Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: TNT’s alien-invasion drama Falling Skies, executive produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Noah Wyle, doesn’t premiere until June 19 but the network and producer DreamWorks TV are already looking ahead to a potential Season 2 with the hire of Caprica co-creator Remi Aubuchon as executive producer/showrunner. He is in the process of assembling a writing staff with the goal of getting the writers room up and running on June 1. I hear that TNT will wait for Falling Skies to premiere before making a renewal decision but the network is said to be very high on the series and an early pickup is considered very likely. And because of Falling Skies‘ complicated shoot and laborious post-production process due to the series’ elaborate special effects, it makes sense for the writers to get a head start, even without an official green light, so the gap between Seasons 1 and 2 won’t be too big. (It took a year and a half between the time TNT picked up the pilot of Falling Skies to series in January 2010 to the show’s launch.) “Fingers crossed,” Aubuchon said about the prospect of a second season, adding that he doesn’t want to jinx things but after seeing all episodes from the first season thinks that “they’re pretty awesome.” Aubuchon was first approached to join the show for Season 1 but had already made a commitment to Stargate Universe. None of the writers who worked on the first season of Falling Skies will be back as most are no longer available, including Graham Yost, who is busy with his FX drama Justified. Aubuchon admits that trying to put together a writing staff for a cable show is difficult as hiring falls outside of the normal network staffing cycle and not many scribes are available, but he believes that Falling Skies has an extra draw. “Steven (Spielberg) is very involved in the show, which is one of his pet projects; he has a lot of passion for it,” he said. “I think it is exciting to work with him, and I think a lot of writers would be looking forward to that.” WME-repped Aubuchon started off working on character-driven dramas, including Chicago Hope, 24, Summerland and The Lyon’s Den, which he created, before gravitating toward genre shows. “In the last few years, I’ve been trying to combine my training in character drama and figure out a way to assimilate that into the genre world, and I think I had some success with Caprica,” he said.

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