THE TV COLUMN

Futuristic, high-voltage Revolution returns

Monday’s thrill-packed return of NBC’s Revolution features Tracy Spiridakos (left) and Graham Rogers as siblings on the run.
Monday’s thrill-packed return of NBC’s Revolution features Tracy Spiridakos (left) and Graham Rogers as siblings on the run.

On Monday, a couple of hits return to NBC for the spring season - not a minute too soon for the ratings-starved network.

At 9 p.m., Revolution roars back with the promise of more action, more drama and more adventure.

If you were becoming impatient at the slower pace of the thriller, the producers heard you. It took our intrepid band of heroes way too long to find Charlie’s kidnapped brother. Producer J.J. Abrams promises things “will get more intense.”

Let’s back up for those out of the loop.

Revolution is a post-apocalyptic drama set in the near future. One day - poof - electricity mysteriously disappears and all technology comes to a screeching halt. The world is plunged back into the 19th century.

Society has quickly devolved and 15 years later this country is divided into six sections - the tyrannical Monroe Republic in the northeast, the Georgia Federation in the southeast, the Plains Nation (including the northern half of Arkansas), the Republic of Texas (including Arkansas’ southern half ), the California Commonwealth up and down the Pacific Coast, and the Wasteland of the southwest.

The core of the story is about the Matheson family. Our heroine is Charlie Matheson (Tracy Spiridakos), who was charged by her dying father to find and rescue her kidnapped brother Danny (Graham Rogers), who was taken by the militia for nefarious purposes.

Charlie has spunk and pluck worthy of Hunger Games. I’m sure the producers wanted to tap into that spirit to lure the younger demographic.

To help get her brother back, Charlie journeys to Chicago and tracks down her estranged Uncle Miles (Billy Burke, The Twilight Saga). Miles is a loner and former militia leader himself who parted ways with the outfit and its villainous commander, General Sebastian Monroe (David Lyons).

Along the way our heroes battled Monroe’s devious henchman, Major Tom Neville (Giancarlo Esposito, Breaking Bad), and discovered Charlie and Danny’s presumed dead mother, Rachel Matheson (Elizabeth Mitchell, Lost), a scientist with inside knowledge of the power failure. She was also being held by the militia and forced to work on solving the power problem.

The key to restoring electricity is in 12 small silver pendants. Whoever can harness and amplify these doohickies has a huge upper hand.

When Revolution’s autumn finale aired Nov. 26, Miles and Charlie had finally rescued Danny and Rachel from Monroe’s clutches and were running away.

And then …

Rising slowly over the wall is a helicopter! Yikes! Monroe has harnessed the power of one of the pendants and the helicopter has a mini-gun and rockets. What now?

“Monroe has power,” Rachel growls. “Let’s get some of our own.” And the quest is on to take down the militia and ultimately re-establish the United States.

Revolution is great adventure that works on several levels from epic dystopian sci-fi to tender family moments.

The Voice returns. Even more important to NBC is that The Voice returns with a two-hour spring season premiere at 7 p.m. Monday. Tuesday episodes will run from 7 to 8 p.m.

And the better news for viewers is that there will be two new judges joining Adam Levine and Blake Shelton.

Old judges Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera are out on tour and promise to return in the fall. Meanwhile, singers Usher and Shakira take their places.

For my money, the egocentric Aguilera was the most galling part of the singing competition. She can stay on tour as far as I’m concerned.

Just a reminder - The Voice features four stages of competition.

Blind auditions are where the contestants come out and sing to the judges’ backs. If they like what they hear, the judges hit their buttons and the chairs turn around. The judges are building their initial teams.

Next come the battle rounds, which pit each team’s members against themselves with each team’s judge deciding who’s eliminated in each round. However, the loser can be stolen by another coach. Each coach has two steals allowed during the battle rounds.

Once we’re down to the semifinalists, the knockout rounds will find each judge deciding who stays and who goes for his final team.

And finally, the live performances will feature the surviving teams competing. Viewers vote on whom to save, with the bottom two each week going home. The ultimate survivor is crowned “The Voice,” gets the grand prize of a recording contract, and is probably never heard from again.

NBC woes. How bad is it for the Peacock? So bad that the once-promising Smash is being dumped to 8 p.m. Saturdays beginning April 6. Yeah, Saturdays. Why? Viewership has sunk below 3 million now. NBC promises, however, that all remaining episodes will air.

Matthew Perry’s Go On will get an 8:30 p.m. post-Office tryout on April 4 and 11 to see if that boosts ratings.

And the insipid dating show Ready for Love (from Eva Longoria) slimes onto the screen after The Voice on April 9. It’ll probably be a hit. The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail:

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Style, Pages 46 on 03/24/2013

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