‘Hunger Games’ meets ‘Lost in Space’ on CW’s ‘The 100’

By Jacqueline Cutler © Zap2it

It’s 97 years since people managed to do the inevitable - detonate enough atomic bombs that life as we know it was obliterated.

Earth’s survivors exist in a hodgepodge of space stations, and 100 miscreant youth are shot back to the home planet. What sort of world they will find and what sort they will create is the basis for The CW’s “The 100,” premiering Wednesday, March 19.

The dystopian sci-fi show, which is pronounced “The Hundred,” is believable. Set in the near-enough future that viewers are not required to suspend belief that aliens have taken over, the series begins inside the space stations. After the nuclear apocalypse, 12 nations forged their space stations into one.

It is a pretty grim existence.

Chancellor Jaha (Isaiah Washington, “Grey’s Anatomy”) is the tested leader, who makes very tough decisions that include sending his son down to Earth.

“It is not a morality tale,” Washington says. “It’s a cautionary tale. Hey, we can comment on this show and what needs to change. To show the world we have to take a look at how we treat one another, and if we don’t, this is what can happen.”

“It doesn’t mean it will prevail, but without it you have nothing but chaos,” he says.

This show, Washington says, “is a drama pretending to be a science fiction.”

When you have a bunch of teenagers and a few in their early 20s creating a new society, comparisons to “Lord of the Flies” are inevitable.

“I was actually looking to do a ‘Lord of the Flies’-like story at the time that this studio sent ‘The 100’ my way,” executive producer Jason Rothenberg says at a press conference. “And it sort of touched all those creative erogenous zones. I love ‘Lord of the Flies.’ It was one of those books that I could blame for the fact I’m a writer.”

The pilot sets up two camps: Clarke versus Bellamy, and they need to figure out how they are going to live.

Clarke (Eliza Taylor, “Neighbours”) is an artist, tough and in juvenile detention, though it’s not clear why. It seems no one has to commit too great a transgression to be considered a threat.

And punishments are fast and final: People are ejected from the space station, instantly killed in deep space.

Clarke is skilled in many areas; she seems to have learned healing arts from her mother, a doctor, and exudes a natural sense of leadership. She believes in a more structured society.

“She’s got it going on,” Taylor says of her character. “She’s smarter than me, and

I’m 25. She is such a cool character to play.”

ACROSS

1. Role on “The Middle”

4. “My __ Is Earl”

8. Role on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”

11. Annapolis acad. operator

12. “Unhappily __ After”

13. Alley of the comics

14. Actress on “Back in the Game” (2)

17. Sushi bar offering

18. “We’re off to __ the Wizard ...”

19. Disney, for one

21. Televangelist Roberts

24. “__ Do Anything”; song from “Oliver!”

25. Jodie Foster’s age

26. Guyana’s continent: abbr.

27. “Gunfight at the __ Corral”; 1957 Western

28. Actress Thompson

30. “One __ Hill”

32. Raw mineral

34. Cry of discovery

35. Actress on “Last Man Standing” (2)

41. Syria’s neighbor: abbr.

42. “Promised __”

4. Diamond, for one

5. “__ Maria”

6. Role on “Alice”

7. Historical periods

8. “The Biggest __”

9. “Hollywood Squares” win

10. United Paramount Network, for short (1995-2006)

15. Barbara Feldon series (1965-70) (2)

16. “__ __ __ Night”; 2007 Joaquin Phoenix movie

19. “__ Guys”; 1986 Danny DeVito film

20. Actor Sandler

22. __ vera; lotion ingredient

23. “What I __ About You”

29. Actress Kelly

31. “That’s So __”

33. __ Fitzgerald

34. Tallies up

35. One of the Kardashians

36. “__ __ was saying ...”

37. Sweet potato

38. 90 degrees from WNW

39. Moon of “The Millers”

40. “__ Deal”; film for Schwarzenegger