Cable channel FX will televise the revolution

By Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - FX is plotting a revolution. The cable network is developing "AR2," a drama about a group of Midwestern youths who spark a second American Revolution.

It is set in Michigan, home of the top U.S. automakers, where "corporations undermine the common man and the government is not interested in helping (the common man)," said "Prison Break" creator Paul Scheuring, who teamed on the project with "The West Wing" director Thomas Schlamme

"AR2" will explore how the revolting college students -- as well as the military and the law enforcement officers who oppose them -- perceive patriotism.

"It looks into what happens on both sides of the conflict and how that affects the personal lives of all involved," Scheuring said.

Scheuring, who had been tinkering with the idea for a while, took it to Schlamme, an American history buff. "AR2" carries a different message than Schlamme's previously politically themed drama, NBC's "The West Wing."

"'West Wing' in some ways was wish fulfillment, and it looks like to a degree it has become a reality," Schlamme said, referring to the election of Barack Obama. "This one is a cautionary tale, that this is a journey we're on and we have to constantly be aware so it doesn't happen."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter