Tin Man

Tin Man is a 2007 American television miniseries co-produced by RHI Entertainment and the Sci Fi Channel that was broadcast first in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel in three parts. Starring Zooey Deschanel, Neal McDonough, Alan Cumming, Raoul Trujillo, Kathleen Robertson, and Richard Dreyfuss, the miniseries is a reimagining of the classic 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, with science fiction and additional fantasy elements added. It focuses on the adventures of a small-town waitress named DG who is pulled into a magical realm called the O.Z., ruled by the tyrannical sorceress Azkadellia. Together with her companions Glitch, Raw, and Cain, DG journeys to uncover her memories, find lost connections, and foil Azkadellia's plot to trap the O.Z. in eternal darkness. Costing $20 million to produce, the first part of the miniseries was the highest-rated program in its time slot, with 6.4 million viewers; the miniseries itself would be the highest-rated miniseries of 2007. It was nominated for nine Emmy awards, winning one, and was also nominated for a Critics' Choice Award. Critics gave it mixed reviews, with some praising the acting, soundtrack, and visual effects, while others found it overly grim and bleak. Plot DG is a small-town waitress who feels that she does not fit into her Kansas farm life and has visions of a lavender-eyed woman warning her that a storm is coming. DG's visions are realized when the sorceress Azkadellia, tyrannical ruler of the O.Z. (Outer Zone), sends her Longcoat soldiers through a "travel storm" to kill DG. DG escapes through the storm into the O.Z. and befriends several of its inhabitants: Glitch, who had half of his brain removed by Azkadellia; Wyatt Cain, a former "Tin Man" law enforcer who was locked in an iron suit for years as punishment for opposing Azkadellia; and Raw, a "viewer" whose people have been enslaved by Azkadellia. DG receives a magical symbol on her palm and learns that her Kansan parents are androids and that her real mother is the lavender-eyed woman of her visions. Visiting the Mystic Man in Central City and continuing on to the Northern Island, the group learns that Glitch was once the advisor to the Queen of the O.Z. and that DG and Azkadellia are actually sisters and the daughters of the Queen.