Seven Days (TV series)

Seven Days (also written as 7 Days) is an American science fiction television series based on the premise of time travel. It was created by Christopher and Zachary Crowe[1] and produced by UPN from October 7, 1998 to May 29, 2001.

Seven Days
GenreScience fiction
Created by
Starring
ComposerScott Gilman
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes66 (list of episodes)
Production
Production locations
  • United States
  • Canada
Running time42 minutes
Production companies
Distributor
Release
Original networkUPN
Original releaseOctober 7, 1998 (1998-10-07) –
May 29, 2001 (2001-05-29)

Synopsis

The plot follows a secret branch of the US National Security Agency, which has developed a time travelling device based upon alien technology found at Roswell. As the opening of the show recounts, the Chronosphere, or Backstep Sphere, is capable of sending “one human being back in time seven days” to avert disasters. The show's name refers to the fact that the Backstep Project can only backstep seven days due to limitations imposed by the fuel source and its reactor. As the fuel source is limited, there is a strict mandate that the backstep is confined to events relating directly to national security. The backstep team and the equipment are stationed in a base in a secret location somewhere in the desert of Nevada called Never Never Land—a play on Area 51, or Groom Lake Flight Test Facilities, also known as Dreamland.

Cast
  • U.S. Navy Commander Francis "Frank" Bartholomew Parker (Jonathan LaPaglia), a former Navy SEAL and ex-CIA operative who was brought out of a secret government mental institution – due to a mental breakdown he had suffered as a result of being tortured while being a prisoner in Somalia – to be the project's chrononaut. It is often said that Parker's mental problems are what allow him to be such a good chrononaut. Parker's youth was spent in a Philadelphia area orphanage. He is divorced and has a son whom he doesn't see often. He expresses romantic interest in Olga, but is continually turned down for dates. Two running gags are that first, every time he actually succeeds in his pursuit of Olga (including the first episode), he is forced to "Backstep" to a time before it occurs, and is unable to duplicate the events that led to his success. He also occasionally drinks to excess and has a gambling problem, which leads to the second gag: every time Parker tries to profit from gambling on events he recalls from the future, he picks the losing side (the lone exception to this is when he gambles to get a bankroll for a charitable purpose). Technically, he's an NSA agent but, outside of a mission, he can't leave the Project's headquarters, which chafes him. He always tries to get around the rules in an ongoing battle of wills with security chief Nathan Ramsey. His codename is "Conundrum".
  • Dr. Olga Vukavitch (Justina Vail), a Russian doctor who worked in the Russian version of the Backstep Project, which, without any technology from the Roswell crash, never reached operational level. She lost her husband in an accident. She grows to like Frank (whom she addresses formally) at times, but is almost invariably put off by some new show of his crassness or arrogance (although Frank often manages to overcome this, only to have to Backstep). Despite this, many episodes reveal that she has a hidden affection for Frank, and she always thinks of him shortly before she dies in a previous timeline.
  • U.S. Navy Captain Craig Donovan (Don Franklin), Navy SEAL and Project Backstep's military advisor/tactical coordinator and backup chrononaut. He is an old friend of Frank's from the SEAL teams, who led the operation to rescue him in Mogadishu. Throughout the three seasons, he never got a chance to replace Frank as the Chrononaut. He has donned the flight suit a few times, but each time before he makes it for Backstep, Frank shows up and takes over after all. It was always mentioned that his pain tolerance is lower than Frank's and thus, he's unable to steer the needles as well as Frank during a Backstep.
  • Dr. Bradley Talmadge (Alan Scarfe), director of the Backstep Project operations and a long-time member of the NSA intelligence community. Although middle-aged, he is shown several times to still have excellent combat skills.
  • NSA Agent Nathan Ramsey (Nick Searcy), Backstep Project security chief. A short-tempered, highly opinionated man, he opposes Frank becoming chrononaut and is therefore made the prime target of Parker's practical jokes. Ramsey is portrayed to be conservative, and he always makes politically incorrect statements supporting the use of force to quickly end problems (but the way he puts it is always funny instead of malicious). Ramsey's area of expertise is intelligence and counter-intelligence. His job is to use the information that Frank Parker gives him to avert disasters, but Frank commonly fulfills the missions himself. Ramsey is also the man the NSA sends out to retrieve Frank when the Ex-Seal makes unscheduled disappearances from the base.
  • Dr. Isaac Mentnor (Norman Lloyd) (seasons 1–2, guest appearances in season 3), a scientist with a shadowy past that's tied into the Roswell cover-up, Dr. Mentnor was the man who initially conceived the Backstep project.
  • Dr. John Ballard (Sam Whipple) (seasons 1–2). The wheelchair-using resident genius on the Backstep Project. Ballard is responsible for calibrating and maintaining the Spheres and keeping them active to allow for a quick Backstep if needed. In the fourth episode of season 3, he won a tropical island in a poker match in Las Vegas and married two girls, but he's not sure whom, since he was a little drunk at the time. So he took some time off to straighten things out.
  • Andrew "Hooter" Owsley (Kevin Christy) (season 3). A young physics prodigy whom Ballard suggested as his replacement. He works with Dr. Mentnor to enhance the existing Backstep technology and has been shown occasionally to have a secret crush on Olga.

Production

Three seasons of Seven Days were produced. All three seasons have been shown in North America, and by the BBC in the United Kingdom.

Seven Days was based on an idea from Kerry McCluggage, then-president of Paramount Television. He pitched the idea to Christopher Crowe, who mixed it with his own research on Area 51 to create the series. The show wasn't a hit with reviewers, who criticized the show's "flimsy" premise and violence.[1]

Original cast member Sam Whipple, who played Dr. John Ballard, left the series four episodes into the third season, due to a cancer diagnosis that was eventually fatal. He was replaced by Kevin Christy as young physics prodigy Andrew "Hooter" Owsley for the rest of the season.[1]

Justina Vail, who played Dr. Olga Vukavitch, quit the series before the end of the third season, though she agreed to film a few extra scenes to wrap-up her character's arc. Her departure and the tensions within the cast, as well as the show's low ratings, played a role in UPN's decision to not renew the series for a fourth season.[1]

Episodes
Main article: List of Seven Days episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
121October 7, 1998 (1998-10-07)May 26, 1999 (1999-05-26)
223September 29, 1999 (1999-09-29)May 24, 2000 (2000-05-24)
322October 11, 2000 (2000-10-11)May 29, 2001 (2001-05-29)

DVD release

On November 26, 2018, Visual Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 for the first time.[2]

Awards

Seven Days was nominated for six awards, winning one.[3][1][4][5] Actress Justina Vail won a Saturn Award in 2000 for her performance on the show.[1]

Year Award Organization Category Nominee Result Ref(s)
1998 ADG Excellence in Production Design Award Art Directors Guild Excellence in Production Design for a Television Series Carol Winstead Wood, Eric Orbom, Gregory A. Weimerskirch, Beala Neel Nominated [3]
1999 Saturn Award Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films Best Genre Network Series Production team Nominated [1]
Best Genre TV Actor Jonathan LaPaglia Nominated [1][4]
2000 Saturn Award Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films Best Genre TV Supporting Actress Justina Vail Won [1]
Best Network Television Series Production team Nominated [1]
2001 Golden Reel Award Motion Picture Sound Editors Best Sound Editing - Television Episodic - Effects & Foley; Episode: "Tracker" Wilson Dyer, Kevin Fisher, Jay Keiser, Todd Niesen Nominated [5]

References
  1. Garcia, Frank; Phillips, Mark (2009). Science Fiction Television Series, 1990–2004. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-2483-2.
  2. "7 Days - The Complete Collection". Retrieved 2018-10-31.
  3. Art Directors Guild. "3rd Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards - 1998 Nominees & Winners". Adg.org. Archived from the original on September 27, 2015. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
  4. Riggs, Thomas (2007). Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television, Volume 74. Gale. p. 180. ISBN 978-0787690465.
  5. IMDB Staff (2015). "Seven Days - Awards". IMDB. IMDB.com, Inc. Archived from the original on October 10, 2015. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
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