Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World. I don't think it's on in the US just now, but re-runs come and go. I don't get a lot of cable channels...
Some of the sci-fi aspects were a little "out there" for my taste, but I liked the jungle adventure part and the mostly authentic guns and the dinosaurs, which were better after the First Season. All Special Effects were far better in the last two seasons.
I liked all the cast but Dr. Summerlee, who was written out after the initial season. I found him too prissy and a bit of a scold. I liked the way that Prof. Challenger mellowed and became more humane, as did the ruthless heiress, Marguerite Krux. When Finn arrived from the 21st Century, I liked her a lot. I had a bit of a crush on her. But I really thought that she should replace her little crossbow with guns, which I think she would have, if real. I dare not say much about the delightful Veronica Layton on this board, or I'll get in trouble. BTW, Veronica was played by Jennifer O'Dell, the lone American in the cast. All other actors were Australian, save for two Canadians and a New Zealander.
I own all three seasons on DVD and still like the show.
But the executive writers told fans that if the cancelled Fourth Season had taken place, they meant to have Challenger go to Mars with the ET's from one episode and they wanted to make the whole show more like, Star Trek, which they admire and for which they subsequently wrote books, "with" William Shatner.
Had they focussed more on jungle adventure, I'd have liked it better. I could even stand the reptilian pseudo Roman, Tribune, and his legions.
And the Amazon girls were colorful and used real Roman style gladius swords, much better and more authentic than the swords used in the same producers' series like, "Xena", which failed to interest me. "The Lost World" cost a lot to make, and this was ultimately its doom. It usually led ratings in its time periods, but too many TV stations kept moving it around. And it got sold a lot. In my area, at least three stations showed it at various times. Then, TNT and other cable channels ran it for years.
I'm not ashamed to admire The Lost World. It had much better actors than some series, although a few cast members also guested on, "Xena". Lara Cox (Finn) was a guest star on, "Beastmaster", too. (But not as Finn.)
Any other Lost World fans here? One or two have posted over the years. BTW, Rachel Blakely (Marguerite) is half American. Her Dad is from the US. I think that like Nicole Kidman, Rachel holds dual citizenship. But she considers herself to be Australian and her partner and children are full Aussies.
I think you can catch some full episodes on YouTube, but that varies, as they sometimes get concerned about copyright. But there are MANY fan videos made from clips of the series. You can learn what the characters look like from those before you order any DVDs. Note: Summerlee is only in First Season episodes and Finn didn't appear until the Third Season.
