Most viewers who even casually study the network lineups know that The CW is their one-stop shopping location for attractive young folks having attractive young folk adventures, angst and drama.
Here comes one more.
The 100, a post-apocalyptic thriller, debuts at 8 p.m. Wednesday with The CW’s requisite cast of hunky hunks and nubile females.
This offering, however, seems to be a cut above just an excuse to appeal to the younger crowd.
Use your movie guy voice: In a world … where nuclear Armageddon has destroyed civilization, mankind’s last hope rests with 100 intrepid juveniles. Their biggest challenge: themselves.
Here’s the background.
It’s been 97 years since the nukes destroyed everyone on Earth. The only survivors were 400 inhabitants who happened to be orbiting on board 12 international space stations.
The stations linked up into one big “Ark” and three generations passed. Evidently there’s not a lot to do up in space except propagate, so now there are thousands on board and the overcrowding has reached a crisis.
Life is hard. Population is now tightly controlled. Precious resources are severely rationed and all crimes, no matter how petty, are punishable by death.
As the debut episode unfolds, life in space has just taken a turn for the worse. The general population is unaware, but the Ark is dying. The oxygen will run out in six months. Drastic measures are called for.
In a desperate attempt to prevent the extinction of humanity, a group of 100 “expendable” adolescent prisoners are secretly exiled to the ground to test whether the atmosphere can once again support life. The young have literally inherited the Earth and they are more or less guinea pigs.
(Aside: Adolescents? This is TV, where “adolescents” are played by 20-somethings. The“teens” in the actor list below range in age from 24 to 29.)
Think of The 100 as Survivor meets Lord of the Flies in a compelling dystopian experiment. For the 100 young people plopped down on Earth, it’s Darwinian drama on an alien planet they’ve never known.
Nobody can be certain of what the Earth has become in almost a century. It’s a mysterious place that can be magical and lovely one moment and lethal the next.
“Everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong,” one teen states. And then the horrifying discovery: “We’re not alone!”
The stakes are high - the very survival of the species. It’s difficult enough to survive our teen years without this extra burden. The 100 “must find a way to transcend their differences, unite and forge a new path on a wildly changed Earth that’s primitive, intense and teeming with the unknown.”
“You have one responsibility,” the 100 are told. “Stay alive. The next age of man is beginning with you.”
The 100, based on the book series of the same name by Kass Morgan, has a large cast. Here are the main players to help you keep track.
Clarke (newcomer Eliza Taylor) is the smart teenage daughter of the Ark’s chief medical officer. She has survival skills.
Finn (Thomas McDonell, Suburgatory) is the heroic resident daredevil.
Bellamy and Octavia (newcomer Bob Morley and Marie Avgeropoulos, 50/50) are a brother/sister duo whose illegal sibling status has always led them to break the rules. Bellamy rises to power quickly once on Earth.
Jasper (Devon Bostick, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules) is the lighthearted one. He pines for Octavia.
Monty (Christopher Larkin, Squad 85) is the sweet, resourceful and funny one.
Wells (Eli Goree, Emily Owens) is disliked because his father is the Ark’s chancellor.
Meanwhile, back on the Ark …
Abby (Paige Turco, Person of Interest) is chief medical officer and Clarke’s widowed mother.
Jaha (Isaiah Washington, Grey’s Anatomy) is the Ark’s chancellor.
Kane (Henry Ian Cusick, Scandal) is Jaha’s shadowy second in command.
The kids remove their tracking devices, so the Ark is technologically blind to what’s happening on the planet below. That means the Ark’s leaders “are faced with difficult decisions about life, death and the continued existence of the human race.”
After viewing the pilot, I added The 100 to my highly discerning personal DVR list. It’s fast-paced, full of surprises (and nifty special effects) and has an intriguing premise. Check it out, even if you’re older than 29.
New schedule. The arrival of The 100 scrambles The CW’s midseason schedule on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. That includes sending Beauty and the Beast to the sidelines for an indefinite hiatus. Here’s the new lineup from 7 to 9 p.m. each day.
Monday: Star-Crossed; The Tomorrow People.
Wednesday: Arrow; The 100.
Friday: Whose Line Is It Anyway? (two episodes); Hart of Dixie.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email: mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style, Pages 30 on 03/18/2014