The show:Vanished
The premiere: Aug. 21, 9 p.m. ET/PT, Fox
The concept: A U.S. senator’s wife (Joanne Kelly) disappears. The mystery deepens as FBI agents investigate her kidnapping.
The challenge: Attracting viewers in a large competitive field.
Vanished taps into numerous serialized elements: the clock-ticking rescue effort of a 24, the turbulent character drama of Prison Break and a shadowy mystery à la Lost.
TV GAMBLES ON MORE SERIALS: Can viewers handle more?
The urgent abduction case is assigned to a brilliant but brittle FBI agent (Gale Harold) and his partner (Ming-Na). Early clues lead to more puzzles, along with a testy standoff between the senator (John Allen Nelson) and the agent. Beyond personality conflicts, there’s personal baggage. The agent, for example, has a young daughter and is still troubled after a kidnapped boy died before his eyes. "That’s going to stick in his heart and mind and eventually cloud his perspective," Harold says.The investigation quickly taps into odd elements, such as a murder victim tattooed after death, that will lead the investigators toward a century-old conspiracy mystery. "It’s a conspiracy based in real historical events," says executive producer Josh Berman. "If viewers type (clues) into a search engine on the Internet, they will get some answers."Mimi Leder (ER, Deep Impact), an executive producer and director, says: "Some people will respond to the character-driven stuff, some will respond to the thriller aspect and some will only watch for the conspiracy. I like a combination of all three, and hopefully we’ll hit that."Scheduling, however, may give Vanished its most potent early distinction.It will have the comfort of Monday night (after Prison Break), a time when Fox has become known for serialized thrillers.
USA Today
The pilot did not grab me, but I wish Gale Harold would "grab me"! LOL! Anyone who watched Queer As Folk understands his hotness, so I hope now a new audience will see what we saw on QAF. Message to Fox topless scenes with him are very important for ratings!
