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Five episodes into its 12-episode midseason order, NBC’s drama series Awake is temporarily shutting down production to allow writers to catch up on scripts. The unplanned hiatus, which is expected to last a couple of weeks, is being done upon request from Awake creator/executive producer Kyle Killen and executive producer/showrunner Howard Gordon. It will be used to plot out the rest of the series’ first season. “This is a creatively challenging show as anyone who has seen the pilot can imagine,” Gordon said. Awake stars Jason Isaacs as a detective who finds himself living in a dual reality after a fatal car accident, one where his wife survives and one where his son does. The series intertwines his two lives, each with its own family dynamic, workplace and a different psychiatrist for the lead. “Because we’re not on a tight delivery schedule, it wasn’t an expensive shutdown and just gives us an opportunity to get it right,” Gordon said, adding that the reaction from both NBC and Awake‘s studio 20th Century Fox TV to the already produced episodes (5 + the pilot) has been positive. Gordon also noted a similar shutdown for rewrites on his previous series, Fox’s 24, in the fall of 2008, which allowed the writers to reshape the second-to-last season’s creative direction. Like Awake, 24 was a midseason series, giving the producers more leeway scheduling-wise.
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I heard NBC’s been really happy with the show so far, so this is slightly surprising but also not understandable considering the subject matter.
Cannot wait for this show! The pilot was sick.
A cop show with a lame twist that people will tire of quickly. Run as a mini series. They had better write magic if they want this show to air. Prediction, never going to happen.
I’m also looking forward to NBC Smash, ABC The River and Missing. I heard that Smash and The River were great pilots.
If they didn’t make Isaacs British, that should be part of the writing plan, too. Love him.
Honestly this is the only new broadcast drama this season that I have really high hopes for. Glad they’re taking some time to get it right.
Excellent call. Much better to take the time to get something right than to barrel ahead without knowing where you’re going. The long term benefits FAR outweigh the short term harm.
Seems like another “concept” show that really isn’t right for a weekly series. I mean how long until the gimmick gets old and muddled?
Too big for a film yet too small for a series.
Remember when ideas like this were done as a mini-series.
EXACTLY! BOOM! nail on the head. This is not a series. It’s an interesting pilot with good writing. As was Killen’s LONE STAR. but it is NOT a series that can sustain.
I mean, let’s be honest here. They are not pausing to get it right. They are treading water. This show was picked up and put in motion at the same time as others that have already started airing. Yet, it got slated midseason so they’d have more time. And they’re STILL needing to take a break? Come on… Just sched it as a sort of mini series now and be done with it.
Killen’s a good writer, but he’s 0 for 2 in terms of creating pilots that actually lead to bonafide series.
My friend who works there says they shut down because all their writers sold pilots and had to break to write them.
It might be a good sign they’re working on the writing. The premise sounds like a challenge. The last thing we need is another DOA mess like The Event.
Why does Issacs have to be British? Show some faith in the guy as an actor and let us see if he can pull off the role as written. That’s his job, after all.
It is an inventive pilot, to be sure, but do we really need another COP SHOW? Ugh.
Ahem,
Hello to Jason Isaacs.
I don’t think this is meant to be like LOST/The Event/FlashForward. I think it’s more of a procedural with character development.
ANOTHER NBC show that won’t last 12 episodes ordered!
Why doesn’t NBC just throw in the towel and bring back LAW & ORDER!
PBS Masterpiece Mystery is currently airing the Jason Isaacs miniseries Case Histories. It aired in the UK as six 1-hr episodes, but PBS is airing them in two hour blocks.
If this process helps to make a show better, then I’m all for it. Maybe Pan Am can do something like this and retool some of their future episodes while they go on a holiday break.
Pan Am has promise…for me to poop on!
God, I WISH Pan Am would do this. So much promise there going wasted.
Far from AWAKE -Americans would be better served by a cop show that wakes them-up to whats really going on now in real time!
A cop show where they go after Wall Street and Washington.
A cop show that really makes you believe in truth, justice and the American way again. I guess though, it could only work as a sci-fi/cop show… as who would buy the premise that the bad banksters and politicians, would ever have to pay for their crimes in primetime or any other time!
I heard they’re shutting down because half their upper level writers sold pilots and left to work on them. I know that’s true for 2 of their EP’s.
“Because we’re not on a tight delivery schedule, it wasn’t an expensive shutdown and just gives us an opportunity to get it right,” Gordon said. In other words, they’re turning into a more palatable cop show. Id bet the show gets ore homogenized from this work stoppage.
Mr Gordon, What about all the crew who were thrown out of work?
This is what happens when studios skimp on the budget for writers, especially on a show with a premise as challenging as this one. A few high-level writers with some experience would have cost less than a shut down. Just sayin’.
I called this way back. No way this will work as a series. How long can they keep the audience guessing. Boring cop show with a twist that won’t work. NBC fails again.
This is not show. It is a movie or miniseries. Same thing with OUAT. It may debut well but it is not a show that can last because they have a story in mind but can’t drag it out forever!
Historically, this is never a good sign.
Howard Gordon is a hack and helped ruin the last 3 seasons of 24. He also wrote most of the top 10 worst X-Files episodes. Cannot stand this no talent asshat.
The thought of NBC’s AWAKE in early 2012 was the ONLY keeping us up & going. Other than the Mayan calendar thing, nothing else interesting is set for 2012. We need this show!
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Please writers: go to a haunted house this weekend and find some inspiration.
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Lindsay Lohan is doing community service hours at the LA morgue – look her up and see if she has ideas. Consult a Ouija board. Hold a séance – get Sue Mengers on the case. Just do it!
While Jason Isaacs *is* incredibly hot with his British accent, he has already repeatedly pulled off roles that required other accents… For example in “Good” and “Brotherhood”.
I’ve developed a tendency to ‘rely’ on certain actors as far as predicting whether what they are in will be worth watching: Alan Rickman, Jason Isaacs, Felicia Day, Neil Patrick Harris, David Tennant, (and Tom Felton is quickly working his way onto my list from his recent movies) are a few– and so far almost everything I’ve ever watched they were in has been worth my time. So, especially since Isaacs has more say in this (I believe he is one of the Producers) I am really looking forward to this. He’s one of the most compelling actors I’ve watched that are still around.
Just saw the pilot, as a weekly show its a bust, will be canceled what are they thinking. Like anyone cares been there done that already…..