Awake is an American television police procedural fantasy drama created by Kyle Killen which follows Detective Michael Britten who, following a tragic car crash, awakes each day to one of two separate realities: in the first his wife survived the crash and in the second his son did, leaving him to try and work out which reality is "real".
The series aired in the USA on NBC from 1 March to 24 May, 2012. There are 13 hour-long episodes in one season.
Awake premiered in South Africa on DStv's M-Net Series channel on Thursday 13 December 2012, at 20h30. New episodes broadcast weekly.
Synopsis
Awake is an intriguing drama about a detective (Jason Isaacs) who finds he is leading an arduous double life that defies reality.
Following a tragic car accident, detective Michael Britten finds himself awake in two separate realities: one where his teen son, Rex (Dylan Minnette), died in the crash and his wife, Hannah (Laura Allen), survived and another where Hannah has perished, leaving Michael and Rex to pick up the pieces.
In order to keep both of his loved ones alive, Michael begins living in two dueling realities, churning up confusion.
In one reality, Michael and his wife debate having another child, while in the other, his son Rex is turning to his tennis coach, Tara (Michaela McManus), to fill the void from the loss of his mother.
Trying to regain some normalcy, Michael returns to solving crimes in both worlds with the help of two different partners, Detective Isaiah Bird Freeman (Steve Harris) and Detective Efrem Vega (Wilmer Valderrama).
Michael is assigned a different case in each reality and quickly discovers that his dual existence is actually a powerful tool. He begins to solve impossible cases by using his two realties to gain unique perspectives and link clues that cross over from world to world.
Helping Michael to navigate his two realities are his bureau-assigned therapists Dr. Evans (Cherry Jones) and Dr. Lee (BD Wong). While both therapists work to untangle his two worlds, Michael has no interest in proving either one is false.
But when memories of the accident begin to haunt him, he is forced to confront the truth about what really happened the night of the crash.
Awake stars Jason Isaacs, Laura Allen, Steve Harris, Dylan Minnette, BD Wong and Michaela McManus, with Wilmer Valderrama and Cherry Jones.
Created by Kyle Killen, the series is executive produced by Howard Gordon, Kyle Killen and Jeffrey Reiner. Davey Holmes is co-executive producer and Jason Isaacs and Keith Redmon are also producers.
The pilot was directed by David Slade.