Synopsis: A high concept thriller that tells the story of Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. He and his team are called upon to investigate a mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism. As the strain spreads, Eph, his team, and an assembly of everyday New Yorkers, wage war for the fate of humanity itself. What You Need To Know : Guillermo del Toro ’s first major delve into television waters, this is based on the trilogy of novels that the “ Pacific Rim ” helmer co-authored with “ The Town ” scribe Chuck Hogan , depicting a vampire apocalypse and those who fight against it. Del Toro directed the pilot, with “ Lost ” co-showrunner Carlton Cuse also on board, and FX picked the series up in November. “ House of Cards ” standout Corey Stoll
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/corey-stoll-joins-guillermo-del-toros-fx-series-the-strain-20130425' title="Link:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/corey-stoll-joins-guillermo-del-toros-fx-series-the-strain-20130425">role</a> , with Mia Maestro, Kevin Durand, Jonathan Hyde and Sean Astin also among the cast, while John Hurt took a key part in the pilot, but couldn't commit to the series, ultimately being replaced by " Game of Thrones " and " Harry Potter " actor David Bradley . Why It's Anticipated: With the enormous success of " The Walking Dead ," it's about time we had some TV vampires that were genuinely scary again, rather than the moon-eyed romantics of " True Blood " and " The Vampire Diaries ." "The Strain" certainly promises to deliver that, not least because it's Guillermo del Toro as the man in charge: from " Cronos " to " Blade II ," he's managed to give the bloodsucker genre eerie new spins. The books are reasonably well-regarded, but we imagine they'd work better as TV than as prose, and Carlton Cuse is an old pro at this sort of thing, so is a good person to be in charge. The cast, even without Hurt, seems promising too, especially with Stoll, who was star-makingly good in "House of Cards," leading the series. Release Date: It will air staring in July on FX , possibly as a partner to " The Bridge " on Wednesday nights, or perhaps more likely on Sundays, where genre fare like "The Walking Dead" has been killing it.
