John Doe (2002)

While my gifts provided answers for others, I still search for my own. 
My name is John Doe.

A man wakes up on an island off the coast of Seattle and stumbles into the ocean where he is picked up by Khmer fisherman. He is surprised to learn he speaks their language. He is equally surprised when a paramedic asks who he is and he can't answer, yet he can tell what day it is just by looking at the sun. His memories are gone and seem to have been replaced with every bit of knowable information as if he has a search engine inside his head. Taking the name John Doe, he uses this gift to his advantage by using his new knowledge of statistics to win horse races and invest in stocks. Though he is far from omniscient as the races prove by losing to circumstance occasionally. He comes across a police report about a missing girl that he can see in color which is unusual as he is colorblind. Thinking this has some sort of meaning, he helps the police in their investigation which will be one of many while searching for clues to his past life.

The show actually premiered the same day as Firefly which may or may not be related to it's fate though it certainly fared better since it actually got a full season that aired entirely, but was unceremoniously dumped after a huge cliffhanger ending adding to FOX's reputation as killers of good shows. It was a refreshing mix of police procedural, science fiction and drama. Prison Break's Dominic Purcell gives an enthusiastic performance supported by John Marshall Jones as Frank Hayes, a detective who first sees John's potential for crime solving, and Jayne Brook as Jamie Avery, a recently promoted lieutenant who is at first the most skeptical of John. Along with Sprague Grayden as a young art student who encourages John not to be so logically cold all the time and William Forsythe as Digger (don't ask), the bartender at John's favored bar who has a mysterious past of his own, they form John's support and social circle. 

The science fiction parts are the backbone of the story arc, but they are not always as compelling as just the regular crimes and the first half of the season in particular suffers from some technical issues like spotty audio dubbing and jarring reuse of previous footage into new scenes. Purcell also has a habit of talking like he is out of breath when something big is happening. Not always, but frequently. But it had great plots, both regular like kidnapping and murder to great sci-fi ones like remote viewing and immortality achieved through computers. An entertaining run even if a little comedically cheesy at times and it's weird mixing of genres gave it the same ability to confound executives that Firefly did. Only lasted longer I suppose because Dominic Purcell is prettier than Nathan Fillion? Who knows.

Buyer's Guide:

Not available for purchase anywhere as FOX doesn't see it as warranting the effort. Firefly wins in the long run, but all the episodes are available for free on Hulu.

4 Guys in black trench-coats are always assholes out of 5