Falling Skies is an American science fiction
post-apocalyptic dramatic television series
created by Robert Rodat and executive produced
by Steven Spielberg.
The series stars Noah Wyle as Tom Mason, a
former Boston University history professor
who becomes the second-in-command of the 2nd
Massachusetts Militia Regiment, a group of
civilians and fighters fleeing post-apocalyptic
Boston following an alien invasion that devastated
the planet six months before the events of
season one.
The series is broadcast in the United States
on the cable channel TNT, and is a production
of DreamWorks Television.
The series premiered on June 19, 2011.
On July 2, 2013, TNT renewed the show for
a fourth season of 12 episodes, which premiered
on June 22, 2014.
Series overview
Falling Skies tells the story of the aftermath
of a global invasion by extraterrestrials.
Within a few days the invaders neutralized
the world's power grid and technology, destroyed
the militaries of all the world's countries,
and killed over 90% of the human population.
The aliens' objectives are not explained,
though the aliens try to round up children
between the ages of 8 and 18 and attach a
biomechanical obedience device onto their
spines, referred to as a "harness".
The harness controls the child's mind, and
forcibly removing it generally kills the child.
The story begins six months after the invasion
and follows a group of survivors who band
together to fight back.
The group, known as the Second Massachusetts,
is led by retired U.S. Army Captain Dan Weaver
and Boston University history professor Tom
Mason who, while in search of his son Ben,
must put his extensive knowledge of military
history into practice as one of the leaders
of the resistance movement.
Cast and characters
Main cast
Recurring cast
Dale Dye as Colonel/General Jim Porter
Megan Danso as Deni
Bruce Gray as Uncle Scott
Martin Roach as Mike Thompson
Lynne Deragon as Kate Gordon
Melissa Kramer as Sarah
Steven Weber as Dr. Michael Harris
Dylan Authors as Jimmy Boland
Daniyah Ysrail as Rick Thompson
Ryan Robbins as Tector Murphy, one of the
Berserkers
Luciana Carro as Crazy Lee, one of the Berserkers
Brad Kelly as Lyle, one of the Berserkers
Billy Wickman as Boon, one of the Berserkers
Terry O'Quinn as Arthur Manchester
Matt Frewer as General Bressler
Laci J Mailey as Jeanne Weaver
Brandon Jay McLaren as Jamil Dexter
Gloria Reuben as Marina Peralta
Robert Sean Leonard as Dr. Roger Kadar
Mira Sorvino as Sara
Production
Conception
Development officially began in 2009, when
TNT announced that it had ordered a pilot
for an untitled alien invasion project.
Falling Skies was created by Robert Rodat,
who is best known for writing the Oscar winning
film Saving Private Ryan, which was directed
by Steven Spielberg.
Rodat wrote the pilot episode from an idea
which was co-conceived by Spielberg.
Originally, Falling Skies was called Concord,
referencing the Battles of Lexington and Concord
and Tom Mason's former profession as a History
Professor.
Spielberg then came up with the title Falling
Skies.
"I felt that this was a very interesting postapocalyptic
story with a 21st century [spin on the] spirit
of '76.
I came up — out of the blue one day — with
the name Falling Skies, which is basically
what happens to the planet after this invasion.
What is unique about this particular series
is that the story starts after a successful
conquest of the world," he stated.
Spielberg was attracted to the project due
to its themes of survival.
"I've always been interested in how we survive
and how resourceful we are as Americans.
How would the survivors feed the children?
How do they resupply themselves militarily
in order to defend and even take back what
they have lost?" he added.
Like much of Spielberg's work, such as The
Pacific and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Falling
Skies' running theme is family and brotherhood.
He explained, "It's a theme I harken back
to a lot because it's something I believe
in.
It's something I have the closest experience
with.
[Laughs] They say write what you know, and
with seven children and three sisters...
I tend to always come back to the family as
a touchstone for audiences to get into these
rather bizarre stories."
While writing the pilot, Rodat dedicated a
five page montage to the alien invasion, but
decided not to go through with it as it had
been done before in films such as War of the
Worlds.
"I wrote a few drafts of it and I looked at
and say, 'Ay-yay-yay, I’ve seen this before.
There’s no emotion to this.
It feels like one of those montages,'" he
said.
Rodat came up with the idea of having the
children in the series "harnessed by aliens".
"When we were working out the initial stuff,
the thing that excited [Spielberg] was the
idea that adults are killed if they’re a
threat, and kids are captured for whatever
reason and changed or altered.
The harness was a logical outgrowth of that.
Then what we’ll explore is what the harnessing
does to the kid over the course of the show
but that also is something that’s going
to have to unveil itself gradually," he stated.
Spielberg previously explored the idea of
enslaved children in the 1984 film Indiana
Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Series lead Noah Wyle emphasized Spielberg's
presence on set by stating "Anytime he gives
an anointment to a project, it steps up the
pedigree."
Colin Cunningham, who plays outlaw John Pope,
exclaimed "You’d show up and think, ‘This
is not a TV show; this is something else that
we’re doing,’ " he said, noting that Spielberg
was very hands-on for the pilot.
"Its scope is massive.
Anytime you hear the word Spielberg, you know
it’s not going to be crap; you know it’ll
be quality and there will be some money behind
it."
Mark Verheiden, who was the showrunner for
the first season, stated "It’s great to
know you have a world-class filmmaker backing
up what you’re trying to do who is supportive
and helping design the great stuff."
Casting
Casting announcements began in June 2009 when
Noah Wyle was announced as the lead.
Wyle, who worked with TNT on the The Librarian
films, was sent scripts for various shows
on their network.
He said part of the reason he chose the part
was to gain credibility from his children.
"With the birth of my kids, I started to really
look at my career through their eyes more
than my own, so that does dictate choice,
steering me toward certain things and away
from other things," he said.
He also decided to do it as he could relate
with his character, stating "I identified
with Tom's devotion to his sons, and admired
his sense of social duty."
Spielberg wanted Wyle for the role because
he knew him from his previous series ER, which
Spielberg's company produced.
He had wanted Wyle to appear in his 1998 film
Saving Private Ryan but due to scheduling
conflicts, he was unable to star.
Spielberg stated that he was determined to
work with him again.
In July 2009, Moon Bloodgood, Jessy Schram,
Seychelle Gabriel and Maxim Knight were cast
as Anne Glass, Karen Nadler, Lourdes and Matt
Mason, respectively.
Bloodgood, the female lead, did not have to
audition for the role.
She received the script and was offered the
role.
Bloodgood was drawn to the role because of
Spielberg and Rodat's involvement.
She stated: "Well certainly when you get handed
a script and they tell you it’s Bob Rodat
and Steven Spielberg, you’re immediately
drawn to it.
It’s got your attention.
I was a little cautious about wanting to do
science fiction again.
But it was more of a drama story, more of
a family story.
I liked that and I wanted to work with Spielberg."
Bloodgood added that portraying a doctor excited
her.
"I liked the idea of playing a doctor and
deviating from something I had done already,"
she said.
In August 2009, Drew Roy and Peter Shinkoda
were cast as Hal Mason and Dai, respectively.
Drew Roy's agent received the script and the
pair joked that Roy might get the role.
"This one came to me through my agent, just
like everything else.
We even joked about the fact that it was a
Steven Spielberg project.
We were like, "Oh yeah, I might have a chance."
We were just joking."
He auditioned four times for the part.
"The whole process went on for quite some
time, and then towards the end, it was down
to me and one other guy, and we were literally
waiting for the word from Steven Spielberg
‘cause he had to watch the two audition
tapes and give the okay.
That, in and of itself, had me like, "Okay,
even if I don’t get it, that’s just cool."
Fortunately, it went my way."
Filming
The pilot was filmed in 2009 in Oshawa, Ontario,
and the rest of the season was shot from July
to November of the following year in Hamilton
and Toronto.
TNT announced production had begun on the
second season on October 24, 2011.
Filming took place in Vancouver and at the
Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, British Columbia
from October 2011 to March 2012.
Principal photography for season 3 was scheduled
to commence on August 22, 2012.
Production team
Rodat and Spielberg serve as executive producers
on the project.
Graham Yost, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank
are also executive producers.
Yost had previously worked with Spielberg
on the HBO miniseries The Pacific.
Mark Verheiden is a co-executive producer
and the series showrunner.
Verheiden had worked as a writer and producer
on Battlestar Galactica.
Greg Beeman is also a co-executive producer.
Melinda Hsu Taylor is a supervising producer
for the series; she previously worked on Lost.
John Ryan is the on set producer.
Remi Aubuchon was hired as the showrunner
for the second season in May 2011 before the
first season premiere.
Noah Wyle became a producer for the second
season.
Reception
Critical reception
For the first season, the series saw a mostly
positive reception.
Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter wrote
"...the entertainment value and suspense of
Falling Skies is paced just right.
You get the sense that we'll get those answers
eventually.
And yet, you want to devour the next episode
immediately."
Thomas Conner of the Chicago Sun-Times called
it "...a trustworthy family drama but with
aliens."
He continued, "It's 'Jericho' meets 'V', with
the good from both and the bad discarded.
It'll raise the summer-TV bar significantly."
Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly gave
the series a B+ and wrote, "A similar, gradually
developed, but decisive conviction makes Falling
Skies an engaging, if derivative, chunk of
dystopian sci-fi."
He continued, "...Falling Skies rises above
any one performance; it's the spectacle of
humans versus aliens that draws you in."
In the Boston Herald, Mark A. Perigard gave
the series a B grade, writing "Don't look
now, but Falling Skies could be a summer obsession."
Brian Lowry from Variety gave the series a
mixed review, stating that he enjoyed the
action sequences but that "the soapier elements
mostly fall flat", and called the series "painfully
old-fashioned".
The second season saw positive reviews.
Some critics praised it as being stronger
than the first season.
Maureen Ryan of The Huffington Post compared
the second season to the first by saying "Season
2 is a different animal, a much leaner and
meaner machine that allows sentiment to be
present but unexpressed and depicts a darker
world in which innocence is a luxury that
no one can truly afford."
Chuck Barney declared "Sunday's explosive
two-hour opener boldly delivers on the promise
by TNT producers to rev up both the pace and
the firepower in Season 2."
Screen Rant's Anthony Ocasio lauded the season
premiere.
"While further episodes will reveal more,
the type of character development, intriguing
storylines and exciting action that will be
contained in Falling Skies season 2, there’s
no doubt that TNT’s hit drama will likely
become an epic adventure, spanning many seasons,"
he said.
Ratings
The two-hour premiere of Falling Skies was
watched by 5.9 million viewers, making it
cable television's biggest series launch of
the year, with more than 2.6 million adults
18–49 and 3.2 million adults 25–54.
The eighth episode was watched by 4.31 million
viewers and scored a 1.5 ratings share among
adults 18-49 and Falling Skies became TNT's
highest rated series in target demos.
The first season finale received 5.6 million
viewers, the highest rated episode since the
series premiere; with 2.5 million viewers
in the 18–49 demographic.
The first season tied with the FX series American
Horror Story as the biggest new cable series
of the year among adults 18-49.
In the UK, it premiered on non-terrestrial
channel FX, with 402,000 viewers.
Awards and nominations
Distribution
Online promotion
For the first season, character videos were
made available online.
The videos explore the main characters of
the series.
As part of the promotional campaign, a vehicle,
with the TNT logo and called Falling Skies
Technical, was released as a free gift in
the social networking game Mafia Wars on June
14, 2011.
Following the second season premiere on June
17, 2012, a live after-show titled 2nd Watch
hosted by Wil Wheaton premiered.
The series airs after encore presentations
of Falling Skies on TNT's official site.
Wheaton discusses the latest episode with
actors and producers of the series.
Comic books
In September 2010, Dark Horse Comics, in partnership
with DreamWorks Television and TNT, released
the first issue in a four-part digital comic
online limited series entitled Falling Skies.
Written by Paul Tobin with art by Juan Ferreyra,
the series details events taking place before
season one of the television show, but after
the alien invasion and victory.
These issues were later compiled into a single
trade paperback volume entitled Falling Skies
Volume 1, which was released June, 2011.
On June 15, 2011, Dark Horse announced that
due to higher-than-anticipated orders, the
graphic novel had completely sold out.
It remains in publication as of June 2012.
In April 2012, Dark Horse began releasing
a second eight-issue limited series entitled
Falling Skies: The Battle of Fitchburg, with
Paul Tobin returning as writer and Juan Ferreyra
returning as series artist.
The digital comic was made available through
both Dark Horse Comics and TNT via their respective
websites.
The story takes place chronologically between
seasons one and two of the television show,
and detail a costly engagement occurring between
the skitters and the 2nd Massachusetts Militia
Regiment when the aliens surround the human
forces at Fitchburg, Massachusetts.
While not vital to the story of the television
series, TNT and Dark Horse have stated that
Falling Skies: The Battle of Fitchburg provides
insight into the events leading up to season
two, and will elaborate on how the characters
got to where they are when the new season
opens.
As a companion to the comic, TNT released
an audio series featuring the character John
Pope, offering additional insight into the
events detailed in the comic series.
Blu-ray and DVD releases
The first season was released on DVD and Blu-ray
on June 5, 2012, in North America, on July
2, 2012, in the United Kingdom and on August
29, 2012, in Australia, and on DVD only in
South Africa on August 27, 2012.
In addition to all the episodes of the first
season, extras include an extended version
of the pilot episode; audio commentary on
the pilot episode; a Season two preview; the
2011 San Diego Comic-Con International panel;
deleted scenes; character profiles; international
promos; behind the scenes featurettes, including
the "Making of Skitter", "Harness Makeup Tips"
and "Director One on One".
A collectible Trading Card was released exclusively
to Blu-ray.
Broadcast
The series premiered on June 19, 2011, and
is broadcast on the cable television channel
TNT, in the United States.
In Summer 2011, it premiered internationally
in more than 75 countries.
In Australia, Falling Skies premiered on Fox8.
The program is showing on Super Channel in
Canada.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it is broadcast
on Fox and from 11 January 2014 the digital
channel 5*.
Other
The series is also available on Amazon Instant
Video, where it is free to Amazon Prime subscribers.
References
External links
Official website
Falling Skies at the Internet Movie Database
Falling Skies at TV.com
