After recently helming the successful reboots of Mission: Impossible, Star Trek,andStar Warsfranchise, many people should be familiar with the nameJ.J. Abrams. Not only is he one of the best directors around today, but he is also one of the most successful producers, helping to create and get the funding for the likes ofArmageddonandCloverfieldtoo.
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However, before Abrams became such a mainstream director, there was another time when he was best known for creating several breakout TV dramas (such as LostandFringe). Although they were mainly rooted in science fiction,many fans loved how he always came up with some creative concepts and unique mysteries that had fans talking for months. But out of all his shows, which one would fans say was the best? While everyone will probably have a different answer, fans would be best checking their IMDb scores to get an accurate idea.
Lovecraft Country | (7.1) | Available To Stream On HBO Max
In this blend of horror, fantasy, and historical fiction, J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele combine their producing prowess that follows the life of Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors), a Black man who finds himself traversing through the heart of white supremacist America with his companion Letitia (Jurnee Smollet), and Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance). They seek Atticus's father who has disappeared without a trace. However, along the way, they encounter an unexpected form of terror.
Lovecraft Country was adapted from a Matt Ruff novel of the same name. It co-starred the late Michael Kenneth Williams, a frequent face on many HBO original programs including The Wire and Boardwalk Empire. Sadly, although it was largely praised for its visual aesthetics and great narrative, the show was not renewed for a second season.
Roadies | (7.4) | Available To Stream On Hulu
This 10-episode series from the mind of Almost Famousdirector Cameron Crowe and produced by Abrams, follows the lives of those individuals, who are window dressing for a name band but are absent from the public eye. They don't get the glory their celebrity employers do but experience plenty of shenanigans behind the scenes.
Roadies marked Abrams' first foray into pay cable television. He would go on to produce several features for Netflix like Challenger: The Final Flightbefore signing a $500 million contract with WarnerMedia in 2019(via Yahoo Finance). While Luke Wilson and Carla Gugino were praised for their performances, unfortunately, this was another show that was canceled.
Alias | (7.6) | Available To Stream On Amazon
Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) believes she serves her country in the Central Intelligence Agency. When she finds out otherwise, she decides to work undercover to expose her true employer's agenda. She finds a shadow agency named SD-6 pursues power plays around the world. As a result, the work causes significant disruption to her personal life but luckily, she has her father and fellow CIA veteran, Jack Bristow (Victor Garber) to coach her.
Abrams' second major creative effort for network television after Felicitymade Gardner a star and featured a young Bradley Cooper as Sydney's journalist confidant. It paved the route forLost in 2004 and Fringe in 2008. It also ended up winning four Primetime Emmy Awards too.
Six Degrees | (7.6) | Available To Buy On Amazon
Six completely different people are connected by mysterious circ*mstances. Their lives have an impact on each other without their knowledge. When events become more fantastical, they begin to gravitate towards each other on a collision course.
Based on the theory of six degrees of separation(via Harvard Business Review), the show continued a trend from the early 2000s regarding ensemble character-driven dramas, which relied on extraordinary circ*mstances to drive a serial narrative forward.
Castle Rock | (7.6) | Available To Stream On Hulu
A Hulu original anthology series based on material written by best-selling horror novelist Stephen King that brings together characters from his vast library of works who inhabit the title town.
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Castle Rockmight reference the town where Stand By Me took place in that film's first act, also based on a novella by King. The series starred Bill Skarsgård, who also played the evil Pennywise in the remake of King's horror magnum opus IT parts one and two.
Almost Human | (8.0) | Available To Buy On Apple iTunes
The year is 2048 and every police officer is partnered with an android in The City, a location somewhere on the west coast of America. In despair after a life-threatening accident and possessing artificial technology to survive, Detective John Kennex (Karl Urban) must put aside his disdain for androids and adapt to his new working environment while confronting the trauma that left him a hybrid.
The short-lived 2013-2014 Fox series might have partially inspired Quantic Dream's Detroit: Become Human video game. It too features a detective forced to work with an evolved human-like machine. Sadly, despite the unique concept it provided, it was another show that got canceled.
Lost | (8.3) | Available To Stream On Hulu
Survivors of a plane crash band together to brave the elements of a tropical island that is not all it seems to be. They come to discover their presence is not by random chance and seek answers regarding the supernatural forces that caused their predicament.
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Told partially in every tense, each episode of Lost singles out a main character (and there are many) to further examine their origins, what events led them to become who they are, and how they ended up aboard the doomed Oceanic Flight 815. With 10 Emmys under its belt,Lost was one of Abrams' best shows as it had fans tuning in every week, desperate to see if these mysteries would be solved and whether the survivors would manage to escape the Island.
Fringe | (8.4) | Available To Stream On HBO Max
FBI agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) is assigned to the bureau's special taskforce regarding an emerging pattern of unexplained occurrences. She recruits an eccentric scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble) and his son Peter (Joshua Jackson) to help conduct investigations into the paranormal, which lead to startling revelations about our universe and a corporation named Massive Dynamic.
The series is comparable to The X-Files, replacing mythology with advanced scientific topics like metaphysics and quantum mechanics among others. Leonard Nimoy played the founder of Dynamic, William Bell, once a colleague of Walter's. Abrams' pattern appears to be one of interest in the improbable but not the impossible.
Person Of Interest | (8.4) | Available To Stream On HBO Max
John Reese, an ex-intelligence operative (Jim Caviezel), motivated by the death of a loved one, is recruited by a billionaire computer technology expert Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) to combine their talents in predicting and countering future crimes in New York City. Their primary method is Finch's computer-based surveillance apparatus codenamed "The Machine."
The show puts forth the notion that everyone is under surveillance at all times and with analytics aPerson of Interestcan be deduced with a computer algorithm.Caviezel has a long film history with credits like The Thin Red Line and The Passion of the Christ. Emerson previously starred in Lost as the main antagonist, Ben Linus, a caretaker of sorts for the Island.
Westworld | (8.6) | Available To Stream On HBO Max
Sometime in the future, a group of humans have built a vast interactive theme park capable of fulfilling the desires of every visitor (whether that be role-playing, cosplaying, committing acts of violence). There, artificially constructed "hosts" are the guiding light for customers. However, when an anomaly in their programming causes them to experience the first hint of sentience, they become resentful of their role.
The HBO sci-fi drama has the DNA of Blade Runner, with manycharacters asking what is the meaning of life and the notion of free will. Although the series featured Hollywood heavyweights Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, and Jeffery Wright, many believed that it was Evan Rachel Wood that was the breakout star of the show.
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