Awake starring Jason Isaacs

[Sawyer]

Last night was trippy as ****.

 

[Shifty]

The problem with Awake is that over 2 million watch it on DVR during the one week after it airs. Plus it gets over 1.0 in the demo on DVR which if it got that added onto what it got live, it would be good enough for a second season. The Neilsen measuring isn't perfect, adding DVRs to it just makes it worse in that people generally skip ads so advertisers aren't happy. There are those out there who will build up the 13 episodes and watch Awake in June after it is canceled. That's what's the problem with TV is that people are watching shows 1-20 weeks later.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...ngs-gains-awake-tops-gains-in-week-25/125946/

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...in-nikita-ringer-top-gains-in-week-26/127002/

 

[Sawyer]

Again, not really the problem with TV or the show. It's more the problem with viewers.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

I really hope this show does get a second season, but then it seems like every new show I get attached to gets canned

It'll just be so dissapointing though, because this is one of those shows where you're gagging for some kind of explanation, and I feel like it's going to be killed off before it ever comes.

 

[The Sage]

Last episode definitely confused me more on which reality is real. The penguin had me cracking up.

 

[Siby]

When the penguin showed up my wife and I looked at each other and I said, "Like this show needed another mind-bending element to it."

I love that this show keeps me guessing and wondering about what the hell is going on. In a good way. I love how they meld the story with the "which is reality" question.

I'm wondering if both realities are a figment of Britton's mind. There were a few instances when he shifted from one reality to the other and he was in the middle of an action. Which leads me to believe that it's not just his consciousness that is jumping from one realm to the other but that the whole thing is a fabrication of his mind. Kind of like how Gabe believed about his sister.

 

[Destructus86]

It is so pathetic that shows like this get such few viewers and get cancelled while crap like NCIS and Whitney get renewed.

 

[Sawyer]

Whitney has yet to be renewed for next season. And, if there's any justice in the world, it won't be.

 

[Doctor Jones]

So I watched the first two episodes... mainly because a girl I like and I watched it together so...

It isn't all that interesting. Though him and the son's relationship was good in the second episode. We're probably going to watch the others though so I'll give it a fair chance.

 

[enterthemadness]

I got a crap load on DVR. Only seen first two so far.

 

[marvelman2006]

Its wierd, because I loved the first 2 episodes but being on at 10 when I have to get up early for work and having a busy schedule between work and sports and weekend stuff I just dont have the time to watch it. I wished it would have come on at say 9.

 

[The Sage]

Jason Isaacs lives the dream on 'Awake'
The veteran actor says he doesn't care how many are watching the NBC show. He just welcomes the chance to explore character Michael Britten's unique worlds.

On NBC's psychological procedural "Awake," Jason Isaacs plays a man moving between two realities. In one: His son is alive, but his wife is dead. In the other: His wife is alive, but his son is dead. Which reality is a dream is up for debate. Not up for debate, however, are Isaacs' own dreams.

"I would never share that," he said gently on a recent weekday over the ambient noise at a crowded Venice restaurant. "I learned years ago that you have to rope some things off."

Then again, the 48-year-old actor claims to be an insomniac. "Much like my character in some ways, I don't get much sleep. I'm up reading probably everything written — both professionally and by amateurs — about the show since it premiered: comments, blogs, feedback … I read it all."

Probably best known for his roles in "Harry Potter" (where he sports a long, blond mane as Lucius Malfoy) and "The Patriot," or on TV where he played lifelong criminal Michael Caffee in the 2006-08 Showtime series "Brotherhood," Isaacs is a British actor who speaks in a Liverpool accent in real life. Seated in a booth, his face framed by facial hair, Isaacs appears more rugged than Michael Britten, the emotionally intense police detective he plays on "Awake."

"I thought it was such a simple and powerful hook: a man who doesn't know whether he's dreaming or not — and has no earthly desire to find out." He was also tempted by "this idea of a procedural show as a prism through which we could explore everything to do with the family: what it means to be a husband. What it means to be a father. What it would be like if you could repeat your marriage and or your role as a father. There just aren't that many unusual 'what ifs' in the story business."

"Awake" creator Kyle Killen, whose last series (Fox's short-lived drama "Lone Star") also dealt with duality, said he's fascinated with "forks in the road" storytelling, in which a character realizes how things could have turned out differently depending on a decision. The Britten character allows him to push that narrative even further: "He's kind of a guy that's been given a horrific version of everybody's dream second chance. He gets the opportunity to repair relationships — it's sort of a look at the good that can come from horrible things."

Isaacs speaks reverently about the series, on which he is an executive producer alongside Killen and "Homeland's" Howard Gordon. But Isaacs is also aware of the show's shaky position: "Awake" had a soft opening last month, with its premiere watched by just 6.2 million viewers and earning a 1.9 rating in the adult demo. Though that was a significant boost — 58% — from the average rating for NBC's short-lived series "The Firm" and "Prime Suspect" (predecessors in the 10 p.m. Thursday slot), it is marginal compared with rival dramas on CBS and ABC, leaving a second-season renewal a big question mark.

"This is going to sound very unprofessional but I honestly didn't give a … about how many people watched it and whether it ran for 10 years or one year and what time slot we had," he said, his hooded eyelids pulsating. "I've done theater to 200 people and I've done movies that make millions of dollars — and I hold them in the same regard. I wanted to play this guy and I wanted to see what stories we could come up with."

He gives the network credit for taking a leap with such an unconventional show, noting, "There are many safer choices that NBC could have made. Bob Greenblatt [NBC Entertainment chairman] and Jen Salke [president of NBC Entertainment] have to make choices to satisfy the people who buy spots — in the end, advertising sort of dictates television." That partially explains why he was averse to appearing on a network TV series.

In fact, he had sold a series idea to FX, which is in development, and had met with Gordon in hopes that he would consider writing for it; Gordon was working on a show with similar themes ("Homeland") and passed. But when Greenblatt approached Isaacs about doing an NBC show, he didn't give it much thought until he knew Gordon was on board. And it wasn't until Isaacs was offered a producer credit that he eventually gave in.

"[Isaacs] is tireless — with a capital T," Gordon said. "He has two switches: on and off. And I've never seen them off. He's just always doing something, he's always got suggestions and ideas. He's very involved with all the details."

Apparently that attention to minutiae carries over to his personal life. After finishing off his Chinese chicken salad, Isaacs scrubbed a napkin across his beard, then revealed his next adventure:

"I've got to run off and pick up my daughter. We have to prepare for a tea party she's having. There are so many details that need to get done, you'd be amazed."

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-ca-jason-isaacs-20120408,0,7005528.story

 

[Siby]

Good read. Isaacs sounds like a cool normal guy.

 

[Destructus86]

This show is way too good for American audiences.

 

[Sawyer]

This show is way too good for humanity.

 

[Project862006]

WOW anyone just seen latest episode

it is really picking up steam as michael just got on to that his accident was'nt an accident and was in fact a plot to murder him

next week looks insane too

 

[Sawyer]

Cancelled

Well ****.

 

[Kaleb]

Cancelled

Well ****.

Crap , and to think you put so much work into your sig.

 

[Sawyer]

It was too precious for this world.... [/cries]

 

[O'Haire]

Cancelled

Well ****.

 

[Project862006]

god i hate NBC the show was so good it especially picked up in the last episode

 

[jaymes_e06]

**** you NBC! Last night's episode literally made me weep like a baby.

 

[Siby]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

It seems any show with intelligent writing and requires time to develop gets cancelled. There has to be a different way for these shows to survive rather than based on ratings.

This blows!

 

[Paradox1]

Damn NBC, that show was too good for your network I only hope some cable network has the good sense to pick it up. Jason Issacs in this latest episode was amazing I literally felt his pain and I was hoping that he would find his way back to Rex somehow. I'm gonna enjoy the reminder of this season and hope that it gets picked somewhere else.

 

[X-Ray]

Cancelled

Well ****.

****!

One can hope that TNT can save it like they did with Southland or it's sister station, TBS, did with Conan and Cougar Town.

C'mon on TNT! You love drama, well come pick up this bad ass!