‘The Last Ship’ Premieres June 22nd
I am not exactly sure why but I am particularly fond of post-apocalyptic stories. Maybe it is the uncertain future or all the strange possibilities after a disaster? Well, I was excited to learn that TNT has a new drama show coming out Sunday June 22nd at 9/8c that is not quite post-apocalyptic, but rather, it is apocalyptic. The Last Ship is a show where the disaster is currently happening!
When a global pandemic wipes out eighty percent of the planet’s population, the crew of a lone naval destroyer must find a way to pull humanity from the brink of extinction.
Executive Producer Michael Bay presents The Last Ship, starring Eric Dane, Rhona Mitra and Adam Baldwin.
At WonderCon 2014, during The Last Ship panel, Executive Producer Hank Steinberg talked about the inspiration for the show saying, “The story was brought to us by TNT” and it is based on an 80s book where the Cold War was the “disaster.” The draw was that it is a story about “people alive at sea…alone” (Steinberg). The producers wanted to explore the existential and emotional journey and see how the captain would keep the crew together. To update the show, producers/creators considered global thermal nuclear war because some people could survive that, but they opted for a global pandemic since it is much more realistic and “they can solve it” (Steinberg). Steinberg compared The Last Ship to Star Trek by stating, “we have a ticking clock with a sense of urgency and if they can solve this, they can get back to their families and save them.”
Having a ship as the setting, “opens up the possibility to go anywhere” explained Executive Producer Steven Kane. He went on to say that the “missions of the first season are based on the needs of the scientists.” Also, there will be a lot of moving around within the ship.
The actors at the Q&A, Charles Parnell (Commander Master Chief) and Travis Van Winkle (Lt. Danny Green), mentioned how they both trained with the military. Parnell even read up on the origins of the navy during his own research. Van Winkle trained with Navy Seals and felt that it was “inspiring to hear their stories,” and that it was a blessing to work with them.
So what makes this an intriguing show? It is a sci-fi in a very pure sense because the science is actually based in reality. The show is philosophical and looks at what it means to be human/civilized. Every day that they are not back with the vaccine, more people die; they really are the last hope. The Executive Producers also said it will have different types of heroes than we have seen before. Sounds good to me! Make sure to check out The Last Ship Sunday June 22nd!
