Christopher Webster [Cathode Ray Mission 07.07.09] post apocalyptic scifi



[Editor's note: Does anyone else get the feeling this is like Thomas M. Disch's THE GENOCIDES?]

With some in-your-face genre blending and amazing action set pieces, it would seem as though NBC's upcoming post-apocalyptic show, Day One, is primed to lay waste to the competition come 2010. Think we're exaggerating? Think again people. This show looks far more interesting and way weirder than we ever imagined.

We got our hands one the first extended trailer for the show, and it looks like its got it all: a global disaster, some kind of invasion and a group of survivors chosen by a higher being. Yes, all the characters are young and pretty, but with an intense and mysterious scifi concept rivaling anything you'll find in the cinemas this summer, this show could be pretty awesome.

Synopsis:
Day One chronicles a global catastrophe from the perspective of the residents of a southern California apartment complex. In the wake of a mysterious event that has shattered lines of communication and (literally) changed the shape of the world, the survivors must work together to both rebuild and save the Earth from a menace that might have already consumed countless other worlds...

Also note that the trailer isn't of the highest quality so I would expect some of the CGI to look a lot sharper when the show airs in HD.

Check out the very first trailer for Day One after the break!




Recommended Release: The Genocides





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Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

This is NBC? Hm... Ignoring silly drama and obvious rip offs from others, this looks quite interesting.

I am afraid, though, as the series unfolds, the story will eventually disappoint, but it definitely worth watching at least in the beginning.

Alec (11 years ago) Reply

Yeah, looks like there's some melodrama, but the concept alone is cool enough to warrant watching. NBC has also said they're looking at a 13 episode run. I'm wondering if they mean for the season or the series.

Action Junkie (11 years ago) Reply

I don't think I've EVER been so excited for a new series! This looks sooooooooooo awesome!!

loci (11 years ago) Reply

cringe worthy dialogue

Jordan (11 years ago) Reply

Well of course you guys are excited. Use the climactic music to The Truman Show and you can promote just about anything.

bad dog (11 years ago) Reply

This is probably going to be bad, folks. See how the dialog makes the assumption you're an idiot. Notice how to make a series they're going to layer each season with more and more complexity until it rapidly devolves into titillating gibberish.

Is it really hard to write a good script, or are all good scripts destroyed by cynical Hollywood producers?

But the first episode looks like it's going to be cool with the special effects. Sure, I'll give it a try.

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

It's easier to write bad script, and the target audience for them is much larger than for good scripts, because people are... you know the rest.

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

Is that the score from "The Truman Show"???

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

You know, it looked interesting until people started talking. Rampant cliches. And didn't all the networks try to have their own Lost after Lost was a success? remember Invasion? Threshold? Surface? Jerico? etc. Well, this seems exactly like one of those. Pass.

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

Could be just the clip, but seems to be lacking a bit of emotional intensity for a global disaster series... time will tell.

rek (11 years ago) Reply

It does suggest The Genocides, between the giant plant-like things and the suggestion that water is suddenly scarce (the shot of the cast looking into an empty pool).

I really hope that isn't the case though.

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

I think the shot of the pool was where one of the things crashed landed..

jp (11 years ago) Reply

That was Sarah Palin at the end?

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

On the surface, it DOES seem to bear a BIG striking resemblance to THE GENOCIDES. Getting a hold of the pilot script to see JUST how close it is would be rather interesting. And it would be frakkin' hilarious if the people behind this thing had read THE GENOCIDES...they then decided they could just rip off elements of it, since the book is 40 years old and no suits at NBC would know about the book anyway...and now that the show has been made, NBC could find itself faced with a lawsuit for creative property theft. It would crack me up if that's what happened, and with this thing in the can if NBC had to suddenly pony up big money to make a lawsuit go away.

agentorange (11 years ago) Reply

You guys are right. I should have titled the post "THE GENOCIDES meets LOST." Would have been more accurate.

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

Pity NBC'll cancel this within 6 weeks. When will people learn that concept shows just don't work on Network TV? ONCE in a blue moon, one will catch on, grabbing the cultural zeitgeist or whatever...but I'm sure this will fail just like all the other shows that deserved full/multiple seasons and got shut down before they even got out of the gate.

davie wavie (11 years ago) Reply

why would anyone get excited over this... it will be awesome and then cancelled 5 episodes in... just like anything else that's cool...

James (11 years ago) Reply

I found a clearer copy of the trailer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYYxumHO6uw

looks pretty scary D: those weird spike things r awesome! XD

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

hold on let me watch the trailer again. Yep ..I will give it a go. Unfortunately these kinds of shows don't last long before its axed. Look what happened to Jericho, the same will happen to Day One.
It's a shame that commercial tv networks don't value their viewers and can stop broadcasting the
series after one or two episodes due to the ratings. The days where you would get a full season of a tv series on a commercial tv network are gone.

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

That is some horrible, horrible dialogue.

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

YES, that is the Truman Show score....it almost had me until the TRUMAN SHOW SCORE!?!?!?! Really? That's the best you can do!

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

NBC. Thomas M. Disch ripoff. No thanks.

Spawnomite (11 years ago) Reply

This looks so ****ing stoopid. I can't believe I wasted my time watching this ****.

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

it look terrible. the dialog and acting is so poor and the effects are amature.

meldramatic drival.

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

Yes, the music is from the Truman Show soundtrack.

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

ill give it a try. looks interesting enough. definite cringe worthy dialogue. makes me wary. who care if its the truman show, they had to put some dramatic score in there. who cares if its similar to the genocides, most material is. even lost is a copy (be it a very well done copy)

Matt (11 years ago) Reply

bad dog is 100% right. it will start off cool and get stupid the longer it goes. TV shows now need huge ratings right out of the gate or they cancel them. So this will be fun for maybe the first half season. After that, junk.

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

Interesting idea, but I thought the trailer was a little slow. Surface also started out very interesting a few years ago, but that petered out very quickly. I hope the show is better than the trailer because I love the genre.

Dave E (11 years ago) Reply

Uh, why were their cell phones working when the city was wrecked? Really? If your going to do a show like this, hire someone nerdy to get the details right. There would be no phone, no power, no internet, no running water.

Pat (11 years ago) Reply

MORE 9/11 EXPLOITATION MOVIEZ PLZ.
if this wasnt such an obvious terrorist scare movie id say it was shot in the 90s. terrible coloring, awful dialogue and cheesy cinematography.

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

please stop comparing this to good shows. the dialogue sounds horrible and it looks like crap.

Hoosier Daddy (11 years ago) Reply

NBC cancelled Journeyman and kept the rancid Chuck around. If this has any quality writing or acting, it'll never get an order for a back 9. Not on NBC.
These are the guys who turned prime time over to Jay Leno.

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

I will not waste my time the last 4 years the networks continue to remove truly awesome shows and do not show any commitment. So why should I give them any more of my valuable time

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

dumb. a melodramatic mess. way to ruin a nice premise yet again NBC.

Cher (11 years ago) Reply

I was hoping I would like it because I loved Jericho and thought Day One would be something like it. Not sure after watching the clip. Sorta looks like Jericho only set in a big city with aliens. Not near the quality of actors and the bombings looked so fake....nothing like the real Jericho.

gobyron (11 years ago) Reply

So once again...I see there are no other races on the planet but white...come on Hollywood...you mean to tell me in SOUTHERN California there are not Hispanics or African Americans...just one or two here and there? I hope this show fails...it tries to make things so realistic that it misses to capture a segment of people that would other wise tune in to watch. I am black and I will not be around for this show...not day one nor days two or three.

Anonymous (11 years ago) Reply

I know I am no longer interested in TV these days as they never let them really settle in. I am fan of Jericho and that will be the last new show I will ever watch live or new. It was my return to network programming. Just like always networks continue to make bad decisions. Why bother to waste my valueable time on something that they have already shown time after time no commitment. I have been watching NCIS Reruns and wondering how it past the 1st two season it did not get good until the character Ziva and the others had time to develop. Guess that is what happens when you allow TV to build and audience I heard NCIS during American Idol pulled the same viewer numbers as Jericho did it's 1st season. Truly ashame that networks do not show any commitment to us the loyal viewer.

Rosie (11 years ago) Reply

This looks like "JERICHO" with a different setting. And they even have Xander Berkeley, who appeared in a few episodes of "JERICHO" Season 2, in the cast.

Walter (10 years ago) Reply

The world is in pieces, but omg are we lucky the cellphones still work... tsss

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