Actor David Strathairn has joined the cast of SyFy’s pilot “Alphas” in the lead role.
TV Guide On-Line reports that Strathairn will play Dr. Leigh Rosen, the eccentric Alphas leader who is willing to bend the rules for his objectives and team. The pilot and potential series focuses on a team of ordinary citizens with extraordinary mental abilities who tackle cases that the CIA, FBI and Pentagon have been unable to solve.
“We’re honored to have an actor of David’s versatility, caliber and renown join Alphas,” Mark Stern, Syfy’s executive vice president of original programming, said in a statement. “With his incredible range of work in theater, feature films and television, he is the perfect choice to play the complex and nuanced Dr. Rosen.”
What a shot in the arm for SyFy. Getting an Oscar nominated actor of Strathairn’s caliber certainly doesn’t hurt their chances of ensuring a big audience, at least for the pilot episode. After that, however, the writing and performances will have to continue holding the viewers.
Given SyFy’s track record of late with having interesting sounding pilots that quickly get forgotten and then burned off on a Sunday night, I’m not sure how much hope I hold out for this one. It sounds good and it could be good…but I also recall that BSG improved in leaps and bounds from the mini-series to the first episode.
Unfortunately, if it were made today by SyFy, I’m not sure BSG would get a series order….
I love Strathairn…but how does this sound interesting?
A guy who does not play by the rules….has special powers….meets up with people with special powers….they solve crime…..again! It could be good, but I am getting so sick of this crap
“ordinary citizens with extraordinary mental abilities”
How is that not a contradiction?
I also must beg the queswtion, why do they always have to be ordinary? They always go out of their way to say these characters are ordinary. And why would we want to watch ordinary people, anyway?
A show about people who get up, go to work, drink coffee…wooo..