CBS's 'The Eleventh Hour': Producers try to clear up the mysteries at Press Tour panel

When CBS sent out pilots for its fall shows back in early June, the science-based procedural The Eleventh Hour — from mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer and the minds behind Showtime’s Sleeper Cell — was suspiciously absent. Members of the press still haven’t seen the pilot, and details about the show are still somewhat sketchy, but executive producers Cyrus Voris and Ethan Rieff tried their best to explain the concept at a TCA Press Tour panel on Friday. “Dr. Jacob Hood (Rufus Sewell) is a special science adviser to the FBI,” Rieff said of the show’s lead, who solves scientific crimes. “He’s mandated to investigate crimes and crises of a science or technological nature.” A promo reveals that the first episode will revolve around a dad who wants to clone his dead son. As the clock ticks, Hood tries to stop him, with the help of his FBI protection officer, Special Agent Rachel Young (Marley Shelton), who handles the law-enforcement side of things.

In future episodes, the show’s Michael Crichton-esque science topics will revolve around genetically altered agriculture and cancer cures that fall into the wrong hands. Despite how far-fetched some of that sounds, producers assured the press that they plan to keep the plots in the here and now. “It’s a science-facts show, not a science-fiction show,” Rieff said. “It’s science that surrounds us every day of our lives.” As for a CBS promo that said that the show’s science is “five years in the future,” Rieff retorted, “I don’t even know if it’s five years in the future. This is the world we live in now. Science and technology has gotten so advanced and expansive. But has it gotten so advanced and expansive that humans can’t control it anymore?” We’ll see when the show premieres on Oct. 9.