Tin Man Brings Oz to Life Again

SciFi scored another hit this week, releasing their newest miniseries, Tin Man. Just as Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz centered around the dreams of a young lady of the 50's, Tin Man updates the classic tale to match the lifestyle of a young lady of the 00's. Adding a dash of horror and a fair bit of edginess to the story, to represent how society has changed since the more simple days of the '50s, Tin Man grabs modern audiences with a tale for their own day.

Zooey Deschanel plays the part of DG, the Dorothy character of our tale. She brings to life her portrayal of the typical disaffected teenager, out of place with the world around her and searching for some meaning to her life. Thrown into the chaos of "the O.Z." (likely referring to the popular drama "the O.C."), DG finds out who she really is inside through the trials and tribulations that represent growing up in this increasingly complex world of ours.

Alan Cumming delights the audience with his madcap performance as Glitch, representing the Scarecrow. He dances and prances with his poorly wired synapses, damaged when the wicked witch Askadellia removes half of his brain to steal the secrets within. While his story is a horrific one, Mr. Cumming keeps us perpetually amused as Glitch protects DG in his quest for the other half of his brain.

Neil McDonough plays Wyatt Cain, the title character of our series, the Tin Man. Playing the rough adventuring lawman, McDonough truly grabs the best of such characters as Indiana Jones and Alan Quatermain. Quiet and hard as the iron suit he'd been trapped in, Cain hides the pain of losing his family by engaging in battle after battle to protect his companions.

Raoul Trujillo plays Raw the beastman, representing the Corwardly Lion. Unfortunately, in keeping with the character's skittishness, Raw gets very few speaking lines and is instead used more as a plot device, using his psychic abilities to find information unavailable to the other characters. But luckily we get to see Raw grow as the story unfolds as well.