Rainn Wilson returns to television January 22 with Backstrom, a new series from Bones creator Hart Hanson. FOX describes the show as “a subversive and comic crime procedural about an unhealthy, offensive, irascible – albeit brilliant – detective who sees the worst in everyone, and he’s usually right.”
In addition to Wilson, some TV favorites like Dennis Haysbert (24), Thomas Dekker (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Secret Circle), and Kristoffer Polaha (Life Unexpected, Ringer) are part of the cast.
FOX has released some photos from the series premiere, which you can find below, but first, how about some more detail about the series, courtesy of the network:
Detective Lieutenant EVERETT BACKSTROM (Emmy Award nominee Rainn Wilson, “The Office”) is a man with no filter. After a five-year banishment to the traffic division for offensive behavior, he has returned from disgrace to lead Portland’s newly minted Special Crimes Unit (S.C.U.). Tasked with navigating the city’s most sensitive and serious cases, he must solve each crime as he tries, and fails, to change his own self-destructive behavior.
Whether outsmarting his foes, including his ex-fiancee (recurring guest star Sarah Chalke, “Scrubs”), or guiding his eccentric team of investigators and civilians, featuring Dennis Haysbert (“24,” “The Unit”), Genevieve Angelson (“House of Lies”), Kristoffer Polaha (“Ringer,” “Life Unexpected”), Page Kennedy (“Blue Mountain State,” “Weeds”), Beatrice Rosen (“The Dark Knight”) and Thomas Dekker (“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”), Backstrom always manages to crack the case.
But his highly unorthodox process invariably leads to clashes with everyone around him, from his fellow law enforcement colleagues, to the Fire Department, to Portland’s local charities, to the city’s drag queens, to half of Chinatown and an entire Indian Reservation. When Backstrom’s investigating, nobody comes out unscathed.
Below, find photos from the opener, which is called “Dragon Slayer.”
BACKSTROM
BACKSTROM: Sergeant Peter Niedermayer (Kristoffer Polaha, L) and Detective Nicole Gravely (Genevieve Angelson, R) examine new evidence in their case in the "Dragon Slayer" series premiere episode of BACKSTROM airing Thursday, Jan. 22 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2014 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Liane Hentscher/FOX
