Building a mystery: New TV series is a little Twilight
Zone, a little Northern Exposure
By TYLER McLEOD
The inspiration for Mysterious Ways isn't very mysterious.
"The theory of the show when I originally pitched it was Touched By an X-File," producer Peter O'Fallon says.
"It kind of changed as we shot it. We're calling it Twilight Exposure. It's a little bit more on the funky side than Touched by an Angel and less serious than The X-Files."
O'Fallon is allowed to invoke the name of Northern Exposure, having directed the series -- as well as Party of Five, thirtysomething and Profiler -- before hitting upon the idea of an anthropology professor (Adrian Pasdar) who investigates unexplained phenomenon with the help of psychiatrist Rae Dawn Chong.
Mysterious Ways debuts Monday at 8 p.m. on DE and 9 p.m. on Q with the story of a young boy who is rescued from icy waters by an unseen presence.
"This guy definitely goes out looking for these incredible things to have happened, (but) the reason he looks for it is because when they happen he gets a clear moment in life," O'Fallon says. "It's not about the big miracle, it's more about the little one."
Unlike Angel, the majority of incidents encountered by Dr. Peggy Fowler,
Prof. Declan Dunn and his sarcastic assistant (Alisen Down of Da Vinci's Inquest and Bad Money) have logical explanations -- even if they aren't always apparent.
"There's one little piece of the puzzle that doesn't quite work out. (Monday's episode) is unexplainable but, in a weird way, there's a twist," O'Fallon says.
Weird is not necessarily what executive producers O'Fallon and Carl Binder (Dr. Quinn, Pocahontas) are going for with Mysterious Ways. Odd, unusual and remarkable, sure. Agent Mulder weird, though?
"I've never had an alien encounter," says O'Fallon. "I have, on the other hand, experienced a tremendous amount of things that were coincidental that seemed to be the subtle hand of a larger force."
The Vancouver-filmed series benefitted from coincidence when Pasdar's wife -- Natalie Maines of The Dixie Chicks -- lent her voice to the show's premiere.
"He called me up and said, 'Hey, Natalie would love to sing Amazing Grace.' I was like, 'Um ... OK!' " O'Fallon tells the Sun.
"We like to call ourselves 'financially challenged' as a show, so she did it all gratis."
"It was only supposed to be this 70-second spot and they put in like five minutes worth because it's so good," Pasdar says. "You can't blame them. I just thought it would be great to have my (then) girlfriend do this song and then it becomes a big thing."
Pasdar may become a big thing, too.
Appearing in Top Gun at age 19, Pasdar went onto roles in Carlito's Way and Profit.
Now he gets an hour weekly to show his range, but the modest actor still doesn't see himself as the next David Duchovny.
"Natalie's got way bigger problems than I do. And whenever we're together, we've got her security people, so we're never in trouble," Pasdar says.
"I walk right past everybody. I'll be able to do that forever."
NBC picked Mysterious Ways out, however. The series was headed to PAX TV, the U.S. cable network, which airs Twice in a Lifetime and Little Men, when its part-owners at the Peacock net took notice.
"NBC and PAX have this weird deal which I don't quite understand," says O'Fallon, who made his feature debut with The Suicide Kings.
"I come from the networks and, even though we're on PAX, I wanted to make it look as good as possible. It worked because NBC saw it and felt this is network quality."
Pasdar compares the situation to a baseball player being called up from Triple-A.
"I think NBC has given us a good opportunity to be successful and, if we can give them the numbers, we would live a charmed life. I'd love to stay up there five or six years and make the show. I'm married now and thinking about having a family. Mysterious Ways something I'd want my kids to watch."