TCA: Young Auds Want Mortality Dramas Like ‘Red Band Society’, Not ‘Twilight’ While Fox’s Red Band Society drama deals with the grave topic of ill-stricken teenagers in a Los Angeles childrens hospital, the subject matter didn’t scare off network executives according to the show’s executive producers at TCA. Commenting on the latest trend of illness-centered dramas i.e. The Big C, Chasing Life and the ABC Studios-produced Red Band Society, series EP Margaret Nagle explained, “Teens and twentysomethings aren’t about the immortality as seen in Twilight, rather they’re more focused in dramas that focus on mortality. They’re very forthright about these things. The way that the show can work is that it has to tonally go to that place of teen life, i.e. My So-Called Life; even M.A.S.H. was an influence with this series. Those shows were willing to go to a place with their material that were off-center, and off-center was where they thrived.” Originally intended to be scheduled at ABC, Red Band Society landed on Fox’s fall schedule. EP Justin Falvey said that Fox “feels like it’s a better fit.” Nagle further expounded on how Red Band Society went to Fox saying, “(Executive producer) Steven Spielberg knows everything about teen hospital wards. He’s so involved in this area and on the ground. He knew there was a place for this show and where he wanted the show to be.” In avoiding the polar opposite sides of the hospital genre — read most of the patients dying or most of them getting miraculously well — Nagle said, “85% of all kids with any one of these diseases in a childrens hospital ultimately recover. The show is about that time spent in a hospital and how that changes you.” Many of the under 18 cast spoke about how the series was akin to John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club in how teen archetypes aren’t what they always appear to be. Red Band Society will take place over four months in season one. While the series which stars Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer (as Nurse Jackson) is based on the Spanish show Polseres Vermelles, Nagle drew largely from her life in creating the show. Not only does she come from a family of doctors, but a good deal of her childhood was spent in a childrens hospital visiting her younger brother Charlie, who went into a coma following a car accident. Season one of Red Band Society centers around a young boy, also named Charlie, who is in a coma. “My brother said he could hear when he was in the coma and could also smell,” said Nagle. Nagle’s brother today is an outsider artist. Also mentioned at the panel today: actor Griffin Dunne has a recurring role as Ruben Garcia, the hospital hypochondriac whose relationship with Spencer’s Nurse Jackson grows. Dunne will also be directing some episodes. The series is also executive-produced by Darryl Frank (The Americans) and Sergio Aguero (Y Tu Mama Tambien) as well as Amblin Entertainment. Red Band Society premieres on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 9 PM following Hell’s Kitchen.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 22:09:17 +0000
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