UPDATED LINK TO THE TRAILER
Everyone knows NBC isn’t in the best of fortunes right now. And for any network, every Fall signals a chance for them to turn their fortunes around.
For NBC, one show might just do the trick.
Based on a very rough trailer that is.
“Day One” takes over the Monday 9pm timeslot for the 2nd half of NBC’s season, starting after the Winter Olympics.
Announced as a limited “event” series, “Day One” was originally described like this by NBC:
From executive producer/writer Jesse Alexander (“Heroes,” “Lost,” “Alias”) and director Alex Graves (“Fringe,” “Journeyman”), “Day One” tells the story of life on earth following a global catastrophe that has devastated the world’s infrastructures. Beginning with the immediate aftermath of the cataclysmic event, an eclectic band of survivors — played by Adam Campbell (“Date Movie”), Catherine Dent (“The Shield”), Julie Gonzalo (“Eli Stone”), David Lyons (“ER”), Derek Mio (“Greek”), Carly Pope (“24”), Thekla Reuten (“Sleeper Cell”) and Addison Timlin (“Cashmere Mafia”) — strives to rebuild society as they unravel the mysteries of what happened and face their uncertain future. The group, all residents of one apartment building in suburban Van Nuys, Calif., embarks on a quest for survival and discovers that hope is found in small victories — and heroes are born every day.
From that description, it would appear that Day One will be some kind of Jericho rip-off, WMDs ravaging the world and the story of people trying to recover.
But Quiet Earth has found a rough trailer for the series and it just threw all expectations out the water, take a look:
And a revised synopsis from Quiet Earth:
Day One chronicles a global catastrophe from the perspective of the residents of a southern California apartment complex. In the wake of a mysterious event that has shattered lines of communication and (literally) changed the shape of the world, the survivors must work together to both rebuild and save the Earth from a menace that might have already consumed countless other worlds…
So now, Day One seems to have the potential to be a genre-crossing watercooler hit if NBC plays their promo cards right and the series manages to not suck.
Disaster epic, soap opera, action/adventure, sci-fi, drama, even romance? Those are things you’d find in a summer blockbuster. NBC might have just found the series that could be huge.
On one hand, this could be an intriguing and thought provoking drama along the lines of “What would you do?” after a catastrophic event or something similar. On the other hand, this could be a simple explosions and special effects extravaganza complete with beautiful people in peril. Many movies and TV series have clicked either way.
So is Day One going to save, no, help NBC?
Not seeing any more than this rough cut trailer, all one has to do is look at history to start the gloom and doom of cancellation before a series has even premiered.
Can an epic, grand, huge scale series work on network television? Just this season, the ambitious Kings (unfortunately) failed to connect with viewers. High concept series like Jericho, genre series like Firefly, different concepts like Life on Mars or Pushing Daisies… all dead maybe sooner than they should have been.
Even Lost, the series that defied all expectations and is the reason the other networks are looking for that big, epic, has deflated over its run. But not faster than NBC’s own Heroes which has to be the quickest rise and fall of a new series ever. Its stellar first season has not even been close to being matched with this upcoming season rumored to be its last.
So, with all these previous examples, how could Day One possible be the one. Can it overcome the shaky track record of those that have come before it?
And why does America not seem to take too kindly to genre programming on network television? (That question can fill a whole other blog post. Hello SyFy!)
So far, the first dozen or so responses about the trailer have been mostly positive if not hopeful that this series delivers.
I am excited by the trailer and can’t wait to see the actual series. The thought of a Jericho 2.0 already interested me, but seeing this rough cut, I am even more intrigued by where this series may go.
But as for NBC digging itself out of the hole? A series that can excite America and get people talking is a start. We’ll just have to wait and see if Day Oneis that series.
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