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The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, July 21, 2017 4 By Shona Dustan TV Media H ollywood has been turning novels into big- and small-screen sensa- tions for decades, and while specialty cable channels may seem to have that market cor- nered at the moment (see "Game of Thrones," "Out- lander" and oh so many more), NBC is about to give them a run for their money. The peacock network has chosen a series by author Charlaine Harris as their sub- ject matter, which is a pretty great way to hedge their bets — Harris's addictive Sookie Stackhouse novels (also known as the Southern Vam- pire Mysteries) served as the basis for HBO's incredibly popular "True Blood," so this new series should come with a built-in and very eager audience. "Midnight, Texas" pre- mieres Monday, July 24, on NBC, and is based on the liter- ary trilogy of the same name. Once again, Harris uses her novels to weave a complex web of mystery and drama, using characters with super- natural qualities as her pro- tagonists. The series stars broody Canadian hunk Fran- cois Arnaud ("Blindspot") as Manfred Bernardo, a man on the run from his mysterious past. Bernardo is a psychic who, through his dead grand- mother, Xylda (Joanne Camp, "Manhattan") can communi- cate with other deceased indi- viduals, sometimes with terri- fying results. Led by Xylda to a tiny Texas crossroads town called Mid- night, Bernardo is told by his ghostly gram that he'll be safe there. "Safe" probably isn't the right word, but he certain- ly finds a sense of purpose and belonging. Midnight, Tex- as, you see, is a haven town for others like Bernardo — su- pernatural humans inhabit the hamlet, and they take care of each other, protecting one another from interlopers and prying eyes, not to mention mortal danger. It's Midnight's most promi- nent vampire who declares Barnardo the be "one of us." The striking Peter Mensah ("Sleepy Hollow") plays Lem- uel Bridger, an old and very wise vamp whose opinion holds a lot of sway in the Tex- as town. He works at the local pawn shop (the night shift, of course) and is one of the old- est local inhabitants. Mensah is no stranger to sci-fi and su- pernatural roles, or roles origi- nating in Harris's novels, for that matter — he had a signif- icant character arc in "True Blood" back in 2012. The rest of the town's resi- dents are just as interesting. Fiji Cavanaugh (Parisa Fitz- Henley, "Jessica Jones") is the owner of The Inquiring Mind, a witch with a Wiccan shop who has some serious unre- quited feelings for her neigh- bor. That neighbor is Bobo Winthrop (Dylan Bruce, "Or- phan Black"), who owns the pawn shop and employs Mr. Bridger; though he seems to be a regular human, his past is mysterious, and he's an inte- gral and stalwart part of the eclectic town. Arielle Kebbel ("The Vam- pire Diaries") stars as Olivia Charity, a deadly and eerily ef- fective assassin with a deep emotional and physical con- nection to Mr. Bridger. Sarah Ramos ("Parenthood") plays Creek Lovell, main love inter- est of Bernardo and a writer whose family harbors a deep, dark secret. Yul Vázquez ("Bloodline") is Rev. Emilio Sheehan who watches over the town and oversees the Midnight Chapel and Pet Cemetery, while not-so-mys- teriously disappearing every month during the full moon (werewolf alert!). Rounding out the cast is perhaps the most interesting character: Joe Strong (Jason Lewis, "Sex and the City") is a literal an- gel. He's been on Earth for thousands of years and lives with his husband, Chuy (Ber- nardo Saracino, "From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series"), while he watches over all the citi- zens of Midnight. His is a sa- cred mission: to await the ar- rival of "The One," an enig- matic stranger who is des- tined to save Midnight and all humanity from a great evil. Upon his arrival in Mid- night, Bernardo has no idea what he's walking into, but wins over the townspeople one by one. It isn't long before the town is threatened by out- side forces, and Bernardo finds himself fighting along- side the strange inhabitants. The series is shaping up to be an excellent mix of weekly mysteries and threats, as well as long-running story arcs — a combination that has been network television's bread and butter for years — and while "Midnight, Texas" is by no means the raunchy, enve- lope-pushing, sexy extrava- ganza that "True Blood" was, it's safe to say that the new series can scratch a lot of the itches fans were left with when the latter series ended back in 2014. With three of Harris's nov- els to pull from, writers have plenty of fodder for a good few seasons of this show, and when they run out, they should have a handful of well- developed and already be- loved characters to work with — plenty of material for many seasons to come, though the longevity of the series will be largely determined by the viewership numbers. Summer series almost never do as well as those that air in the fall and winter, but NBC has a lot of faith in this quirky sci-fi drama. Whether you're a sci-fi or fantasy fan, or even just a mystery buff, tune in to "Mid- night, Texas" when it pre- mieres Monday, July 24, on NBC. coverstory Parisa Fitz-Henley as seen in "Midnight, Texas" Full moon: Extraordinary and supernatural beings stand their ground in 'Midnight, Texas' By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: What happened to a favorite show of mine, "The Mysteries of Laura"? The last show was a real cliff- hanger. A: Sadly, cliffhanger or not, it was indeed the last show. NBC canceled "The Mysteries of Laura" at the end of its sec- ond season. There's a little good news for fans, though: The events that would have taken place in season 3 aren't a total mystery, thanks to the uncommon courtesy of series creator Jeff Rake. In an interview with Deadline.com, he described some of the major plot points that were going to take place in the season that could have been (spoilers for season 2 ahead). As you know, the second season ended with Jake getting engaged to his girlfriend, despite Laura's efforts to stop him. At the start of the third season, his girlfriend would have called the engagement off, freeing Jake to reconcile with Laura. But first, Jake was going to open up to her about the affair that broke them up in the first place, which would have a direct bearing on an old case they worked together. That would trigger a series of flashback episodes and result in them reopening the case in the present day. If only more writers of canceled shows would share that kind of info. Clearly Rake was quite attached to the show, as was the rest of the cast and crew. He was among the many members who took to Twitter after the cancellation to thank fans and to do a little lamenting. "My dear Diamonds," tweeted star Debra Messing (her character's name was Laura Diamond), "our story has ended but it was a joyous story to tell. We are so grateful to you for your love." Q: I recently watched the movie "Interstellar" star- ring Matthew McConaughey, and was surprised to see Matt Damon in a minor role. He wasn't mentioned in the credits. What's up with that? A: Depending on whom you ask, it was either a stroke of genius or much ado about nothing. But no one disagrees that it was a big deal. "Interstellar" (2014) director-writer-producer Christopher Nolan is passionate about secrecy, and he definitely wanted to keep this a secret — New York Times critic A.O. Scott said he had to sign a nondisclosure agreement before seeing the film so that he wouldn't reveal Damon's role in his review. CinemaBlend's Eric Eisenberg said that casting Damon in the role was a smart dramatic choice that "worked on many levels." The fact that he's such a big star cast in such a seem- ingly small role "puts the moviegoer on the edge of their chair anticipating the drama that is to come." However, Huffington Post writer Christopher Rosen couldn't disagree more. "There are plenty of actors in 'Inter- stellar,' and Damon is just one of them." He was arguing that all the secrecy about the cameo was unnecessary. But it was certainly effective — it got plenty of coverage when the movie released in 2014, and here it is, getting more today. Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. Personal replies will not be provided. hollywoodQ&A

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