ALMOST HUMAN: J.H. Wyman on Taking a Hopeful Look at the Future

ALMOST HUMAN premieres tonight, and the series takes us 35 years in the future — crime has skyrocketed, and to help combat it, humans have mandatory orders to work with android partners.

And yet, ALMOST HUMAN creator J.H. Wyman (who also showran FRINGE for multiple seasons) is hopeful about the future.

When I spoke with Wyman about his new show, I was curious about his thoughts about what set it apart from the other procedurals or pieces of futuristic fiction out there…and he had a very thoughtful answer for me:

“It’s why I wanted to do this show. You know that I’m always writing about [how] life is valued by the connections you make. All these incredible science-fiction shows from the past and these great movies that have influenced me. And all these people, those filmmakers and writers and creationists, they’re guys who believe in humanity in a certain way. Their stories were always a dark future. Their stories were always dour and dystopian. And, almost, a finger-wag morality tale of, ‘Look what you dumb humans have done.’

“I don’t see it that way. I don’t think that’s going to happen. I believe in hope. I believe the human race is more resilient than that, and smarter than that, and better than that. I believe we are going to have struggles and trials in dealing with some of the things that are thrown at us. But I believe we’re going to come out on top. Because that’s who I am. I’m a hopeful person whose job is to tell people it’s going to be okay. That I want people to feel a virtual hug from me that says, ‘It’s all right. Connect.’ Sometimes there’s no sense or rhyme or reason, but I do believe there’s something to connection and that’s what makes life valuable. So you gotta do it. You have to hang on to it. And that’s in this [show] in a major way.

“We’re at a point to technology being really close to where we’re at in the show. There are so many things that are far out there, but we’re really right there. There was false memory put into a mouse, which is crazy. You could have my memory in ten years. It’s very, very strange. And it’s about the struggle with technology getting out of control, and maybe technology is leaving humanity behind. And I can’t have that. So I want to make sure that even in the future, there are going to be a lot of things there are going to be a lot of things you’re [already] dealing with now. What I’m trying to tell everybody is that human beings will never change. They’re compassionate. They’re beautiful. They’re flawed.  They’re worth writing about. And their condition is worth writing about. And I really believe that.

“So that’s what you see. When you see those love stories — and I know people say [I’m] very romantic as a writer — but I am. My favorite writer is [Charles] Dickens. That’s what my influences are. I’m very into believing — I believe in people.”

–

ALMOST HUMAN’s two-night series premiere event kicks off tonight at 8 PM on Fox, followed by its time period premiere, Monday, November 18th at 8 PM.

Related:

ALMOST HUMAN: Karl Urban on the Appeal of the Show, Working with Michael Ealy, and More
ALMOST HUMAN: Minka Kelly and Lili Taylor On What Drew Them to the Series
The ALMOST HUMAN Cast Previews the Central Relationships

Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page.

And be the first to see our exclusive videos by subscribing to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/givememyremotetv