The new NBC series Revolution debuts tonight

[Copper Catcher]

See: http://www.nbc.com/revolution/

Should You Worry About the Power Going Out Like in Revolution? This Congressman Thinks So.

The new NBC series Revolution debuts tonight with a terrifying but poorly explained premise: All the power in the world runs out for some mysterious reason.

It will probably add about as much intellectual heft to the ongoing policy battle over securing the nation’s critical infrastructure as The Words will bring to copyright laws. But a few lawmakers are genuinely concerned about two scenarios: terrorists hacking into our nation’s power grid or a one-in-100-year geomagnetic solar storm frying up every last transistor.

Last Wednesday, during a House hearing, Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., stressed that the current power grid would be vulnerable in the light of an electromagnetic pulse disruption, which could be caused by a nuclear weapon or solar storm. Franks, along with panelists from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense testified that an EMP attack would cause widespread power outages and unprecedented damage to the power grid. Since the Department of Defense relies on the civilian grid for 99 percent of its electricity needs, the panelists said that military infrastructure would be vulnerable as well.

Franks, who founded the EMP Caucus to bring congressional attention to the threat, is the champion of the SHIELD Act (Secure High-Voltage Infrastructure for Electricity From Lethal Damage), which he introduced in the House last year but has yet to leave the energy and commerce committee.

A storm on the scale of what the EMP fears has occurred has occurred only twice in the past 200 years in the United States— in 1859 and in 1921. Franks acknowledged under questioning from the FERC’s Joseph McClelland that there is no way to know how likely such a catastrophic event is. “The challenge before us is to ascertain what exactly that danger is—and we suggest to you that we don’t know fully what that is,” he said.

Still, zombies outrank the EMP threat in terms of public knowledge. Chris Beck, the president of the Electric Infrastructure Security Council, testified during the hearing that addressing the threat wasn’t a question of technology or finances, but of “increasing awareness.” Could Revolution solve that problem? I checked in with three of the big players in the EMP-threat world.

“If the television show gets people to think about hazards in a manner that causes them to prepare, then it will be beneficial,” said a FEMA spokesman.

A staffer from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission declined to make any official comment on behalf of the agency regarding the show, but did mention that employees were excited to see it.

And Rep. Franks? He appeared to be on the fence on the show’s converting power as well, saying in a statement, “Loss of electricity for even one day is no laughing matter. Fully losing electricity for months or years would be disastrous beyond words.” Franks said that Revolution appeared to take long-term power outage seriously, and he hopes the show will bring more attention to the threat. But, on the other hand, he worries that “viewers will be tempted to believe that EMP and its effects are concepts only for Hollywood.”

A public policy problem could do worse than land as the subject of a hit TV series. But whether Revolution will end up igniting the EMP movement or putting it in the same class as the 2012 Mayan prophecies remains to be seen.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense ... tion_.html

[reddirtcoins]

Looks like a season1 only show so far.....

I mean...15years after no electricity and everyone is wearing brand new cloths.

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

I caught the last 15 min. of the show last night. Really good fight scene! I like lots of sword fighting!

What made all the lights and electricity go off????

An electric outage lasting 15 years would kill off more than half the citizens of the USA. (Way more than half IMHO.) I had fun quizzing my grown daughter last night about it. How will you move about? How will you store food? How will you get water? How will they make drugs, like insulin? How will anyone make coffee??! (Oh, God!) The coffee thing made everyone laugh! "You know how to make coffee! I have seen you do it!" True, but most don't. Without electricity, there will not be much coffee to be had.

With the crazy tantrums coming out of the Middle East, we are just one EMP attack away from this becoming a reality.

[brian0918]

The premise is absurd. If all electricity is supposed to be stopped, how about the electricity in your brain, and the various ion exchange channels throughout your body?

And why can't people use older vehicles and farm equipment that don't rely on an electric starter, or modify modern vehicles to remove this dependence?

And wouldn't this global outage also interfere with all the natural processes that involve electricity, such as the weather?

Then there's also this.

[barrytrot]

I listened to the show while my wife watched it while I worked on a project and it didn't sound that compelling.

[justoneguy]

The premise is absurd. If all electricity is supposed to be stopped, how about the electricity in your brain, and the various ion exchange channels throughout your body?

And why can't people use older vehicles and farm equipment that don't rely on an electric starter, or modify modern vehicles to remove this dependence?

And wouldn't this global outage also interfere with all the natural processes that involve electricity, such as the weather?

Then there's also this.

WOW, you REALLY need to do some research on this.
EMP doesn't stop all electricity, It shorts out electric circuits.
You're concerned with a hollywood show and the actress's HAIR?
I am concerned about how to keep my family safe and fed.

[hobo finds]

For the 1st show I thought it was not that good. 15 years after the power went off, I would think there would be less booze and candles. Also less furniture (I would think people would have had to burn it to stay warm) I will watch the next few shows to see if it gets better.

[68Camaro]

The premise is, of course, ridiculous. They could have done much the same overall thing with another base plot, without destroying physics, but it is what it is. Massive solar EMP followed by a limited nuclear war might have been a better and more likely starting point for the chaos. Agree that the "village" was doing far better than I would have expected 15 years after such a thing. There may be some other as-yet unrevealed subplot since the guy that starts the show seems to have some fore-knowledge of this event (manmade?) and he downloads some mystery data onto what appears to be a USB drive in a piece of jewelry with the suggestion that the secret to the issue is somehow contained within (or some such plot).

I watched the first 10 minutes with my 16yo nephew, recorded the rest and will watch the balance when we get some free time. Might be somewhat entertaining for a time (or could be). We'll see.

[brian0918]

WOW, you REALLY need to do some research on this.

Is a degree in physics sufficient?

EMP doesn't stop all electricity, It shorts out electric circuits.

Does the show claim that an EMP was the cause of the global outage? Please demonstrate that an EMP powerful enough to fry every electrical device on the planet would not damage the brain's circuitry.

I don't think an EMP could sufficiently explain the show's premise - after all, what would stop people from building new electrical devices after 15 years, especially with a century's knowledge of how it should be done? The only explanation that makes sense is some device that globally impedes electrical currents - and I would have to believe that such a powerful device would interfere with your brain's function.

You're concerned with a hollywood show and the actress's HAIR?

That was just nitpicking, notice the smiley.

I am concerned about how to keep my family safe and fed.

How does this show help you in that respect?

[justoneguy]

I didn't mean to insult anyone.
I did not even watch the show,
Monday night football was on, my broncos took a beating.
My post was just meant to point out the real danger of EMP.
It is a truly scary thing,
and truly evil people would love to be able to do that to the US

[brian0918]

My post was just meant to point out the real danger of EMP. It is a truly scary thing, and truly evil people would love to be able to do that to the US

We are in complete agreement there, and I didn't find your post insulting.

[Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay]

My post was just meant to point out the real danger of EMP. It is a truly scary thing, and truly evil people would love to be able to do that to the US

We are in complete agreement there, and I didn't find your post insulting.

Brian, please educate the rest of us on exactly what we can expect from an EMP attack. What will it do to an old can or van, say from the 1970's. Will it fry the batteries? Coil or condenser? Alternator? How can we harden our computers to survive? Surround everything in a copper mesh cage like Gene Hackman did in "Enemy of the State"??

On second thought, that would de-rail this thread. Please start a new thread about how to prepare for an EMP attack, or solar storm of such magnitude as to cripple the USA "grid" .

[68Camaro]

Just watched the recorded end of the first show. So the plot has some technology that was purposefully employed at the start of the show for an as-yet unknown reason to "turn-off" electricity, but at the end of the first show it is revealed that 15 years later there are people that secretly hold a countering technology that has been distributed to an unknown number of people such that they still have some limited types of power and can communicate electronically. Where this is going, I have no idea, but I'll be watching another one or two of them with my nephew because he likes cute girls with weapons...

[theo]

In the book "One Second After" terrorists launched nuclear missiles off of ships in the Atlantic and the Gulf. They exploded them several miles above North America destroying the electical grid in the U.S and Canada. Europe was similarly attacked. Any engine built after circa 1980 was rendered inoperable, but older machines still worked. The attack occurred in early Spring, before planting, in order to cause maximum damage to the food supply. In the U.S. about 90% of the population died off from famine, violence and disease with in the first year.

I agree with the early posts. The characters on this show look entirely too clean and well-fed . Almost nobody would be over-weight. Also I doubt that any large city (especially Chicago with its cold winters) would retain a much of a permanent population.

As far the plot is concerned, the question of how the blackout occurred will make an interesting story thread as will the relationship between Sebastion Monroe and Miles Matheson. Matheson seems to be playing Obi wan Kenobi to Monroe's Anikan Skywalker (Star Wars). For what its worth, I think the blackout was caused by some sort of experiment gone awry, probably involving the mystery technology on the thumb drive. In the first scene, both the husband and the wife seemed to understand that a world-wide blackout was a real possibility.

[shinnosuke]

I don't own a TeeVee so I didn't watch the show, but why would a plot centered around "All your electricity are belongz to us" be called Revolution? Will the guys/gals who get the power back on for the rest of mankind face off against the wicked Powers That Be?

[Delawhere Jack]

I forced myself to watch an episode tonight. It sucked.........It sucked a lot. It sucked even by sucky Tee-Vee series standards. Therefore, I assume it will be on for years........

Did I mention that it sucked?

[hobo finds]

Yes second show worse than the first! Sucked bad

[theo]

I agree it was terrible. The dialogue was trite and annoying, and there was little to no character development. Also the fight scenes were cartoonish (does it help to pull a spin move during a sword fight?) Many of the scenes were unrealistic such as Chicago being deserted one week after the blackout. I suppose it will be better next week. The only way it could get worse is if a they turned it into a musical.

[Neckro]

Absolute joke.

[shinnosuke]

I agree it was terrible. only way it could get worse is if a they turned it into a musical.

I'm gonna wash that show right out of my hair.

[rickygee]

I got thru about 20 minutes of the pilot on HULU.

Now I'm gonna reveal my age here...Lesley Gore "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows".

SHTF life sure is pretty.

[slickeast]

Who is still watching?

[NHsorter]

I caught about 10 minutes of it a couple nights back and it seemed pretty lame to me. Too bad, cause it had potential if they did it right.

[barrytrot]

I was once quoted as saying, "why would I go outside, I have TV."

And even I couldn't bear to get through an episode of this.

NBC has got to face facts, they can't write drama.

[fasteddy]

I watch nothing on NBC....there're not even good liars