Strange but satisfying ‘Legion’ to debut
With “Legion” (10 p.m. Wednesday), FX introduces a superhero series for people who are bored with the tropes found in most superhero shows. It’s a strange, sometimes confusing and always visually arresting program.
Based on an “X-Men” comic book spinoff — notice the visual references to X in the set design beginning in the second episode — “Legion” follows Clockworks Psychi-atric Hospital patient David Haller (Dan Stevens, light years removed from playing Matthew Crawley on “Downton Abbey”) who’s contending with childhood trauma, addiction and paranoid schizophrenia. Or is he really just a mutant with latent abilities?
David is attracted to new patient Syd Barrett (Rachel Keller, “Fargo”), who doesn’t like to be touched. Eventually through an unexpected and trippy encounter — so much of this show is trippy — they begin to realize the problems that haunt them may actually be special powers.
Syd leads David to a tranquil setting where ther-apist Melanie Bird (Jean Smart, “Fargo”) tries to help him gain control of his abilities.
Developed for TV by FX’s “Fargo” mastermind Noah Hawley, “Legion” does not play out like, say, “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” with weekly missions, at least not through the first three episodes. It’s a serialized story with an initial focus on helping David escape the clutches of an
apparently evil cabal and then trying to aid his sister, Amy (Katie Aselton).
“Legion” has the look of a 1970s-era British sci-fi show, but then a character pops open a tablet computer, suggesting a different time period altogether. The pilot includes a musical number that’s a bizarro highlight along with the introduction of Lenny (Aubrey Plaza, “Parks and Recreation”) as David’s druggie friend.
At times, “Legion’s” penchant for oddness gets in the way of the storytelling. One twist toward the end of the premiere is tough to follow and the show doesn’t really give a sense of what it will be on a weekly basis until it plows through the events of episode two.
But if there are some hurdles to telling the story in the early going, the style, audacity and even the challenges “Legion” presents to viewers make it one of the most unique series in prime time.
Ms. Keller, a 2014 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s drama program, marks her second goaround with Mr. Hawley having appeared in season two of his “Fargo” anthology series.
“Making work the way I always dreamed was fantastic, but then to be asked to come along and do something else, I’m just in the most fortunate position ever,” Ms. Keller said following an FX press conference during January’s Television Critics Association winter press tour. “You have to quickly say, ‘Thank you,’ then move on and get to work and do the job as a loving employee.”
In “Legion,” Ms. Keller plays a character named after a member of Pink Floyd in a series that owes a visual debt to Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange,” hence the name of the mental hospital.
But “Legion” is also based on the 1985 comic book that’s a spinoff of “X-Men” that features David “Legion” Haller, son of Prof. Charles Xavier.
“We’re spinning it again,” she said. “Someone said to me, this isn’t a realization of the existing comic book, but an adaptation based on the character. For me that feels like it fits.”
So will we see more familiar characters from the “XMen” universe?
“Anything’s possible, especially with a guy like Noah who thinks so outside the box,” Ms. Keller said. “I wouldn’t rule anything out. There’s gotta be crossover. If you’re dealing with some kind of distorted reality and different, alternate universes, then every universe that exists exists, so we have a lot of play room.”
So maybe “Legion” will introduce David’s father?
“Smart guess,” Ms. Keller teased.
For more with Ms. Keller, watch the video interview embedded in the online version of this column at postgazette.com/tv.
Kept/canceled
NBC ordered a 13-episode second season of the winning comedy “The Good Place.”
Fox renewed “So You Think You Can Dance” for a 14th season to air in the summer with a return to focusing on dancers ages 18-30.
OWN ordered an additional 44 episode of Tyler Perry’s “The Haves and the Have Nots” and 18 more episodes of “If Loving You is Wrong” while ordering a spinoff, “The Paynes,” from “House of Payne,” to star LaVan Davis and Cassi Davis, reprising their roles in 2018.
OWN announced the end of “Love Thy Neighbor,” returning for its final season at 9 p.m. March 4, and “For Better or Worse” (9 p.m. June 10).
Amazon renewed “Mozart in the Jungle” for a fourth season and “Red Oaks” for a final third season.
Create back on Comcast
Create, WQED’s digital subchannel that was displaced from its spot in the Comcast lineup to make room for a 24/7 kids channel in January, will return to Comcast on Channel 201 beginning Tuesday.
Adding back Create will result in the removal of WQED’s World digital subchannel from Comcast’s lineup, but World will remain available over the air on Channel 13.3 and on some other regional cable systems, including Verizon’s FiOS TV. (Satellite services have never carried WQED’s digital subchannels.)
Channel surfing
Digital subchannel Decades (Channel 2.2 over the air, 195 on Comcast, 483 on FiOS TV) will feature a trove of Mary Tyler Moore programming today (8 a.m.-1 p.m.) and a “Mary Tyler Moore Show” marathon 1 p.m. Saturday through 7 a.m. Monday. … Reports suggest former Fox News Channel anchor Megyn Kelly will take over the “Today’s Take” hour of NBC’s “Today” when she moves to the network later this year with Ms. Kelly’s show either airing at 9 a.m. or at 10 a.m., with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford relocated to 9 a.m. Tamron Hall, co-host of the 9 a.m. hour of “Today,” left NBC and MSNBC effective this week. … “Doctor Who” star Peter Capaldi announced he will depart the series following the 2017 Christmas special. … Beginning this fall, Oprah Winfrey will become a contributor to CBS’s “60 Minutes.” … Syfy will celebrate the 77th birthday of George A. Romero Saturday with a Facebook Live marathon of 1968’s filmed-in-Western-Pennsylvania “Night of the Living Dead,” which will play continuously for 12 hours beginning at 11:30 a.m. … Taking a page from the success of Investigation Discovery, Oxygen will become a crime destination network for women this summer and new programming will include the revival of TNT’s canceled “Cold Justice.” … Ratings for last week’s second-season premiere of WGN America’s filmed-in-Pittsburgh drama “Outsiders” improved on the show’s season one average by 12 percent in total viewers, drawing 2.5 million viewers in Live + 3 ratings. … Daniel Tiger for Parents, a new “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” app available in English and Spanish, debuted Thursday at Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
Tuned In online
Today’s TV Q&A column responds to questions about prime-time reruns, “Grantchester” and weathercaster attire. This week’s Tuned In Journal includes posts on “The Expanse,” “Spy in the Wild” and “Santa Clarita Diet.” Read online-only TV content at http://communityvoices.post-gazette.com/ arts-entertainment-living/ tuned-in.
This week’s podcast includes conversation about “Riverdale,” “SAG Awards” and “Gotham.” Subscribe or listen to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette podcasts at iTunes or at https:// soundcloud. com/ pittsburghpg.