Starring
DALE MIDKIFF DARIEN LAMBERT
ELIZABETH ALEXANDER SELMA
guest Starring
VICTOR LOVE MIKK DAVIS
GIANNI RUSSO VINCE LabARBARA
BERNIE CASEY ERNEST COOPER
Also starring
JAMES CONDON SAL MADRIANO
Executive Producers: Gary Nardino, Grant Rosenberg
Harve Bennett, Jeffrey Hayes.
Line Producer: Darryl Sheen
Directed by: Rob Stewart
Written by : Grant Rosenberg
Created by : Harve Bennett, Jeffrey Hayes, Grant Rosenberg
A GARY NARDINO PRODUCTION
In Association with
LORIMAR TELEVISION
THE CONTENDER
One afternoon, Darien Lambert (Dale Midkiff) finds an elderly black man, Ernest Cooper (Bernie Casey), at his doorstep. Ernest is also from the future and has only just arrived. He is the janitor at TRAX, the teleportation firm that formerly belonged to Dr. Mordicai Sahmbi (Peter Donat) when Sahmbi was still living in the year 2193.
Ernest has a favor to ask Darien. He explains that, while Sahmbi was living in the future, Sahmbi was organizing a boxing syndicate. Ernest's son was a promising young boxer who Sahmbi was helping. However, earlier in the 22nd century, boxing was outlawed and his son's promising boxing career was ruined.
Ernest tells Darien that his son disappeared after this and he recently learned that Sahmbi teleported him back to the 1990's. Now, in 1993, his son fights under the name Mikk Davis (Victor Love). According to Ernest, Mikk does not realize he has a son of his own now. Ernest requests that Darien send both Ernest and Mikk back to the year 2193.
When Darien meets Mikk, he can tell that Mikk is, indeed, a 22nd century man. Darien also learns that Mikk is being managed by organized crime bosses. Darien s holographic computer, "Selma" (Elizabeth Alexander), checks her sports history and learns that, within a year, Mikk will fight the heavyweight champion and, literally, will kill him.
Darien and Ernest try to persuade Mikk to go back home, to 2193, but Mikk refuses. All he knows how to do professionally is box. Since he can't box in the future, he wants to stay here. Even when Ernest informs him abouot the son waiting for him in the 22nd century, Mikk does not care. He likes it in the 1990's.
Darien decides there's only one way to help Mikk; he has to fight Mikk himself and beat him so that Mikk won't be eligible to fight the champ. But Darien can't box that well and Mikk already pummeled him during a minor disagreement. Ernest , who trained Mikk, agrees to train Darien. For several weeks, Ernest improves Darien's physical fitness and refines Darien's boxing skills.
After fighting a few lesser boxers, Darien arranges a fight against Mikk. It is a close, dramatic match which lasts ten rounds, but, finally, Darien wins. What Darien doesn't know is that Mikk's criminal boss has bet ten million dollars on the fight. The crime boss is in the process of beating Mikk to death when Darien and Ernest stop him. Finally, Darien sends Ernest and Mikk back to 2193.