Fox has picked up one of J.J. Abrams’ new shows.
This fall, we’re going to get to see the pilot of J.J. Abrams’ Alcatraz, in which a police detective and a geeky Alcatraz expert work together to discover what happened to 20 men who mysteriously disappeared from the notorious prison island fifty years ago and suddenly appeared in modern times – not having aged a day since their disappearance.
The pilot starred Sarah Jones, Jorge Garcia (Lost), Jonny Coyne, Jason Butler, Sam Neill, Parminder Nagra (ER), Santiago Cabrera and Robert Forster, which was directed by Danny Cannon, who produced CSI and Judge Dredd.
So far, we only have confirmation of the pilot, and Fox has not ordered any additional episodes, which means that the pilot had a so-so screening. It was unlikely that the show wouldn’t have made it to this stage, just trading on J.J. Abrams’ name alone, as television networks search for the next Lost.
No word yet either on the other J.J. Abrams pilot which is up for consideration at CBS. Person of Interest seems more interesting to me than Alcatraz, and we can expect, I think that it will also at least get an agreement to air the pilot, if not much more.
Both shows have Lost alum among their casts. Jorge Garcia, who played Hurly in Lost, will play the geeky Alcatraz know-it-all on Alcatraz. Michael Emerson, who played Ben on Lost, will play the millionaire with a secret prescience tool in Person of Interest.
