None of the roles portrayed by Michael McManus had more of a lasting effect than that of Kai, Last of the Brunnen G.
The archetype Assassin/Messiah characterization was an enduring legacy for the series "Lexx", which ran from
1996 til 2002.
Films: Made for Showtime cable, they were originally titled "Tales from a Parallel Universe", and had the sub-titles of:
" I Worship His Shadow", "Supernova", "Eating Pattern", and "Gigashadow".
The series were actually spun-off from these four films and except for a cast change from Eva Habermann as Zev,
in the first and second season to Xenia Seeberg as Xev, the cast basically stayed unchanged for the next 3 seasons.
Michael's portrayal of "Kai" created a huge fanbase for the show and spawned tons of websites, picture archives and
numerous great fanfiction authors, all delving into both the series canon history and alternative storylines.
He brought a great depth to the character of a 'Dead Man', that would normally have been portrayed very woodenly by any
other actor, but who expressed a subtlety born of great theatrical training, and elevated the role to the most important
in the series, which spanned 4 seasons.
Here are some vidcaps from the episodes of Lexx, including some Behind the Scenes episode pictures.
Season One: The Films
The films begin the Lexx saga by giving a background on the Brunnen G people and their demise at the hands of His Divine Shadow, an Insect-deity who has conquered the known (Light) universe and established the League of 20,000 Planets.
The Brunnen G were based on a planet, Brunnis 2, and were originally from the Dark Zone, the other universe, and had at one time
defeated the very ancestors of His Divine Shadow's insect essence during the Insect Wars.
In turn, they'd harnessed the Insects themselves and inspired His Divine Shadow to create a living Insect ship called the Lexx.
During the massacre of the Brunnis 2 planet, a warrior, Kai, was captured, killed and re-animated into a living cyborg-machine who's sole purpose was assassinations at the whim of His Divine Shadow. Kai is told he's destined to destroy the Divine Shadow per an ancient
prophecy, and has become the last of his race.
Kai meets Stan and Xev, 2 escapees from HDS's clutches and he regains his previous memory and freedom, but still remains Un-Dead.
The shows kicked off the series, with Brian Downey as Stanley H. Tweedle, Eva Habermann as Zev Bellringer of B3K, Michael McManus
as Kai, Last of the Brunnen G, Lex Giggeroff as His Divine Shadow, and Jeffrey Hirschfield as RobotHead 790.
The films featured amazing Guest stars: Barry Bostwick (Rocky Horror Picture Show) Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show)
Rutger Hauer, (Blade Runner) and Malcolm McDowell (Clockwork Orange).
Other notable appearances were made by actors that would become regular guest stars on the series, such as Ellen Dubin and Walter Borden.
Season Two: 20 episodes
Series 2 was the first actual Lexx TV series for Scifi.com and Spacecast.com, and had one noticeably different change in cast, which was
replacing Eva Habermann with Xenia Seeberg, who then became 'Xev' instead of Zev. This season spanned numerous planets and trips
through 2 different universes again. This season also had the honor of producing the very first Scifi musical for television with the
episode 'Brigadoom', somewhat based on the famous play and film 'Brigadoon'. Music was composed by Andre Gigeroff, and based
on old German children's songs.
Guest stars in this series were: Maury Chaykin, Dieter Laser, Patty Zentilli, Ellen Dubin, and many
others.
Season Three: 13 Episode Story-Arc
Season 3, filmed in Hi-Definition, with stunning CGI FX, had a 13-episode Story-Arc, based on a dual planetary system of Fire and Water, which had the introduction of a new permanent cast member, legendary star Nigel Bennett, (Forever Knight) as Prince, the ruler of Fire.
Kai is revealed for what he truly is, Xev and Stanley have their characters tested, Stanley meets his judgement and the mysteries
of the 2 planets are discovered.
This story arc presented the possibility that the crew had actually passed into a 'Heaven and Hell' dimension after a 2000 year cryo-sleep, and were then instrumental in bringing about the destruction of both planes of existence, liberating Prince as ruler
and allowing him to reincarnate himself as Prince on Earth, with hellish powers.
The crew then find Earth for the last season's escapades. Other new cast members added were Patricia Zentilli, Rolf Kanies and Dieter Laser
returns as Mantrid along with Ralph Brown and Jeff Pustil as guest stars.
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Fire and Water May Gametown Boomtown Gondola
VOL.1 2.93 VOL.3 2.87 VOL.1 2.79 VOL.5 2.69 VOL.1 2.62 VOL.3 1.86 VOL.1 2.66 VOL.4 2.30 VOL.1 2.29 VOL.4 2.45 VOL.2 2.91 VOL.2 2.95 VOL.6 2.62 VOL.2 2.92 VOL.4 2.09 VOL.2 2.55 VOL.5 2.20 VOL.2 2.06 VOL.5 9.97 VOL.3 2.66 VOL.7 2.27 VOL.3 2.39 VOL.3 1.64 VOL.6 8.43
K-Town Tunnels The Key Garden Battle
VOL.1 4.34 VOL.4 4.65 VOL.1 2.26 VOL.3 2.33 VOL.1 6.67 VOL.1 2.48 VOL.3 2.76 VOL.1 2.11 VOL.3 2.17 VOL.2 2.14 VOL.5 4.07 VOL.2 2.27 VOL.2 4.96 VOL.4 2.61 VOL.2 2.28 VOL.4 1.90
Girltown The Beach Heaven and Hell
VOL.1 5.88 VOL.2 5.36 VOL.1 5.82 VOL.1 2.73 VOL.3 2.40
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Season Four: 24 Episodes
Season 4's episodes take place on Earth, where many of the lost 'souls' from Fire and Water are re-incarnated as new ones, including
Kai, whose new human version evidently shows mental instability. Xev is killed and is brought back to life by an ancient God of the wood,
Oberon, and Kai plays chess with Prince for the reinstatement of his actual life-force.
Guest stars for this series were numerous, and there were additional permanent cast members added to the show:
Patricia Zentilli, renowned German actor Rolf Kanies, Ellen Dubin, Louise Wischermann, with guest stars Stephen McHattie, Walter Borden, Jeff Pustil, Minna Aaltonnen, Patrick Gordon, Britt Eklund among others. The show also featured cameos by stars from British TV shows such as Red Dwarf and Father Ted.
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