Persons Unknown (TV series)

    This 42 min Drama/Thriller was created by Cristopher McQuarrie (dir.of The Ususal Suspects) starring Jason Wiles as Joe Tucker, Daisy Betts as Janet Cooper, Chadwick Boseman as Graham McNair, Lola Glaudini as Kat Damatto, Tina Holmes as Moira Doherty, Kate Lange Johnson as Tori Fairchild, Gerald Kyd as Mark Renbe, sean O’Bryan as Bill Blackham, Alan Ruck as Charlie Morse and Kandyse McClure as Erika Taylor.

Sources: IMDB

    Strangers wake up to find themselves locked in their individual hotel rooms and completely under electronic surveillance. They know nothing about how or why they were taken there or even who they are now trapped with together in a nameless deserted 1950’s style town.There is a Chinese restaurant, a Sheriff’s office, a bank, a clothing store among other buildings but phones that don’t work, there is no way to communicate from the outside.Beyond those buildings, there’s nothing but mountains and something is keeping them from reaching the perimeter of this strange and empty town.

    Security cameras are watching their every move, defeating their attempts to leave. Faced with physical, emotional and psychological challenges, the hostages must rely on each other to survive as their abductors sow mistrust and pit them against each other. Meanwhile, an investigative reporter begins to look into the disappearances of the missing people despite intimidation by those who apparently know their every move.

 

   Joe Tucker is the official leader of the group and is forceful and direct. He also knows military hand signals. He never reveals what his occupation is or why he might have been taken, he prefers to keep his personal life to himself other than telling the others that no one would care to kidnap him because, as he puts it, he’s not worth much to anyone but himself  and was in New York when he was abducted. He claims to be deathly allergic to bee stings.

    Fox TV studios, Televisa (mexican) and Rai (italian) tried a new formula, they went into business to fund all 13 episodes of a complete season for a TV series before selling the series to a network, so NBC was not involved in the process.When NBC purchased it, they promoted as a summer mini-series instead of a regular series, NBC changed airing days/times several times durong the season and left episode 11 unaired because of a sports event.After the 1st season, they did not renew, so there were some cliffhangers and the viewers did not get all the answers to this mystery as NBC promoted with the season finale. This series has a lot un unexpected plot twists that keep you wanting to know what’s going to happen next. Joe  Tucker is an interesting complex and troubled character.

    The DVD release date kept being pushed back and it hasn’t been released to date, but you can purchase and download  from Amazon Instant Video, by individual chapters or the complete season (unaired chapter 11 included).

     Randee Dawn from the Hollywood Reporter wrote that its "clever setup and moody atmosphere make this place worth checking into."

    Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune said the "...pilot efficiently lays out its premise and ratchets up the pressure on the characters, who are only types so far, but it doesn't matter because the plot's the thing here."

Related Links: NBC Official page, TV.com, Wikipedia, Beyond Hollywood review, EpGuide

Persons Unknown – Jason Wiles Interview (for Spoiler TV)

Jason Wiles Previews New NBC Series Persons Unknown (for AOL TV)

‘Persons Unknown’ Jason Wiles: ‘It’s literally my worst nightmare (from Inside the Box Zap It)

NBC scraps “Persons Unknown” episode (Seven Sacrifices)

Interview with Alan Ruck on Persons Unknown

Interview with Remi Aubuchon (executive producer) on Persons Unknown

Wiles Interview excerpts:

    As one of the seven strangers trapped in a teched-out ghost town, Jason Wiles is as clueless as we are about his Persons Unknown (Monday, 8/7c, NBC) character, Joe Tucker. "He's an enigma...we're starting to learn a little about him, but this guy is a mess." He's also a far cry from the undeniably likable Wiles' past roles, which have ranged from druggies to do-gooders (from TV Guide)

    First thing that attracted me was Chris McQuarrie; The Usual Suspects is amazing and the twists and turns of most of his scripts are fantastic. For me, getting out of a cop uniform and doing something new was exciting, a little bit different. I'd never really done a sci-fi show, although I still don't know if our show is really sci-fi. It was just a departure; Joe is multi-layered and flawed to the extreme, which I love. Great people were involved and the characters in the pilot were really intriguing. I had no idea where it was going but I trusted having Chris' name on so I was all about it. (Jason Wiles on what attracted him to the working in the show)

Persons Unknown Trailers:

Jason Wiles about working in Persons Unknown:

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