Debris (NBC Drama Series)

[EnolaGaia]

Last night (March 1) was the debut of NBC's new paranormal / X-Files-ish drama Debris.

Here's how the show's main webpage introduces it ...

About the Show
When mysterious wreckage starts falling from the sky, a secretive international agency is tasked with figuring out what it is, where it came from, and most importantly… what it can do. British agent Finola Jones and American agent Bryan Beneventi are partners who have very different styles – she's warm, intuitive and detail-oriented, and he's charming, confident and guarded. But they have no choice but to trust each other as they track down the debris scattered across the Western Hemisphere. Each fragment has unpredictable, powerful and sometimes dangerous effects on the everyday people who find it. Every discovery is also a race against time, because shadowy outside forces seek these objects for nefarious purposes.

SOURCE: https://www.nbc.com/debris

See Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debris_(TV_series)

Video clips (including the first 10 minutes as a sample ... ) and the entire pilot episode are accessible at the NBC website:

https://www.nbc.com/debris/video/pilot/4319063

 

[Mr. Banooka]

Last night (March 1) was the debut of NBC's new paranormal / X-Files-ish drama Debris.

Here's how the show's main webpage introduces it ...


SOURCE: https://www.nbc.com/debris

See Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debris_(TV_series)

Video clips (including the first 10 minutes as a sample ... ) and the entire pilot episode are accessible at the NBC website:

https://www.nbc.com/debris/video/pilot/4319063

sounds like a cross between Warehouse 13 and The Lost Room.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Debris incorporates a lot of elements we've seen before, such as:

- A pair of professional investigators with different back stories, attitudes and orientations (a la X-Files)
- Surrealistic scenes (a la X-Files, LOST, etc.)
- A number of branches (sub-plots; back stories; peripheral characters)

I don't consider these as significant flaws, because there's hardly any way to avoid including them (or closely similar things).

Some of the less common / more unique-to-this-series elements are:

- A mysterious alien spacecraft (source of the debris) is a given
- The debris has many sizes and forms, and each has different powers or effects
- The effects initially seen range from physically fantastic (teleportation; levitation) to psychological / emotional

 

[dr wu]

New episode tonight...I have been enjoying it. I think they could have used different characters for the leads but the show is entertaining me for now.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Regrettably (IMHO) Debris has been cancelled.

‘Debris’ Canceled After One Season at NBC (EXCLUSIVE)

“Debris” has been canceled after one season at NBC, Variety has learned.

The news comes shortly after the first season finale, which aired on May 24. ...

“Debris” failed to get off to a great start in the ratings and never found its footing. The series is averaging a 0.7 rating in adults 18-49 and just under 5 million viewers per episode in the Nielsen Live+7 numbers season to date. ...

FULL STORY: https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/debris-canceled-nbc-1234983472/

The series was launched during a difficult time, and it was allotted only 13 episodes in which to bootstrap a complex and multi-faceted story / scenario. The obvious parallels with earlier series (e.g., X-Files; Fringe; LOST) made it difficult for viewers to see what was different about this show.

I liked it enough to follow it each week. Like many such series it took a number of episodes to introduce and develop the basic dimensions of the story. I can't say they did a bad job of performing this launch phase, but there were still puzzle pieces being inserted into the mix all the way through the season finale.

The lead characters were well-acted, but somehow remained fairly one-dimensional. Giving the benefit of the doubt, I suspect the blame mostly lies with the scripting and direction rather than the actors.

In contrast to X-Files (where the grand overarching conspiracy was teased out over a few years) Debris involved an overarching story or "big picture" context that was spotlighted from the beginning but always seemed to be in the background. The episodes focused on individual incidents and oddities with little discussion or exposition about this "big picture", and I think this was the thing I most felt was missing.

For what it's worth, I give the show an overall thumbs-up. It could have developed into something solid and longer-lasting, but a half-season (13 episodes) just wasn't enough runway to get it airborne.

It wouldn't surprise me if another channel (e.g., Syfy) picked up the rights and gave Debris a second chance.

 

[charliebrown]

I watched the first 2 episodes, but I could not connect with it and stopped watching.

 

[Analogue Boy]

This is why I’m a late adopter of new tv series.

 

[catseye]

This is why I’m a late adopter of new tv series.

Me too. I'll happily binge watch a series, but I like to know whether it's going to continue or not. I'm still hoping that The Irregulars gets picked up by someone.

 

[Analogue Boy]

You know a show is in trouble when it first airs in the UK with a double episode. In a couple of cases, I’ve chased up on the web to find it hasn’t got a second series in the states and probably ends unsatisfactorily on a cliff-hanger.