The Zeta Project

A spinoff from "Batman Beyond" (or "Batman Of The Future" as it's known outside North America for some reason - happily, it's not necessary to be familiar with the show to watch this), "The Zeta Project" follows a sentient robot on the run from the NSA (National Security Agency), because he wishes to not be a robotic assassin any more (he's discovered that one of the victims he was assigned to kill was innocent, and that meant any of them could have been innocent). Using holographic disguises - mostly as a Brendan Fraser lookalike - he's joined in the search for the man who played the biggest role in his creation by another runaway, a teenage girl called Rosalie (Zeta calls her Ro, she calls him Zee)...

This premise will be familiar to anyone who remembers "Short Circuit" (and its sequel), Gene Roddenberry's pilot "The Questor Tapes" and "The Iron Giant," among others (and fans of "Robocop" and "Futurama" (home of Bender) note the respective voices of Kurtwood Smith and Lauren "Amy Wong of the Mars Wongs" Tom as two of the agents in pursuit); but fortunately that means it's pretty interesting when we're not dealing with the "Fugitive"-type aspects of the plot. Even more fortunately, we're in WB-cartoon territory - they're usually reliable when it comes to above-average animation for TV, and "The Zeta Project" is no exception, being often exciting stuff and with some good characters on both sides of the fence (particularly the likeable heroes and the eager but often hotheaded Agent West).

Sky One started showing this around the same time "Alias," "Enterprise" (both also on Sky) and "Smallville" (on Channel 4) began in the UK. Though the least hyped, this is the only one I really watch. (Incidentally, my little sister's called Zeta, though pronounced Zee-ta not Zay-ta. As far as I know, she isn't a robot, nor can she change appearance.)

As a sci-fi series, The Zeta Project takes up the ever interesting question if robots will acquire emotions of their own. In here the government infiltration unit known as Zeta doesn't want to do what it was initially programmed to, search and destroy.

He's at a constant run from government agents Bennet, Raj and West, the former being hell-bent on capturing him because of his belief in the dangerous nature of such robots.

Zeta teams up with an orphan girl on his quest to find his maker to prove him not dangerous. This girl named Ro takes advantage of Zeta's abilities while she traches him to navigate among humans. They play off each other pretty well with Ro's snarky sarcasm and Zeta's shaky understanding of human behaviour giving us some good laughs.

As a spin-off of Batman Beyond the duo also comes across Neo-Gotham and Bruce Wayne and Terry McGinnis in one episode which is nice.

While the animation can be rather flat with little shadow on the characters and a cliff-hanger ending without a satifying conclusion to the overall goal of the series, it is a worthy entry to the DCAU.

"The Zeta Project" is one of my favorite TV shows--animated or otherwise--on the air right now, and is further proof that WB produces the best animated series of any other studio right now. Zeta has been featured in "Batman Beyond" before, but this series is a bit lighter in tone. But don't be deceived; action, humor and even a truly sincere moment here and there abound in "Zeta". As with all the WB's shows, there is nice animation, cool music, and a voice cast that is right on the money. "Zeta" is the most fun you can have watching a cartoon these days.

Not the greatest in animated series, but certainly on of the better ones. For a spin off, Zeta presented strong characters and good action. The plot lines fell a little short in comparison to Batman and Batman Beyond, but it was still a great show. The character of Ro was an especially good touch because it was interesting to see how Zeta, who went from dealing with an unusual teen in Batman Beyond, got to see the world through Ro's eyes presenting a little less violent view. Zee had a great deal of heat, like most shows about robots with personalities, but there was something else that is hard to pinpoint. Something that made me remember this show six years later. I think that if it had been allowed to last passed one season it would have reached it's full potential. In other words - I miss this show.

"The Zeta Project" is a wonderful cartoon show that I believe is very good for children of all ages. I have to admit that I'm probably a little partial because I love stories like the ones that are covered in this cartoon. The stories always keep me interested and I definitely care about what happens to the main characters. I give a high recommendation for "The Zeta Project" to anyone who likes this type of show or any of the other shows on Kids WB. It does a great job of combining action, humor, and a few sweet moments that keep the show exciting and interesting.