One is a vampiric sci-fi thriller series drawn from the brain (and books) of Guillermo del Toro and co-writer Chuck Hogan. The other is evolved from a beloved black comedy crime thriller. There’s plenty of interest to be found, then, in the first proper looks at The Strain and Fargo’s TV series.
Though it’s tough to tell given the subtle watermarking, both sets of images come from Yahoo TV, and were handed down by US cable channel FX. The Strain, as you may already know, finds House Of Cards’ Corey Stoll playing Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, who leads a crack team battling a mysterious viral outbreak that bears all the hallmarks of an ancient strain of vampirism.The infection spreads after a plane lands at JFK with almost everyone on board dead, and just a few survivors clinging to life (you can see the plane in one of these images).
The condition spreads, and soon Ephraim and a group of ordinary New Yorkers are battling for the fate of humankind. The cast also features Kevin Durand, Mia Maestro, Sean Astin, Robert Maillet, John Hurt (in the pilot, at least, with David Bradley taking over his role after that) and del Toro regular Doug Jones. The Pacific Rim director acts as executive producer and crafted the pilot episode, though Carlton Cuse will handle series duties. The Strain is set to hit US screens in July, with UK details yet to be confirmed.
As for Fargo, that one uses the Coen brothers’ 1996 crime drama as the inspiration for a story about different characters including small-town insurance salesman Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman), whose life gets trickier when he crosses paths with Billy Bob Thornton’s Lorne Malvo. Noah Hawley is the man in charge of this one, with Joel and Ethan Coen on hand to produce. It’s expected to start airing its 10-episode first season in the spring across the pond. {Fargo TV Series}