The Secret World of Alex Mack
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| The Secret World of Alex Mack | |
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| Genre | Science fiction Fantasy Teen drama Comedy |
| Creator(s) | Ken Lipman Thomas W. Lynch |
| Starring | Larisa Oleynik Darris Love Meredith Bishop Michael Blakley Dorian Lopinto Louan Gideon John Marzilli Natanya Ross Alexis Fields Will Estes Josh Keaton Benjamin Smith |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 78 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | David Brookwell Sean McNamara Matt Dearborn Gary L. Stephenson |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Nickelodeon |
| Original run | October 8, 1994 – January 15, 1998 |
| Links | |
The Secret World of Alex Mack is an American television series that ran on Nickelodeon from October 8, 1994 to January 15, 1998, replacing Clarissa Explains It All on the SNICK line-up. Repeats of the series aired in 2003 on The N network, but it was soon replaced there as well. The show is currently not on the air in the United States, nor is it available on DVD.
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[edit] Main Characters
- Alexandra "Alex" Mack (Larisa Oleynik) – The titular star of the show. Having developed superpowers in a freak chemical spill accident, Alex is hardly what one would call an "average" girl. Generally caring and friendly, although somewhat naïve at times, Alex struggles to get through life in the only way she can.
- Raymond "Ray" Alvarado (Darris Love) – Alex's closest friend. Ray is someone that Alex can trust with any sort of secret, even the knowledge of her powers. Although he can be a bit troublesome at times, Ray means well, and is willing to help Alex in any way he can.
- Annie Mack (Meredith Bishop) – Alex's older sister, and a scientific genius in her own right. Annie is aware of Alex's powers, and often looks out for her sister's well-being. Annie can sometimes get too absorbed in her research on Alex's powers for her own good, and she and Alex do get into disputes over it, but she does care for Alex regardless.
- George Mack (Michael Blakley) and Barbara Mack (Dorian Lopinto) – Alex's parents, who are definitely not aware of their younger daughter's deepest secret. Out of fear for her parents turning her in to the Plant (which George, a brilliant chemist, works for), Alex has decided to keep her parents in the dark about her powers.
- Robyn Russo (Natanya Ross) – One of Alex's neighborhood friends. Not exactly the most optimistic person, Robyn can somehow see the bad part of any situation.
- Nicole Wilson (Alexis Fields) – Another of Alex's friends. Nicole can be something of an opposite personality to Robyn, with a take-charge attitude and strong-willed demeanor.
- Louis Driscoll (Benjamin Smith) – First appearing in Season 2, Louis' personality can best be described as bold. If there is ever a hair-brained idea that needs to be done, you can bet that Louis will be involved somehow.
- Danielle Atron (Louan Gideon) – The corrupt owner/CEO of the Paradise Valley Chemical Plant, and Alex's most dangerous nemesis. Danielle is the woman responsible for providing Paradise Valley with much of its income, and the entire town wouldn't hesitate to expose Alex as the accident victim if it meant keeping on her good side. Danielle has plans to utilize GC-161 as a weight-loss aid, and she can't afford the secrecy of her project to be compromised. To that extent, she is determined to identify Alex.
- David Watt (John Nielson) – The dim-witted truck driver who was driving the truck that crashed, which, in turn, dumped a drum of GC-161 on Alex. Despite being the only witness to the incident, Dave's poor memory has kept him from exposing Alex. Having been partnered with Vince in his attempts to expose Alex, Dave's slow-mindedness usually causes more trouble for Vince than it does for Alex. Despite his job in the Plant, Dave is actually a pretty nice guy, and can't help but feel sorry for himself when talked into doing various dirty deeds for the Plant.
- Vince Carter (John Marzilli) – Whereas Danielle is the brains of the Plant's control, Vince, Chief of Plant Security, is the muscle. Vince is usually the one who Danielle sends to capture "the kid" (Alex), but his plans never seem to work out, mainly due to Alex's quick wit and Dave's lack of it. A former Navy SEAL, Vince has all the skill and gadgetry he needs to do his job, and is relentless in his pursuit of Alex. Even when he eventually gets fired from the Plant, he still continues to try and identify Alex, making him all the more dangerous.
- Lars Frederickson (Kevin Quigley) – A skilled chemist hailing from the Plant's foreign branch in Vienna. After Vince gets fired, Lars takes over his position as Danielle Atron's closest associate. He is just as much greedy to profit from the Plant's GC-161 research as Danielle, and also wants to identify Alex for the glory of his boss.
- Hunter Reeves (Will Estes) – Appearing in the show's fourth season, Hunter moves into Paradise Valley with his mother and soon learns of Alex and her powers. His visit, however, has an ulterior motive. Hunter is determined to learn the truth about the murder of his father from years ago, and he believes that Danielle Atron may have had a hand in it.
[edit] Premise
The show focuses on a teenage girl, Alexandra "Alex" Mack, who becomes accidentally contaminated with an experimental chemical substance called GC-161. This results in certain powers, such as the ability to "zap" people and objects with an electrical charge, move objects by telekinesis, and change her shape into a silvery liquid. Throughout the series, the owners of the chemical plant which had been researching GC-161 continuously search for the local kid who was contaminated in order to conduct experiments, although their attempts are futile. Alex's best friend Ray, and eventually her sister, Annie, help her conceal the accident and her powers from her parents and others.
Interestingly, this is one of the few Nickelodeon shows to have something of a decisive conclusion. Nickelodeon rarely allows for series finales as they feel it makes it hard for them to rerun episodes indefinitely, and in any order they want, without confusing the viewer. As the storyline draws to a close, Alex's identity and powers are revealed to her enemies as well as her parents. This prompts her father to offer her a cure; Alex reacts with mixed feelings, though she accepts the vial anyway.
In the final scene, Annie indicates that she and everyone else believe Alex has already taken the cure, then walks away. The last shot shows Alex holding the full vial and smiling to herself, leaving it ambigious as to whether or not she intended to take it.
[edit] Trivia
- The "GC" in the name of the fictional substance, GC-161, is generally thought to stand for Genetic Compound. The GC-161 chemical was being developed as a wonder drug that would enable users to eat anything without gaining weight, but taken in large amounts, it would also express temporary side effects similar to Alex's powers.
- Some mild controversy surrounded the depiction of Alex naked in the pilot episode. When she turns into a liquid, her clothes are left behind, and she reconstitutes nude. However, Alex was sufficiently concealed behind some boxes. The clip of her reforming behind those boxes was left in the opening credit sequences. In all episodes past the pilot, Alex's clothes both morph and reform with her, thus rendering it a moot point.
- Several well-known actors and actresses made some of their earliest appearences in this show.
- Jessica Alba appeared in the pilot episode and two other episodes as a character named Jessica.
- Will Estes, whose character of Hunter became a series regular starting with the episode, "The Return", has enjoyed great success with work in movies, TV series, and music videos.
- Joshua Keaton, who played the character of Bryce, later became an actor specializing in voicework for video games, such as the character Revolver Ocelot in the video games Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops.
- Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy got his start directing some episodes of the series.
- In an episode of All That, Larisa Oleynik appeared in a parody of The Secret World of Alex Mack known as The Secret World of Alex Sax. The parody involved Alex Mack being accidentally hit with a saxophone instead of GC-161 and began playing the saxophone nonstop as a result. Alisa Reyes and Kel Mitchell parodied her sister Annie and best friend Ray, respectively.
- The final episode brought almost all of the plot points to a close, the only loose end being Alex's decision to take the GC-antidote. This was in case the writers decided to continue the show later on. However, with its star growing older and the network moving on to new teen oriented shows, The Secret World of Alex Mack never came back.
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Book series
A book series aimed at young readers was released along with the series. Whereas the first and last books of the series were novelizations of the first and last episodes, respectively, the rest of the series consisted of completely original stories.
[edit] External links
| SNICK and TEENick television series |
|---|
| 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd • 6teen • All That • The Amanda Show • Are You Afraid of the Dark? • The Brothers Garcia • Caitlin's Way • Clarissa Explains It All • Clueless • Cousin Skeeter • Drake & Josh • Hangin' with Mr. Cooper' • The Journey of Allen Strange • Just for Kicks • Just Jordan • KaBlam! • Kenan & Kel • The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo • The Naked Brothers Band • Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide • The Nick Cannon Show • The Ren and Stimpy Show • Romeo! • Roundhouse • Rugrats • Sabrina, the Teenage Witch • The Secret World of Alex Mack • Space Cases • Taina • Unfabulous • Zoey 101 |
Categories: 1994 television program debuts | 1990s American television series | Television series named after fictional characters | American children's comedy series | Nickelodeon shows | Science fiction television series | The N channel shows | 1990s Nickelodeon shows | 1998 television program cancellations
