The Details:
Premiered: September 20, 2010 on NBC
Starring: Jason Ritter, Sarah Roemer, Laura Innes, Ian Anthony Dale, Scott Patterson, Taylor Cole, Lisa Vidal, Bill Smitrovich, with Zeljko Ivanek and Blair Underwood
Created by: Nick Wauters
What I Thought Then:
"The Event had a great pilot, the biggest question is will it be able to sustain itself over a season or over a couple seasons."
"The acting is strong. Jason Ritter is a strong lead character and Blair Underwood is a standout."
"Let's hope the writers and directors have some significant foresight to the direction they want the show to take. It made me want to come back for more."
"The pilot is very well produced - the scenes from the facility in Alaska to the presidential retreat to St. Lucia are visually beautiful."
"The Event teases viewers with an intricately plotted tale of conspiracy and terrorism, but it weaves the story from so many directions, perspectives and timelines that the episode becomes a sort of video Rubik's Cube." - Barry Garron, The Hollywood Reporter
"It's a series with precious little error margin to avoid being wistfully remembered as one of those blink-and-you-missed-'em events." - Brian Lowry, Variety
"One hopes that producers don't drag out the mystery for too long, because so far The Event delivers, especially its doozy of a climax." - Tim Stack, Entertainment Weekly
"The Event is bright and showy and too in thrall to its own hysteria to feel unsettling. It doesn't quiet down enough to disturb, and as a result its claims to relevance seem merely perfunctory." - Ginia Bellafante, The New York Times
"Maybe there is some steak to accompany this sizzle, but I wish somebody would bring it to the table already. It seems rude to extend an invitation to so many people without delivering an event." - Dan Fienberg, Hitfix
What I Think Now:
There are so many things in this pilot that feel like they turned to random pages in the Lost playbook and decided to implement what they found on the page. The narrative structure is all over the place with both hopping timelines and organization around individuals in the cast. The show relies on trying to put a twist before every commercial break. And yes, there's one cryptic and almost laughable reference to the words "the event." But I'll be darned if I wasn't still hooked in just like I was in 2010. I tried to figure out why because I'd like to think my TV palette has improved since 2010 and I wouldn't be as fooled by shows like this and their blatant pandering. But I think what works here is a strong cast of actors who take what they're doing seriously even amidst an absurd pilot. They are effectively able to sell the moments in a way that a cast with lesser talent couldn't. The pilot also leaves just enough, and I mean just enough, crumbs to keep it interesting without getting too frustrating. They are masters of manipulation in this pilot and yet I found myself getting manipulated again. The pilot is also well produced. It's clear some money was spent so while the narrative is cheesy, the effects and technical production are not. Broadcast TV really used to have some big budgets for their pilots! There are strong performances from Jason Ritter and Blair Underwood. Sarah Innes and Zeljko Ivanek are playing such ridiculous types but excel in being creepy.
What Happened to the Show:
The Event was NBC's big push for Fall 2010, which was a re-set for the network after the debacle of The Jay Leno Show in the 2009-10 season. Promos were incessant that whole summer and reviews were decently positive (67 on Metacritic). It did respond with big premiere numbers, especially for NBC, which gave the network some temporary hope they could break out of their funk. But it was one of those shows that never stopped dropping in the ratings. It earned a full season but took a break for several months in the winter and came back to even lower ratings in the spring. NBC cancelled the series after one full season of 22 episodes. I watched the whole season, it's one of the very few shows like this that I saw through to the end and I remember actually being mostly satisfied all the way through. I might actually re-visit it again at some point after re-watching this pilot. The Lost knockoffs may not come at quite the clip they once did but platforms have still tried to recapture in more recent years with shows like Manifest and Yellowjackets. Heck, even Severance has some Lost DNA in it. The Event was one of many shows that have tried to recapture that Lost moment of 2004 and it wasn't the best effort or the worst. It seems like a fair number of people remember the show a bit but it hasn't developed into a cult favorite or anything like that.
Final Episode: May 23, 2011
Episode Count: 22
Where to Watch: Currently streaming on Tubi and available on DVD
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