The ’90s were a great time to be a science fiction fan. “Star Trek” got a second wind with Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and “The Next Generation,” while Kirk (William Shatner) was holding down the fort on a cinematic scale before his death in “Star Trek: Generations.” Other shows would also make a name for themselves in the form of multiverse-hopping, “Sliders,” and the short-lived, Roy Scheider-starring series “SeaQuest DSV,” but one show that might not get a lot of love is “Time Trax,” a show that was a mish-mash of all of the greats and laid groundwork for others that would eventually arrive.
Originally airing in 1993, “Time Trax” starred Dale Midkiff as Captain Darien Lambert, a lawman from the year 2193 on a solo mission to retrieve over 100 criminals who escaped into the past to avoid capture (which, after doing the math, also allowed the show some very safe production budgets). As for Lambert, he and a holographic AI named SELMA head back into a parallel universe to track down lawbreakers and send them back to the future. Between missions, Lambert desperately tries not to mess with the pesky space-time continuum and to avoid being killed by the show’s big bad, Dr. Mordecai Sahmbi, who orchestrated the massive prison break.
Time Trax took Quantum Leaps in its execution but didn’t last long
To skim over the plot details of “Time Trax,” it’s hard not to compare the short-lived series to the more well-known, much-loved classic show, “Quantum Leap.” Lambert is the badge-carrying equivalent of Scott Bakula’s Sam Beckett, just as Elizabeth Alexander’s SELMA is to Dean Stockwell’s Al. One thing Lambert did beat Beckett on, though, was a cool credit-card-shaped gizmo that worked like a phaser, sending his targets back to their time to face sentencing. Even with that tried-and-tested formula, though, it didn’t quite capture audiences the way the one that ran for five seasons did.
Earning not even nearly the same cult following as shows like “Quantum Leap,” “Time Trax” only lasted for two seasons, but did play around with some interesting ideas with the time that it had. Unlike “Quantum Leap,” this show explored the possibilities of time travel more, with criminals using what they knew from their time to mess with the past for their benefit (think Biff Tannen and the Almanac in “Back to the Future”).
Unlike all the other time-traveling tales listed, “Time Trax” really does appear to have faded into the past and isn’t available to stream on any services as of this writing. Given its limited following, there isn’t enough interest in Lambert and SELMA’s adventures to keep it going like the rest. That doesn’t stop it from being a forgotten part of television history and an entertaining watch.
Source: www.bgr.com
