Season 2 of the Cold War Drama Premieres April 6.
PROVO, UT—Following a highly successful premiere in April 2013, Granite Flats, BYUtv’s first original scripted series, will return on Sunday, April 6, 2014, with more Cold War suspense to entertain the entire family. Like the first season, the second consists of eight new one-hour episodes. The entire cast has returned, featuring top Hollywood and New York actors.
The ensemble show, which was inspired by actual, little known military events (a CIA initiative called Project MKUltra), debuted to positive national reviews. Full of mid-twentieth century intrigue and a plot packed with secrets, the show’s second season continues to offer a primetime television option for families to enjoy together.
Produced, written, and created by a team of top Hollywood and New York talent who have made some of the industry’s most successful and long-running family entertainment offerings, the series was filmed entirely in Utah at a variety of authentic 1960s era locations. Under the direction of BYUtv’s creative director, prolific IMAX film producer Scott Swofford, the Granite Flats team has captured the look and feel of the period to convey the distinctive national mood of shifting social mores overlaying the anxiety of the time. Based on Project MKUltra, the story reveals the ubiquitous fear of nuclear attack that was a part of that period and offers a view into the era through a complex range of intriguing characters.
Additionally, the new season has attracted a steady flow of top Hollywood guest directors and acting talent, including three-time Emmy® Award-winning actor Christopher Lloyd (the Back to the Future trilogy, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Taxi), Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride, Psych), Ivan Sergei (The Break-Up, Jack & Jill) and Daytime Emmy-winner Finola Hughes (General Hospital).
Granite Flats has added a new genre to BYUtv’s already diverse roster of original “see the good in the world” programming and represents the bold expansion that the ground-breaking network continues to stake out in the family market. With a breadth of diverse offerings, the High Definition television network’s programs (18 were nominated and 7 won Emmy Awards in 2013) are carried in more than 53 million homes on Dish Network, DirecTV, and over 800 cable systems.
Granite Flats takes viewers back to the 1960s, to the small town of Granite Flats, Colorado. The Cold War rumbles underneath the lives of a group of school children, the chief of police, and the staff at the local Army base and VA hospital. Three unlikely young heroes—the school science geeks—have banded together to form their own private detective agency, but the implications of what they’re investigating are more serious than anyone realizes. After an unidentified object
(which turns out to be a Soviet spy satellite) falls from the sky in a fiery blaze, Granite Flats is rocked to the core and transformed into a place of secrets and fear. The chief of police is working with a special agent from the FBI to help ferret out a KGB spy hiding somewhere in their midst. A nurse at the VA Hospital has learned that her boss is running some mysterious tests on soldiers, part of the CIA’s top secret Project MKUltra program to develop mind-control as a weapon against the Soviets. The kid detectives end up in the middle of it all, gaining insight into the complicated political world that becomes the backdrop to their own coming-of-age experiences. As the Cold War escalates and the country’s government and citizens confront enormous national and global challenges—including the assassination of President Kennedy—the tale of Granite Flats unfolds through the perspectives of an ensemble of diverse and multi-generational characters.
Granite Flats airs on BYUtv on Sundays at 9pm & midnight ET/7 & 10pm MT.
About BYUtv
Owned by Brigham Young University and based in Provo, Utah, BYUtv is a groundbreaking High Definition television network, which has actively and strategically built its roster of original “see the good in the world” programming to fill a void in the primetime market. Amidst the proliferation of TV programming, the network’s offerings stand out for their thoughtful examination of redeeming elements in our fast-paced, multifaceted world. The topics are varied, hard-hitting and nuanced. Whether through its unrivaled live college sports coverage, documentary and feature films, scripted comedy, scripted dramas or unscripted reality programs, BYUtv is filling a void as a vital presence in the contemporary television landscape. Currently, BYUtv is available in High Definition and carried to more than 53 million homes in every state of the country via cable, satellite, and multiple digital media platforms including byutv.org, iOS apps for iPhone and iPad, a Roku channel, as well as new apps for Android and Microsoft Xbox 360 (coming soon). The non-commercial station’s reach is unprecedented at any university in the world, and offers approximately 1,000 hours of original programming annually, including 500 hours of live HD collegiate sports.