Terra Nova Sci-Fi Series Visits 2011 Winter TCA

by Shannon Vestal 0

The Winter TCA is getting me super excited for new midseason TV shows, and the one that's claiming the spotlight right now is Terra Nova, Fox's new sci-fi series from producer Steven Spielberg. The ambitious series goes from the future to the far past when a family from the year 2149 travels back 85 million years to try to save the Earth via the colony of Terra Nova. Cast and crew chatted about the direction of the show, the influence of their very famous producer, and comparisons to Lost.

• The central family, the Shannons, are hoping to restart humanity after coming from a dire future. Amid recolonizing the Earth, there will be some scary situations and creatures lurking in the terrain. However, exec producer and director Alex Graves says it'll be "adventure scary, not scary-scary."
• Spielberg is apparently "very involved" in the show, contributing ideas and having had a say in casting, and the crew is obviously very in awe of him. Producer Brannon Braga says that Spielberg's "every idea is ingenious," while Graves admits that there is pressure with Spielberg watching. Happily, he said that it "could have been nerve-wracking, but it couldn't have been more wonderful."
• Stephen Lang, who played villain Colonel Quaritch in Avatar, may be playing an antagonist again on Terra Nova, but he wouldn't say for sure. He would only say that his character, who has been building the Terra Nova community for seven years, is very mysterious. As for his notorious role in Avatar, he says that people recognize him from the movie and tell him they hate him!
• Terra Nova is yet another show that has been looked at as a successor to Lost, but Graves sees one big difference. "This has nothing to do with Lost for one reason: it's made for a massively broad audience."

Stay tuned to Buzz for more TV news from the Winter TCA!