Do No Harm Hopes to Be a Procedural That Stands Out

NBC is set to premiere their new take on the Jekyll and Hyde story, the contemporary drama Do No Harm, on January 31.

The series stars Steven Pasquale as Dr. Jason Cole, a neurosurgeon with a split personality that turns him into a dangerous, predatory man every night. Cole’s attempts to hold back his other self begin to unravel, threatening to completely tear apart his life. Alana De la Garza, Ruta Gedmintas, Phylicia Rashad, Michael Esper and John Carroll Lynch also star.

Executive producer David Schulner, De la Garza, Levine, Miranda, Pasquale and Rashad were at the TCA (Television Critics Association) tour today to talk about the series.

Jennifer Salke, President of NBC Entertainment opened the panel by noting the challenges of introducing a procedural in today's marketplace, and the need for, what amounts to, a hook. To that end, Schulner said that his pitch was, essentially: "Do you like Dexter? Do you like House? This is House meets Dexter, and of course, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."

"I wanted it to be fun, thrilling, and a roller-coaster ride," he added. "I also wanted it to have stakes, and for the love story to be at the center. Hopefully those ingredients will make this stand out."

Schulner was quick to say that this is not meant to be an overly complex series, though. "Don’t tax yourself too much," he said. "It's a high concept premise in a very grounded world. We want the audience to get on the ride, and stay on."

The nature of Jason's condition is a fictionalized version of a dissociative personality disorder in which from exactly 8:25 p.m. every night to 8:25 a.m. every day the gentle and integrous Jason becomes the sociopathathic and morally bereft Ian. The significance of the time-frame will be revealed in the last episode of the season. In the interim, the show introduces an Ian who is actively hostile towards Jason and plays a continuous game of cat and mouse with him, intending to cause havoc in his life.

Jason in turn works constantly to put fail-safes to Jason's antics in place.

In creating the character it was important to Pasquale that Ian and Jason "be able to exist in each other's lives."

"I didn’t want to do one guy as a monster or be violently different," he said. "I wanted there to be a grey area so that the people in their lives would be able to confuse one for the other. In other words, I didn't come in saying that I wanted to play Ian with a humpback and giant unibrow. They are wired completely differently, but you wouldn’t know that behaviorally."

When asked if he preferred playing one over the other, Pasquale responded, "Well Ian doesn’t have to say any of that medical sh*t. Neurosurgery is no joke. If you are a neurosurgeon you have to say like 30-syllable words, so I prefer Ian."

As to his iconic NBC alum co-star, Phylicia Rashad, he said, "It was rewarding to come in the first day and work with Ms. Huxtable, and then to find out that she is that dreamy in real life."

Rashad in turn reported that she felt she had, "been with the best-of-the-best, and feel like I'm with the best-of-the-best again."

Take a look at the clip below in which Jason Cole (Steven Pasquale) realizes his Mr. Hyde-like alter ego is manifesting.

Do No Harm premieres on NBC on January 31.

Source : ign[dot]com