Fox's new science fiction/crime drama "Almost Human" will be premiering this fall. The show will take place 35 years in the future in a world where robots live alongside humans. The show will focus on a police officer who serves alongside crime-fighting, human-like androids. The series is produced by J.J. Abrams, creator of "Lost" and co-producer of sci-fi hit movie "Star Trek," along with Joel Wyman, co-producer of "Fringe."
According to Fox, Karl Urban will play the lead character, John Kennex, a cop struggling to get back to a normal life after being in a coma for two years due to a brutal attack. Upon waking, he realizes that his partner was killed and his girlfriend Anna Moore (Mekia Kox) left him after the attack. To make matters worse, he realizes that he lost one of his legs, which has been replaced with a sophisticated prosthetic limb.
John also suffers from depression, PTSD and mental atrophy, which complicates his return to the police force. He goes back to work only to find that he has a new partner, an android named Dorian (Michael Ealy) who was discontinued due to his unexpected emotional reactions. Although such responses were thought to be flaws by the android's creators, such flaws are what allows John, who is opposed to androids, to connect with Dorian on a human level.
KSite TV spoke with Urban at San Diego Comic-Con about the new series.
Urban shared that he was drawn to the show due to the legendary creator, J.J. Abrams, in addition to the well-written character of John Kennex. "I found it intriguing that this character wakes up after two years and finds himself in an unfamiliar world," Urban said. "He's kind of like a dinosaur, and he has to learn how to operate in this society, and not only function and protect and serve the citizens of the city, but then also deal with the baggage of his past, which obviously includes this apprehensive feeling that he has towards anything robotic, because it feels that it's partly responsible for the loss of his buddies. And then, to wake up and find himself settled with this bio-mechanical leg, is pouring salt on his wound."
He added that John is trying to do his job well while struggling to acclimate to working with an android detective. "He's trying to reclaim aspects of his life that are just out of bounds for him," Urban continued. He is a bit of a tormented soul in that regard. I think it's wonderful what Joel [Wyman] has done; the way that he's written these two characters of Dorian (Michael Ealy), the android detective, and John Kennex, the human, and the way that they are forced to interact with each other. I think it's fertile ground for a lot of conflict; a lot of comedy, and I believe that relationship is the core of the show."
The series premieres Monday, Nov. 4 at 8 p.m. on Fox.
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