Harper's Island Info

[goldenboy]

Harper's Island Promo

Harper's Island is an hour-long American drama pilot created by Ari Schlossberg (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1324179/), ordered to series for CBS's 2008-2009 television season, planned as a midseason replacement. It will also air on Global in Canada; the premiere dates in other parts of the world are not yet announced.

Development
The show was first pitched by Ari Schlossberg, who wrote the pilot script. CBS ordered it to pilot in March 2008. In May 2008, the show was retooled, and Jeffrey Bell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Jackson_Bell) was named as showrunner and, with Jon Turteltaub (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Turteltaub), executive producer. Schlossberg, Karim Zriek and Dan Shotz serve as co-executive producers Bell will rewrite the first episode, and further casting changes may occur.

Plot
The television show is a horror/drama, described as Scream meets 10 Little Indians. The central plot is planned as a murder mystery. Friends and family attending a wedding celebration on a secluded island off the coast of Seattle begin dying one by one. The island was the scene of a famous murder 7 years prior.

Original pilot cast
· Adam Campbell as Cal Vendeuson
· Elaine Cassidy as Abby Mills
· Ryan Merriman as Henry Dunn
· Samantha Noble as Trish Wellington
· Bill Pullman as Uncle Marty

*Cast may change significantly prior to airing

New cast
Jim Beaver as Sheriff Mills
Elaine Cassidy as Abby Mills
Katie Cassidy (http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/08/06/katie-cassidy-joins-harpers-island/) as Trish Wellington
Christopher Gorham as Henry Dunn
Harper's Island (TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper%27s_Island)

[N4H]

Looks pretty stupid. It's sure to be a big hit.

[goldenboy]

It's got the creepy, knowing little girl that every other sci-fi/horror project seems to have these days.

I was just trying to imagine how this premise could actually sustain a TV series. Must be a really huge mystery/conspiracy, or something.

[teentitan]

For some reason I got the feeling that this show will be filled with flashback scenes for the characters. How else do you make an idea like this a series?

[Vilandra]

I think it's got to be like Reunion was - with one character a week getting killed. Sort of on the Lost model.

[prydain]

The Futon Critic gave it a pretty encouraging review, and I think it's great they're doing the slasher film model as a TV series. I hope it IS a hit.

Edit:

BTW, that trailer was from a pilot presentation. The entire cast is being replaced and the entire thing reshot, they just filmed a brief collection of scenes to show CBS to give them a feel for a series.

[DarklyDreamingDrusilla]

Hopefully this Horror/Sci Fi thing works this time. The last one I remeber on main stream television was Point Pleasent and that crashed and burned. :sad:

[prydain]

Hopefully this Horror/Sci Fi thing works this time. The last one I remeber on main stream television was Point Pleasent and that crashed and burned. :sad:

There've been several dark sci-fi/fantasy/horror shows on broadcast television since Point Pleasant:

Threshold (the first few eps definitely had "horror movie" moments)
Night Stalker
Supernatural
Invasion (sci-fi, but went for an overall gothic-y, slow-burn storytelling method)

And Ghost Whisperer occasionally tries to be scary. :) Sometimes it actually manages to be a bit creepier and unsettling than Supernatural, IMO. I'm not sure how, but it does.

[Sin]

So, you said the show is being re-cast? Does that mean no Ryan Merriman?

[prydain]

Yep, Ryan was replaced by Christopher Gorham.

[Vilandra]

Not sure what I think about that, as I never really liked him. But then again, everytime I see Ryan Merriman I think of him in that weird Disney leprechaun movie lol!

[prydain]

I know what you mean, I think of both that (Luck of the Irish) and Veritas: The Quest. He was pretty good in Veritas.

[Velvet Sky]

I really know nothing other than what's been said in this thread about the show, but horror vibe, I'll check it out when it appears. And I like Christopher Gorham, so it might be cool to see him. Though I've never seen him do something that wasn't kind of funny, even that Jake 2.0 thing was on the 'lighter side'.