Aquarius

[Prettyphile]

Aquarius takes place in Los Angeles and starts in the year 1967. When Sgt. Sam Hodiak starts investigating the disappearance of a respected lawyer's teenage daughter, he soon discovers that his clean cut look won't get him far with the hippies he's trying to talk to. In order to get around this issue, Sam teams up with undercover officer Brian Shafe, a man who has considerably more in common with those their interviewing than Sam does. When their investigation puts them on the trail of a small time cult leader, they have no way of realizing just how big of a name he will make for himself, but in a few years, the whole country will know the name Charles Manson.

 

Cast

David Duchovny................. as Sam Hodiak
Gethin Anthony.................. as Charles Manson
Grey Damon...................... as Brian Shafe
Emma Dumont................... as Emma Karn
Claire Holt......................... as Charmain Tully

 

General Information

Status: Upcoming New Series
Series Premiere: March 1, 2015
Classification: Scripted
Genre: Crime | Drama | Period Drama | Mystery
Network: NBC
Airs: Sunday at ??
Runtime: 60 Minutes

[Michael*]

I was excited about this one, but ended up switching it off after two episodes. A story about a detective searching for a young girl who’s become mixed up with the Manson Family is a brilliant idea for a prestige TV series, but at heart, it's as safe and conventional as cop shows come. It doesn't have anything interesting or different to say about Charles Manson, or anything else for that matter. Huge missed opportunity.

[Prettyphile]

I guess it went from a mini series to regular series, it was signed for another season   The hell.... Maybe the show can get better?

 

 

NBC Renews David Duchovny Drama ‘Aquarius’ for Season 2

NBC is still celebrating the age of “Aquarius,” and has given a second season to the drama that stars David Duchovny as a cop investigating Charles Manson in 1960s Los Angeles.

The period drama also made broadcast history for using a modern technique when it debuted earlier this year — NBC released the entire first season on its digital platforms after the season premiere, marking the first major network to utilize the binge-watching model, launched by the likes of Netflix and Hulu. The digital release resulted in the first episode being the most-watched summer series premiere ever on NBC.com and the NBC App.

While it’s unlikely that the binge strategy will be used for season two, since they achieved their goal of generating enough buzz and viewers with the initial binge-season, it is something the brass are very proud of and will likely prompt other broadcasters to follow suit with upcoming series launches.

“With its riveting drama and innovative release strategy, ‘Aquarius’ has excited the critics, hooked millions of viewers and energized our summer,” said NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke. “It’s no secret that the way people watch television is evolving, so we took a unique approach to how we delivered ‘Aquarius,’ and it’s driven some record numbers for NBC Digital and helped us reach viewers who might have otherwise overlooked a great summer drama.”

Duchovny, a TV fan-favorite, is also a draw for the network, as he’ll be sure to garner continued interest from his long-time fans with Fox’s upcoming “X-Files” reboot, which debuts early next year.

While no episode order has been given to the second season of “Aquarius,” another short order seems likely, following the 13 episodes for Season 1. Duchovny recently told Variety he’s privy to shorter orders, saying, “I would never have gone and done another 22 episodes of ‘X-Files, but we’re going to do six — well, that’s like doing a movie. That’s like continuing the show in a way that we all can do at this point in our lives so that’s it all came about.”

“Aquarius” also stars Gethin Anthony as Manson, Emma Dumont, Grey Damon and Claire Holt. Writer John McNamara serves as exec producer with Marty Adelstein, Melanie Greene and Duchovny. The series is produced by Tomorrow Studios, a joint partnership between Marty Adelstein and ITV Studios.

[Michael*]

From what I saw in those two episodes, the plan was probably always for it to be an ongoing series, because it adopts the ‘monster of the week’ formula quite a bit, sending David Duchovny and, erm, the other one after more bog standard criminals than Manson. I'd like to think, if it's renewed for a second season, that it'll delve into Manson's motivations a lot more, but I'm not really holding out much hope.