![]() ![]() I think people - it's become - when I was a kid, it was completely uncool to be interested in any of this stuff, but I think that that's really changed. And I think, you know, nerds are hip now. You know, it's about a whole bunch of scientists. I mean, you know, "The Big Bang Theory," which is, of course, a much different show than my show, it's a situation comedy, but it's a terrific show. Do you think science is hot on TV now?īILLER: Yeah, I do. So I think a byproduct of that is that, sure, if they're watching the show and they're interested in the subject matter, they might get a little education, learn something they didn't know about the brain or some other aspect of psychiatry or psychology.įLATOW: Talking with Ken Biller, co-creator and executive producer of the program. And that means I have to educate myself a little bit about the science in the show, and I want it to feel real and interesting. ![]() I read some Popular Science.Īnd so in terms of preparing for the show and writing the show, I need to educate myself because if I'm writing a character who's a lot smarter than I am - and Daniel Pierce is a lot smarter than I am - I have to be able to fake it. But, you know, I've always been - I'm sort of an armchair scientist, meaning I know absolutely nothing about science, but I'm fascinated by it. And so, of course, that's the first goal. We hope that you tune in to the show, and you really enjoy and get absorbed in the story and the characters and playing along to solve a mystery. Are you doing that in this series also?īILLER: Well, I mean, mostly we're setting out to entertain you. And in some series that I'm thinking like, you know, in "Numbers," the producers went out their way to teach us something. Your last two guests had such suave accents.īILLER: You know, I'm somewhat deficient, but I'll try to do my best.įLATOW: You know, as I mentioned at the beginning, that sounds like something that - if we had interviewed a neuroscientist, he would have said. He joins us from our studios of NPR West. Joining me now to talk more about the show is Ken Biller, the show's creator and executive producer. Think "House" meets "Monk," meets "A Beautiful Mind," you'll get an idea of what this series is like. And because every TV hero these days needs a flaw, right, he's also a paranoid schizophrenic. But in between classes, the professor helps the FBI solve crimes. He lectures students about brain structure, functional MRIs. Instead of a lawyer, he's now a neuroscientist in the new TNT series, "Perception."ĭaniel Pierce, his character, teaches at an Ivy League school. And now, the newest in nerdy detectives - remember Will from "Will and Grace," the actor Eric McCormack? He's back, but he's changed careers. Others use mathematics, even one whose phobias helped him find a killer. I know it - doesn't it sound like it could have been in an interview that we did, talking to a neurologist? It's actually the latest - clip from the latest crime-solving TV series. We use our brains when we're being lied to. And if we were to put someone in an FMRI machine and watch what happens when they make up a lie, we'd see their dorsolateral prefrontal cortex light up like a Christmas tree. It might not be perfect, it has plenty of flaws, but it also attempts to offer a more honest and thoughtful approach to deep and complex issues.ERIC MCCORMACK: (As Doctor Daniel Pierce) In this class, we're interested in what goes on in the brain. It is a crime, obviously, and it does not get into the matter too much, but it was much more aware of the complexity of mental health, where neurodivergent people are not simply "weirdos" and "freaks", but they're not superheroes either, and mental suffering is not a curse or a superpower. The show doesn't shy away its own limitations through some meta auto analysis. Plus, it carried a very relevant conversation about mental health, and somehow also about the exploitation of certain characters and their mental illness as a plot device. The show is far from perfect, but in a universe of macho, violent and "enigmatic" cops, smartass, womaniser, emotionally detached FBI agents and the like, it is refreshing to watch a quirky, sensitive and somehow fragile man, and a female FBI agent that doesn't play hard just be "one of the guys". ![]()
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