From executive producer/writer Kyle Killen (Lone Star) and executive producer Howard Gordon (Homeland, 24), and with a pilot directed by David Slade (Twilight: Eclipse, 30 Days of Night), the NBC series Awake follows the life of Detective Michael Britten (Jason Isaacs), who wakes up from a car accident with his wife (Laura Allen) and teenage son (Dylan Minnette), to learn the devastating news that his wife died in the crash. And then, he wakes up a few days later to realize that his wife is very much alive and his son died in the accident. When Michael goes back to work solving crimes, alternating between realities provides some challenges when he realizes that these realities overlap in fascinating and inexplicable ways.

At a press day held on the show’s set during a break from filming, actor Jason Isaacs talked about this complex and intriguing new drama, how the universal themes are what made him want to do the show, that no episode will be the same because the character’s world changes all the time, why they decided to shut down production for a month, and that, as a producer and part of the storytelling process, he knows which of the worlds is real and which one isn’t. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

The series won’t premiere until the beginning of next month on March 1st, but NBC has made the full pilot for Awake, one of my most anticipated shows of the midseason, available to stream online right now, two full weeks before it premieres on television. Awake stars Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy of Harry Potter) as a detective who survives a bad car accident, but finds himself waking up in two different realities. In one, his wife died in the accident, but their son survived. In the other, his wife survived the accident, but their son died. It comes from creator Kyle Killen, who last gave us the sorely underrated and sadly cancelled Lone Star. I’m hoping NBC keeps Awake around long enough to find an audience. Check out the full pilot for yourself after the jump.

My most-anticipated new show of the 2011-2012 television season is Awake.  Jason Isaacs stars as a cop who’s in a car accident with his family, and now he’s living in two realities: one where his son (Dylan Minnette) survived and one where his wife (Laura Allen) survived.  The question is which one is the dream and which one is reality?  It’s a terrific premise that could easily run out of steam in a short amount of time, but it’s more original than almost any other new show on network TV.  Hopefully, they find a way to build on the premise rather than use it as a hook and nothing more.

The first seven minutes have gone online, and after watching them, I’m still jazzed for this show.  I like the way it’s shot and the pacing, and (less surprising) Isaacs is great. If you’ve seen the extended trailer, there’s not a tone of new stuff, but now you can see it in context.  Hit the jump to check out the first seven minutes of Awake.  The series premieres on Thursday, March 1st at 10/9c on NBC.