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* '''Tom Mason''' ([[Noah Wyle]]), a former Boston University history professor who becomes the second-in-command of the 2nd Massachusetts ("2nd Mass"), a roughly 300 strong group of civilians and fighters fleeing post-apocalyptic Boston. He has three sons: Hal, the oldest, Ben, the middle child who was taken by the Skitters, and Matt, the youngest. His wife died a short time after the invasion while gathering supplies. He is good friends with Anne Glass, and shares some of her views on the rights of civilians.
* '''Tom Mason''' ([[Noah Wyle]]), a former Boston University history professor who becomes the second-in-command of the 2nd Massachusetts ("2nd Mass"), a roughly 300 strong group of civilians and fighters fleeing post-apocalyptic Boston. He has three sons: Hal, the oldest, Ben, the middle child who was taken by the Skitters, and Matt, the youngest. His wife died a short time after the invasion while gathering supplies. He is good friends with Anne Glass, and shares some of her views on the rights of civilians.
* '''Anne Glass''' ([[Moon Bloodgood]]), the 2nd Mass's doctor. She was a pediatrician before the invasion. She is very inclined towards the civilians, and believes the 2nd Mass should do all they can to help them. Her husband and son were killed at home in the bombings during the invasion.
* '''Anne Glass''' ([[Moon Bloodgood]]), the 2nd Mass's doctor. She was a pediatrician before the invasion. She is very inclined towards the civilians, and believes the 2nd Mass should do all they can to help them. Her husband and son were killed at home in the bombings during the invasion.
* '''Hal Mason''' ([[Drew Roy]]), Tom's oldest son. He is 17 years old, and a Scout in the 2nd Mass. His girlfriend is Karen.
* '''Hal Mason''' ([[Drew Roy]]), Tom's oldest son. He is 16 years old, and a Scout in the 2nd Mass. His girlfriend is Karen.
* '''Karen Nadler''' ([[Jessy Schram]]), a teenage girl who works as a Scout in the resistance army. She lost her family in the invasion. Hal is her boyfriend. She was captured by the Skitters, who used Ben (Tom Mason's middle child), who was harnessed at the time, to drag her away. She later returns having been harnessed.
* '''Karen Nadler''' ([[Jessy Schram]]), a teenage girl who works as a Scout in the resistance army. She lost her family in the invasion. Hal is her boyfriend. She was captured by the Skitters, who used Ben (Tom Mason's middle child), who was harnessed at the time, to drag her away. She later returns having been harnessed.
* '''Matt'' ([[Maxim Knight]], Tom's youngest son. He is having trouble adjusting to life after the invasion, particularly his mother's death and his brother Ben's disappearance.
* '''Matt'' ([[Maxim Knight]], Tom's youngest son. He is having trouble adjusting to life after the invasion, particularly his mother's death and his brother Ben's disappearance.

Revision as of 23:50, 17 January 2012

Falling Skies
File:Falling.Skies.title.card.jpg
GenreScience fiction
Post-apocalyptic
Drama
Created byRobert Rodat
StarringNoah Wyle
Moon Bloodgood
Drew Roy
Jessy Schram
Maxim Knight
Seychelle Gabriel
Peter Shinkoda
Mpho Koaho
Sarah Carter
Colin Cunningham
Connor Jessup
Will Patton
ComposerNoah Sorota
Country of originTemplate:TVUS
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes10 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersSteven Spielberg
Darryl Frank
Justin Falvey
Robert Rodat
Graham Yost
ProducerJohn Ryan
Production locationHamilton, Ontario
CinematographyChristopher Faloona
EditorsDonn Aron
Jon Koslowsky
Camera setupSingle camera
Running time45 minutes
Production companiesDreamWorks Television
TNT Original Production
Original release
NetworkTNT
ReleaseJune 19, 2011 (2011-06-19) –
present

Falling Skies is an American science fiction dramatic television series created by Robert Rodat and produced by Steven Spielberg. The series picks up six months into a world devastated by an alien invasion. Tom Mason, a former Boston University history professor, becomes the second-in-command of the 2nd Massachusetts Militia Regiment, a group of civilians and fighters fleeing post-apocalyptic Boston.

The series is broadcast in the United States on the cable channel TNT, and is a production of DreamWorks Television. It premiered on June 19, 2011.[1] The series was renewed on July 7, 2011, for a second season of 10 episodes due to air in summer 2012.[2]

Series overview

Main article: List of Falling Skies episodes

Falling Skies tells the story of the aftermath of a global invasion by several races of extraterrestrials (including the lizard-like beings known as Skitters; a race of seemingly humanoid grey-skinned beings that seem to be their commanders; and mechanical Attack Drones called mechs) that neutralizes the world's power grid and technology, quickly destroys the combined militaries of all the world's countries, and apparently kills over 90% of the human population within a few days. The invasion and the objectives of the aliens are not explained, though the aliens try to round up children between the ages of 8 and 16 and attach a metallic obedience device onto (and into) their spines, referred to as a "harness". The aliens use mind control to control the children. Forcibly removing the device instantly kills the child. The story picks up six months after the invasion and follows a group of survivors who band together to fight back. The group, known as the Second Massachusetts (an allusion to a historical regiment from the Continental Army), is led by the retired Captain Weaver and Boston University history professor Tom Mason who, while in search of his son Ben, must put his extensive knowledge of military history into practice as one of the leaders of the resistance movement.[3][4]

Cast and characters

Main cast

  • Tom Mason (Noah Wyle), a former Boston University history professor who becomes the second-in-command of the 2nd Massachusetts ("2nd Mass"), a roughly 300 strong group of civilians and fighters fleeing post-apocalyptic Boston. He has three sons: Hal, the oldest, Ben, the middle child who was taken by the Skitters, and Matt, the youngest. His wife died a short time after the invasion while gathering supplies. He is good friends with Anne Glass, and shares some of her views on the rights of civilians.
  • Anne Glass (Moon Bloodgood), the 2nd Mass's doctor. She was a pediatrician before the invasion. She is very inclined towards the civilians, and believes the 2nd Mass should do all they can to help them. Her husband and son were killed at home in the bombings during the invasion.
  • Hal Mason (Drew Roy), Tom's oldest son. He is 16 years old, and a Scout in the 2nd Mass. His girlfriend is Karen.
  • Karen Nadler (Jessy Schram), a teenage girl who works as a Scout in the resistance army. She lost her family in the invasion. Hal is her boyfriend. She was captured by the Skitters, who used Ben (Tom Mason's middle child), who was harnessed at the time, to drag her away. She later returns having been harnessed.
  • 'Matt (Maxim Knight, Tom's youngest son. He is having trouble adjusting to life after the invasion, particularly his mother's death and his brother Ben's disappearance.
  • Lourdes (Seychelle Gabriel, a former first year medical student who assists Anne. She is religious, and her faith is still strong despite the circumstances. She has a crush on Hal, which is dissuaded for the most part by Karen.
  • Dai (Peter Shinkoda), a fighter. Dai does not have a wife or children, so in an odd way, he considers himself a little lucky not to have lost a loved one during the attack.
  • Anthony (Mpho Koaho), a former Boston cop who is a fighter in the 2nd Mass and a part of Tom's team.
  • Margaret ("Maggie") (Sarah Carter), a woman who used to be part of Pope's gang. She helped Tom and his team escape after they were captured by Pope. Margaret was also "recruited" by Pope (and raped by Pope's brother and other gang members), and she kills Pope's brother and another member of his gang before they leave. She wants to earn a place in the 2nd Mass. When she was 16 she had some form of cancer.
  • Pope (Colin Cunningham), the leader of a post-apocalyptic gang. He captured Tom, Hal, Karen, Anthony, and Dai and intended to trade them back to the 2nd Mass in exchange for an M2 Browning, food and one of their Pontiac GTOs. However, the plan backfired when Margaret helped Tom and the rest escape, and Pope was captured and the rest of his gang killed.
  • Ben Mason (Connor Jessup), Tom's 14 year old second son who was captured by the Skitters. In the pilot, Hal saw Ben with one of the Skitters' harnesses on his back, which they apparently use to control children. Ben is eventually rescued from the Skitters and the harness removed, but unlike the other rescued children, he is not free of its influence.
  • Captain Dan Weaver (Will Patton), the commander of the 2nd Mass. Weaver is a retired active and reserve military officer, who served with Porter during the Gulf War. He dislike the fact that the 2nd Mass includes so many civilians, and this is a point on which he and Anne often clash. He tried to save his family when the Skitters came, but he was not fast enough. He tells Tom that if his kids were still alive he would do anything to find them. It is revealed in the episode "Grace" that Weaver was a religious man but that he lost faith when the Skitters came. This is shown when Lourdes is reciting a prayer: Weaver is whispering it to himself as well. He also seems to have a paternal affection for the young soldier Jimmy Boland, as shown when he comforts him in "Sanctuary Part 1". He later discovers it is possible that his wife and eldest daughter are still alive.

Recurring cast

  • Uncle Scott (Bruce Gray), Anne's uncle, who reviews biology with the children of the 2nd Mass.
  • Jimmy Boland (Dylan Authors), a 13 year old soldier who fights alongside the 2nd Mass.
  • Rick Thompson (Daniyah Ysrayl), Mike's son. He was harnessed by the Skitters, and is one of the first to have the harness removed.
  • Mike Thompson (Martin Roach), a soldier for the 2nd Mass. His son was captured by the aliens. He was killed in "Sanctuary Part 2" by Terry Clayton, when he learned about Clayton's deal to turn over the kids of the 2nd Mass to the Skitters.
  • Colonel Porter (Dale Dye), the leader of the resistance against the Skitters in Boston. He was a U.S. military officer on the verge of retirement when the invasion came. In the 9th episode of the first season, he was reported missing and presumed dead.
  • Dr. Michael Harris (Steven Weber), a medical surgeon who is Tom's good friend. When the aliens attacked, Harris left Tom's wife to die in order to save himself. He was killed by a Skitter when Harris tried to inject it with a lethal serum.
  • Aunt Kate (Lynne Deragon), Anne's aunt and Scott's wife.
  • Sarah (Melissa Kramer), a pregnant civilian woman and member of the 2nd Mass.

Production

Development

In May 2009, TNT announced that it had ordered to pilot an untitled alien invasion project. Robert Rodat wrote the pilot episode from an idea which was co-conceived by Rodat and Steven Spielberg.[5] In January 2010, TNT ordered a 10-episode first season, which premiered in June 2011.[1]

Noah Wyle (2009)

Wyle, who worked with TNT on the The Librarian films, was sent scripts for various shows on their network. Wyle said part of the reason he chose the part was to gain credibility from his children. He said "...with the birth of my kids, I started to really look at my career through their eyes more than my own, so that does dictate choice, steering me toward certain things and away from other things."[6] Wyle also decided to do it as he could relate with his character, stating "I identified with Tom's devotion to his sons, and admired his sense of social duty."

The pilot was filmed in 2009 in Oshawa, Ontario, and the rest of the season was shot from July to November of the following year[7] in Toronto.[8][9]

Crew

Rodat and Spielberg serve as executive producers on the project. Graham Yost, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank are also executive producers. Yost had previously worked with Spielberg on the HBO miniseries The Pacific. Mark Verheiden is a co-executive producer and the series show runner. Verheiden had worked as a writer and producer on Battlestar Galactica. Greg Beeman is also a co-executive producer. Melinda Hsu Taylor is a supervising producer for the series; she previously worked on Lost. John Ryan is the on set producer.

Promotion

File:Falling-skies-poster.jpg
Promotional poster of Falling Skies.

The show's official website offered an online web-comic prior to the show's launch. The comic, released every two weeks, follows the characters of the series just weeks after the alien invasion. It is published by Dark Horse Comics and a 104-page comic was released on Jul 5, 2011.[10]

Character videos are also available online.[3] The videos explore the main characters of Falling Skies.

As part of the promotional campaign, a vehicle, with the TNT logo and called "Falling Skies Technical" was released as a free gift in the social networking game Mafia Wars on June 14, 2011.

Release

Scenes from the pilot were screened on April 1, 2011, as part of WonderCon 2011.[11] The United Kingdom received the world premiere of the pilot episode in full, at the first annual Kapow! Comic Con, on April 12, 2011.[12] It premiered on TNT on June 19, 2011.[1] Noah Wyle, Moon Bloodgood, Will Patton, Drew Roy, Collin Cunningham, Sarah Carter, Executive producers Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey, as well as co-executive producer Mark Verheiden appeared at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International.[13]

The series will be debuting in more than 75 countries worldwide. Falling Skies will air on TNT networks in several international markets. In other areas, the series has been licensed to networks that include Fox, Super Channel and Canal+. Warner Bros. International Television holds licensing rights for Canada.[14]

In Germany and Latin America, the series premiered on June 24, 2011, only five days after the U.S. world premiere. Falling Skies is shown Friday nights at 8:15 pm on TNT Serie in Germany and 10:00 pm in Latin America on TNT Latin America, simultaneously on the sister channel Space Latin America.[15][16] The series premiered on FX in the UK beginning July 5, 2011;[17] on July 4, 2011, at 8:15 pm CAT for South African viewers on TopTV's Fox Entertainment channel;[18] and on Foxtel's FOX8 channel in Australia on July 7, 2011. In Greece the series will premiere on FX on September 22, 2011.

Reception

Critical reception

Falling Skies received positive reviews, and criticism. Tim Goodman of the Hollywood Reporter wrote "...the entertainment value and suspense of Falling Skies is paced just right. You get the sense that we'll get those answers eventually. And yet, you want to devour the next episode immediately."[19] Thomas Conner of the Chicago Sun-Times called it "...a trustworthy family drama but with aliens." He continued, "It's 'Jericho' meets 'V', with the good from both and the bad discarded. It'll raise the summer-TV bar significantly."[20] Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly gave the series a B+ and wrote, "A similar, gradually developed, but decisive conviction makes Falling Skies an engaging, if derivative, chunk of dystopian sci-fi." He continued, "...Falling Skies rises above any one performance; it's the spectacle of humans versus aliens that draws you in."[21] In the Boston Herald, Mark A. Perigard gave the series a B grade, writing "Don't look now, but Falling Skies could be a summer obsession."[22]

In Variety, Brian Lowry stated that he enjoyed the action sequences but that "the soapier elements mostly fall flat", and called the series "painfully old-fashioned".[8] Mike Hale, from The New York Times, called the series "average" and "good on the action, a little muddled on the ideas". He added that "the tone is placid and slightly monotonous, as if we were watching the Walton family at the end of the world".[23] The Washington Post reviewer Hank Steuver criticized the actor portrayals, writing that "the show is slowed by so many wooden performances, Wyle's included". He also states he found himself "root[ing] for the aliens, which cannot have been the writers' intent".[24] In The Miami Herald, Glenn Garvin also criticized the poor acting, stating, "the 'Falling Skies' cast appears unconvinced and unconvincing."[25] Garvin singled out the performance of Sarah Carter as the only exception, and added that Spielberg has "bottomed out" with this family drama series.

At review aggregator Metacritic the first season scored 71%, based on 26 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[26]

Ratings

The two-hour premiere of Falling Skies was watched by 5.9 million viewers, making it cable television's biggest series launch of the year, with more than 2.6 million adults 18–49 and 3.2 million adults 25–54.[27] The first season finale received 5.6 million viewers, the highest rated episode since the series premiere; with 2.5 million viewers in the 18–49 demographic.[28]

In the UK, it premiered on non-terrestrial channel FX, with 402,000 viewers.[29]

References

  1. ^ a b c Seidman, Robert (March 10, 2011). "TNT Announces Summer Schedule". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  2. ^ "TNT Orders Second Wave of Falling Skies, Cable's #1 New Series". Turner Tekgroup (Press release). Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Falling Skies – Official website". Turner Broadcasting System. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  4. ^ Huver, Scott (April 12, 2011). "Falling Skies Star Drew Roy: This Series Will Be 'Dark and Gritty, But Uplifting'". nbcnewyork.com. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
  5. ^ "Tnt, TBS and TruTV Showcase Upcoming Series and Unveil Impressive Development Slate at 2009 Upfront". The Futon Critic. May 20, 2009. Retrieved January 7, 2011.
  6. ^ Moore, Frazier (June 16, 2011). "Noah Wyle stars in a drama about an alien invasion". Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  7. ^ Wagner, Curt (May 27, 2011). "Noah Wyle bringing 'Falling Skies' to Chicago". Retrieved May 27, 2011.
  8. ^ a b Lowry, Brian (June 16, 2011). "Falling Skies". Variety. Archived from the original on June 18, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
  9. ^ Amatangelo, Amy (June 19, 2011). "Noah's arc". Boston Herald.(subscription required)
  10. ^ "Falling Skies TPB". Dark Horse Comics. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  11. ^ "WonderCon 2011: Falling Skies". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  12. ^ "FX UK: THE WALKING DEAD AND FALLING SKIES". Kapow! Comic Con. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  13. ^ Goldman, Eric (July 10, 2011). "TV Shows Coming to Comic-Con 2011". IGN. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  14. ^ "TNT and Turner Broadcasting System International, Inc. Announce Worldwide Launch of Epic Alien Invasion Series FALLING SKIES, Debuting in More Than 75 Countries" (Press release). Turner Broadcasting System. June 09, 2011. Retrieved June 09, 2011. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Falling Skies". TNT Serie. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  16. ^ "Falling Skies Latin America". TNT LA. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  17. ^ Wightman, Catriona (April 7, 2011). "FX to air 'Falling Skies' in the UK". Digital Spy. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  18. ^ "FALLING SKIES - COMING SOON". TopTV.
  19. ^ Goodman, Tim (June 11, 2011). "Falling Skies: TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  20. ^ Conner, Thomas (June 14, 2011). "'Falling Skies' a trustworthy family drama but with aliens". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  21. ^ Tucker, Ken (June 15, 2011). "Falling Skies (2011)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
  22. ^ Perigard, Mark (June 16, 2011). "Steven Spielberg's Hub-set alien thriller blasts off". The Boston Herald. Retrieved June 16, 2011.(subscription required)
  23. ^ Hale, Mike (June 16, 2011). "Television Review: Falling Skies". The New York Times. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
  24. ^ Steuver, Hank (June 17, 2011). "TV: In TNT's 'Falling Skies,' an American dad battles some personal space invaders". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
  25. ^ Garvin, Glenn (June 17, 2011). "Spielberg's skitters are coming! Run for your lives". The Miami Herald. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
  26. ^ "Falling Skies: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  27. ^ Seidman, Robert (June 20, 2011). "TNT's 'Falling Skies' Premieres to 5.9 Million Viewers, Cable's #1 Series Launch of the Year". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  28. ^ Seidman, Robert (August 8, 2011). "'Falling Skies' Averages 5.6 Million Viewers in Season Finale; Most Since Premiere". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  29. ^ July 6, 2011. "'Falling Skies' launches with 420k on FX". Digital Spy. Retrieved July 7, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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