-Species Council, or ISC.

In spite of the differing agendas of the colony's stations and its populus, there still remains on Jericho a necessary concern about the impermanent, uncertain, and evolving nature of life. Humans and aliens still get sick, still get hurt, and yes, even this far in the future - still die. Forthose reasons and a host of others, Mercy Point was first constructed -rotating at the center of Jericho itself. A self-contained, state-of-the-art emergency hospital with a uniquely skilled staff and an experimental charter to treat both humans and aliens, Mercy Point represents the vanguard of interstellar medicine. At this space-age hospital, a month's journey from the Earth, doctors use the latest in 23rd century medical technology to deal with everything from commonplace ailments to serious health risks - all the while, maintaining perhaps the clearest agenda in the galaxy: "Heal all."

In this intense and exacting environment, the staff members of Mercy Point are daily faced with cases as unpredictable as the void just beyond our galaxy's end. Nonetheless, it is a wholly exciting and challenging experience: the implications of medical innovation and advancement amidst an inter-species endeavor such as this provide for endless acclaim and conflict. For each of its doctors, and indeed for every patient who arrives, Mercy Point represents an exploration into more than just the future of medicine. Mercy Point is the future of how lives will collide, coexist, begin, end...and mend.

In-Depth

"Mercy Point", a futuristic medical drama set on an experimental spacestation in the 23rd Century, follows the lives of a groupof passionate doctors, the patients they treat, and the dilemmas they face on a daily basis.

Dr. Grote Maxwell (Morton), is the primary emergency physician at Mercy Point, the first medical facility designed to treat both humans and aliens.This facility, located on the edge of known territory, offers a safe haven of healing for the competing military, cultural and corporate interests that are battling for control of the unexplored space beyond.

This means that the Mercy Point crew is on the cutting edge of 23rd Century medicine, dealing with patients and cases that run the gamut from the complicated to the mundane. Despite the show's futuristic setting, the medical and ethical issues the doctors confront transcend the time period. With once unimaginable procedures such as human cloning and brain transplants now realistic possibilities, the Mercy Point staff is forced to address timeless issues such as the value of human life, and the high costs of progress.

Joining Maxwell at this remarkable medical facility is Dr.Haylen Breslauer (Maria Del Mar), the highly skilled Director of Medicine who is as much

Maxwell's friend as his superior. In addition to overseeing the staff, Haylen must deal with a much more personal issue when her younger sister, Dr. DruBreslauer (Alexandra Wilson), arrives at Mercy Point, rekindling along-standing sibling rivalry.

Rounding out the Mercy Point staff are Dr. Caleb "C.J." Jurado (BrianMcNamara), the Director of Extra-Vehicular Medicine, ANI (Julia Pennington), an android nurse, Dr. Rema Cook (Gay Thomas-Wilson), a well-respected psycho-surgeon, and Dr. Batung (Jordan Lund), an alien surgeon who is less than fond of human beings.

Production Notes

Combining poignant stories of life and death in a hospital emergency roomwith the intense action of a 23rd Century space station, "Mercy Point"brings a unique mix of television drama in its debut season. Thisfuturistic medical drama focuses on the lives of a team of passionate anddedicated doctors working in the deep-space hospital, Mercy Point. Located on the edge of the known galaxy, this experimental space-age hospital isthe first medical facility designed to treat both humans and aliens.

"Although it is set in the year 2249, there is a certain timeless aspect to this show," said executive producer Lee David Zlotoff. "What we want people to see is that although the world has changed, human nature is still the same - people are still going to live, die, and fall in love just like they do now."

The show's commitment to compelling storytelling shines through in its treatment of complex medical, ethical and moral issues. These stories maybe set 250 years in the future, but their themes transcend time and space.

"'Mercy Point' is not a typical science fiction show," said executive producer Joe Voci. "It's a thought-provoking drama that revolves around the lives and emotions of our characters; it's the future of the human heart."

The show's creator and executive producer Trey Callaway adds, "The dilemmas the doctors of Mercy Point will face fall into three categories: they are either current problems which futuristic technology has allowed us to solve; new problems which we encounter in the future and are beginning to solve; or new problems that we still have no solutions for, even in the 23rd Century."

The patients who come to this safe haven of healing bring with them a full spectrum of medical concerns, ranging from the ordinary to theextraordinary. The talented doctors of Mercy Point may find themselves comforting a child whose stomach is upset after sharing an alien classmate's lunch, while at the same time working to find an antidote for a deadly computer virus which is infecting human beings.

Leading the hand-picked team of experts who have volunteered to work at Mercy Point is Dr. Grote Maxwell (Joe Morton, Speed, Blues Brothers 2000),a primary emergency physician whose gentle but rock-solid demeanor earnshim the respect of his peers and wins him the confidence of his patients. Grote's boss, Dr. Haylen Breslauer (Maria Del Mar, Tek War), is the highly-skilled Director of Medicine who is as much a friend to Maxwell as she is a superior. Haylen is responsible for overseeing the Mercy Pointstaff, including its newest addition, her sister, Dr. Dru Breslauer(Alexandra Wilson, Small Soldiers). Dru, a resident physician, not only brings a great deal of enthusiasm to her new post, but stirs up along-standing sibling rivalry with Haylen.

Further complicating her arrival at Mercy Point is Dru's past romantic history with Mercy Point's Director of Extra-Vehicular Medicine, Caleb "C.J." Jurado (Brian McNamara, Billionaire Boys Club). C.J., who is responsible for making house calls as well as tending to patients while in transport to the hospital, has been romantically involved with Dru in the past, but is currently involved with someone else.

Rounding out the ensemble is ANI (Julia Pennington, All My Children), a non-human "android nursing interface" whose superb abilities are often resented by the human nursing staff; Dr. Rema Cook (Gay Thomas-Wilson,Seinfeld), a well-respected psycho-surgeon from Earth eager to join the Mercy Point staff; and Dr. Batung (Jordan Lund, An American President), a prickly alien surgeon whose tremendous knowledge and ability is marred by his less-than-friendly opinion of humans.

From the moment a patient is admitted to Mercy Point, the technological advances of the 23rd Century are evident. Auto gurneys transport patients to the trauma room, where, instead of taking x-rays, the doctors activate a scanner to view 3D computer images floating above the patients. Everpresent throughout all medical procedures is HIPPOCRATES, a talking computerized database, which is linked to every operating room in Mercy Point and provides doctors with instantaneous background information and advice on all patients.

A number of futuristic treatments also aid the doctors in their work. Artificial wombs allow undelivered babies to be taken from the mother andplaced in a virtual embryo, greatly improving the mother's and child'schance of survival, and it has even become possible to transplant the human conscience from one person to another.

"The producers have been very inventive with the medical cases depicted in 'Mercy Point'," comments Dr. Mark Brown, emergency room physician, author and medical consultant to the series. "They're looking at all kinds of fascinating questions. How will we deal with cancer in the future? What's the effect of weightlessness over long periods of time? How will the discoveries we're now making about the workings of our genetics influence the process of aging and degenerative diseases in the future? While it's set 250 years in the future, the series deals with medical issues that are logical extensions of problems we're grappling with today."

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