Touch is a beautiful new drama that circles the globe, featuring characters from all walks of life and how they connect when you least expect it. At the center is a father and son whose job it appears to be to make sure no one misses the connections. We will have an advance review soon, but it's a big, dramatic concept full of a lot of mythology, so we attended FOX' TCA tour today to get the scoop on the show from those behind it.
But because Touch will be airing on FOX this spring, and FOX is a network known for the procedural brand, executive producer Tim Kring pointed out that there will be a "beginning, middle, and an end" to each weekly story, with new characters coming in and going out within the hour, and Kiefer Sutherland's Martin will be following the "breadcrumb trail" his son (David Mazouz) sets up for him.
"The Martin and Jake storyline is the A-storyline," Kring promised, noting that it is those two who really connect everything else together, and he has been "interested in the idea of interconnectivity for a long time.
We have seen early evidence of that with his past work, namely Heroes, but Kring sees Touch as "a way to continue social archetyping-- to create and promote positive energy in the world. We're more connected to each other more than we ever thought or knew."
This is the central theme to Touch, told mostly through Jake's character, a young boy who is able to see connections and patterns to things that the average person would miss.
"I wanted a character who had this gift to see how we were all connected and I started to take away various attributes to that character and wouldn't it be interesting if that character who had that gift were somehow the most disenfranchised person on the planet? He's small; he's unable to communicate...make his point now," Kring explained.
So while some in the media, or the audience in general, may label Jake as autistic, that was never Kring's intention, nor plan, nor hope. In fact, he has intentionally created a moment in the pilot where a character points out that Jake was "mis-diagnosed," in order to leave room for the possibility of something more mystical or even supernatural at play.
"We'll take many theories about what's going on. Some will be spiritual, some scientific, some will even have nefarious things going on," Kring teased. "Sometimes the end will be bittersweet."
For series star Sutherland, who believes there is a "cause and effect to everything," this new project is the perfect next step for him-- and definitely reason enough to come back to television, though he wasn't specifically looking for a project at the time the pilot fell into his lap.
"I read about thirty-five pages, and I was just like 'Oh shit, I [have to keep going]," Sutherland shared. "There is something wonderfully comforting about thinking that everything has a purpose. There is no small moment...And that we matter."
Though the role was not written with Sutherland in mind, it seems tailor made for him, as a guy who is inadvertantly, and in some ways, unwillingly saving the world once again.
"The real driving force for my character is to simply communicate with his son...to have as normal relationship as he can," Sutherland said. "His sense of failure as a parent-- as somehow he's responsible for where his son is at. And so that is something that I certainly responded to as a parent myself, and I hope and believe that other parents who watch this will as well."
Sutherland doesn't believe that Martin will ever have the perfect relationship with his son, but that through his son nonetheless he will learn to see more beauty in his life.
"This show is really about putting this message out in the world and trying to create stories that uplift people through this theme of interconnectivity," Kring reminded.
But whether or not the world is ready for such a sweet, emotional message? Well, we'll just have to wait and see.
Are you ready? Sound off in the comments below!
Touch premieres on FOX with a special preview on January 25th but then returns to the network in March.
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