Commander Rick

Commander Rick is the host of Prisoners of Gravity. He's slightly eccentric, not totally sane and far from being competent, but is still a sympathic character. In case you missed the opening, Rick was just a normal geek until he paid attention to the deteriorating state of the world around him. This rude awakening caused Rick to try to flee Earth, a misadventure that ended up with him crashing into the side of the communications satellite Reality 1.

Stuck with no way to escape back to Earth or otherwise, Rick is forced to take up residence in the satellite. He now tries to get by as a pirate broadcaster; if you have access to hundreds of media signals, you might as well take advantage of them. Everything doesn't always work in Rick's favour during the broadcasts. Problems range from guests leaving mid-interview, power outages and temperamental equipment. Even in the face of all this, he somehow manages to keep things running smoothly most of the time. When the worst happens, he has Nan-Cy and Control to fall back on. If they'll give help is another story altogether.

Nano Cybernetic 3000

The Nano-Cybernetic 3000 is the egoistic and sardonic artificial intelligence of Reality 1's computer systems. Her full name is rarely mentioned; she's instead referred to as "Nan-Cy", a shortened version of her full name, or as "Nance", a nickname that Commander Rick gave her. She's supposed to assist in the pirate broadcasts, but her helpfulness varies depending on her mood. Nan-Cy's not shy about speaking her mind, her sense of humour can be cruel at times and, while she can verbally cut down people without a second thought, she can't stand to have it done back to herself.

As far as computers go, Nan-Cy is fairly powerful. She can take over and control the broadcasts on her own, but rarely does so unless she's provoked or Rick loses complete control. Her usual jobs include taking care of day-to-day operations on the satellite, assisting Rick with the pirate broadcasts, and correcting/mocking him when he gets information wrong. Interestingly enough, her skills also extend to hacking and programming.

(Side note before I get buried in fan emails: The correct spelling of the Nano-Cybernetic 3000's nickname isn't clear. I've seen documents spelling it Nan-Cy, NAN-CY, NanCy and Nancy. I can recall seeing it spelled on-screen only once, as "NAN-CY", but then the whole sentence was in capital letters. I just stick with "Nan-Cy" for continuity's sake.)

Enrico Gruen

Enrico Gruen is the host of the TVOntario show Second Nature. Second Nature is a bizarre nature program that seems to switch between being broadcast live and prerecorded depending on what the planned jokes for the episode call for. We rarely see Enrico outside of the context of hosting his nature show, so most of his true personality is a mystery. The brief glimpses that are seen reveal that he is determined to continue on with Second Nature, even in the face of Rick's own pirate broadcasting efforts.

Control

Control is a secret organization that helps Rick by passing along information and interview gathered in the most unusual locations. These vary from conventions to the backyards of authors to cars. It's not clear if Rick or Nan-Cy know a lot about Control's inner workings, but the duo accepts any help that they can find.

And All The Rest

Many random minor characters have turned up throughout the series. They rarely appear in more than one episode and don't play much of a role in the series in the long run. Their job is to provide humour for one episode and then go on their way. They vary from Don Harron's character Charlie Farquharson to Hel-En, Nan-Cy's alternate universe counterpart.