I could have sworn that Fox's premiere of Alcatraz was scheduled for January 23rd, but it appears it starts tonight. Starring Sam Neill and a variety of others, it has been compared to ABC's Lost, which may be a bad omen. I remember when another TV program, The Event, was compared to Lost. And where is that now (cancelled after one season, in case you were less than certain)? And just in case you miss the connection, Jorge Garcia (Hugo) from Lost is part of the action. Oh yeah, the first episode includes Jeffrey Pierce from an earlier show The Nines, which I believe was also compared to Lost before it was cancelled after one season.So what is this new show about? Well, I have included Fox's spin at the end of this piece. However, what I find interesting is that the website lists the program's description twice, as if no one cared to edit the publicity for awhile. Not a good sign (and hopefully cleaned up soon). So shifting dates, seeing double, and bits of Lost. I am already dizzy and the program has yet to start.
The only redeeming quality about the program from the outset is the involvement of J.J. Abrams, though I think he is involved with one of every five shows on TV at this point (including Fringe, which is to his credit). Given all the time travel in Lost, his movie version of Star Trek, and Fringe, maybe I am caught in a time loop and it is really January 23rd though my body says January 16th. Maybe.
Fox's description of Alcatraz:
From executive producer J.J. Abrams (FRINGE, "Lost," "Star Trek" and the upcoming "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" and "Super 8") and writer and executive producer Elizabeth Sarnoff ("Lost," "Deadwood") comes ALCATRAZ, the chilling new thriller centered on America's most infamous prison and one-time home to the nation's most notorious murderers, rapists, kidnappers and thieves.
When San Francisco Police Department DET. REBECCA MADSEN (Sarah Jones, "Sons of Anarchy") is assigned to a grisly homicide case, a fingerprint leads her to a shocking suspect: JACK SYLVANE (guest star Jeffrey Pierce, "The Nine"), a former Alcatraz inmate who died decades ago. Given her family history - both her grandfather and surrogate uncle, RAY ARCHER (Robert Forster, "Jackie Brown"), were guards at the prison - Madsen's interest is immediately piqued, and once the enigmatic, knows-everything-but-tells-nothing government agent EMERSON HAUSER (Sam Neill, "Jurassic Park") tries to impede her investigation, she's doggedly committed. Madsen turns to Alcatraz expert and comic book enthusiast, DR. DIEGO "DOC" SOTO (Jorge Garcia, "Lost"), to piece together the inexplicable sequence of events. The twosome discovers that Sylvane is not only alive, but he's loose on the streets of San Francisco, leaving bodies in his wake. And strangely, he hasn't aged a day since he was in Alcatraz, when the prison was ruled by the iron-fisted WARDEN EDWIN JAMES (Jonny Coyne, "Undercovers") and the merciless ASSOCIATE WARDEN E.B. TILLER (Jason Butler Harner, "The Changeling").
Madsen and Soto reluctantly team with Agent Hauser and his technician, LUCY BANERJEE (Parminder Nagra, "ER"), to stop Sylvane's vengeful killing spree. By delving into Alcatraz history, government cover-ups and Rebecca's own heritage, the team will ultimately discover that Sylvane is only a small part of a much larger, more sinister present-day threat. For while he may be the first, it quickly becomes clear that Sylvane won't be the last prisoner to reappear from Alcatraz.
Through the course of the investigation, Madsen and Soto will learn that Agent Hauser has known about the prison's secret history and has been awaiting the prisoners' return. Soto will witness his life's work - the history of Alcatraz - come alive. Madsen will be forced to keep her supportive San Francisco cop fiancé, JIMMY DICKENS (Santiago Cabrera, "Heroes"), at arm's length from the highly classified assignment as she sees everything she thought she knew about her family's past shattered, all while fighting to keep the country safe from history's most dangerous criminals.
ALCATRAZ is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Bad Robot Productions and Warner Bros. Television. The series is executive-produced by J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk (FRINGE) and Elizabeth Sarnoff. Steven Lilien ("Kyle XY") & Bryan Wynbrandt ("Kyle XY") and Sarnoff wrote the pilot, and Danny Cannon ("CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "CSI: Miami") directed and executive-produced the pilot.
Update: We will not see a second season for Alcatraz, according to Entertainment Weekly's Inside TV.
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