It was considered the new series to watch at the beginning of the fall season, but after a strong start, "Bionic Woman" has faced some serious ratings erosion and has already lost a showrunner.
At the beginning of the season, Executive Producer Jason Smilovic said goodbye to the super-human series forcing NBC to look elsewhere for help running the series.
Following the departure of Smilovic, Jason Katims (series creator of "Roswell") temporarily took on the job and has been working hard to keep the series moving until a more permanent replacement can be found. NBC have already confirmed that Jason Cahill has been tasked with the role and is currently preparing to take hold of the series.
Despite the problems at home however, there are strong feelings that the series is finally in a position to tell the kind of stories it always should have. Miguel Ferrer, who plays Jonas on the series, has confirmed that he has seen a remarkable difference in the scripts he has seen and part of that is thanks to Jason Katims.
"Jason [Cahill] hasn't started yet, but he's about to,” said Ferrer. “They're in the middle of the changing of the guard from [Jason] Katims to Cahill. This is our third Jason! But seriously, even before that, it really is starting to normalize finally. The scripts are finding a voice and finding a tone. This kind of show, in the beginning it's just so big and expensive there are going to be growing pains, a learning curve. We're coming to the tail end of that.”
Whether he knows it or not, Cahill has a tough job ahead of him in blending the various genres of the series together. Luckily though, Ferrer has complete faith in his ability and has very high expectations for the rest of the season.
“First and foremost, it's got to be on the page,” he said. “It starts with the writing. It's got to be drama that can be taken seriously, with elements of sci-fi and action. But if it's cheesy on the page, we don't have a chance. There's a lot of talent, and Jason Cahill comes with an extraordinary pedigree. I'm hoping for really good things.”
When he worked on “Roswell,” Katims’ often struggled to bring the science-fiction and drama elements together into a cohesive whole and his strongest episodes were instead the character dramas where the characters clash in the most unlikely ways. Ferrer also hinted that we can expect to see a few interesting clashes in upcoming episodes of “Bionic Woman” when Jaime’s (Michelle Ryan) home life and her Berkut day job collide.
“Jaime goes away to do a mission in Paris,” he explained. “Before she leaves, she gives Becca Jonas' phone number, saying, "If there's an emergency, call this guy." Becca winds up in a ton of trouble and calls Jonas.”
To read the rest of this interview, check out TV Guide by clicking here.
About the Author:
Alan Stanley Blair is the news editor for Airlock Alpha and assistant news editor for its sister site, Inside Blip. Contributing from his home in Scotland, he is currently studying for a diploma in freelance journalism and feature writing.
