The Secret World of Alex Mack | Wikipedia audio article
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. It also aired on YTV in Canada, Channel 4
in the United Kingdom and NHK in Japan, and was a staple in the children’s weekday line-up
for much of the mid-to-late 1990s on the ABC. Repeats of the series aired in 2003 on The
N, but it was soon replaced there. The series was produced by Thomas Lynch and
John Lynch of Lynch Entertainment, produced by RHI Entertainment, Hallmark Entertainment,
and Nickelodeon Productions, and was co-created by Tom Lynch and Ken Lipman. == Plot ==
Alex Mack is an ordinary teenage girl, living with her parents, George and Barbara, and
older sister, Annie, in the fictional corporate town of Paradise Valley. While walking home after her first day of
junior high school, she is nearly hit by a truck from a chemical plant, and during the
incident, she is drenched with a top-secret chemical called GC-161.
She soon discovers that it has given her strange
powers, such as telekinesis, shooting electricity from her fingers, and the ability to dissolve
into a mobile puddle of water. However, her powers prove to be unpredictable
(such as when her skin starts glowing brightly when she is nervous). She confides only in Annie and her best friend,
Ray, chooses to keep her powers a secret from everyone else, including her parents,
for fear of what the chemical plant CEO, Danielle Atron, will do to her if she finds out. == Characters == ===
Main characters === Alex Mack (played by Larisa Oleynik) – Alex
is an average teenager in Paradise Valley. While walking home from school, she is nearly
hit by a truck carrying GC-161 and is doused with it, thus giving her extraordinary powers. Among them are telekinesis and the ability
to liquefy. Ray Alvarado (played by Darris Love) – Alex’s
closest friend and next-door neighbor, and the only one besides Annie to know about Alex’s
powers. Annie Mack (played by Meredith Bishop) – Alex’s
older sister, and a scientific genius in her own right. Next to Ray, she is the only one who originally
knows about Alex’s powers. She administers various scientific tests to
ensure Alex’s safety.
She also hopes to one day present her research,
to stop Danielle Atron. George Mack (played by Michael Blakley) – Alex’s
father. He is a brilliant chemist who works for Danielle
Atron at the Paradise Valley Chemical Plant. Barbara Mack (played by Dorian Lopinto) – Alex’s
mother. She is a more down-to-earth woman who works
in a public relations firm. === Recurring cast ===
Louis Driscoll (played by Benjamin Kimball Smith) – Alex and Ray’s abrasive friend. Dave Watt (played by John Nielsen) – The
dim-witted truck driver who was driving the truck that dumped the GC-161 chemical on Alex. As the only witness to the accident, Dave
is often forced to serve as a partner to Vince Carter (see below) in trying to capture Alex.
After seeing Alex using her powers while she
was in high school, Dave kept it a secret from Danielle to protect her as he knew what
kind of horrible experiments Danielle had planned for her. Scott Greene (played by Jason Strickland)
– Alex’s junior high crush. Jessica (played by Jessica Alba) – Scott’s
first girlfriend and Alex’s first school rival. Kelly Phillips (played by Hilary Salvatore)
– Scott’s second girlfriend and Alex’s second school rival. Kelly deviously discredits Alex at every given
turn, much to Alex’s dismay.
Robyn Russo (played by Natanya Ross) – One
of Alex’s neighborhood friends. Though she possesses a sardonic sense of humor
and is fun to be around, she suffers from low self-esteem. Nicole Wilson (played by Alexis Fields) – Another
of Alex’s friends. An opposite personality to Robyn has a take-charge
attitude and strong-willed demeanor. Danielle Atron (played by Louan Gideon) – The
owner/CEO of the Paradise Valley Chemical Plant who is the main antagonist of the series.
She wants to market GC-161 as a radical new
weight-loss drug and has made it her mission to find the GC-161 child (who she does not
know is Alex) and capture her, as both a test subject and a threat to the secrecy of her
plans. Vince Carter (played by John Marzilli) – The
maniacal head of security at the Paradise Valley Chemical Plant, he makes it his obsession
to find the GC-161 child (even after he gets fired from the Plant). Lars Frederickson (played by Kevin Quigley)
– A skilled chemist hailing from the Paradise Valley Chemical Plant’s foreign branch in
Vienna. He becomes Danielle Atron’s chief subordinate
after Vince gets fired. He is named after one of the members of the punk
rock group Rancid. Hunter Reeves (played by Will Estes) – Hunter
comes to Paradise Valley with an agenda concerning the disappearance of his father about GC-161.
== Episodes == ==
Filming locations == The series was filmed in Valencia, California, and the Santa Clarita Valley. The Mack home and Paradise Valley Chemical
Plant interiors were filmed in a converted warehouse used as a soundstage. The junior high scenes were filmed at Charles
Helmers and James Foster Elementary Schools. Castaic Middle School was used for senior
high scenes. The house, used for exterior shots, is located
in the Westford Place neighborhood of Valencia. == Availability ==
The show’s first season (consisting of 13 episodes on two discs) was released by Genius
Entertainment on DVD format on October 2, 2007. The set is noteworthy for giving Jessica Alba
top billing on the package, most likely to sell more copies, even though
she actually only appears in a supporting role, and only in a few episodes.
This was then released in Region 2 on April
2, 2012, and in Region 4 on June 6, 2012. The first and second seasons are available
through Amazon.com’s Instant Video section and iTunes. Episodes of the series have been seen on a
sporadic basis on TeenNick’s 1990s-oriented block, The ’90s Are All That. Mill Creek Entertainment released the complete
series on DVD for the very first time on August 1, 2017. == Book series ==
A book series aimed at young readers was released along with the series. 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, tied into the main series through the mentioning of various plot points
from the TV episodes
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