When strangers meet
Share with others:
Maybe it's a post-9/11 reckoning. Or perhaps it's just an effort to replicate the success of ABC's "Lost." Whatever the reason, large ensemble-cast shows that feature strangers brought together by unusual circumstances are all the rage this fall.
"We're not trying to preach and tell a 9/11 story," said Hank Steinberg, executive producer of ABC's "The Nine." "But it's in our consciousness, it's in our pores."
For Tim Kring, executive producer of NBC's "Heroes," bringing together strangers was simply the best way to tell his story.
ABC, especially, has embraced the concept.
"I think ABC is making a big play at what would almost be a social undercurrent of people who don't feel attached, " said Fox Entertainment president Peter Liguori. "That by having shows that create families, that creates social networks, and it's something that's appealing."
Whether or not TV is offering up too many strangers in too many similarly strange lands, only time (and the Nielsen ratings) will tell.
"LOST"
9 p.m. Wednesday, ABC
Plot: Survivors of a plane crash on a mysterious island try to survive attacks by "the Others" who populate the island.Romances: Jack (Matthew Fox) loves Kate (Evangeline Lilly), who has a hankering for Sawyer (Josh Holloway), who wants her backTeen star growing up: Matthew Fox "Party of Five."Time shifts: Flashbacks to the characters' lives before they crashed on the island help explain their motivations.How strange on the Weirdometer: 10 out of 10. Who came up with the idea of a monster made of a black smoke cloud?
"THE NINE"
10 p.m. Wednesday, ABCPlot: Nine strangers bond after they're held hostage during a bank robbery.Romances: Jeremy (Scott Wolf) loved Lizzie (Jessica Collins) pre-robbery, but something happened in the bank and now he may be closer to Franny (Camille Guaty).Teen star growing up: Scott Wolf "Party of Five."Time shifts: Each episode begins with a flashback to a specific moment in the 52-hour bank robbery-turned-hostage crisis.How strange on the Weirdometer: 7 out of 10. Somehow Kathryn (Kim Raver) lost a chunk of hair in the robbery. Why would someone do that?
"HEROES"
9 p.m. Monday, NBCPlot: People around the globe begin to discover they have special abilities that may allow them to save the world.Romances: A drug-addicted artist (Santiago Cabrera) with the ability to paint future events is dating a woman whose father is dying.Teen star growing up: Milo Ventimiglia "Gilmore Girls."Time shifts: Hiro (Masi Oka) can teleport from Japan to Times Square and five weeks into the future.How strange on the Weirdometer: 9 out of 10. Indestructible Claire (Hayden Panettiere) has her hand mangled in a garbage disposal, and it heals in an minute.
"SIX DEGREES"
10 p.m. Thursday, ABCPlot: Just six degrees separate a dozen Manhattanites from one another. And even then, they seem to constantly brush past each other on the sidewalk.Romances: Carlos (Jay Hernandez) has the hots for mysterious Mae (Erika Christensen).Teen star growing up: Erika Christensen, "Traffic."Time shifts: Laura (Hope Davis, left) frequently replays images of her TV reporter husband's final live shot before his death in a war zone.How strange on the Weirdometer: 4 out of 10. Manhattan may be an island, but it's teeming with people and not as small as "Six Degrees" makes it out to be.
"JERICHO"
8 p.m. Wednesday, CBSPlot: Mushroom clouds rise over Denver and Atlanta, knocking out communications and cutting off tiny Jericho, Kan., from the rest of the country.Romances: Jake (Skeet Ulrich, right) returns home after years away and still carries a torch for former flame Emily (Ashley Scott, center), but he may also have his sights set on post-nuke loving with teacher Heather (Sprague Grayden).Teen star growing up: Skeet Ulrich, "Scream."Time shifts: None so far.How strange on the Weirdometer: 3 out of 10. "The Day After" was a lot freakier back in the 1980s.
First Published October 8, 2006 12:00 am
