| The Burning Zone | |
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| Genre | Science fiction drama |
| Created by | Coleman Luck |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 19 |
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| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production companies | Sandstar Productions Universal Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | UPN |
| Release | September 3, 1996 – May 20, 1997 |
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The Burning Zone is an American science fiction drama television series created by Coleman Luck that originally aired for one season on United Paramount Network (UPN) from September 3, 1996 to May 20, 1997. The series follows a government task force assigned to investigate chemical and biological threats. Initially, the program focused on the virologist Edward Marcase (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Dr. Kimberly Shiroma (Tamlyn Tomita). In January 1997, after the 11th episode (of 19), and in response to the show's low ratings, the characters Marcase and Shiroma were dropped from the series. Dr. Daniel Cassian (Michael Harris) became the lead character, and a new character, Dr. Brian Taft (Bradford Tatum), joined the task force. The Burning Zone initially incorporated supernatural and religious elements, but shifted towards more action-oriented storylines.
The series was the only drama ordered by UPN for the 1996–97 television season. It was paired with the sitcoms Moesha and Homeboys in Outer Space. The Burning Zone has never been released on DVD or Blu-ray, or made available on online-streaming services. Critical response to The Burning Zone was primarily negative; commentators were divided over its storylines and tone. It received negative comparisons to other science-fiction shows of the time, especially The X-Files. Kasumi Mihori and Billy Pittard were nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design for the 49th Primetime Emmy Awards for their contributions to the series.