User:Ecpiandy/Awake (TV series)/Selected article/3

"Pilot" is the pilot episode of the American television police procedural fantasy drama Awake, which originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) on March 1, 2012. Written by series creator Kyle Killen, "Pilot" earned a Nielsen rating of 2.0, being watched by 6.247 million viewers upon its initial broadcast. Directed by David Slade, It became the highest-rated non-sports program in its respective time slot on NBC in over a year. The episode has generally received positive reviews, with many critics commenting on the episode's unique script, and on the casting members, particularly Jason Isaacs performance as Michael Britten, who they felt effectively embodied the characteristics of the lead role.

The pilot introduced the main character, Michael Britten, a detective who works for the Los Angeles Police Department. He is involved in a fatal accident with his family. Michael is conflicted with two parallel realities; in one reality, in which he wears a red wristband, his wife Hannah Britten (Laura Allen) survived the accident, and in another reality, in which he wears a green wristband, his son Rex Britten (Dylan Minnette) survived. Michael does not know which reality is real, and sees two separate therapists: Dr. John Lee (BD Wong) in the "red reality", and Dr. Judith Evans (Cherry Jones) in the "green reality". The concept of Awake was devised by Killen, who previously created the American television drama Lone Star for the Fox network. NBC encouraged Killen to conceive a concept for a future television series after Lone Star cancellation. Although it was inspired by the processes of dreaming, its script was cited as potentially being too complex for mainstream American television.