It's the first official trailer for NBC's Revolution, which they've just picked up to become a new series. It's one of those extensive four-minute promo's, which means it probably spoils the majority of what happens in the pilot (directed by Iron Man's Jon Favreau). For this reason, I chose to only sample the first minute. I quite liked what I saw, although television doesn't have a good track record with global-spanning events like these. Maybe it's because viewers rapidly lose interest once the catalyst has occurred, which certainly explains ABC's FlashForward shedding viewers so quickly. NBC's The Event tried to get around the problem by presenting us with lots of intriguing events, but insisting none of them were the event of the title, but audiences saw through that ruse...
Will people jump aboard Revolution, which presents a world 15 years after all electrical power and energy mysterious disappeared? It certainly feels like an expensive angle to take, because the show has to visualise things like overgrown cities, which is usually the preserve of big-budget movies like I Am Legend and Terminator Salvation. Then again, we'll probably spend the majority of our time out in the country following characters who have no reason to visit urban metropolises now. For me, there are two key things that have my interest in this project: the fact it's a JJ Abrams production, which isn't a guarantee of success but means the show will definitely be slick and confident; and the presence of Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito as a villain. The rest of the cast aren't big names, but that's probably an advantage.
Cautiously looking forward to seeing this one, but there are a hundred different ways it could fail, or become a chore to sit through. I sincerely hope creator Eric Kripke (Supernatural) has spent time ensuring the characters and the situations they're faced with are compelling in themselves. I'm beginning to hate US TV shows that bank on the continuing appeal of a high-concept premise, and have nothing else to back things up (see: Terra Nova).
What do you think? Does Revolution look promising to you? The show debuts in a Monday night timeslot in the autumn on NBC.
