When does this guy sleep? Not only is JJ Abrams beginning principal photography on Star Trek 2 on January 15, his next TV series, Alcatraz, will soon premiere on January 16 on Fox.
The show stars Robert Forster, who I’ve loved since Jackie Brown, Lost holdover Jorge Garcia, and Sam Neill from Jurassic Park.
Seeing a little footage from it, Alcatraz feels a little like Lost at the Rock, and it’s clearly not a straight prison drama.
From what I can gather, it’s about a bunch of prisoners who mysteriously haven’t aged since the sixties, and are returning to the prison while Sarah Jones is investigating a murder.
Early reaction so far? TVLine weighed in by writing, “This is a procedural thatcould live or die on the casting of its Fugitive of the Week. The flashbacks show a nice attention to detail,” although, “for the life of me, whereas Abrams’ Lost from Day 1 triggered numerous knee-jerk speculations, I can’t fathom what could ultimately be revealed at the heart of the Alcatraz inhabitants ‘disappering / time-jumping / reappearing’ act. Lost had me compelled to find out more; Alcatraz left me merely curious-ish.”
As Cinema Blend notes, “The Lost comparisons are inevitable, between the core mystery that will no doubt hide an elaborate mythology, the elements of time travel, and the fact that it involves, well, an island.
“Hopefully Abrams and company will have more satisfactory answers for us than that show ultimately provided. Say what you will about its many missteps, but when Lost was cooking on all cylinders there was no show that invited more focused attention and spirited debate. Hopefully Alcatraz will prove worthy of luring us all to the water-cooler on a regular basis.”
