The TV Column

Zoo returns; mediocre Summer premieres

The animal apocalypse thriller Zoo returns to CBS at 8 p.m. today. Running for their lives are series stars (from left) Billy Burke, Nonso Anozie and Kristen Connolly.
The animal apocalypse thriller Zoo returns to CBS at 8 p.m. today. Running for their lives are series stars (from left) Billy Burke, Nonso Anozie and Kristen Connolly.

It's summertime and the livin' is ... horrifying.

Or at least that's what TV hopes viewers will find with the debut of two horror series today -- one old and one new.

Season 2 of Zoo arrives with a special two-hour premiere from 8 to 10 p.m. on CBS. It will move to its regular time period of 9 p.m. beginning July 5.

Zoo began with a splash last summer, premiering with an impressive 8.18 million viewers before slowly sinking to only 4.8 million for the season finale. Still, that was enough to earn the series a sophomore year.

Probably the reason for such a strong beginning was that the show is based on the No. 1 best-seller by James Patterson, and viewers were curious about how the book about a wave of violent animal attacks against humans around the globe would translate to TV.

Patterson is active in the series as an executive producer.

Critic Verne Gay of Newsday summed things up nicely when he suggested a "zoonado" was in order.

"All that's missing here is a tornado," he wrote. "Preferably one that passes over a zoo, vacuums up the caged residents, then deposits them on the humans below."

Others, such as Amy Amatangelo of The Hollywood Reporter, were more kind.

"Zoo is fun, escapist fare," she wrote. "The kind of show that will make you want to pop some popcorn and plop down on the couch."

We were divided at our house. I enjoyed it, but my better, wiser, more discerning half gave it a thumbs down. She found other things to do.

Now it's back. Just to remind you, Zoo follows the adventures of a dedicated team attempting to discover why a worldwide genetic mutation turned all the animals into vicious killers and what to do about it.

Jackson Oz (James Wolk) is an American zoologist who leads the team along with his very large Kenyan buddy, Abraham Kenyatta (Nonso Anozie), a safari guide.

Along the way, they pick up feisty Los Angeles investigative reporter Jamie Campbell (Kristen Connolly); free-spirited veterinary pathologist with few social filters Mitch Morgan (Billy Burke); and French intelligence agent Chloe Tousignant (Nora Arnezeder).

When last we saw our heroes, it had been several months since Jamie's airplane was attacked by birds and crashed, and everyone thought she was dead.

Ah, but she had been rescued by a fisherman and was trapped in his house, along with a leopard cub whose DNA may hold the key to curing the animal crisis. The only cure.

Jamie gets hold of a satellite phone and puts in a call. The team is on its way to her when it encounters a large group of murderous animals that have taken over the street.

The animal apocalypse cliffhanger ensues.

In Season 2, the animal mutation moves to the next phase as the organized critters "begin attacking infrastructure and creating deadly environmental phenomena in an effort to make the planet uninhabitable for mankind."

In the premiere, we meet Logan (Josh Salatin), "a mysterious stranger who may be holding a dangerous secret," and Dariela Marzan (Alyssa Diaz), a member of a military unit "that encounters a strange and troubling new development in the animal mutation."

More importantly, the team discovers "a shocking mutation" that threatens one of their lives. I won't spoil that for you.

If you need to catch up, the first season of Zoo is available on Netflix.

Dead of Summer. This new horror/thriller debuts at 8 p.m. today on Freeform (the erstwhile ABC Family).

Sadly, I would have expected more originality from the team that brought us such innovation as Lost and Once Upon a Time. But Dead of Summer has all the earmarks of a series patched together by committee from component parts.

It's the late '80s and seven young camp counselors (six of them former campers) return to idyllic Midwestern Camp Stillwater for a nostalgic summer.

I don't have to tell you that dark, dark evilness haunts the lake, woods and cabins of the facility that has been closed for years. Closed, that is, until new owner Deb Carpenter (Lost's Elizabeth Mitchell) throws her life savings into renovating the camp she loved as a child.

It's obvious Deb knows more than she's letting on.

Along for the adventure are the six former campers (one each of the expected stereotypes -- loner, ladies man, hot chick, etc.), plus stereotypical outsider newbie Amy (Elizabeth Lail), who just wants to fit in, but bears the guilt of a tragic accident at a party.

The body count begins with the creepy groundskeeper. Enjoy.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:

mstorey@arkansasonline.com

Style on 06/28/2016

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