Far superior than their first stab at original drama, the new “Manhattan” (WGN America, 9 p.m.) looks into the making of the atomic bomb in a desert in New Mexico, working on a deadline to beat Germans to the same plan.
The fine actor John Benjamin Hickey (from “The Big C” and Broadway’s “The Normal Heart”) stars as a scientist in the secretive locale. Olivia Williams (of “Rushmore”) is his wife. Though Robert Oppenheimer is part of the group, the others have made-up names, and not just for secrecy’s sake.
“Oppenheimer is the only historical figure who appears in the first episode, and there may be others who wend their way through the story over the course of the season,” show creator Sam Shaw told reporters at the TV Critics Association summer press tour earlier this month.
“But the sort of approach, or thinking, about this show and my thinking from the beginning is that although it is set in a world that is really carefully researched and we make painstaking efforts to be as faithful to history and science as we possibly can be, as someone who is neither an historian nor a physicist, but we keep them around to keep us honest, the model for us in ways, is E.L. Doctorow’s ‘Ragtime.’ It’s a, sort of, story that captures the emotional truth and as much of the texture of a time and place, although it’s populated with fictional characters.”
For Hickey, his role is sort of personal. “I just think about my father, my uncle who were both in Word War II, and this is a generation.. who were part of the war that was supposed to have ended all wars and then find themselves in their 50s and 60s back at it. And, you know, we live in such a cynical and bitter time now politically, to think how bitter and cynical and essentially just physically exhausted these guys must have been.
“And still the idea that the Germans and Hitler might get us, and just imagine what that must be like to get up every morning and know how united your country is in one common pursuit. And it’s horrible because it’s war. This brings up the moral quandary of it all. It’s horrible because it’s war, but it’s such a great cause, you know, to protect the American way of life. So I love I love the idea of going back there and visiting that.”
One actor whose bearing and particularly his beard place him in the realm of eccentric scientists is Daniel Stern, once the lanky crook on “Home Alone” and standout in “Diner.”
“Well, you know,” he explained, when asked about his bushy, five inch beard, “when I’m not working, I tend to be more of a hermit, and I’m a sculptor too. So I sort of think I grow into this crazy artist kind of look. But we’ve shaped it so that now I’m the mad scientist look. And it really drives the women crazy as it turns out!”
“Manhattan” stands like a stylish, albeit dusty, period piece. But Stern says it’s not necessarily about the past.
“I think it’s an interesting way to tell do a commentary on our society now, I mean, rather than directly talking about secrets or our NSA spying or our decisions about how we go to war or what wars we fight or how we fight them or drone activity all of the things happening now,” he said. “It’s an interesting way, I think, to bring up those topics but with a little distance, with a little fiction between it and gives a chance to have that discussion. So there’s a lot of issues that we maybe can’t talk about or aren’t as dramatic in the present that I think can lead to interesting storytelling and mirror what our situation now.”
For Rachel Brosnahan, familiar from distinctive earlier TV roles, her part in “Manhattan” is very different. “It’s extraordinarily different from anything I’ve ever done. It’s a huge departure from anything like ‘House of Cards’ or ‘The Blacklist,’ which has been incredibly exciting and terrifying.
“Every second is a new discovery, and it’s terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time,” she said. “So it’s been very cool to play that.”
Thomas Schlamme of “West Wing” fame directs and produces the premiere episode tonight at 9 p.m. on WGN America.