Night Sky: Talk about frequent flyers

Bugger. Just when I was getting interested in the TV series Night Sky — it ended.

It seems Oscar winning leads, the name Sissy Spacek or an intriguing story are no guarantee of success — nor for that matter a solid 7.4 IMDB rating.

Night Sky tells the story of an aging Illinois couple, Franklin and Irene York, who share an incredible secret.

Instead of heading off for a movie and choc-tops on a Saturday night, they hold hands and travel to another planet.

Concealed in the floor of their shed is a portal that transports them in the blink of an eye to the deserted planet where they sit and watch the alien landscape.

They have never ventured outside. They tested the air with a mouse and it died.

We learn the Yorks stumbled across the portal when Franklin in a fit of rage took an axe to a tree in their backyard

He hit something metal as he was digging out the roots.

The Yorks have kept the existence of the portal a secret for many years, but as their health begins to decline they discuss whether to share its existence.

Nosey neighbor Byron knows something is going on, but he doesn’t know what.

Into this mix comes a blood-covered stranger, a enigmatic young man with no idea who he is or where he came from . . . or does he?

Suddenly, life in Farnsworth isn’t as quiet as it used to be.

Night Sky (originally titled Lightyears) stars J. K. Simmons and Sissy Spacek as the couple, Franklin and Irene York, who live in sleepy Farnsworth, Illinois.

He was a carpenter and she, a schoolteacher and they have been married to each other for more than 50 years.

The Yorks once had a son Michael but we learn he suffered from depression and killed himself.

He is survived by a grand daughter Denise (Kiah McKirnan) who is concerned for her grand parents.

Adam Bartley does a great job as the nosey obnoxious neighbour Byron who is running for city council.

The series was created by Holden Miller for Amazon Studios and Legendary Television.

A producer and writer, he’s the son of comedian Dennis Miller and also known for The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore (2015).

And get this, as a marketing strategy, Prime Video teamed with Amazon Web Services, SES and Intelsat to beam the first episode of the show into outer space, avoiding satellites so that it wouldn’t bounce back.

It made Amazon the first streaming service to distribute its content directly into space.

Prime Video said this was “the farthest distance that a TV series has been intentionally distributed.”

J.K. Simmons is considered one of the most prolific and well-established character actors of his generation.

He has appeared in more than 200 films and television roles since his debut in 1986 and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as demanding bandleader Terence Fletcher in Whiplash (2014).

Sissy Spacek is also no stranger to the screen and the winner of many awards, including an Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal of Loretta Lynn in the biographical musical film Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980).

Simmons apparently signed on the dotted line when he learned Spacek was a starter.

He had never read any synopses or character descriptions.

The series was canceled by Amazon Prime, only six weeks after the release of the first season.

We don’t know why, given its ratings and good reviews — but you can bet it was about money.

There’s eight, 55-minute episodes and they are worth a watch. It doesn’t leave you hanging but it would have been good to see where they planned to take the series.

You can catch Night Sky on Prime Video.

 

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