G vs E (later retitled
Good vs Evil) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
fantasy-based television action series that had its first season air on
USA NetworkUSA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1977. The channel shows a variety of original and second-run programming, from syndicated TV series to edited movies...
during the summer and autumn of 1999. For the second season the series switched to the
Sci Fi ChannelSyfy is an American cable television channel launched on September 24, 1992, that specializes in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and paranormal programming. It is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBC Universal...
in early 2000. The series stars
Clayton RohnerClayton Rohner is an American actor. He is well known for his role as Rick Morehouse in the 1985 comedy movie Just One of the Guys. He also starred in the 1986 film Modern Girls as Clifford and Bruno X. He is a main character in the 1994 film Caroline at Midnight. Other credits include the films...
,
Richard BrooksRichard L. Brooks is an African-American actor, singer, and director best known for his role on Law & Order from 1990 to 1993.Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Brooks studied acting, dance, and voice work at Interlochen Academy of Arts in Michigan...
, and
Marshall BellArchibald Marshall Bell is an American actor. He has appeared in many character roles in movies and television. His best-known movies are probably A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge , Stand by Me , Twins and Total Recall .-Early life:He was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he lived until...
.
G vs E pitted a group of agents who are assigned to "the Corps," a secret agency under the command of
HeavenHeaven may refer to the physical heavens, the sky or the seemingly endless expanse of the universe beyond. This is the traditional literal meaning of the term in English...
, against the "Morlocks", a group of evildoers from
HellIn many religious traditions, Hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife, often in the underworld. Religions with a linear divine history often depict Hell as endless...
.
The series has a 1970s retro-hip style that is similar to
Quentin TarantinoQuentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s he was an independent filmmaker whose films used nonlinear storylines and aestheticization of violence...
's
Pulp FictionPulp Fiction is a 1994 crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who cowrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...
.
G vs E (later retitled
Good vs Evil) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
fantasy-based television action series that had its first season air on
USA NetworkUSA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1977. The channel shows a variety of original and second-run programming, from syndicated TV series to edited movies...
during the summer and autumn of 1999. For the second season the series switched to the
Sci Fi ChannelSyfy is an American cable television channel launched on September 24, 1992, that specializes in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and paranormal programming. It is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBC Universal...
in early 2000. The series stars
Clayton RohnerClayton Rohner is an American actor. He is well known for his role as Rick Morehouse in the 1985 comedy movie Just One of the Guys. He also starred in the 1986 film Modern Girls as Clifford and Bruno X. He is a main character in the 1994 film Caroline at Midnight. Other credits include the films...
,
Richard BrooksRichard L. Brooks is an African-American actor, singer, and director best known for his role on Law & Order from 1990 to 1993.Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Brooks studied acting, dance, and voice work at Interlochen Academy of Arts in Michigan...
, and
Marshall BellArchibald Marshall Bell is an American actor. He has appeared in many character roles in movies and television. His best-known movies are probably A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge , Stand by Me , Twins and Total Recall .-Early life:He was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he lived until...
.
G vs E pitted a group of agents who are assigned to "the Corps," a secret agency under the command of
HeavenHeaven may refer to the physical heavens, the sky or the seemingly endless expanse of the universe beyond. This is the traditional literal meaning of the term in English...
, against the "Morlocks", a group of evildoers from
HellIn many religious traditions, Hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife, often in the underworld. Religions with a linear divine history often depict Hell as endless...
.
The series has a 1970s retro-hip style that is similar to
Quentin TarantinoQuentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s he was an independent filmmaker whose films used nonlinear storylines and aestheticization of violence...
's
Pulp FictionPulp Fiction is a 1994 crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who cowrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...
. The show is fast-moving and harkens back to the
blaxploitationBlaxploitation is a film genre that emerged in the United States in the early 1970s when many exploitation films were made that targeted the urban black audience; the word itself is a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation." Blaxploitation films were the first to feature soundtracks of...
films of the 1970s. It also mixes
spy-fiSpy-fi is a genre of spy fiction that includes elements of science fiction or fantasy. It often uses a secret agent or superspy whose mission is a showcase of science fiction elements such as technology and ideas used for extortion, plots for world domination or destruction, weapons in science...
elements with the end of the
millenniumA millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years...
ZeitgeistZeitgeist is a German language expression referring to "the spirit of the times" and/or "the spirit of the age." The word Zeitgeist is used to describe the general cultural, intellectual, ethical, spiritual, and/or political climate within a nation or even specific groups, along with the general...
of the late 1990s.
NBC UniversalNBC Universal, Inc. is a media and entertainment company formed in May 2004 by the combination of General Electric's NBC with Vivendi Universal Entertainment, part of the French Media Group. The deal excluded the French Canal+ operations, which were retained by Vivendi. GE owns 80% of NBC Universal...
's
horrorHorror fiction is a genre of fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle and horrify the audience. Historically, the cause of the "horror" experience has often been the intrusion of a disturbing supernatural element into everyday human experience...
-themed cable channel
ChillerChiller is a 24-hour American cable television channel specializing in horror and suspense programming. Chiller's new tagline is "Scary Good." It is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBC Universal.- Origin :...
, which launched on March 1, 2007, was airing
G vs E as part of its premiere schedule.
Plot
Chandler Smythe (
Clayton RohnerClayton Rohner is an American actor. He is well known for his role as Rick Morehouse in the 1985 comedy movie Just One of the Guys. He also starred in the 1986 film Modern Girls as Clifford and Bruno X. He is a main character in the 1994 film Caroline at Midnight. Other credits include the films...
), is murdered on his 35th birthday. He is then recruited as an agent of the Corps and becomes a partner to Henry McNeil (Richard Brooks). Henry was killed in the 1970s and still dresses like
ShaftJohn Shaft is a fictional character created by screenwriter/novelist Ernest Tidyman as a sort of African-American answer to Ian Fleming's James Bond. He was portrayed by Richard Roundtree in the original 1971 film and its two sequels, with Samuel L. Jackson portraying his nephew in the 2000...
. The Corps, best described as
GodGod is a deity in theistic and deistic religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
's police force on Earth, has the mission of locating citizens who have made a
FaustianFaustian may refer to*Faust, the protagonist of a classic German legend who makes a pact with the Devil in exchange for knowledge.*the Faustian bargain or pact with the devil*speficically, Goethe's Faust*other works based on Faust....
-style bargain with the agents of evil. When the Corps find a lost soul, they must decide whether to rehabilitate them or eliminate them from existence if they are beyond redemption.
Overseeing their patrols are Decker (Googy Gress) and Ford (
Marshall BellArchibald Marshall Bell is an American actor. He has appeared in many character roles in movies and television. His best-known movies are probably A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge , Stand by Me , Twins and Total Recall .-Early life:He was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he lived until...
), who give the weekly assignments.
Deacon JonesDavid D. "Deacon" Jones is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League for the Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, and the Washington Redskins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980.Jones specialized in quarterback sacks, a term attributed to him...
acts as series narrator and appears on screen as "the Deacon". The Deacon is the representation of the wrathful,
Old TestamentIn Christianity, the Old Testament is the collection of books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. These works correspond to the Hebrew Bible , with some variations and additions. In the Eastern Orthodox Church the comparable texts are known as the Septuagint, from the...
version of God. He is very strict, bad tempered and unforgiving.
Chandler's teenage son Ben, played by
Tony DenmanAnthony Richard "Tony" Denman is an American actor.-Filmography:*Little Big League , Phil*Angus , Kid*Fargo , Scotty Lundegaard*Go , Track suit guy...
, occasionally appears. Chandler guides him in subtle ways.
The Corps itself functions much like any police force does, with various departments and a city-based structure. Paramedics, supply officers, spies, intelligence agents, forensic specialists, therapists, and munitions experts are all on hand to help with cases. They operate throughout the world in various cities. Chandler and Henry work out of the Hollywood station. They are based at Ravenswood, a high-rise art-deco establishment, which also doubles as
purgatoryPurgatory is the condition or process of purification in which the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven. This is an idea that has ancient roots and is well-attested in early Christian literature, while the conception of purgatory as a geographically situated place is...
.
All the agents of the Corps have gone through a violent, mortal death, but merely being alive again does not render them immortal. They can "die" again, and they face immediate judgement upon dying, which may be a problem for those who haven't completed their redemption. Injury can happen to them, as can all the usual mental anguish that mortals suffer. Corps agents have no magical powers to give them an advantage over the opposition. Another limitation is that agents of the Corps cannot have any intimate contact with mortals. They also cannot overtly contact their friends and family from before they died.
The Corps battle with two types of foes: Faustians and Morlocks. The Faustians are ordinary people who have made a deal with the forces of evil and bask in the fortunes that such a deal allows them on Earth. The Morlocks are Faustians who have died their mortal death and are now the ground troops for the dark side, evil's equivalent to the Corps. They are identifiable as people who have suddenly become sarcastic and courageous to extreme degrees. In addition, mirrors reveal the true nature of Morlocks; their reflections are twisted and demonic. Unlike Corps agents, Morlocks have superhuman resilience, and they cannot be easily killed. Any member of the Corps who dies at the hands of a Morlock immediately becomes a Morlock as well.
Both Morlocks and the Corps have
double agentDouble agent is a counterintelligence term for someone who pretends to spy on a target organization on behalf of a controlling organization, but in fact is loyal to the target organization...
s planted in each others' ranks.
Episode list
| No. |
Season 1 — Episode |
Air Date |
| 1.01 |
"Orange Volvo" |
18 July 1999 |
| 1.02 |
"Men Are From Mars, Women Are Evil" |
25 July 1999 |
| 1.03 |
"Buried" |
1 August 1999 |
| 1.04 |
"Gee Your Hair Smells Evil" |
8 August 1999 |
| 1.05 |
"Airplane" |
15 August 1999 |
| 1.06 |
"Evilator" |
22 August 1999 |
| 1.07 |
"To Be Or Not To Be Evil" |
29 August 1999 |
| 1.08 |
"Choose Your Own Evil" |
3 October 1999 |
| 1.09 |
"Sunday Night Evil" |
10 October 1999 |
| 1.10 |
"Lady Evil" |
17 October 1999 |
| 1.11 |
"Cliffhanger" |
31 October 1999 |
| No. |
Season 2 — Episode |
Air Date |
| 2.01 |
"Nurse Evil" |
10 March 2000 |
| 2.02 |
"Renunciation" |
10 March 2000 |
| 2.03 |
"Immigrant Evil" |
17 March 2000 |
| 2.04 |
"Ambulance Chaser" |
24 March 2000 |
| 2.05 |
"Wonderful Life" |
31 March 2000 |
| 2.06 |
"Love Conquers Evil" |
7 April 2000 |
| 2.07 |
"Cougar Pines" |
14 April 2000 |
| 2.08 |
"M is for Morlock" |
21 April 2000 |
| 2.09 |
"Relic of Evil" |
28 April 2000 |
| 2.10 |
"Portrait of Evil" |
5 May 2000 |
| 2.11 |
"Underworld" |
12 May 2000 |
External links