05 February 2012

AWAKE: The "Inception" of TV Premieres March 1

Hailed as the best series of the season at the last Comic Con, Awake was immediately benched (put to sleep?) from NBC's line-up before the new season even began.

Its status, as to whether it's airing or not, was unclear.

The problem, according to those who were lucky enough to have seen the pilot in May 2011, was that it wasn't because it's a bad show.

It's actually so good, so solid, so impressive and complicated,  that some were worried this was going to be too ambitious of a series to sustain.

This show was gonna be another high concept series. This show was expected to be the new Lost. And like Lost, it was going to involve several timelines, that writing for it was going to have to be flawless.

Production halted after six episodes, with writers and producers scrambling to review Awake's structure and storyline. The goal was to make the story tighter.

Producers of Awake expected their series to get a January 2012 airdate, and when that didn't happen, questions about its status were raised. Did NBC decide to pull it out of the line-up completely, fearing no one was going to watch it and get the story?

If were not for The Firm, which has been struggling with ratings and may be off the air soon, Awake's debut would have been delayed.

But, it is finally happening.

On March 1st, the series that, early on was being referred to as something like the movie Inception on television, is finally going to air.

Starring Jason Isaacs as the police detective who deals with two realities after an accident, Awake has such an intriguing premise. Here you have this cop, this father, who, after the accident, loses his wife in one reality and then loses his son in another reality. In both worlds, it all looks tragic. Which world, I wonder, is the bleakest for him? And which one would he like to remain?

Sit back and watch the four-minute teaser:



Awake is written and created by Kyle Killen. This is his 2nd show on television. His first one? 'Twas the ill-fated Lone Star on FOXwhich starred James Wolk ♥ (Yes, I've got to put that obligatory heart there!) and was cancelled last season after 2 episodes. I loved that show! I was pissed it got the ax. Kyle Killen showed a lot of promise as a brilliant writer with that series, and it's just too bad viewers could not get on board with it.

Now, this has me a wee bit worried for Awake because, once again, as clever as the concept seems (and Lone Star was certainly one of those hailed as 'impressive' as well), the bottomline is --- will people watch and more importantly, stay watching?

Awake needs an audience that will be able to connect with its complexities. Will you be one of those watching this show? (For the love of quality TV, please do!)