This year has not been kind to that long-suffering television genre, the miniseries. Just this past month, CBS's heavily hyped "Master Spy" bowed to less-than-stellar ratings, bad news for a network in the middle of sweeps. 
   Still, this hasn't stopped the Sci-Fi Channel from going forward with its ambitious 20-hour movie, "Taken." From Steven Spielberg, the series, which premieres tonight at 9 p.m. and airs every weeknight through Dec. 13, represents a huge leap forward--at least publicity-wise--for the folks at Sci-Fi. Viewers will recall that the network's last newsworthy event was making the boneheaded decision to cancel the stellar series "Farscape." 
   Because of its length, 20 hours, and scope--the film follows the lives of three families from the 1940s up to today--"Taken" obviously aspires to be the "Roots" of science fiction television. 
   Sadly it's more akin to a longer, soggier episode of "Amazing Stories," Spielberg's short-lived anthology show from the 1980s. 
   The film certainly looks great, its reported $40 million budget having been put to good use, and it does feature moments of genuine excitement and emotion. 
   Most of the time, however, "Taken" feels aimless and padded, as if the writers are as uncertain about the plot as the audience is. In an odd move, Sci-Fi only provided the second and ninth episodes for preview. 
   Fortunately the tape for episode two, entitled "Jacob and Jesse," included a brief recap of the first installment, "Beyond the Sky." That episode opens in the midst of a World War II aerial battle when a squadron of American fighter planes, led by ace pilot Captain Russell Keys (Steve Burton), is enveloped by a strange blue light that saves both him and his men from being blown to bits.
   Once the battle is over, however, none of the soldiers remembers what happened or how they made it out alive.
   Flash-forward to 1947 and Keys has returned home to his family but is plagued by headaches and terrible dreams. 
   At the same time, halfway across the country, Captain Owen Crawford (Joel Gretsch) is investigating the crash of a mysterious spacecraft in Roswell, N.M. 
   An ambitious, unscrupulous man, Crawford uses the discovery to advance his own career, getting his higher-ups to appoint him as head of a new task force devoted to solving the UFO's riddles.
   The final important player is Sally Clarke (Catherine Dent), a lonely single mother who, in a scene that deliberately echoes Spielberg's "E.T.," awakens one night to find a strange man hiding in her tool shed. Although she and her two kids are initially wary of him, Sally soon finds herself falling for the kindhearted visitor.
   Eventually he tells her the truth: He is not of this world and must return to his home planet before he is found and captured by the military. Just as he is about to leave, they share one night of passion that leaves Sally pregnant.
   Episode Two, "Jacob and Jesse," takes place 11 years after these events. Russell Keys has abandoned his family, including his young son Jesse. Crawford is still in charge of the military's UFO program, although his position is in jeopardy if he doesn't come up with answers soon.
    Meanwhile, Sally's son Jacob is starting to display talents no other child possesses.
   But that's a lot of backstory for an episode where not very much happens. Indeed, "Jacob and Jesse" unfolds at a glacial pace as the three families deal with internal and external troubles, all the while keeping a watchful eye on the skies. 
   On the one hand, it's nice to see a series that doesn't feel the need to rush from event to event with breathless urgency. But if story isn't going to be a primary focus, there has to be something else--like, say, interesting characters or thought-provoking themes--to hold the viewer's attention. 
   Based on this episode, "Taken" has neither of the above. It's not the actors' fault. The producers have assembled a strong ensemble of performers who do their very best to draw something out of the underwritten characters. 
   The problem lies entirely with the film's writer, Leslie Bohem, who begins with an interesting concept but is unable to successfully exploit it over the course of 10 episodes. By the ninth installment, which this reviewer could only watch a half-hour of before growing too bored, the film appears to turn into a run-of-the-mill action/adventure story, with a bunch of soldiers running around another crashed spaceship.
   Had "Taken" been trimmed by at least five hours, it would no doubt be a much more engaging film. 
   To cite the old adage, sometimes size just doesn't matter. 

December 2, 2002© 2002 Media Life

-Ethan Alter is a New York writer and a regular contributor to Media Life.

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