ZOO Co-Creators: The Real Journey Begins With the End of Episode 3

In the first two episodes of the new CBS drama, ZOO, the show has very much been about setting up the changing landscape.

Though viewers have witnessed the abnormalities in animal behavior, they have, so far, been fairly low-key.  The different breeds of animals have been doing strange things (hi, a whole lot of cats in the trees), the changes have thus far been baffling to the people in the know, versus requiring immediate action.

And while much of the action has kept the characters on separate sides of the world (Jackson/Abraham in Africa; Chloe, returning to Paris, after a near-deadly experience in Africa; while Mitch and Jamie are in Los Angeles), they will come together sooner versus later.

“It all sort of starts to come together by the end of the third episode,” ZOO co-creator Josh Appelbaum told reporters at Comic-Con. “The real journey begins; the real mission statement of the show comes at the end of the third episode.”

Check out what he and fellow co-creator Jeff Pinkner had to say about what’s to come, including the potential team-up of different animal species working together…

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ZOO: Jeff Pinkner on Taking on the ‘Spirit’ of the Book, FRINGE Similarities, and Working with a Bear

CBS has launched a new scripted series each of the past few summers (UNDER THE DOME — based off the Stephen King book — just kicked off its third season, while EXTANT’s second season is around the corner), and for its 2015 freshman installment, the network went to another property based off a best-seller: James Patterson’s ZOO.

Just like the book, the television series follows the puzzling — and dangerous — shift in animal behavior, as collectively they turn increasingly aggressive…and deadly. But while some of the television characters share the same names as the book characters, they exist in two separate worlds.

To get some more insight into the new series, I spoke with ZOO co-creator Jeff Pinkner (who co-wrote the pilot with co-creators Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, and Scott Rosenberg)…

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ZOO: Series Premiere Sneak Peek

CBS’ latest book-to-summer series adaption is the James Patterson novel, ZOO, but while the premise remains the same — worldwide, animals turn against humans, and a team of scientists attempt to figure out how to stop it — things will deviate from the source material.

“It’s going to change a lot from the book, which is excellent,” Patterson told reporters during a panel. (Co-showrunner Jeff Pinkner also shared that there’s a five-season plan for the show.)

Though the premiere is over a month away, CBS released a sneak peek at what to expect from the first couple of episodes. Check it out…

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SHOWRUNNERS: Des Doyle and Ryan Patrick McGuffey Preview Their Look Inside the World of Showrunning

SHOWRUNNERS — the first documentary shining the spotlight on the men and women responsible for putting our favorite television series on the air (and having them run as smoothly as possible) — is finally out today, and it promises to be a film any television fan will enjoy.

With SHOWRUNNERS, not only will fans get exclusive interviews with showrunners like Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Bill Prady, Jane Espenson, but they’ll get glimpses into writing rooms, panels the showrunners participate in to promote their shows, a day in the life following one showrunner, and other access die-hard TV fans could have only dreamed about before now.

I spoke with SHOWRUNNERS director Des Doyle and co-producer Ryan Patrick McGuffey about the process to get the film made, what their challenges were, how this experience changed how they viewed their favorite shows, and more…

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CBS Orders ZOO Straight to Series

CBS is expanding its summer lineup with the straight-to-series order of ZOO, based on the James Patterson novel of the same name.

This is what CBS had to say about the new show…

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THE X-FILES’ 20th Anniversary: ALIAS and FRINGE Boss Jeff Pinkner Talks About Its Influence on His Work

In honor of the 20th anniversary of THE X-FILES, I spoke with some of the television writers who have mentioned to me that they have been influenced by THE X-FILES to dig deeper into why this show resonated with them.

Next up? Former ALIAS and FRINGE showrunner Jeff Pinkner…

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FRINGE: Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman on An Upcoming Major Reveal, a Potential Season 5, Episode 19 and More

It’s no secret FRINGE executive producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman like to keep their cards close to the vest when it comes to spoilers for the series, but they were in a surprisingly revealing mood Sunday before their WonderCon panel.

Not only were the showrunners willing to elaborate (a teeny tiny bit) on the much-discussed episode 19, but they also shared that a major season-long debate will be settled in this Friday’s brand new episode.

Intrigued? Take a look at what else they told reporters, including a director change for the season finale, and their thoughts on a potential season 5…

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