The Event is an American television series created by Nick Wauters for NBC. The network announced on May 7, 2010 that the show would be picked up as a series. The series premiered on September 20, 2010.
Premise
The Event follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter), a man who, while investigating the mysterious disappearance of his girlfriend, Leila, begins to discover the biggest cover-up in U.S. history.
In the pilot episode, told primarily in flashbacks, Walker and his girlfriend were on a cruise where he planned to propose to her. Before he could get the chance, Walker returned from a snorkeling trip to find her not only missing, but with no evidence he or she had ever boarded the ship. In another flashback Leila's mother was apparently murdered by intruders, and her sister was kidnapped. Walker attempts to hijack a plane, which Leila's father is flying, apparently to prevent it from being used to assassinate President Elias Martinez (Blair Underwood).
Other flashbacks showed that shortly after taking office Martinez had discovered the existence of Mount Inostranka, a secret detention facility in Alaska. He had proposed to close it, disclose its existence and free those held there, a group led by Sophia Maguire (Laura Innes), over the objections of advisers who had been withholding its existence from him. The attempt on his life, stopped when the hijacked airplane mysteriously disappeared into a hole in the space above it, took place just prior to a news conference at which he was going to announce this along with Sophia. She told him "they" had saved them, and when he asked who "they" were, said "I haven't told you everything".
Narrative technique
The show's pilot episode was told almost entirely in flashbacks to two different time frames. According to Nick Wauters, the show's creator, later episodes will use flashbacks more to develop the characters. "There will be big reveals and big clues in each episode," he said, promising that viewers will not have to wait too long for answers to questions raised. After the pilot aired, he and executive producer Steve Stark answered some viewer questions on their Twitter feeds, for example explaining that the fate of the plane will be disclosed early in the next episode. The characters also have Twitter feeds, and one has a blog, truthseeker5314.com, which may reveal additional information.
Development and production
Producer Steve Stark brought the original script to NBC in 2009, after hearing that the network was looking for "event-type" series to add to its television lineup. The script was written by Nick Wauters in 2006. The show appeared on NBC's development slate in early January 2010, when the network announced at the Television Critics Association presentation that it had green-lit production of a pilot episode.
Casting announcements began in early February, with Jason Ritter landing the lead role of Sean Walker. In late February, Željko Ivanek was cast as Blake Sterling, a director at the CIA, and Ian Anthony Dale signed on as Simon Lee, a government operative. This was followed a few days later by the addition of Scott Patterson and Sarah Roemer to the cast. Roemer will play Sean's girlfriend, Leila Buchanan, with Patterson portraying her father, Michael. In late February, Laura Innes was cast as Sophia Maguire, the inmate leader at a mysterious prison facility, a role which was originally envisioned as male. Blair Underwood came on board in early March in the role of President Eli Martinez, a role which was originally planned for a Hispanic actor. Finally, the addition of Taylor Cole completed the main cast.
Jeffrey Reiner signed on to direct, after having agreed to a deal with Universal Media Studios to work on new projects. He will also serve as an executive producer. After having read the pilot script, he called it a "page turner." Lisa Zwerling, who also inked a deal with UMS, will serve as a consulting producer.
On May 7, 2010, NBC announced that it had given a series order for The Event, followed by the announcement that Evan Katz was signed as showrunner and executive producer. A week later the network announced that the series would appear on the Fall 2010 television schedule, airing on Mondays at 9 pm.
In mid-July 2010 Clifton Collins, Jr. was cast as Thomas, a character described as "a key player in the show's secret conspiracy".
The series is a thriller, love story, and mystery with an element of science fiction. Producers promised timely answers to mysteries, with some answers provided as early as the second episode. Executive producer Evan Katz stated that "everything is designed to answer questions so you're not frustrated or feeling like we're making it up as we go along" and the writers intend to keep the viewers guessing in a "fair way."
