BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Looking for a good laugh? Try "Eli Stone."
Looking for a good cry? Try "Eli Stone."
Looking for a TV show that will make you think about the meaning of life? Try "Eli Stone."
Oh, and if that's not enough to pique your interest in the ABC series, how about the musical numbers?
"We always say that we're trying harder than anybody to entertain you," co-creator/executive producer Greg Berlanti said.
All this from a television series that's all about faith. Not religion, but faith.
"We wanted to do a show about faith, but we didn't want it tied to a specific religion," Berlanti said. "We wanted this to be a show for everyone."
Including those who don't believe in God.
"Everyone, including the most atheist of atheists, has asked, 'Is there something bigger than ourselves? What's our place in the universe? What's our relationship to other people?' And the show traffics in that area," co-creator/executive producer Marc Guggenheim said.
On the surface, "Eli Stone" is often downright goofy. Eli (Jonny Lee Miller) is an attorney who made a great living working for a big practice that specialized in defending corporate clients who were often guilty of whatever they had been accused of doing.
Then he started hearing music and seeing everything from nonexistent airplanes to dragons to deadly earthquakes — along with more than a few musical numbers. As it turned out, Eli had a brain aneurysm that could account for the visions.
But the other explanation was that God was sending him these visions. And when his vision of an earthquake that did heavy damage to the Golden Gate Bridge came true, it meant that a whole lot of people — including Eli himself — had to rethink what this was really all about.
"Toward the end of last year, we were able to hint at some of the more sort of epic nature that we had kind of had designed through the show," Berlanti said. "It was kind of always the design that it would start off smaller and get increasingly bigger, with a big bang by the end of the year. We try and keep that momentum in that size and that scope."
Fans of the show will recall that last season, after the earthquake, Eli had surgery to remove the aneurysm. He survived — barely — but the question of whether his visions would survive was left open.
It's quickly answered in Tuesday's second-season premiere, and — as has become an "Eli Stone" trademark — it's answered in an unexpected way.
(Although it's rather obvious what the answer will be because, if the visions stop, so does the show.)
"The way that Eli tackles the situation, I think, is going to evolve and change," Miller said. "That's part of my job to try and make it not be the same thing all the time."
When the second season begins, it's been six months since Eli had a vision. Although he spent much of last season wishing they would go away, now that they have it's left a void in his life — and in the lives of others.
"I think you're missing having a sense of the divine in your everyday life," Eli is told by his therapist (guest star Sigourney Weaver). "I think you're less happy now than when your life was occasionally upended by the fantastic.
"Anything is possible, Eli. Isn't that the very essence of faith?"
"Eli Stone" is not just about whether Eli has faith, however.
"Last year, we were sort of posing the question, 'Is this happening to me or not? Is this just a defect in my brain, or is it something more miraculous?"' Berlanti said. "I think Eli sort of embraces that part of it this year, and it becomes more about how much the people around him begin to embrace that or not as it becomes more public."
It's not just a question of whether strangers will accept whether Eli is some sort of prophet, the reaction among those closest to him varies widely as well. His acupuncturist/spiritual mentor, Dr. Chen (Sam Ito), has always believed. Some are receptive to the idea, such as Eli's sassy assistant, Patti (Loretta Devine) and, somewhat surprisingly, the head of his law firm, Jordan Wethersby (Victor Garber).
Eli's brother, Nate (Matt Letscher), gets a shock in the season premiere that changes his mind.
Others are more resistent, such as Eli's ex-fiancee, Taylor Wethersby (Natasha Henstridge); and lawyers Matt Dowd (Sam Jaeger) and Keith Bennett (Jason George). And some, like attorney Maggie Dekker (Julie Gonzalo) are somewhere in the middle.
And it's not like Eli sees visions that provide clear guidance. They come in the form of hints and clues that he's got to figure out for himself. And he isn't infallible when it comes to doing so.
"There's a hint of mystery to them," Berlanti said. "They're not always correct. He doesn't always interpret them correctly. And so there's a lot of sort of fun, I think, in that."
So, the vision he had last year of himself in the future, apparently married to Maggie and the father of a child, may or may not come to pass.
"In fact, we deal with that in an episode coming up," Berlanti said. "Just because he sees it, doesn't necessarily mean it's true."
But it might be. And, as confusing as they might be at times, Eli's visions — even the ones with the song-and-dance productions in them — give him information he needs to help people who really need the help.
"A lot of times in the storyroom, we talk about Eli as though it's sort of this super power," Berlanti said. "At the end of last year, he sort of said, 'You know, I don't want this super power. I want a normal life.'
"But he chooses it again in the season premiere. He re-chooses it for some very significant reasons to reinvest in this role and in his status, and he commits. And this year becomes about sort of the trials and errors of that commitment."
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com