Ok, seriously, is Taraji P. Henson in this thing or not? This is the second preview – this one is an extended preview, longer than the last one CBS released – and still, no Taraji. Not even a single frame. Nada. And she’s supposed to be the female lead? Really? From all we’ve seen so far, still images, clips, previews, trailer, etc, she doesn’t appear in any of them. It’s like she’s not even in it. And she’s the female lead?
Maybe her role isn’t as important as we thought initially; but damn, even like a quick glimpse of her at this point could actually help raise interest in the series. Because, for a lot of folks watching these things, especially if they don’t read this site, they wouldn’t know she was in it. And, while she may not be what you’d call “A” list talent (and let’s face it, neither are the other 2 guys who are all over the trailers for this), featuring her in one or both of the previews, and the stills we’ve seen thus far, would draw some people that may not have paid any attention to this previously – specifically black folks who might otherwise not give a damn about this new series, but actually may mark it as a show to look out for in the fall, because they know Taraji P. Henson is in it! She’s got almost 600,000 followers on Tweeter! And I actually don’t think she’s done much tweeting about this new series.
Anyway… you can watch the new extended preview below.
Also, following that is the first official preview of the new upcoming Syfy Channel pick up, a science fiction drama series called Alphas, which follows a team of ordinary people with extraordinary and unusual mental skills.
The cast of “ordinary people” includes of David Strathairn, Malik Yoba, and a few others.
Alphas first surfaced about 4 years ago, pitched to NBC, but they passed on it. That was followed by a bidding war among the other networks in that same year, with ABC eventually coming out on top, ordering 6-episodes. But while in pre-production, the WGA strike killed all progress. And after the strike, ABC changed its mind and dropped the project.
It was then pitched to Syfy, and the rest is history…
Is this another Heroes? Well, here’s the official synopsis: “Alphas follows a team of ordinary citizens whose brain anomalies imbue them with extraordinary mental and physical abilities. Taking the law into their own hands, the unlikely team, shepherded by Dr. Leigh Rosen (Emmy Award-winner and Oscar nominee David Strathairn) investigates cases that suggest other Alpha activity to uncover what the CIA, FBI and Pentagon have not been able, or willing, to solve. These gifted individuals must balance their quirky personalities and disparate backgrounds with their not always visible powers as they work to solve crimes, stop the ticking time bomb and catch the enemy.”
Ok scratch that. Maybe not quite Heroes, but more like the X-Men?
It’s no coincidence that the series was written by Zak Penn, who also wrote the screenplay for the last 2 X-Men movies.
Malik Yoba plays the 2nd in command of the Alphas, Bill Harken, described as “a former FBI agent who can summon his “fight or flight” instinct on-demand, giving him super-strength. But it’s more like he can push cars than lift them over his head.”
The show will premiere in July.
First, watch the new extended preview of JJ Abrams’ Person of Interest, and underneath that, watch the preview of Alphas:
And here’s the preview for Alphas: