'Defying Gravity' is soap opera in space

Defying Gravity" isn't exactly "Grey's Anatomy" with astronauts. But it is sort of "Grey's Anatomy" with astronauts.

With a bit of science fiction thrown in for good measure.

And it's a whole lot better than I thought it would be.

(Back-to-back episodes premiere Sunday at 8 and 9 p.m. on ABC/Ch. 4; single episodes begin airing Sundays at 9 p.m. on Aug. 9.)

This series about a group of astronauts on a six-year mission through the solar system — and the ground team back on Earth — might not be that much different if somehow the medical staff at Seattle Grace hospital took their places. The human drama abounds, and it's all heightened by the life-and-death nature of their jobs.

You know, sort of like the doctors in "Grey's Anatomy."

At the center of the drama is flight engineer Maddux Donner (Ron Livingston), who still bears the scars of a mission to Mars. Yes, he blasted off the surface of the planet, leaving two other astronauts behind. But, no, it wasn't his fault — although the public doesn't know he was under orders from Mike Goss (Andrew Airlie), who's is now the mission-control commander at the International Space Organization.

We learn about the Mars mission in flashbacks. Just the way we learn about Donner's relationship with Zoe Barnes (Laura Harris), the geologist on the Antares. And a whole bunch of other stuff. And the flashbacks will continue as a big part of the show.

Through most of the first hour, Donner is not only Earthbound, but his career is hanging by a thread. But if you think that's not going to change, well, you've never watched TV before.

There are all sorts of soap-operatic complications, with various husbands and wives and lovers and romantic entanglements. Sort of like those doctors at Seattle Grace and, once again, they somehow seem less shallow because they are, after all, risking their lives in space.

The cast also includes Malik Yoba, Christina Cox, Florentine Lahme, Paula Garces, Eyal Podell, Dylan Taylor, Karen LeBlanc, Zahf Paroo and Maxim Roy.

"Defying Gravity" creator James Parriott was (surprise!) a longtime producer/writer on "Grey's Anatomy." (The show was "inspired by" the British fictional docudrama "Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets.") Parriott brought that "Grey's" sensibility into outer space, along with the over-reliance on music videos.