Fox Orders J.J. Abrams & J.H. Wyman’s Sci-Fi TV Series Almost Human

By Rudie Obias | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

almost humanFrom the big screen to the small screen. Almost Human (originally titled Human), the new sci-fi TV series from Fringe executive producers J.J. Abrams and J.H. Wyman, has received a full series order from Fox. Almost Human will re-team Star Trek Into Darkness-actor Karl Urban with his Star Trek director, J.J. Abrams, this fall.

As reported by Variety, Almost Human was one of four new TV dramas (including Gang Related, starring Lost’s Terry O’Quinn) picked up by the Fox Network. Almost Human is set 35 years in the future, when all LAPD officers are partnered with highly evolved human-like androids.

Karl Urban plays the role of John Kennex, a respected LAPD police officer who, after a disastrous assignment that cost the lives of nine of his fellow police officers, was left brutally injured and emotionally distant. Kennex has an aversion to androids, but he is nevertheless partnered up with Dorian, a robot with unexpected emotional responses, played by Michael Ealy (Common Law).

Friday Night Lights actress Minka Kelly plays Valerie Stahl, an LAPD police officer with a strong moral compass who looks for the best in people, rather than the worst. Almost Human also features actors Lili Taylor (High Fidelity) as the police captain, and Mackenzie Crook (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl), and Michael Irby (Fast Five).

The premise of Almost Human sounds good — a police procedural in a sci-fi world — but while J.J. Abrams has some monster TV series hits like Felicity, Alias, Lost, and Revolution, he’s also had his fair share of duds, including Undercovers and Alcatraz. Hopefully Almost Human will fall into the former camp instead of the latter.