Alphas - The Morton Report: Ira Steven Behr Promises More Than Cookie Cutter Crime Fighting

Alphas - The Morton Report [follow link for the complete interview]



ALPHAS - THE MORTON REPORT: Alphas Executive Producer Ira Steven Behr Promises More Than Cookie Cutter Crime Fighting

By Steve Eramo, Contributor
July 1, 2011

Twenty years ago Ira Steven Behr went where he had never gone before when he was hired as a writer/producer on Star Trek: The Next Generation. From there, he spent seven seasons executive producing as well as writing for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, followed by similar work on other series including Dark Angel, The Twilight Zone and The 4400.

Currently, Behr is serving as executive producer on Alphas, (premiering Monday, July 11 @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST) a new Syfy series that follows a group of average people with enhanced abilities (a.k.a. Alphas) who investigate cases that are linked to rogue Alphas.

Earlier this week, Behr spoke with the press about Alphas and what audiences can look forward to. Here are a few highlights from that Q & A. Enjoy!



... Q: Where is this first season of Alphas going to take us?

ISB: "Oddly enough, in about three-and-a-half hours I will be meeting with the network and pitching the final episodes of the season and telling them where the series is going.

So I’m going to be very interested to see if they agree with us. One of the things that really appeals to me about the show - in line with some of the other work I’ve done - is that, again, it’s always evolving and isn’t a cookie cutter kind of series where every episode is exactly the same and plays out basically as the one the week before and the following week’s episode.

What’s going to happen without giving anything away is that this is a group of people who aren’t really your first choice to be part of an investigative unit or to be going out into the field and getting shot at. They’re kind of working for the government, but the government doesn’t totally know whether or not to trust them and vice versa. The team is also working against this organization of Alphas called Red Flag, and Red Flag keeps telling our people that they’re on the wrong side.

It’s a very precarious position to be in, and as we like to say in the writers’ office, the center cannot hold. Eventually things will start to crack, and I think by the end of the first season there will be cracks appearing all over the surface..."