Sky have just announce a couple of exciting deals with Warner Bros. and CBS to bring a number of new US imports to UK TV!
Arrow – Sky 1 HD (Autumn 2012)
http://youtu.be/24kQJlHrTqI
Arrow will be heading for Sky 1 HD this Autumn 2012, which brings a modern twist to DC’s classic Green Arrow character.
Exec producers/developers are Marc Guggenheim & Greg Berlanti (co-creators of the under-rated Eli Stone and No Ordinary Family), Andrew Kreisberg (writer on Eli Stone, Warehouse 13, Fringe), and the pilot was directed by Smallville’s David Nutter. Stephen Amell (The Vampire Diaries) takes the lead as billionaire playboy Oliver Queen with Katie Cassidy (Supernatural, Harper’s Island) playing Dinah Laurel Lance (aka Black Canary).
VERDICT: Every time i see one of these, i do think, what they really want to do is make a modern Batman TV show, but failing that, a punked up Green Arr… Sorry ‘Arrow’ TV show is a close as you’re going to get to Bruce Wayne on the small screen. Not something i’m desperate to see from the trailer, but I think it’ll be worth a look.
Elementary – Sky Living HD (Autumn 2012)
http://youtu.be/qUJeWvpat-M
This is not a remake of Stephen Moffat’s Sherlock… no no no… To think that the US producers saw the acclaim Moffat/Gatiss reinvention got, and thought ‘that’s a good idea’ would be preposterous… ;)
To be fair to it, the show does have a more America ‘Bones/Castle’ cop drama feel to it by the looks of the trailer. This show is set in New York with Jonny Lee Miller (Eli Stone, Trainspotting) taking the lead as Holmes, with Lucy Liu (Charlie’s Angels) as a female Watson.
It’s exec produced/developed by Robert Doherty (Ringer, Medium), Sarah Timberman & Carl Beverly (Justified, Unforgettable, A Gifted Man) and Michael Cuesta (Homeland, Dexter).
VERDICT: I’m interested to see how this pans out. The hit rate of the exec team is about 50/50, but even some of their misses where pretty good. Plus Jonny Lee Miller is usually pretty entertaining.
Vegas – Sky Atlantic (Late 2012/Early 2013)
http://youtu.be/usyIgfY0pyw
Inspired by real events in the 60s, ‘Vegas‘ tells the story of the rise of Sin City. Dennis Quaid (Wyatt Earp, The Special Relationship) stars as former Las Vegas Sheriff Ralph Lamb, a fourth-generation rancher trying to bring order to the city. Vegas is swelling with outsiders and corruption as the gambling and entertainment mecca is emerging from the tumbleweeds. Lamb (Quaid) is tasked with looking into the murder of a casino work and comes across Vincent Savino (Michael Chiklis – No Ordinary Family, The Shield), a ruthless Chicago gangster who plans to make Vegas his own. The two become engaged in a fierce battle for control of the budding oasis and, for both, folding is not an option.
Jason O’Mara (Terra Nova) stars as Deputy Jack Lamb, and Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix) plays the ambitious Assistant District Attorney, Katherine O’Connell.
The executive producers are Greg Walker (Without a Trace) Academy Award-nominated writer Nicholas Pileggi (Goodfellas), Arthur Sarkissian (Rush Hour), Cathy Konrad (Walk the Line) and Academy Award-nominated writer/director James Mangold (Walk the Line).
VERDICT: Great cast, great producers and writers. This is really one i’m excited to see!
The Following – Sky Atlantic (Early 2013)
http://youtu.be/f8H4ewQzKFM
Terrifying cat-and-mouse thriller The Following stars Kevin Bacon (Mystic River, Apollo 13) James Purefoy (Rome), and is executive produced by Kevin Williamson (The Vampire Diaries, Dawson’s Creek, the Scream films) and Marcos Siega (Dexter, True Blood).
When notorious serial killer Joe Carroll (Purefoy) escapes from death row and embarks on a new killing spree, the FBI calls former agent Ryan Hardy (Bacon), a psychologically scarred veteran who captured Carroll nine years earlier, after Carroll murdered 14 female students on a college campus where he taught literature. Knowing Carroll better than anyone and close with Carroll’s ex-wife, Claire (Natalie Zea, Justified), Hardy works closely with an FBI team which includes no-nonsense agent Jennifer Mason (Jeananne Goossen, The Vow) and sharp upstart Mike Weston (Shawn Ashmore, X-Men: The Last Stand), and he soon discovers that Carroll was not only communicating with a network of killers in the outside world, but has much more planned than just a prison escape…
VERDICT: Another great cast, and a nice premise for a show. Not sure about how much legs it has long term, but will be worth checking out!