NEW ORLEANS, La. (KLFY) – CBS’ new show Zoo premiered last Tuesday right here on KLFY-TV. More than eight million people watched the first episode. Zoo is filmed in New Orleans and News 10 had a chance to talk to cast members about the show.
The new CBS show Zoo is about animals turning on humans and violently attacking them. The series is based on James Patterson’s novel. James Wolk plays the main character, Jackson Oz, a zoologist who runs an African safari camp and ends up confronting this problem head-on.
“It’s exciting,” Wolk said of the show. “It’s an hour of adventure, of drama, of human relationships and also of this big apocalyptic theme of what’s happening to the world and I think if you like good TV it’s going to be a great hour of television.”
More than eight million people watched Zoo last week. It’s the most-watched premiere for a summer scripted series this year. Zoo is filmed in the New Orleans area, but the action takes place all over the world.
“We’ll be anywhere from two hours over the other side of Lake Pontchartrain, did I say that right? To an hour west, an hour east, so we’re shooting everywhere ‘cause we have so many different locations that we’re doubling for,” said Wolk.
The soundstages are located in a warehouse in Algiers. There’s also a prop room on the property with just about every type of home item you can imagine. The wardrobe room has all kinds of uniforms and costumes. There are many temporary sets built on the soundstages, some show the aftermath of a vicious animal attack.
The show uses real animals, but relies on computer generated imagery for the animal action sequences. Every week, Oz and the other characters will confront the unusual animal behavior. In the first episode, we learn that Oz and Abraham Kenyatta are friends in Africa.
“They have inquiring minds and they have skills which they don’t realize are gonna to be useful for the job they’ve been whipped up into, this has become something that, I think is their true calling,” said Nonso Anozie, who plays Kenyatta.
Oz meets Chloe after her tour bus is attacked by lions.
“She’s going through hard time in her life at beginning of show, where she had to reconsider a lot of things,” said Nora Arnezeder, who plays Chloe Tousignant. “She’s a disappointed woman. She goes to Africa to escape from her problems.”
The other two main characters, veterinarian Mitch Morgan and reporter Jamie Campbell meet in Los Angeles while she investigates a strange animal attack there.
“I love that she’s tenacious and a little bit pigheaded, I love that she’s not easily discouraged,” Kristen Connolly said of her character Campbell.
Billy Burke, who plays Morgan, said his character will initially butt heads with oz.
“He’s a veterinarian pathologist who thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room, and will let you know that. He’s not a big fan of people either,” Burke said.
All of the characters are strong-willed, and in some ways conflicted. We’ll learn more about their backgrounds as the story progresses through the summer. You can watch Zoo Tuesdays at 8 p.m. this summer on KLFY-TV.
