RECURRING CAST
Douglas O'Keeffe ~ Patrick Nash
Fulvio Cecere ~ Detective Gene Taylor

GUEST CAST
Andrew Jackson ~  Jonathan Clayton
[Lucy Lawless] ~ Alice Clayton
Garry Chalk ~ Captain Jim Archer
Kirsten Williamson ~ Desk Sgt.
Alex Bruhanski ~ Krispy Cop #1
Dee Jay Jackson ~ Krispy Cop #2
Unknown ~ Lou Dobbs

CREDITS
David Gerber ~ Executive Producer
David Nutter ~ Director
Eric Kripke ~ Writer
Laura Ziskin ~ Executive Producer
P.K. Simonds ~ Executive Producer

RECURRING CAST
Douglas O'Keeffe ~ Patrick Nash
Fulvio Cecere ~ Detective Gene Taylor

GUEST CAST
Andrew Jackson ~ Jonathan Clayton
Lucy Lawless ~ Alice Clayton
Garry Chalk ~ Captain Jim Archer
Kirsten Williamson ~ Desk Sgt.
Alex Bruhanski ~ Krispy Cop #1
Dee Jay Jackson ~ Krispy Cop #2

CREDITS
David Gerber ~ Executive Producer
David Nutter ~ Director
Eric Kripke ~ Writer
Laura Ziskin ~ Executive Producer
P.K. Simonds ~ Executive Produce

Variety says: 
… infused with scads of potential but also some problematic underpinnings. … some of the best roof-scaling acrobatics 
since "Spider-Man" … Unless they develop something to explain his timely arrival an unnecessarily grim addition to the hour. … Because Tarzan isn't the talkative type, Callies will need to be someone to whom the WB's youthful femme audience can relate, and while she's pretty enough, the character doesn't spark here. … producers will need a firmer grip on the premise if they want to reach the higher branches. 

USA Today gives it two stars (out of four) and says: 
Him Tarzan, me bored. … This series has a jungle-full of problems, but we might as well start with the insolvable one: underwear-model-turned-actor Travis Fimmel as Tarzan. … the spell is broken when he moves or speaks. … Still, even with a better actor, Tarzan would be no more than precisely what it is: yet another bland WB attempt to replicate the success of Smallville. Once again, we get a variant on the formula Smallville borrowed from Buffy: an old genre and familiar hero with a younger cast and a modern sensibility. … It's sort of Beauty and the Beast, only this being WB, it's actually Beauty and 
the Beauty. And yes, that's just as dull as it sounds. 

The Los Angeles Times says: 
the opening minutes, as the half-seen jungle king makes his first escape from urban captivity, are fantastically well executed and gripping as, for that matter, are all the action sequences … does not have any elephants, or much humor, or a sense of the absurdity of its premise. … Notwithstanding that he was already famous in underwear-model-watching circles, it is entirely likely that Fimmel will be merely the latest in a long string of actors — Lara, Elmo Lincoln, Jock Mahoney, Lex Barker, Gordon Scott, Mike Henry, Miles O'Keefe, Ron Ely and Weissmuller, among, I am afraid to say, others — who will eventually be remembered only because they once played Tarzan. … Fimmel is not half bad. He holds the screen at least as well as Callies, who looks stunned a lot of the time. … It's almost too obvious that Tarzan would be made, as he will be here, a crime fighter. … 

Chicago Sun-Times ~ October 2, 2003
WB's 'Tarzan' is all beefcake and little beef 
By Phil Rosenthal, Television Critic

When Travis Fimmel is shirtless, as he so often is in the title role of the WB's new  Sunday night series "Tarzan," it should be clear to one and all that this is a man with muscles to spare.  Less certain is whether the  Australian-born model, whose  Calvin Klein underwear billboard is said to have caused traffic tie-ups in the heart of London, is strong enough in his screen debut to carry a prime-time drama on his broad shoulders. His body is impressive. His body of work, as yet, is not.  The WB's answer to those who would doubt Fimmel -- presumably echoing the  many teenage girls (and no doubt a few swooning boys) who already have his photo pasted up in their lockers -- is: Who cares! He's hot! Those more discerning who are curious enough to tune in to the series debut at 8 p.m. Sunday on WGN-Channel 9 look to be somewhat less impressed.  

Camera-friendly or not, Mr. Fab Abs will need more backing than he gets initially. To the extent "Tarzan" succeeds, like its star, it's on style, not substance. The model for this modern New York City-set update of the old Edgar Rice Burroughs creation would seem to be "Smallville," the WB's teen-friendly update of  the old Superman legend. But Tom Welling, who gets to play the young man of steel in that series, gets ample support from a cast of solid pros. Fimmel gets little such boost.  Admittedly, the role of Tarzan should not have to be terribly demanding in this version set in a dark and shadowy Manhattan, where, as the survivor of the African plane crash that killed his family, the feral beefcake lives under the thumb of his menacing magnate uncle. There are acrobatics, some flexing, a bit of grunting, a few lines and the occasional  need to toss back a tousled mane of hair. That's about it, and all there is to it. 

But that works only if others must do the heavy lifting dramatically. Bring in an Annette O'Toole, a John Schneider and a John Glover and maybe Fimmel's "Tarzan" wouldn't seem so dreary and empty, all atmosphere and no gas. About all that's offered to buck up the Aussie farmboy hunk is former "X-Files" supporting player Mitch Pileggi as Tarzan's uncle, though Lucy Lawless of "Xena: Warrior Princess" (said to make an appearance in the pilot but absent from the version available to critics) is set to have a supporting role as his aunt.  It does not help that this Tarzan's Jane (Sarah Wayne Callies), a New York cop, isn't nearly as pretty as the lovestruck superhuman jungle boy who manages to sniff  her out whether she is uptown, downtown, in Central Park or the surrounding boroughs. 

These two just don't spark. Looking at each other, their eyes are as dull as the characters, which may help explain why the series' original title of "Tarzan and Jane" was shortened to just "Tarzan." Callies is just not much of a presence, despite having more scenes Sunday than Fimmel. Because there is little to distract you if you are not inclined to melt at the mere sight of Fimmel, your mind is apt to wander and this is where things unravel. Never mind that this Tarzan seems capable of defying the laws of physics, continually cheats death and routinely overpowers and overtakes packs of armed men whose sole responsibility is to subdue him. This is a fantasy show. You still have to wonder how foul someone who dines on alley scraps with wild dogs smells, and how someone who had spent so much time alone in the jungle would intuit that certain chemicals are flammable. But then this is the kind of show in which a bad guy -- a Travis Bickle type who murders homeless people in a gruesome way -- leaves clues as to his identity in anagrams. Anagrams!  With "Tarzan" relying on writing like that, no wonder Fimmel is willing to give up the shirt off his back to distract viewers.

Clear! Fans of the WB's "Tarzan" are trying to resuscitate the show. After last week's column announcing the possible cancellation of this freshman drama, I was inundated by e-mails from fans, prompting this special edition of TV Turn-Ons to inform readers about the campaign to save this modern-day retelling of a classic tale. 

A group called Team Tarzan is bombarding the WB with messages to save their show. Stuffed animals, plants and fruit baskets have been sent to WB officials, according to e-mails and Web sites. This strategy has been known to work. The WB's "Roswell" was saved from the cutting-room floor after fans sent thousands of Tabasco sauce bottles to the network, showing officials there the show's loyal fan base. Although it was canceled the next year, "Roswell" was picked up by UPN for another season. "Tarzan," which aired at 9 p.m. Sunday, took the title character, played by Travis Fimmel, out of the jungle and placed him in New York City. 

Tarzan found his new environment hostile and confusing, but there was one thing keeping him from returning to the jungle forever -- Jane, a New York detective played by Sarah Wayne Callies, who also finds herself drawn to this innocent yet savage being. "Tarzan" also marked the return of Lucy Lawless and Mitch Pileggi to the small screen. Lawless, who was last seen on TV as the title character in "Xena, Warrior Princess," played Tarzan's aunt, Kathleen Clayton. Pileggi, formerly of "The X-Files," played Richard Clayton, who rescued Tarzan from the jungle only to imprison him in his home in order to civilize the wild beast that was his nephew. 

"Tarzan" fans can find out more about the campaign to save the series at sites such as www.tarzantheseries.com, www.petitiononline.com/tz15637/petition.html, and savetarzan.withtheprettiness.net/wb.htm.