How long will it be until Skynet takes over, my fellow humans who fear the machines?
Artificial intelligence is bound to send the cyborgs to terminate us all one day. Resistance is futile (pronounced FEW-tile).
Until that fateful day, we can be lulled into a false sense of security by Skynet's less menacing minions -- robotic entities such as Robbie ("Danger, Will Robinson!"), C-3PO and R2-D2, Wall-E and Johnny-5.
I'm not talking about scary 'bots such as Gort -- "Klaatu barada nikto!" I mean the cute ones such as Ethan, the boy-bot of Extant, and David (Haley Joel Osment), the "Mecha" in A.I.
While we're pondering all this robo history, we can delve into the world of Humans, the latest drama to roll out on AMC. The eight-part series from the makers of Utopia and Broadchurch debuts at 8 p.m. today. The tag line: "Made in our image; out of our control."
Humans takes place in suburban London in a parallel universe where, to keep up with the Joneses, everyone simply must get themselves an android domestic helper Synthetic Appliance (Synth). The Synths are highly developed, artificially intelligent servants that are extremely lifelike.
Whether bringing a Synth into the family is a good or bad decision is the premise of Humans. It's not exactly reinventing the human-android wheel, but the series does explore the impact that this advanced technology will have.
AMC asks, "Will this new way of navigating life be detrimental or beneficial to us as a human race? And who will we become when this technology arrives?"
The series stars William Hurt (Damages) as George Millican, a widower who has formed a close relationship with his outmoded and failing Synth, Odi (Will Tudor), whom he treats more like a son than a piece of machinery.
Co-stars are Katherine Parkinson (The Honourable Woman), Colin Morgan (Merlin), Tom Goodman-Hill (Mr Selfridge), Neil Maskell (Kill List) and Gemma Chan (Sherlock).
At the center of the four concurrent story lines is the Hawkins family.
Joe Hawkins (Goodman-Hill) makes the decision to invest in a Synth because his relationship with his wife, Laura (Parkinson), is becoming increasingly strained due to her long hours (she's a lawyer). But there's more. Laura is struggling with a secret of which not even her family is aware.
Hawkins believes that the addition of a Synth will give them the time they need to re-connect as a couple and a family.
The family's beautiful new Synth, Anita (Chan), is immediately successful. Their chaotic home is suddenly transformed into a refuge of tidy, organized, well-fed contentment.
So Laura acquiesces to the family's desires, but soon senses there's something not quite right about Anita. Most of the time, Anita is the servile automaton that all Synths are supposed to be, but every so often she does something inexplicable.
Meanwhile, when Millican's Odi begins to malfunction, the authorities forcefully upgrade him with a stern elder-care model named Vera (Rebecca Front) and Millican must hide the bond he has with Odi or risk losing him.
While this is going on, a young man named Leo (Morgan) and his Synth, Max (Ivanno Jeremiah), are desperately searching for someone from Leo's past. Who is it? You'll be shocked. And why does Max seem to be so unlike other Synths?
Hard on their heels is a mysterious man named Hobb (Danny Webb), who is determined to uncover their secret before it can destroy humanity as we know it.
Finally, Detective Sergeant Peter Drummond (Maskell) works for the task force solving Synth-related crimes, which are rare because Synths hardly ever malfunction. His thankless job has made Drummond bitter and cynical.
It doesn't help that Drummond has his own Synth at home helping his wife, Jill, recuperate from a car accident. Drummond is starting to think Jill favors her Synth Simon over him.
AMC bills the series as "a riveting look at the advancements in A.I. and the theories that become a little less hypothetical every day." All this is familiar territory, but is there enough innovation to keep viewers interested? We'll see.
• Falling Skies. Keeping with the science fiction theme, here's your reminder that Season 5 of Falling Skies arrives at 9 p.m. today on TNT. This will be the final 10 episodes for Noah Wyle and his heroic band of resistance fighters.
If you haven't kept up with this complicated series, you're already hopelessly lost. Too many aliens of which to keep track. You'll need to start over from Season 1. Find it and binge.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 06/28/2015