Screen Junkies » Alcatraz

J.J. Abrams Talks ‘Person Of Interest’ And ‘Alcatraz’, Defends Flashbacks, Blames Himself For ‘Undercovers’

Fred Topel — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:54:57 +0000

J.J. Abrams was at the CBS party for the Television Critics Association. He produced Person of Interest, which premieres on CBS in the fall. He also produced Alcatraz for Fox midseason. Each show is designed to have a story of the week, but also series long mythology. Person is about an organization that uses surveillance technology to prevent violent crimes. Alcatraz is about inmates from the infamous prison resurfacing in present day, who need to be caught.

“I don’t know how you do an hour long show and don’t have some ongoing stuff,” Abrams said. “The fact is both of these shows, Alcatraz more than Person of Interest, definitely has overarching questions you can’t answer in one episode. I love that stuff. It’s one of the reasons I love Walking Dead, I can name 12 massive questions that I must have answered. I love that. I know that not everyone does and I think Person of Interest is definitely a more unserialized weekly crime show that does have threads that if you watch will reveal bigger, larger answers. There’s the mystery of the week thing but there’s also who are these guys who are working so well together? They’re not quite trusting each other. It’s really fun.”

Alcatraz requires flashbacks to show who the prisoners were back on “The Rock.” After producing the ultimate flashback show of all time, Lost, Abrams had no hesitation about using the same structure on a new show.

“There’s a flashback in Person of Interest also. I love flashbacks. There will often be flashbacks. For me it was a necessity of the show as opposed to feeling it’s borrowing an existing gimmick that Lost happened to use well. One of the awesome aspects of Alcatraz is the mystique of Alcatraz as the rock itself, what it was like 50 years ago down Broadway in the middle of these cells. What was it like to have these criminals behind these bars be out in that yard, to have the warden in that office? It would be crazy not to embrace that.”

The only Star Trek 2 update is that he’s still trying to make “a movie that’s worth people’s time.” On Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Abrams confirmed there are four full IMAX sequences, like the Burj Khalifa sequence in the trailer.

In more surprising news, Abrams answered questions about last year’s failed show Undercovers. Abrams produced the married spy series and directed the pilot, and he blames only himself for the show’s failure.

“I do feel the problem with the show was I made bad choices. I wasn’t as respectful of the audience or the characters. I didn’t give people substance. The thing that’s fun about fluff is it needs to be contextualized. It needs to be fun and fluffy within something of meaning and it was kind of fluff on top of fluff as opposed to something more substantial. I wrote it into mediocrity and I feel guilty because I love the actors, I love the idea of the show, I love the idea of a couple who loves each other.”

Person of Interest premieres this fall on CBS.

A Buttload Of Warner Bros TV Shows Are Coming To Comic-Con

Wookie Johnson — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:37:53 +0000

7 photosYvonne Strahovski

The major studios may have decided not to show their work, but that doesn’t mean Comic-Con 2011 won’t be awesome. Though Warner Bros doesn’t have plans to show us what their Dark Knights or Supermen are gonna look like, they’re making up for it by bringing along their television stars.

Superfans will have the chance to touch their favorite actors from shows like “Chuck,” “Alcatraz,”"Fringe,” “Nikita,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “Children’s Hospital,” “Person Of Interest,” “The Secret Circle,” and for the first time in convention history, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles of “Supernatural.” But please limit your touches to under two seconds. There are still laws even though Superman won’t be there to uphold them.

Here’s the current rundown of Warner’s TV Schedule.

THE TV SERIES SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, JULY 22

“MAD”: 10:00–11:00 a.m., Room 25ABC
“The Big Bang Theory”: 12:30–1:30 p.m., Ballroom 20
“Childrens Hospital”: 1:30–2:20 p.m., Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront
“Green Lantern: The Animated Series”: 2:00–3:00 p.m., Room 6BCF
“ThunderCats”: 3:30–4:30 p.m., Room 6A

SATURDAY, JULY 23

“Chuck”: 10:00–10:45 a.m., Ballroom 20
“The Vampire Diaries”: 3:30–4:15 p.m., Ballroom 20
“Fringe”: 4:15–5:00 p.m., Ballroom 20
“Alcatraz”: 5:00–6:00 p.m., Ballroom 20
“The Secret Circle”: 5:10–6:00 p.m., Room 6BCF
“Nikita”: 6:00–6:45 p.m., Room 6BCF
“Person of Interest”: 6:45–7:30 p.m., Room 6BCF

SUNDAY, JULY 24

“Young Justice”: 10:00–11:00 a.m., Room 7AB
“Supernatural”: 11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m., Hall H
“Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated”: 1:00–2:00 p.m., Room 6A
“The Looney Tunes Show”: 2:15–3:15 p.m., Room 6A

New Fox Drama Trailers: Spielberg’s ‘Terra Nova’, Abrams’ ‘Alcatraz’, And More

Penn Collins — Mon, 16 May 2011 23:14:52 +0000

FOX just released its fall additions in New York, and they’re looking pretty FOXified. Their dramas tend to be more character driven (“House,” “Bones,” “Lie To Me”) than plot-driven, and also tend to skew more science fiction than the other networks. We’ve got the standard supernatural mystery show (“Touch”), the requisite J.J. Abrams mystery (“Alcatraz“), the hackneyed good-detective-becomes-great-detective-after-getting-exploded-by-an-IED-in-Iraq (“The Finder”), and Avatar-lite (“Terra Nova“). So let’s take a look.

“Terra Nova”

The crown jewel of FOX’s fall schedule has been met with its share of both anticipation and skepticism. A family from 2149 gets sent back to prehistoric earth to save humanity (yeah, I think it sounds like Land of the Lost, too). While it certainly appears ambitious and grand, the thresholds for appearing that way on TV aren’t that high, which causes critics to wonder if the large budget will just lead to a very grand display of cheese from Steven Spielberg and Co.

“The Finder”

An Iraqi war veteran moves to Key West to work outside the law, solving people’s problems. It’s like The Hurt Locker meets Michael Clayton meets Ernest Hemingway. Except it’s a spinoff from “Bones,” so I think that’s probably where the Hemingway comparisons will stop. It does sound like there is a fair amount going on here, complete with co-stars Michael Clarke Duncan and Saffron Burrows. It sounds like this show may have been assembled by a focus group, which is always the best way to go about creating art.

“Alcatraz”

I could just say “this show is by J.J. Abrams” and leave it at that, but his shows haven’t proven to be such sure things. His ability to transcend fanboy adoration is no sure thing, so “Alcatraz” will be an interesting study. In “Alcatraz,” a detective follows the case of a grisly murder until it leads her to an Alcatraz inmate that died decades ago. Abrams will probably get around to telling us how that is possible in season 4.

“Touch”

(no clip available yet)
“Touch” is the most recent effort from “Heroes” adored-then-maligned creator Tm Kring. Well, if you liked “Heroes,” the plot of “Touch” will sound pretty familiar. A group of seemingly unrelated strangers affect each other in different ways, only to find that they’re all connected to each other in a mysterious way. Yeah, it’s pretty much “Heroes,” but with regular people. They should have called this “Regular People That Are Connected.”

Fox Likes J.J. Abrams And Zoey Deschanel, Christian Slater Not So Much

Geoffrey Golden — Wed, 11 May 2011 04:56:07 +0000

The upfronts are coming up, so Fox executives are pressing the “Greenlight” and “Dump Unceremoniously” buttons with wild abandon, before presenting their 2011-12 schedule to advertisers. Here’s what’s cancelled and what’s gladcelled (picked up for series):

- The new J. J. Abrams series “Alcatraz” has officially been greenlit, because Fox needs another beloved, expensive, poorly-rated mystery drama from Abrams right away. The story follows a team of investigators trying to figure out why 1960s prisoners are re-appearing in Alcatraz. Hint: Sideways Universes.

- Also picked up is a “Bones” spin-off called “Finder.” The series stars Geoff Stults as a military-trained “finder” of missing items and persons in Florida. Hint: “Lost and Found” boxes.

- “Human Target” was targeted for cancellation, and subsequently got hit with the dreaded cancellation missile.

- “Breaking In” did just that with strong initial ratings, but the Christian Slater comedy will not make it to season 2.

- “I Hate My Teenage Daughter” is apparently liked, not hated, by Fox executives. They picked up the new Jaime Pressly comedy series.

- “The Chicago Code” has been decoded. It reads: “cancelled.”

- “Traffic Light” got the dreaded red “cancellation” light, not the green one.

- Zooey Deschanel will star in “The New Girl,” a single camera comedy about a teacher who gets dumped. Like all girls who get dumped in movies and TV shows, Deschanel’s quirky teacher character will have to navigate the wacky world… of dating. She’ll do so with her three new dude roommates: “the cynic, the player and the man-child.” Setting my TiVO to “destroy.”

- As I reported earlier, the “House” party continues with season 8.

Shocking News: J.J. Abrams’ New Series Gets Greenlight

Geoffrey Golden — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 03:37:58 +0000

If you’re a potential drama series, how do you escape from pilot prison into the TV schedule? Answer: a “Created by J.J. Abrams” tattoo.

Showrunner Abrams (Lost, Fringe) already has a show on Fox, but he’s getting another one. I suppose already having a show on Fox didn’t stop Seth MacFarlane. Not in the slightest. Abrams’ new drama is “Alcatraz,” which centers around FBI agents looking for prisoners who escaped 30 years ago. My tip for those agents: check any and all hatches. Just a hunch.

“Alcatraz“ was picked up for 12 episodes. The cast includes Sam Neill, Sarah Jones and that lovable fried chicken restauranteur Jorge Garcia. (Collider)

Jorge Garcia Locked Into ‘Alcatraz’

Wookie Johnson — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 12:45:11 +0000

Jorge Garcia's reaction to the news that McRib will be retired once again.

When “Lost” was winding down, I had two big questions. Where the hell is Walt, and what embarrassing roles will Jorge Garcia have to play going forward? Hopefully, he won’t have to at all because there’s news this morning that he’s re-teaming with J.J. Abrams. Garcia has landed the lead role in “Alcatraz.”

The pilot for Fox is about a group of Alcatraz prisoners and guards who reappear in the modern day after vanishing over 30 years ago (if it turns out they were in purgatory, I’m going to shoot my television.). And Jorge Garcia is on the case as Dr. Diego Soto, the world’s foremost expert on Alcatraz. Really, Fox? Somebody came in to your boardroom with an idea about an Alcatraz expert and you saw a show in that? I suspect this one passed on Abrams’s name recognition alone. Good thing McG isn’t executive producing. If that were the case, this thing would be called “Dr. Alcatraz” and the prisoners would be hot chicks. You just know they would. (Deadline)