Falling Skies is an American science fiction dramatic television series created by Robert Rodat. The series is broadcast in the United States on the cable channel TNT, and is a production of DreamWorks Television.
Falling Skies premiered on Sunday, June 19, 2011on TNT.[1]
Falling Skies tells the story of the aftermath of an alien invasion that not only neutralizes the world's power grid, but also destroys the combined militaries of all the world's countries in a very short (less than a day) time. It is alluded that over 90% of the human population is killed within a few days. The story picks up six months after the invasion, and follows a group of survivors who must band together in order to fight back. The group, known as the Second Massachusetts (an allusion to a Boston militia in the American Revolutionary War), is led by Boston University history professor Tom Mason who, while in search of his son Ben, must put his extensive knowledge of military history into practice as one of the leaders of the resistance movement.[2][3]
In May 2009, TNT announced that it had ordered to pilot an untitled alien invasion project. Robert Rodat wrote the pilot episode from an idea which was co-conceived by Rodat and Steven Spielberg.[4] In January 2010, TNT ordered a 10-episode first season, which premiered in June 2011.[1]
Wyle, who worked with TNT on the The Librarian films, was sent scripts for various shows on their network. Wyle said part of the reason he chose the part was to gain credibility from his children. He said "...with the birth of my kids, I started to really look at my career through their eyes more than my own, so that does dictate choice, steering me toward certain things and away from other things."[5] Wyle also decided to do it as he could relate with his character, stating "I identified with Tom's devotion to his sons, and admired his sense of social duty."
The pilot was shot in 2009 and the rest of the season was shot from July to November of the following year in Toronto.[6]
The show's official website features an online web-comic. The comic, which is released every two weeks, follows the characters of the series just weeks after the invasion and, when it concludes, will lead directly into the pilot episode of the show. It is published by Dark Horse Comics and a 104-page comic will be released on July 13, 2011.[7]
Character videos are also available online.[2] The videos explore the main characters of Falling Skies.
As part of the promotional campaign, a vehicle, with the TNT logo and called "Falling Skies Technical" was released as a free gift in the social networking game Mafia Wars on June 14, 2011.
Release
Scenes from the pilot were screened on April 1, 2011, as part of WonderCon 2011.[8] The United Kingdom received the world premiere of the pilot episode in full, at the first annual Kapow! Comic Con, on April 12, 2011.[9] It premiered on TNT on June 19, 2011.[1]
The series will be debuting in more than 75 countries worldwide. Falling Skies will air on TNT networks in several international markets. In other areas, the series has been licensed to networks that include Fox, Super Channel and Canal+. Warner Bros. International Television holds licensing rights for Canada.[10]
In Germany and Latin America, the series is set to premiere on June 24, 2011, only five days after the U.S. world premiere. Falling Skies will be shown Friday nights at 8:15 pm on TNT Serie in Germany and 10:00 pm in Latin America on TNT Latin America, simultaneously on the sister channelSpace Latin America.[11][12] The series will premiere on FX in the UK beginning July 5, 2011.[13]
Falling Skies also premiers on 4 July 2011 at 8.15pm CAT for South African viewers on TopTV's Fox Entertainment channel.
Reception
Critical reception
Falling Skies received positive reviews. Review aggregate Metacritic awarded the series a score of 71%, based on 26 reviews, indicating Generally favorable reviews.[14]
Tim Goodman of the Hollywood Reporter gave the series a positive review, stating "...the entertainment value and suspense of Falling Skies is paced just right. You get the sense that we'll get those answers eventually. And yet, you want to devour the next episode immediately."[15] Thomas Conner of the Chicago Sun-Times called it "...a trustworthy family drama but with aliens." He went on to say "It's "Jericho" meets "V," with the good from both and the bad discarded. It'll raise the summer-TV bar significantly."[16] Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly gave the series a B+ and said of the show "A similar, gradually developed, but decisive conviction makes Falling Skies an engaging, if derivative, chunk of dystopian sci-fi." He continued by saying "...Falling Skies rises above any one performance; it's the spectacle of humans versus aliens that draws you in."[17] In a review in the Boston Herald, Mark A. Perigard gave the series a B grade, saying "Don't look now, but Falling Skies could be a summer obsession."[18]
However, not all critical reviews were favorable. In a review in Variety, Brian Lowry states that he enjoyed the action sequences but that "the soapier elements mostly fall flat", while also calling the series "painfully old-fashioned".[19] Mike Hale, from The New York Times, calls the series "average" and "good on the action, a little muddled on the ideas". He adds that "the tone is placid and slightly monotonous, as if we were watching the Walton family at the end of the world".[20]The Washington Post reviewer Hank Steuver criticized the actor portrayals, writing that "the show is slowed by so many wooden performances, Wyle's included". He also states he found himself "root[ing] for the aliens, which cannot have been the writers' intent".[21] In a review in the The Miami Herald, Glenn Garvin also criticized the poor acting, stating that the "'Falling Skies' cast appears unconvinced and unconvincing."[22] Garvin singles out the performance of Sarah Sanguin Carter as the only exception. He adds that Spielberg has "bottomed out" with this family drama series.
Ratings
The two-hour premiere of Falling Skies was watched by 5.9 million viewers, making it cable television's #1 series launch of the year. It also delivered more than 2.6 million adults 18–49 and 3.2 million adults 25–54.[23]
