How NBC's sci-fi Listener will balance mythology with stand-alone stories

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

How NBC's sci-fi Listener will balance mythology with stand-alone stories

Star Craig Olejnik and producer Christina Jennings of NBC's upcoming series The Listener told reporters that the show is very much in the sci-fi vein and said that it embraces its genre roots.

The Listener follows Toby Logan (Olejnik), a 25-year-old paramedic with a special gift: He's a telepath. NBC will launch The Listener with a two-hour premiere on Thursday, with subsequent episodes airing on Thursdays throughout the summer.

SCI FI Wire was on the line last week when Olejnik (Thir13en Ghosts) and Jennings (ReGenesis) took part in a conference call with reporters. The following are edited excerpts from that conversation.

Is Toby really as good as he seems? Will he remain this really good Robin Hood kind of a character, or does he have some flaws?

Olejnik: Well, he's human. He's thankfully born with flaws, which, in my opinion, makes him exciting. Throughout the season there are certainly highs and lows, yes. I don't know where we're going in season two, but season one you're basically getting him at the beginning, him really beginning to explore this ability that he's always pushed off to the side. So, of course, with any new power, he's really learning how to wield it. So it's, you know, a young Jedi, basically, honing his powers. Trial and error. And with the help of [his mentor] Ray Mercer, played by Colm Feore, he's able to streamline his relationship with his ability.

Why it is that Ray says "No one must know"? Is someone after Toby? Is there something else going on the backstory that we haven't learned yet?
Jennings: Yes, I was just going to say that I think that one of the things we've said in terms of the series was that you wouldn't really want a lot of people to know that you could read minds. First of all, it would really affect your personal relationships, because people couldn't hide anything from you. And the other thing for Toby, I think, is what would happen if he got into the wrong people's hands. The fundamental question Toby asks himself is "How did I get this way? Are there others like me out there?" And that's really what drives [the story] week by week. And toward the end of the season we will realize that he is on other people's radar.
And why will people want to take their time to tune in to see the show?
Olejnik: For, basically, the adventures of Toby, and his gift. I think it's going to be about the relationship you have with the characters that people will connect to.

Jennings: You have in Toby Logan, in effect, a reluctant hero. He's someone who the gift has formed who he is. He's been a bit of a loner in his life. He's a good-looking guy that would really like this gift thing to go away and he can just go on being a normal person, but he can't.
And in the first episode, he realizes that he's heard a cry for help from a stranger. He could ignore it. And if he ignores it, something horrible might happen to that person he's never met. He knows nothing. But that day he realizes "I've been given this gift for a reason, and I have to do something." And so when you ask why would people want to watch it, I think there's something inherent in that there are people that are prepared to help true strangers. So I think that's one of the reasons we think people might want to tune in. I think the other [reason] is that I think that we don't take ourselves too seriously. We have fun in the show. There is some humor. And I think audiences are looking for that.
We've spoken to the producers and actors from such shows as Eleventh Hour and Jericho. They were very insistent that the shows were not science fiction, not fantasy. How strongly will The Listener embrace its genre roots?

Jennings: It very much does embrace its sci-fi roots. You know, there aren't telepaths in the world, and so we've always said that we are a soft sci-fi show. And as we look forward to the next season and the season beyond that, I think we'll see even a bit more of that come out.
Following that up, some shows are like Fringe, which are episode by episode very cool as stand-alones but offer a lot of backstory, mythology, inside stuff for people who watch every single episode religiously. And then there are shows like Lost, where you must watch every episode or you're completely lost. Where on that scale does The Listener fall?
Jennings: It's very much Fringe. That's actually a very good example. You can watch Fringe, miss three episodes and not realize there's a whole thing going on with his dad. So there is, ... we do try and answer those questions. "Are there others out there like me?" and "How did I become this way?" And, I think, probably by the end of the 13 hours, the 13th episode, we start to get glimpses into some of those questions more. So, very much, you can miss a couple of shows in the middle and it won't affect your enjoyment.

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Enjoy The Prologue From My Upcoming Book.. "Strolok"............by R.Goldberg

"WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR RACE WAS TARGETED FOR EXTINCTION?"

The Sun is a powerful force in our Universe. It brings us light, warmth and a promise of a galaxy beyond the stars. Often we associate massive flashes of light with the reflection of our Sun's light bouncing off of another surface.

This is not always the case though, especially if you believe that we are truly not alone in the Universe. When we witness things that we can't readily explain we sometimes turn our heads and shrug our shoulders in a display of apathy.

A display such as this occurred on Friday January 29, 1982 at the Crater Lake National Park just outside of Chemult, Oregon. The snow had been falling steadily for a period of four days. The winds had been whisking about at 40 miles per hour.
Then there was one of those unnatural flashes of light. This created an eerie silence as a lanky boy, just nine years old, seemed to appear from out of that flash. If he had walked to this point there would have been a distinct trail in the newly fallen snow.
There was no trail and as a matter of fact the only tracks in the snow were the ones that outlined his feet where he was standing.

He began to trudge through the snow wearing what could only be described as dark brown long johns. He seemed dazed yet, at the same time, very clear about the direction that he was travelling. This boy with no identity or name seemed to be on a mission that would take him to places he had never been before.
His main goal was to reach Chemult, Oregon and he had no intention of stopping until he accomplished this. As strange as it seems the extreme cold seemed to have little or no effect on him at all.

Why Chemult? What was so special about this town located at an elevation of 4,758 feet above sea level in a frozen winter wilderness in Oregon?

The town of Chemult was first opened to the local traffic in 1926 and here in 1982, with its population of only 241, offered little in the way of comfort for a nine year old boy who was all alone. This journey, although prompted by something deep inside of him, did not provide a feeling of comfort and yet he had hoped that he would at least experience a feeling of accomplishment once he reached the town.

The wind was getting stronger and he noticed a small piece of yellow paper tattered and torn from whipping about in the snow. He only stopped long enough to
pick up this paper..........it read:

.....With the winter season here there was a lot of fun to have. Travelling miles of open trails on snow mobiles skiing or simply hiking, but there are dangers of doing so. Please remember safety first. Do not travel alone and be sure someone knows where you are and where you are going before travelling our trails, and please read the safety rules and codes of ethics before hiking the trails...

Nightfall was near and he had already walked 38 of the 40 miles needed to reach Chemult. He was just off of Route 97 when he spotted an old barn just about 200 feet NE of his present location. Making his way to the barn he went in and found it to be totally deserted, it was a perfect place to rest for the night.

Morning had arrived and once awake the boy started to look around the barn in the daylight light to see if there was anything that was lying in the barn that he could use to assist him on his trek.

Over in the far corner of the barn he found an old metal locked box that had long been forgotten. It was all rusted out and the key was nowhere to be found. After several failed attempts to open the box the young boy closed his eyes, sat back on his tired limbs and placed the palm of his right hand on top of the box. All of a sudden a dull red glow appeared from his right palm and the box lid flew open. Strangely enough once the red glow disappeared all that remained was a faint thin black outline where the outside of the red mark had appeared on his palm. Inside of the box he found several items all of which were unfamiliar to him and it was obvious that they had been there
for a very long time.

The contents included a tattered passport with the picture missing, a pocket knife, a compass, an antique pocket watch with a broken crystal, a time-worn souvenir porcelain coffee mug with the words; "Atlanta, Georgia, The Peach State, A Perfect Place to Live", on it and a frayed map of the Metro Atlanta Area It was difficult to make out the name on the passport but with a couple of light brushes with his fingers he saw the name Jason Tredmore. This is now who this boy would become.

Sci-Fi Blast

Tuesday, June 2, 2009