| A "Light Universe" and a "Dark Zone" keep good and bad apart for the characters of Lexx, even though it's often hard to tell the difference between the two in this offbeat and unique sci-fi show that delights in its own nastiness. With flashes of nudity and surgical gore, and a collection of extreme hairstyles and accents, the show's overall look is often akin to a sci-fi Eurotrash. Aboard the stolen 10-kilometre-long spaceship Lexx (designed to look like a dragonfly) are the "Dirty Three-and-a-Half": insufferable coward Stanley H. Tweedle (Brian Downey), the Edward Scissorhands clone and 2000-years-dead Kai (Michael McManus), decapitated and lovestruck robot head 790 (voiced by writer Jeffrey Hirschfield), and the skimpily wardrobed Zev (Eva Habermann), replaced for Season Two by Xev (Xenia Seeberg). A disregard both for genre conventions and good taste makes the show a constant series of surprises: by the time of the third season, the expression "anything goes" had long passed being understatement. On this tape: "Lafftrak" is one of the series' standout shows. TV World invites "contestants" to enter a show and compete for ratings. There's Boy School or Super Stretch and Bounce, which might get you to The Xev Show. But you definitely don't want a spot on Speciality Show. Writer Lex Gigeroff has multiple hilarious cameos. In "Stan's Trial", he's still desperate for some "bingo bongo yum yum time", which blinds him to a sting operation laid at the Celes Pleasure Liner. His alleged traitorous past finally catches up, and the events of "Giga Shadow" are made clear. This volume's documentary centres on set building. --Paul Tonks |
