Scheduled to premiere on Monday November 4th, Almost Human sets out to create a series that balances the elements of procedural and serialized television. A science-fiction police drama created by Fringe's J.H. Wyman and produced by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot, Almost Human is set in 2048 and stars Karl Urban (Star Trek) as Detective John Kennex, a damaged and embittered man, wary of the influx of technology.
Kennex, after suffering a devastating loss, is - much to his dismay - partnered with android Dorian (played by Underworld: Awakening's Michael Ealy). Discontinued after displaying erratic emotional responses, the Dorian model is both a student and reflection of human nature.
A small group of press was invited to Bad Robot to speak with Abrams and Wyman this Thursday, where the Star Trek, and upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII, director chatted about his hopes for this series, casting Karl Urban, and the nature and development of the "Bad Robot brand."
"Some of my favorite shows and movies and books ever have been taking things that are very familiar and then throwing something into it that is completely unfamiliar and playing that out," Abrams said of the appeal of Almost Human's premise.
"What they're dealing with in this type of show is a cop show that you might feel is familiar with a wrench thrown into that," he went on to say. "The huge adjustment being that the cases themselves aren't what you've seen before. The truths of the differences between these characters are atypical because of the world of which it takes place."
Take a look at Urban and Ealy in a new Almost Human behind-the-scenes feature below:
As to the similarities to Abrams' and Wyman's previous collaboration, Fringe, the producer stressed that this is an entirely unique series.
"It feels very distinct from the world of Fringe," Abrams said. "That was a much more serialized show about this dysfunctional father-son relationship and this romance that went over not just years but worlds. This is a show that doesn't quite get into that level of serialized storytelling.The overlap — the Venn diagram of these two shows — would be that they're pushing the edge of technology and what might be possible in that regard. But the series themselves are completely different types of shows."
Wyman, inspired by classic police dramas such as NYPD Blue, and even Miami Vice, is seeking to blend that tone and model with a science-fiction twist. However, sci-fi fans, and the current television viewing audience in general, can be resistant to a more procedural structure. In thinking about that, Abrams said, "Sci-fi is a bandied about term and used in ways sometimes that is not quite appropriate. Everything's fiction that is on TV and there's a lot of stuff that has some science in it but I wouldn't say that this is in the mold of a '50s, sci-fi romp. I don't think it's exactly like anything else I've seen before."
"I think this is a show that if you are a fan of sci-fi. If you're a fan of Blade Runner, if you're a fan of [Isaac] Asimov or [Ray] Bradbury, you'll see this and you'll go, 'This feels like this is something in that universe,' but the truth is the show is being made for people who go, 'I want to see a great procedural. I want to see a great crime drama, I want to see great characters in a very unique situations.' That really is the thrust of what we're trying to do here."
Abrams has of course enjoyed some notable success on television, and film, but a few of his previous attempts to create a genre procedural have not been received as well.
"Well shows that we've done that have a procedural element like Person of Interest" will serve more as the model for Almost Human Abrams said. The producer went on to say that the less successful Undercovers, "was an attempt at doing a very fluffy, Hart to Hart-type show and sadly, due to my absolute inept skills, despite all the great work by many of the cast and my colleague Josh Reims, failed."
"Karl had said no to TV quite a bit," Abrams said when asked how they'd come to cast Star Trek's Leonard H. "Bones" McCoy himself, Karl Urban, as the lead in this series. "When Joel was talking about this show, he was was obviously someone that felt like he'd be a terrific fit. And so when we were filming the last Star Trek film, we asked him if he was interested at all in doing a series, and I could see that there was sort of a moment where he was like 'Hmmm, maybe...' and I thought 'Oh my god, we've got to do it!' And we just kept pushing, and then Karl read Joel's script and committed to it,"
"He is one of the sweetest guys and insanely funny," Abrams continued. "One of the great joys of the Star Trek films has been working with him and getting to know him and his family and I just adore him. So the idea that he gets to be that intense and tough, but at turns completely wry and sardonic and sarcastic and biting, kind of guy...He's such a great looking guy and perfect action hero and he really does play this part beautifully, so I'm really thrilled to get to work with him on a new project."
Over the years Bad Robot has established its brand, if there is one, as one that creates, big, operatic genre shows and films. There is usually an overarching thematic in play, and yes, often at least one or two mysteries. When asked how conscious that development has been, Abrams reflected on the public's perception of his company as well as his personal understanding of their work.
"There is a kind of sense of looking at some of the shows that we've done that it feels like there's a strategy," Abrams said. "But the truth is that it's just project to project, what gets us excited. We don't look at things and go, 'That's clearly not a Bad Robot show.' If we like it, we like it. If we happen to like it because there's an element that feels like, 'Oh, that's weird,' it's partly because we're weird. We embrace things that feel like they take reality as we know it and tweak it somehow. I can't help but love that kind of stuff. Having made Felicity and written things like Regarding Henry, I'm also a fan of things that are more character based or family oriented. So there are things that we're working on that don't have genre elements, and things that do. So, hopefully if they do end up working, and working well, if there is any brand for Bad Robot, the sense of what a Bad Robot show is or isn't might expand."
"I think it's dangerous when you start to consider aggregate, or perception, though," Abrams went on to say. "I think you just take it a step at a time, do the best you can, and hopefully people will come to see a thematic thread or some sense of continuum. But I don't think that's up to us to decide on that narrative, I think that's up to the audience."
Almost Human premieres Mon., Nov. 4 at 8 p.m. ET.
Stay tuned for more from Wyman, Urban, and Ealy on the series as we head towards the November premiere.
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