♣ Peter Benchley’s Amazon, an underappreciated gem

So the other other other other night, I was bored. What happened when I’m bored is usually a finding of a buried treasure or a… long-lost memory, like this one. I couldn’t be more than 11 years old, was on the fifth grade, when “Peter Benchley’s Amazon” came out on a local TV channel. What I can still remember about this TV series is that it was quite cool, addictive, I never missed a single episode, I was even kind of obsessed with “Amazon” back in that moment. Are you or aren’t you with me? First thing first, let’s refresh our memory… or in case it’s the first time you hear about this TV underappreciated gem, let’s find out more.

 What is it?

“Amazon”, or “Peter Benchley’s Amazon”, was a syndicated television show created by Peter Benchley, an American author, best known for his novel Jaws and its subsequent film adaptation (several more of his works were also adapted for cinema, including The Deep and The Island). The drama series focused on the six survivors of a crashed airline flight in the Brazilian Amazon jungle. The 22 episodes of the series were in first-run syndication between 1999 and 2000.

A commercial aircraft crashes in the Amazon rain forest in Brazil, leaving only a handful of survivors. Their hopes of being rescued aren't very good, as the Amazon proves to be even more hostile than the terrifying plane crash which brought them there. Encountering a mysterious legendary white tribe, a Ghost Tribe descended from 17th century explorers, and threatened by natives, swarms of poisonous plants, venomous snakes, armies of flesh-eating ants, tarantulas and piranhas, they push themselves to extremes in their attempts to escape… or simply to survive.

The casts are including:

C. Thomas Howell as Dr. Alex Kennedy, the aggressive but learning, intensely survivalist doctor

Carol Alt as Karen Oldham, the stewardess

Fabiana Udenio as Pia Claire, the spoiled but tender opera diva

Chris Martin as Jimmy Stack, a mechanic, wins a prize on a gameshow and uses the money to buy the plane ticket to Rio

Rob Stewart as Andrew Talbott, a high-school biology teacher, dying of leukemia that mysteriously went into remission once he’s in the jungle

Tyler Hynes as Will Bauer, a 10 year-old boy caught between three worlds, he takes adolescent angst to the highest degree

What’s so special?

1. If you like shows and movies about survivors and castaways, you will also like this. In fact, “Amazon” is one of a few shows of its kind that is not about some mysterious island but about Amazon rain forest.

For me, though, it goes the other way; I like this show first and because of that, later I got more interested with movies about survivors. Sadly for me, I never found myself got hooked to other survivor-themed shows/movies more than the way “Peter Benchley’s Amazon” got me hooked. It was just so wonderful, the tone was set so perfect and believable, the execution was nicely done. As one of the character, dr. Kennedy, remarks “We’re dead to them now. No survivors”. Can you imagine that? Being the only survivors of a terrible plane crash but presumably dead and sooner or later will be forgotten by the world they belong? That fact alone can lead to numerous interesting drama among the survivors themselves. Let alone the fact that they still have to cope with an extremely hostile environment, hostile tribes.

2. “Peter Benchley’s Amazon” or, as the fans of this show call it, PBA, is that kind of series which each episode leaves you wanting to know what will happen next, you find yourself anxiously awaiting each new episode. It’s that kind of show that will make you scream “WTF it’s over??!” every time the end credit starts rolling.

3. The casts, apparently, they are not only pretty to look at on screen, but also good at what they do. The actors have done a superb job of making their characters grow on you with each passing episode. The six survivors each have their unique persona, and as a group they have such great chemistry on screen.

4. The sets are beautiful, the locale is exotic. It is refreshing to watch a TV series with a totally unique concept. It's a change from the usual sit-com apartment or coffee shop. The natives have such great costumes, they speak the language so convincingly and they really do help add some spice to the vast diversity of the show. The effect is, well, okay. But the first episode showing the horrific plane crash is neat. Quite a heavy disaster and good special effects, considering it is only a TV series.

5. There’s always remarkable moment in each episode. The scene when the young boy, Will, climbs up a tree to reach the top of it, hoping in reaching signal coverage for the cellphone he holds, instead, he becomes the first among other survivors to realize how bad the situation they’re in; There’s only trees at least until hundred miles from where they are! It is the scene in the end of pilot episode, and was the scene that finally made me go “Wow, this series is gonna be so much fun”… and it is!

Precursor to “Lost”?

We can't help but notice that the more recent hit show “Lost” seems to be borrowing a lot of elements from PBA. Eventhough the idea of crashing in Amazon rain forest is more interesting than on some mysterious island, “Lost” was a more riveting show with undeniable higher rating. It had more characters, a range of people both likeable and unsympathetic, it had better effects, in many respects better script writing, gigantic plots with lots of action. Whereas Amazon actually moved a plot along and still had a pretty cool range of characters despite such a small cast, PBA was actually quite promising, it could have had the success of “Lost”.

The whole underlying premise is a direct rip off, some say. The isolated jungle versus an unreachable island. A small group of survivors against a local tribe that has its own group of antagonists plus threats come later from the outside world. (The Chosen in PBA versus The Others in “Lost”). There are other similarities that seem likely not an accident.

1. The kid in “Lost”, Walt, is kidnapped by The Others because he is considered special. Will is also kidnapped by Korakal's tribe because he is special; The Chosen.

2. Sidney, a character in PBA, who has been killed, shows up and mentions to Jimmy Stack that they are all dead actually and lights up his cigarette and vanishes. The survivors are all dead. Isn't that how “Lost” actually ended?

3. dr. Alex Kennedy in PBA versus dr. Jack Shephard in “Lost”

4. In Karen Oldham's dream, Andrew mentions that he has to return to the jungle and they all find themselves back there after her clairvoyant dream. “Lost” characters have to return to the island too after reaching civilization.

5. Hurley wins a lottery and buys a plane ticket in “Lost”. Jimmy Stack wins a prize on the Price is Right and buys a plane ticket.

We don't say that everything in the shows is the same, but some events in the metaplot are indeed similar. I’m saying, I think everyone who enjoyed “Lost” should watch this show too.

Where can I watch it?

That’s a tough question. I doubt if any TV channel will air it again in the future. Alliance Home Entertainment released the complete series on DVD on February 22, 2011 but sadly, in Canada only. But lucky for you who speak English naturally, someone is generous enough to share the joy of this show on YouTube! (no sub available as far as I know, that is why I said lucky for you who speak English).

Anyway, something you have to know, the show was cut too short; Critics seemed to dislike it and it was cancelled after one season (though that was allegedly due less to ratings and more to the fact that one of the American production companies decided to get out of fiction programs entirely, leaving the series without some of its financing). It could also be because the series was not well-publicized (It wasn't that the viewers turned it off, but most didn't even seem to know it was on!). So it’s no surprise the show has cliffhanger ending.

Regardless, the series overall is worth watching and was arguably the best Canadian-made series of its day.

From various sources, including the official Facebook open group and IMDb.