The upcoming television season holds a lot of new options for the fantasy or sci-fi fanatic. But what are these projects about, who’s involved that you might know of, and why should you be excited about it? Check out five of your new potential obsessions below.
Person Of Interest
What: A mysterious billionaire (is there any other kind worth watching?) has developed a technology to predict future crimes, and hires an equally mysterious ex-CIA agent (ditto) to stop them before they happen.
Who: Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight screenwriter) and J.J. Abrams (General geek god) exec-produce, and according to Wikipedia the show is based on a screenplay they wrote (I’m a really good journalist, you guys). Lost MVP Michael Emerson plays the billionaire and former Jesus Jim Caviezel plays the CIA agent.
Where: CBS
When: Sept. 22.
Why: Michael Emerson’s hypnotic purr is perfect for the kind of morally gray situations that Nolan and Abrams love to write. The idea of stopping crimes before they happen isn’t totally new, but its complexities could be explored in an interesting detail in a television show. As long as the creators don’t get too hung up on the procedural aspect, this could be a good ride.
Grimm
What: A homicide detective finds out that he’s part of a group of hunters called Grimms who can see the fairy-tale creatures that have infiltrated our world and try to protect humanity from them.
Who: Angel alums David Greenwalt and Jeff Kouf exec-produce. Caprica’s Sasha Roiz plays a police captain.
Where: NBC.
When: Oct 21st.
Why: The gents behind Angel certainly know their way around a supernatural mystery, and if all of the upcoming fairy-tale-themed movies and television shows are any indication, these stories have a hold on the public imagination these days. Although the tagline “Once Upon A Crime” is pretty groan-worthy, this could be a dark and interesting take on the genre. Will it be the winner of the fairy-tale wars? Only time will tell if Grimm or Once Upon A Time will come out on top.
Alcatraz
What: Forty-eight years ago, hundreds of denizens of Alcatraz disappeared from the island. When they re-appear in modern day, an island expert and a police detective have to track them down.
Who: Team Lost is back! Exec-producers Elizabeth Sarnoff, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, and possible Time-Turner owner J.J. Abrams are back for some more fun on a different island. Lost’s Jorge Garcia plays an expert on the island.
Where: Fox.
When: It’s a midseason replacement.
Why: Not only do Abrams and Co. have a pretty good track record with islands, they’ve also done some wickedly cool things with storylines that jump through time, and Elizabeth Sarnoff tells E.W. that we’ll see the prison in its past as well as the crime stories in the present and the “overall mythology”. This could be pretty great as long as the overall mythology is not overly dependent on giant corks.
Terra Nova
What: Dinosaurs! And also a plot where Earth is so damaged by pollution in the future that humanity heads 85 million years into the past to try this whole not-destroying-the-planet thing again. But more importantly: Dinosaurs!
Who: An up-and-coming young whippersnapper named Stephen Spielberg exec-produces.
Where: Fox.
When: Sept. 26.
Why: Did you hear the part about the dinosaurs?! We may not have the technology to head to the past yet, but we just might have good enough technology by now to make some pretty cool-looking dinosaurs.
Once Upon A Time
What: Fairy-tale figures live in both a magical world and our own without knowledge of their true identities.
Who: Lost writers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis exec-produce. Actors include House’s Jennifer Morrison, Big Love’s Ginnifer Goodwin, and SGU’s Robert Carlyle.
Where: ABC.
When: Oct. 23rd.
Why: According to E.W., the show will explore a lot of backstory and mythology, which is rather refreshing in the face of a lot of shows this season that favor the procedural format. However, the success of this approach will only be clear in execution and in comparison with Grimm. It’s an unusual concept that could be an interesting challenge for actors.
What are you excited to see this coming season? Has fairy tale fatigue set in, or are you always ready for more pretty people being lost in forests? Are you worried, like I am, that the creative team of Lost appears to be taking over the world? Saddle up your dinosaur and let me know in the comments!
