Geeks Be Praised: A New JJ Abrams Show For Fall

Fresh off of being unofficially declared Spielberg’s heir, Hollywood idea factory JJ Abrams has decided to celebrate by taking on more work and apparently sleeping in increments of five minutes. Yesterday NBC announced it is picking up a brand new show from Abrams for the fall. It’s called “Undercovers” and here are the details, courtesy of our second cousins over at MSNBC:

"Undercovers" focuses on two of the CIA's best spies, who fell in love five years ago and retired to open a catering firm. But when a fellow spy and friend goes missing, the couple set off on an undercover mission to rescue him.

Stars include Jessica Parker Kennedy, Carter MacIntyre, Gerald McRaney and Ben Schwartz.


There’s no way Jessica Parker Kennedy’s real name is Jessica Parker Kennedy. It’s like she created her own name specifically so Patricia Ford would design clothes for her. Anyway, while everything Abrams touches has turned to gold lately (I even like the font he chooses for his opening credits and supers), his TV record is, like anyone else’s, inconsistent. “Fringe” is a big hit with critics, but it’s still treading water in the ratings. “Six Degrees” was a massive misfire. And “What About Brian?” only lasted 26 episodes.

But Abrams is also the progenitor of “Lost,” Alias,” and “Felicity,” all shows that engendered passionate fan bases. There is now a subset of the viewing population that will happily give Abrams the benefit of the doubt and welcome any new project of his with open arms. He’s become his own brand, a sign of high quality and craftsmanship. In that sense, the concept of “Undercovers” itself is beside the point (“Mr. And Mrs. Smith” meets “The Incredibles” meets “True Lies” meets a storyline I hopefully don’t need a map and access to the Bodleian Library to follow). What matters is that the Abrams brand is standing behind it, which means it instantly has a leg up on any other show coming out this fall.

And that’s a good thing for NBC, which is in dire need of a new hit drama since rededicating its 10 p.m. slot to scripted programming. These days, betting on JJ Abrams is about the smartest thing you can do.

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