Tune In or Tune Out: Almost Human (FOX)

Almost Human (FOX)

Created by: J. H. Wyman (Fringe)

Starring: Karl Urban, Michael Ealy, Minka Kelly, and Lili Taylor

The creators/executive producers of two FOX fall shows are going to elevate the network to a new standard, that's Sleepy Hollow, and Almost Human.  The head of FOX was a big fan of Fringe, its the reason the show lasted as long as it did, and its not wonder he optioned pilots from creative minds from the show, and they are both going to do well.

Almost Human is set in 2048, the Los Angeles Police officers are paired with lifelike androids also known as synthetics.  The show centers around John Kennex (Urban) who was involved in a very serious explosion, killing numerous police officers including his partner.  John wakes up after 17 months in a coma, trying to remember who and what happened to the other police officers.  As he strains his emotional capacity John also goes back to work where he is eventually paired with a non state of the art 4 year old synthetic named Dorian (Ealy).  The two are at odds but eventually work together throughout the first episode to help save the day.

The shows strengths are apparent, things start strong right out of the gate, and the action is great.  The opening sequence is well done.  Karl Urban and Michael Ealy are fantastic they have great buddy cop chemistry, and they are going to be the driving force of this show if it succeeds.  The premise of the rising crime, and the need to use robots to help save the day is an interesting take on the way technology is growing.

The pitfalls, are the secondary characters who are all generic, this was, and still is one of my pet peeves with Sleepy Hollow, luckily that show has moved forward.  Human needs to move outside the standard formula with their secondary characters, and it will be a success.  While the action is strong, the CGI and lighting do not do much to help create a strong feeling of the future, up the budget, and get on that, and you can fix that easily.

At the end of the of the day the pilot was pretty entertaining, and I guess I will be adding another Sunday show to my TiVo.

Tune In: Entertaining, and Fun!