Almost Human (FOX) 2-Night Premiere Nov. 17-18

ALMOST HUMAN - Executive-produced by Emmy Award winner J.J. Abrams ("Fringe," "Lost," the "Star Trek" and "Mission: Impossible" franchises) and creator J.H. Wyman ("Fringe," "The Mexican") and starring Karl Urban ("Star Trek"), Michael Ealy ("Sleeper Cell," "Common Law") and Emmy Award nominee Lili Taylor ("Six Feet Under,"), ALMOST HUMAN is a high-tech, high-stakes action drama set 35 years in the future, when police officers are partnered with highly evolved human-like androids. An unlikely partnership is forged when a part-machine cop (Urban) is forced to pair with a part-human robot (Ealy) as they fight crime and investigate a deeper cover-up in a futuristic new world.

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Not having yet seen the pilot but aware of the solid cast and intrigued by the show's premise, I'm excitedly looking forward to Almost Human's 2-night premiere on November 17-18 (FOX - 8/p)*.
*The premiere date was adjusted after initial promo materials went out.

Almost Human appears to be like a mix of "I Robot" (the book) and Robocop, maybe if we are lucky, even Blade Runner. Regardless, if done right I can see getting quite a lot of story out of the clever one-liner about the series: "(It's about) an unlikely partnership forged when a part-machine cop (Karl Urban) is forced to pair with a part-human robot (Michael Ealy) as they fight crime and investigate a deeper cover-up in a futuristic new world."

I'm in. Anyone else?
*One request, please. Regardless of whether you love it, hate it or something in between, please explain why. I promise I won't do excessive fangirling over Karl Urban or Minka Kelly if you won't slag on the show just because you can. Thanks in advance.

 

Karl Urban is the shit.

I have been looking forward to this since my Warner Bros. rep showed me the trailer for it several months ago.

 

Me too, brother.

 

Yeah, I agree. I don't watch any crime dramas now and a good buddy-cop show would be a really nice change.
They are marketing it as not-too-distant future--that some of the tech stuff is actually in the works now for the near future--so the show shouldn't seem remote--more maybe, how tech will continue to evolve. I agree too that technology will be a secondary character to the cop's dynamic.
Minka Kelly isn't know for her acting but damn, she is just so appealing-- so warm and engaging. That could play well in an environment that is rather "cool". I'm pretty jazzed about the oddball played by Mackenzie Crook (Pirates of the Caribbean, Game Of Thrones) scientist who takes care of the robotics, too.
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I'm crushing on both of you for having a Karl Urban man-crush!
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You and me both, my friend!
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Also, I covet you having a "Warner Bros. rep." <sigh>

Quote from Karl Urban in re: big guns:
“Urban is particularly fond of Kennex’s blaster weapon, but while it was bigger than his Star Trek phaser, the New Zealand-born actor says he wasn’t totally pleased with the heft of the one he used in the pilot. “I told the props department, ‘I need a more substantial beast than that.’ ”

 

Seeing J.J. Abrams attached to it makes me less interested in it. His list of "bad movies" that are painful to watch at best is already impressive enough with the Mission Impossible films, recent Star Trek films, and so on. The pilot episode of Lost was interesting though, so maybe he can actually make television shows worth watching.

 

I grew up with Michael Ealy; he was Michael Brown back then. Same elementary, middle, and high school. Cub scout pack together. He and I shared a tent in boy scout camp, but he quit after that (not because of me). He was definitely one of the popular kids, I definitely was not. My sister was four years older than us, and I remember her saying that he had really nice eyes, which is interesting for a senior to say about an eigth grader. I guess she was right. And yes, his eyes are naturally blue.

 

I probably enjoyed this bit from episode 102 way too much.






After introducing the audience to Det. John Kennex (Karl Urban) and his android partner Dorian (Michael Ealy) in episode 1, rather than a two-part pilot being offered up, it was in truth a second chapter in this 2048 cop world. It was a solid episode, if not quite as compelling as the pilot. The most vital thing at the series outset tho, is that Kennex and Dorian establish a convincing buddy-cop relationship. Urban and Ealy have that part nailed.

Here's the promo for episode 3:

Almost Human 1x03 Promo "Are You Receiving?" (HD)
Almost Human 1x03 "Are You Receiving?" - The thrilling action continues in another all-new, adrenaline-fueled episode. Detective Kennex and Dorian battle an intense and futuristic hostage situation, while Captain Maldonado (Lili Taylor) attempts to meet the terrorist's demands, hoping to protect innocent people.

 

It's a little predictable, but some pilots are. I'm so glad to see Lili Taylor on television.
This season has so many of my favorite actors back on tv. Robin Williams among them.
Lili rocked in 'The Conjuring' and I really like her character on this show.
Karl Urban is not one of my crushes, but I'm enjoying this particular role. The dynamic is great.

 

I felt a rather large tonal jump in Almost Human from episode 1 to episode 2, specifically that Kennex and Dorian seemed to move very quickly to a place of comfort with one another that I did not anticipate until maybe a few more episodes in. Turns out that there is an entirely logical explanation (from a source I've used and that has been on top of such things for a number of years):

Here are the original Episode Numbers--the sequence that the writers put together for the episodes to be aired and the sequence that some are actually airing in. What we the viewers are seeing is what FOX the network has decided would play best for biggest audience consumption.

Episode 101 Almost Human 'Pilot' (aired Nov 17)
Episode 105 Almost Human 'Skin' (aired Nov 18)
Episode 106 Almost Human 'Are You Receiving?' (scheduled Nov 25)
Episode 107 Almost Human 'The Bends' (scheduled Dec 2)
(no idea where episodes 102, 103 and 104 are)

 

Just waiting for the series to get a full season order so I can buy it on iTunes... Don't want to just buy an episode or two.

 

Both episodes were actually pretty good. I hope they can keep it up.

This show reminds me a lot of the Eve Dallas sci-fi-crime book series set in the future.

 

I wasn't complaining, in case I sounded that way. Just explaining if say, the tone changes again and they seem like they just met each other in the previous episode, it will make sense. They are currently shooting in Vancouver (maybe breaking for holidays now?). I follow Minka Kelly's Instagram (minkak). She's quite a decent amateur photographer (almost all nature scenes) and by default tips off when they are filming. Don't know how many eppys are going to be included in a full season but they have quite a few in the can (so to speak).