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Page 2 May 11 - 17, 2015 Mystery abounds in 'Wayward Pines' on Fox By Jay Bobbin © Zap2it It isn't Twin Peaks, but as mysterious televi- sion towns go, Wayward Pines is a reasonably close cousin. M. Night Shyamalan, the filmmaker who has built his reputation on eerie tales ("The Sixth Sense," "Signs"), brings his approach to the home screen as a 10-episode Fox series debuts Thurs- day, May 14. Based on Blake Crouch's book trilogy, "Wayward Pines" features a rare TV turn by Matt Dillon as a Secret Service man in- jured in a car crash as he arrives to seek two missing federal agents in the "perfect" title Idaho locale, where a "Stepford Wives" quality is evoked by residents just a little too happy to live there. Terrence Howard — continuing his Fox run this year after scoring big success as Lucious Lyon in "Empire" — also stars as the overprotective sheriff who calmly warns the newcomer to "follow the rules" in his jurisdic - tion. Other notables in the cast include Juliette Lewis (also in her second show this year, coming off ABC's "Secrets and Lies"), Carla Gugino, Os- car winner Melissa Leo and Toby Jones ("Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"). "Serialized TV is like me getting to do a (prolonged movie) first act," executive producer Shyamalan explains of making his "Wayward Pines" move, "develop characters and insinuate and hint at things. That is where my lean is and that's where I would love to be, rather than, 'Get to the boat sinking, so we can get to the plot.' We'll get there, but we're go- ing to develop the char- acters. The rhythm of this style of storytelling is very comfortable for me." Dillon, whose movie career has been marked by such titles as "There's Something About Mary" and "Crash," signed up for "Wayward Pines" for a similar reason. "I had questions," he says, "and I continued to have questions even after I committed to doing the show, and I think that's what drew me into it. I'm drawn to atmospheric projects, and I like this. "For me, the most im - portant thing is that for the characters, there's logic behind everything that they are doing. It doesn't have to make sense to anybody but that individual, but there has to be a truthfulness to who the characters are, and I think we all felt that." Co-star Gugino be - lieves the atmospher- ic Vancouver, British Columbia, filming site helped: "I love a good mystery, and it's not just about, 'Let's reveal these plot elements.' Those are really interesting and there's some really great plot reveals (here), but from the very start, this was character-driven. Those are things you can't fake, and those are things that you do feel, no matter how much skill is involved. Being some- where and letting it seep in for that period of time is very significant." At the same time America gets its first taste of "Wayward Pines," so will much of the rest of the world. It's set to premiere in more 125 countries si- multaneously, reportedly making it the largest global scripted-series launch ever. Shyamalan also directed the "Way- ward Pines" premiere, and he admits he found the limited-run format a major appeal. Though he doesn't rule out doing more TV, he says, "We won't do it unless it's or - ganically and creatively correct. The only reason I said 'Yes' to (this) was because it wasn't the thing I think could be an issue when you're doing TV. "You don't know the end, right? So you're vamping to some extent — then you're coming up with wonderfully cre- ative ideas, but they may actually corner you and you don't have an end anymore. In this thing, there was a real defini- tive place it was going, and all the puzzle pieces fit perfectly. So we would have to make sure that that happened again." It's not unusual for country stars to pair up musically, but rarely have there been as many teamings on one occasion as a new CBS special offers. Then again, that's the entire premise of the two-hour show "ACM Presents: Superstar Duets," airing Friday, May 15. This year's variation on the charitable events staged annually by the Academy of Country Music, the program was recorded the same weekend that the 50th ACM Awards ceremony was staged last month in Arlington, Texas – where "Superstar Duets" also was taped (at Globe Life Park), making it convenient for many of the same artists to appear. Luke Bryan was among them, and he's teamed with veteran talent Ronnie Milsap. "My manager asked me my thoughts," Bryan explains, "and I said, 'I'd love to get up there and do that with Ronnie.' He was probably my first influence and my first memory of music, period. It's funny; it's one thing to be up there singing with him, but when you do it for TV, it's documented forever. It's always amazing to have those kinds of connections." Among others who connect in performances on "Superstar Duets," which was mounted as part of the third annual ACM Party for a Cause Festival: Miranda Lambert and Patty Loveless; Keith Urban and John Anderson; Alabama and Eli Young Band; Darius Rucker and Sara Evans; and Eric Church and Marty Stuart. Also featured is country-music icon Reba McEntire, who was one of several recipients of ACM Milestone Awards at the honors in April. She's actually part of a superstar trio on the special, since she's partnered with Brooks & Dunn, who are ending their professional hiatus of more than four years ... also to share the bill with McEntire in a number of upcoming Las Vegas shows. "The hardest part about doing it," she maintains, "is figuring out which songs to do. We both (as acts) have extensive catalogs." And McEntire's own catalog has expanded lately, thanks to the recent release of "Love Somebody," her 27th studio album. She notes that after the "Superstar Duets" stint, "To get to go back and perform in Vegas, which I've done since 1983 – I've headlined there, and I've opened for other people there – is going to be a blast, especially to go back in there with Ronnie (Dunn) and Kix (Brooks)." Country artists team for 'Superstar Duets' BY JAY BOBBIN Luke Bryan Carla Gugino stars in "Wayward Pines," premiering Thursday on Fox.

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