Called Revolution, this new sci-fi serial from J.J. Abrams takes place 15 years after all electrical devices have gone dead. And it's not just things you plug in, says producer Eric Kripke. "It's about anything that throws a spark, anything that carries an electrical charge." So no batteries, either, in case you've been hoarding them.
"I think it's a really compelling what if: What would happen if we all lived without electricity ... But for me, the what-if is interesting, but the characters are everything."
Those characters include a young woman (Tracy Spiridakos) who links up with her uncle (Billy Burke) to find her missing brother - who was taken away by an evil militiaman played by Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito. They're on a "myth-quest," says Kripke - searching for what they've lost and having adventures along the way.
Many of those adventures put the heroes in conflict with a dictator who has taken over their part of America and deprived the citizens of their rights - including their right to bear arms. "What we have at the end of a day is a very patriotic show," says Kripke, "that is in many ways about a people fighting for freedom ... We were very much interested in telling a story about a society coming together."
So, what caused the electricity to short out? Don't expect an answer anytime soon, but Kripke promises he knows what happened, and knows that it could happen. "We did our homework and came up with something that is quite plausible."
By Robert Bianco, USA TODAY
(Copyright © 2012 USA TODAY)