Doomsday plot of 'Andromeda' stands the test of time

Benjamin Bratt in "The Andromeda Strain." (Diyah Pera/A&E)

"The Andromeda Strain," the two-part miniseries that premieres tonight on A&E, is premised on the notion that we like our science fiction with a heavy dose of science. Maybe that's inevitable when you're dealing with Michael Crichton; this miniseries, like the 1971 feature film, is based on the 1969 novel that helped establish the thriller writer's reputation. And it's stocked with brand-name talent, from executive producers Ridley and Tony Scott to screenwriter Robert Schenkkan, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright.

So it's a little surprising how much of a paint-by-numbers techno-thriller this is. Little in "The Andromeda Strain" feels unfamiliar. As in the book, the story begins when a satellite drops into a remote part of Utah. A small-town yokel opens it, and before long, people are dying horrible deaths or committing violent suicide. Turns out, a killer bug has been unleashed, which causes blood to clot into powder and threatens humankind.

Sounds like a case for a secret team of government experts! And here they are, a group of scientists who set to work in a remote, high-tech underground lab. Among them are an epidemiologist played by Benjamin Bratt; an Army virologist played by a grizzled-looking Ricky (that's how he's billed) Schroder; and a former biological-weapons designer for the Chinese government, played by Daniel Dae Kim of TV's "Lost."

The presence of Kim, in particular, highlights the biggest weakness of this material. Though he speaks in fluent English here, the poor guy barely gets to utter a line of dialogue that isn't exposition. There is, after all, lots of explaining to do, about the design of the lab, and the molecular structure of the bug, and the evolving theories about why it showed up when it did. Which means that lots of people have to say things like, "What happens in the event of an accidental contamination?"

That's Crichtonitis, most likely; he's known for inventing cross-woven plots and convoluted technologies that sound just fact-based enough to feel realistic. But it all manages to turn "The Andromeda Strain" into a long lesson in pseudoscience. And it makes you appreciate all the more what "Lost" has managed to do: spin a complex and often technical tale that still manages to keep us emotionally involved.

It's all about creating vivid characters. And while "Andromeda" gives us some snippets of biography - Bratt plays a womanizer; Schroder's character is gay - we barely get enough time with anyone to care. Granted, "Lost" has had a lot more time for character development, but "Andromeda" might have done better by paring down its large parade of players. The presence of Eric McCormack, as an intrepid TV reporter, is especially extraneous (no disrespect to intrepid reporters). There's also a little too much - or maybe too little - of Andre Braugher, as an Army general of mildly questionable motives.

And if there weren't enough people and facts to keep up with, we also have to track the deadly disease through the hills of southern Utah, where it adapts into a force that can disintegrate plastic and turn birds into crazy killing machines. The upshot is a lot of bit-player actors who writhe and howl in pain: As soon as we see soldiers or innocent civilians in the brush, what's about to happen becomes laughingly obvious.

That's not to say "The Andromeda Strain" isn't sometimes engaging. It's a tribute to Crichton's imagination, after all, that the biological-weapons plot he hatched in the late 1960s is perhaps even more relevant today. On the other hand, this version of his story arrives in a world that has seen not only "Lost," but "The X-Files," "Armageddon," and every other sci-fi show or movie that melds disaster, conspiracy, and teamwork. By now, it takes a lot more than clever ideas to keep us hooked.

Joanna Weiss can be reached at weiss@globe.com. For more on TV, go to viewerdiscretion.net.