The living dead are all the rage these days on television with THE WALKING DEAD premiering to record ratings and The CW preparing their own series called THE RETURNED. NBC wants in on the action and are re-developing the series BABYLON FIELDS. I say re-developing because BABYLON FIELDS was already a highly touted pilot from six years ago that never made it onto the CBS schedule.
BABYLON FIELDS is not a zombie story in the traditional sense in that those returning from the grave are not brainless monsters that crave human flesh. In fact, the series was much more of an existential drama that happened to feature the undead.
In BABYLON FIELDS, the dead are rising in Babylon, NY, and as a result, lives are regained, old wounds are reopened and families are restored — for better or worse. The newly regenerated bodies are healing faster and growing stronger than anyone else leading to the suspicion that they might be the next step in human evolution.
The full pilot is available online and has built a following over the last few years, so to have it get a second chance at a series order is quite unusual. The pilot originally starred Amber Tamblyn, Ray Stevenson, and Kathy Baker. It is unknown if any of those cast members will return for the new version of the show. The new take will be handled by creators Michael and Gerald Cuesta who have been involved with the series DEXTER, HOMELAND, and ELEMENTARY.
This is a very high concept idea for a show and one I am very excited about. The dangerous part is if they keep the same format as the original pilot. If they market it as another THE WALKING DEAD, viewers will be greatly disappointed. But, since this is a redo, the new take could actually be a totally different series.
Take a look at the full, original pilot for BABYLON FIELDS below and judge for yourselves.
Babylon Fields [2007][Unsold Pilot] by UnknownArchiveTV