Mutant X's Muted Launch

The Oct. 6 premiere of Tribune Entertainment's new weekly action hour, Mutant X, has been disrupted by an ongoing intellectual property suit filed by Twentieth Century Fox.

Like Tribune's action/sci-fi series Andromeda, which premiered last year with an impressive 4.3 household rating, Mutant X is produced by Canada's Fireworks Entertainment and has been given choice time periods on Tribune stations. For example, Tribune's WPIX- TV in New York is airing Mutant X at 7 p.m. on Saturdays, the same slot used to successfully launch Andromeda last season.

However, Fox claims the Marvel Comics–in-spired Mutant X too closely resembles its recently released Marvel Comics–inspired feature film X-Men. In August, the studio failed to convince a federal judge in a U.S District Court in New York to stop the series' premiere, but Fox has since filed an appeal with the Second Circuit Court, seeking to at least change the name of the show. A ruling is pending.

Regardless of whether Fox succeeds, the litigation has already caused Tribune and Fireworks officials to limit promotions for the most-anticipated new action hour this fall. Citing concern over the litigation, officials for both Tribune and Fireworks refused interview requests concerning Mutant X's premiere.

Meanwhile, after staging an elaborate presentation last summer for Andromeda at the Television Critics Association tour, Tribune officials didn't attend this year's event.

"It's been really hard to get feedback from Tribune [about Mutant X]," said Laura Caraccioli, vp and director of Starcom Entertainment. "There are a lot of people out there who are really looking forward to it, but [Tribune] has not given us anything yet that would give us an indication of what the show will look like."

Immersed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Betty Ellen Berlamino, general manager of WPIX, said concern about Mutant X's future has been muted among Tribune station execs. She did, however, see the premiere episode of Mutant X last week. "It looked good," Berlamino said.