2008.07.31

“We are re-launching the show,” says “Life” creator Rand Ravich. “Our episode one this season is a sort of pilot. If you have never seen the show before, you can come to this episode one and be thrown into the world and not be left behind and be instantly up to date with everything that’s happening.”

…Even in a dozen episodes or less, each show established enough of an ongoing storyline that the creators are taking extra care to explain things for newcomers and/or to refresh the memories of people who watched the abbreviated first seasons. Ravich has joked that the first “Previously, on ‘Life’” will take up the entire season premiere.

…Befitting his main character, Zen koan-spouting LAPD detective Charlie Crews (Damian Lewis), “Life” creator Ravich describes the lessons of season one in philosophical terms. “I found out that you really need to trust the character. You cannot force the character into situations where you think it would play. You cannot force the character into something where you go, ‘Oh, this will be a morality tale or whatever.’ You need to let the character grow. You need to be on Charlie Crews’ side. ‘Oh, I’m just out of prison, I’m unsprung, I’ve got all this money, I can say anything to anyone that I want, I’ve got this ex-wife.’ You need to let those circumstances drive the character and not force him into jerry-rigged circumstances that you or the studio or the network think would be fun. You need to let him drive the show.”

…Several of the series have undergone cast changes between seasons… Donal Logue joins the cast of “Life” as Crews’ new boss in an attempt to lighten Lewis’ workload (Robin Weigert, who had been playing the boss, will appear from time to time in a new capacity.)