TV. riverworld

i am almost always up for a sci-fi mini series. almost. this one was not really advertised much at all when it was on the syfy channel, and after seeing it, i can understand why. its based on a series of books written by phillip jose farmer. i am unfamiliar with that series, but here is what it was made into:
we meet the main character as he is about to propose to his girlfriend, then a huge explosion seems to kill them all. but instead of dying, they are taken to an alternate universe where they wash ashore of a river. the girlfriend is gone, but the main character matt ellman, played by battlestar galactica alum Tahmoh Penikett, is now on a quest to figure out what happened and how he can get his girl back. as things unfold we come across some different characters from different times. one of the guys ellman must fight against is the conquistador pizzaro. and somewhere along the way they meet up with samuel clemens as well (thats mark twain, in case you forgot what his real name is). all the while there is some strange goings on with some robed blue people. i'm not really sure what they are all about, but one of them, played by alan cumming, seems to be helping them. all of this sounds interesting at first, but none of it is done in a way that makes much sense or has any sort of dramatic weight.
its apparent that the syfy channel did not like it either since it was obviously meant to be a four episode miniseries that they quickly played out in two nights, about as under the radar as they could get... its too bad, there is some spark of a good story here, but none of it is done well.