New Details On JJ Abrams’ Futuristic Buddy Cop Pilot Don’t Actually Provide Many Details

By David Wharton | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

Love him or hate him, there’s no question that J.J. Abrams is one of the most powerful movers and shakers on the Hollywood landscape today. I try to take a measured view of the guy: I don’t think he’s infallible, nor do I think he’s the antichrist. He gave us Lost and Fringe, but he also gave us the thoroughly middling Alcatraz. So I tend to greet any new Abrams project with interest, if not necessarily optimism, and that’s the case with the upcoming science fiction pilot from Abrams and Fringe exec producer J.H. Wyman. When it was announced last month, the project was described as a “buddy cop” series set in a future where every LAPD officer is teamed with an android. Now Wyman has revealed a bit more about the still untitled series, but in the vaguest way possible.

Speaking to Digital Spy, Wyman called the show a “very big conceptual piece of television” that will delve into notions of humanity vs. technology…which seems given the general concept. “I’m sort of obsessed with the idea of… humanity vs technology and what’s happening to us,” says Wyman. “We’re interested and we can see a great platform for us to tell a massive story that deals with all these cool things.”

Alright, so it’ll be about humanity vs. technology and, uh…look, I love Fringe and am a fan of Wyman, but that has got to be some of the most information-free information I’ve ever read. Look, I get it, you can’t really talk about it because it’s a long way off, but if you don’t have something less vague, why not just say “We’re excited and I’ll talk about it when we can.” Maybe a bit more about exactly what elements of “humanity vs. technology” the show will focus on would be helpful. Hell, even just a comment on the show’s tone would be great, because the “buddy cop” descriptor conjures up some very specific preconceptions. Should I expect Lethal Weapon with robots or something more serious? Also, if I should expect Lethal Weapon with robots, which one will be the robot, Riggs or Murtaugh?

In amongst all the noncommittal comments, Wyman does actually drop one concrete tidbit: the pilot will shoot in early 2013. “It touches on other things we have done, but this is definitely more unique and definitely has a point of view that we’ve never done,” continues Wyman. “If people are fans of science-fiction and fans of drama, you’ll really dig this show.”

 

Header art: “Bad Robot” by Chris Law