Drama Keeps USA in Familiar Territory

In the summer of 2002, USA premiered two series with two things in common: Both began life at other networks and both featured damaged individuals overcoming their difficulties to help others.

In “The Dead Zone,” adapted from the novel by Stephen King (and originally developed for UPN), coma victim Johnny Smith (Anthony Michael Hall) awakens with psychic powers that he tries to use for good intentions. In “Monk,” originally developed for ABC, Det. Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) battles his grief over his slain wife and his obsessive-compulsive disorder to solve crimes that baffle the police.

On Friday, USA hopes lightning will strike three times with the premiere of “Touching Evil,” adapted from writer Paul Abbott’s British series of the same name, which aired on PBS’ “Mystery!”

The show’s migration to the United States began when actor Bruce Willis and his partner in Cheyenne Enterprises, Arnold Rifkin, fell in love with the British original. First aired in Britain in 1997, it starred Robson Green (“Wire in the Blood”) as Dave Creegan, a police detective who returns to the job after having a near-death experience as a result of a bullet to the brain.

His brush with mortality makes him moody and reckless, which helps and hinders his pursuit of serial killers.

In the U.S. version, Jeffrey Donovan (“Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2”) takes on the role of Creegan, who returns after a 12-month leave of absence -- caused by the same gunshot to the head -- to the FBI’s new Organized and Serial Crime Unit, a rapid-response, elite crime squad.

There, he’s partnered with smart and skeptical Susan Branca (Vera Farmiga, “Iron Jawed Angels”), who’s not sure what to expect from her unpredictable partner.

Instead of Green’s dark, death-wish Creegan, Donovan’s Creegan suffers from the more realistic side effects of frontal-lobe trauma.

“Green kept it all inside,” Donovan says. “What I’ve been trying to bring to my Creegan is that his emotional chaos is palpable. You see him hurting through every scene. You see him going through the pain of these injuries.”

Donovan did a lot of research on the effects of head trauma. “You lose the filter that protects you from emotion,” he says. “If I see someone dead, if I’m hurt by it, I’ll cry. If I think it’s funny, I’ll laugh, even if it’s inappropriate. Part of the frontal-lobe injury is a loss of shame. That’s a big factor. He can say anything and do anything he wants, which is different than what Green did.

“That’s what is going to make our show distinct from the British version. We are really going into the psychological defect of a frontal-lobe injury from a gunshot, and it plays out in each case.”

Along with Willis and Rifkin as executive producers -- and show-runner Robert Palm -- “Touching Evil” marks the TV debut of the Hughes brothers (“Menace II Society,” “From Hell”). Albert Hughes is an executive producer, while brother Allen is also an executive producer and director (including the pilot).

Allen Hughes isn’t particularly worried about fans of the original complaining about changes -- much as he wasn’t worried about concerns from the fans of the graphic novel that inspired “From Hell.”

“Why would we do the graphic novel?” Hughes asks. “The graphic novel has been done. And why would we do exactly what they did [in Britain]? In this day and age, you can just jump on Amazon.com and order the ‘Touching Evil’ video. Why do that? It would be boring.

“Let’s take the best things about the show, which are the crimes and touching evil, basically, how it affects these people, namely Creegan, and how his handicap has affected his job to some degree.

“Green played Creegan very straight and cold. I respect that, but I made a pact with myself before we did ‘From Hell.’ I can’t do things, movies or TV or whatever, where the bad guy is more interesting than our lead.”

Lest anyone think that Willis is just a name on the letterhead for this show, Rifkin points out, “Bruce offered to Robson Green to do an episode of the British version. That’s how much in love with the show he was.”

Although Willis doesn’t feel he could have played Creegan (“About 20 years ago, I could have played this character,” he says), he would like to be on screen at some point.

“I actually volunteered to play a villain in one of the episodes,” he says, “and I plan on doing so. I’m not sure when.”

“I’m not going to speak for him,” Allen Hughes says, “but if I was Willis, I’d wait to see if it gets picked up for another season, then I’d do it.”

But seriously, Donovan says, “Creegan’s not ‘Crossing Over.’ He’s not making a really, really long-distance phone call, ever. ‘Touching Evil,’ the British version, talked about that as if he saw the light, something to go back to, and what we’re trying to say is the real heaven is here.

“Creegan saw how beautiful our world is, and he’s trying his damnedest to get back to it.”

Kate O’Hare writes for Tribune Media Services.

“Touching Evil” airs at 9 p.m. Friday on the USA Network.

Cover photograph by Alan Zenuk.