EMERGENCE Bosses on the Multi-Genre Series and Having Answers to the Big Questions

ABC has been pushing the mystery behind its new drama EMERGENCE, but the series also has a more grounded foundation at its core.

“We’re sort of blending genres,” co-creator Michele Fazekas said during the show’s Television Critics Association panel. “The way we pitched it was this is sort of a conspiracy genre thriller meets a family drama…we didn’t want to have it be so heavy on, ‘What is the mystery and what is she?’ Because I also think I’m most interested in this kind of family that has formed and how they interact with each other, and so it really is a nice balance between both.”

The drama follows Jo (Allison Tolman), a police chief who is drawn to a mysterious young child, Piper (Alexa Swinton), that she finds near an accident site. When questions arise about Piper’s origin, Jo brings the girl to her home.

The series itself has already had a dramatic journey: originally, it was developed and the pilot was shot for NBC. But when NBC passed, ABC came in and picked up the show.

“In some ways, it actually allowed us to bring it back closer to what our original idea of the show was,” co-creator Tara Butters admitted. “They were very encouraging at ABC that we do blend the genres and have a strong family story along with the mystery, and I think that was really important to us. So, for us, I think it worked out great.”

But with a mystery in the mix, the duo—who ran ABC’s RESURRECTION—know the importance of building towards answers. “I get frustrated as a viewer watching a show where you either feel like they don’t know what the answer is or they know what it is, but they are just teasing us with it,” Fazekas said. “So we’ve pitched probably three seasons of, ‘Here’s the big turns.’ We want to answer questions, and just as a viewer myself, I don’t like getting frustrated.”

EMERGENCE, Series Premiere, Tuesday, September 24, 10/9, ABC

RELATED:

• EMERGENCE: Watch the First 9 Minutes of the Allison Tolman-Led Mystery
• LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters Look Back at ‘Fault’
• EMERGENCE on ABC – First Look

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