The La Brea Tar Pits are a Hollywood tourist destination (or trap depending on your experience there), a curated remnant of the Ice Age in the heart of Los Angeles. NBC is digging into the landmark with its new drama series La Brea.
David Appelbaum (The Mentalist, NCIS: New Orleans, The Enemy Within) has created the series that got an early order for six episodes from NBC and will be joining the network’s fall lineup as one of its brand new titles, alongside the likes of Ordinary Joe.
Here is everything we know so far about La Brea.
What is the premise of ‘La Brea’?
Touted as an epic adventure series, La Brea begins when a massive sinkhole opens in Los Angeles, causing hundreds of people and buildings to fall into its depths. For those that fell in, they now find themselves in a primeval land and are forced to work together to survive while the world above them tries to figure out what happened.
At the center of the story will be the Harris family, who are split up by the sinkhole — two falling in and two remaining up top. The Harris’ struggle to get back to one another will be one of the key thru lines for the series, but there’s bound to be plenty of subplots surrounding the others that now find themselves in this strange world.
Who is in the ‘La Brea’ cast?
The Harris family will be played by Natalie Zea (The Detour, Justified) as the mother Eve, Eoin Macken (The Night Shift, Stumptown) as the dad Gavin, Jack Martin (All Rise) as the son Josh and Zyra Gorecki as the daughter Izzy.
Also in the cast is Chicago P.D. alum Jon Seda playing Dr. Sam Velez, with Veronica St. Clair and Lily Santiago playing his teenage daughters. Chiké Okonkwo meanwhile plays a character by the name of Ty Coleman.
Other announced cast members include Nicholas Gonzalez, Vanessa Buckley, Chloe De Los Santos, Virginie Laverdue, Karina Logue, Josh McKenzie, Rohan Mirchandaney, Ione Skye and Toby Truslove.
Because the production was impacted by the pandemic, some cast members have been replaced throughout the process. Previously Michael Raymond-James and Caleb Ruminer had originally been in line for the roles of Gavin and Josh Harris.
What is the ‘La Brea’ premiere date?
The La Brea premiere date was announced by NBC as Sept. 28 at 9 p.m. ET. The show will continue to air weekly from that Tuesday at 9 p.m. time slot..
The time slot sandwiches La Brea in between NBC’s hit reality series The Voice, which will be in its 21st season come the fall, and New Amsterdam, the medical drama going into its fourth season.
The Tuesday 9 p.m. slot on NBC is one that has usually been reserved for This Is Us, but the hit show isn’t expected to return until 2022, at which point some shuffling will likely take place if La Brea gets greenlit beyond the initial six episodes.
Like other NBC TV series, La Brea is available to stream on Peacock the day after it airs on TV.
Is there a ‘La Brea’ trailer?
The trailer for La Brea is here. It's a short 30-second promo, but it certainly sets the table as we see the massive sink hole and half of the Harris family reacting to their new surroundings, filled with pterodactyls and more. Give it a watch below.
NBC debuted and is running the promo during its Tokyo Olympics, along with footage from some of their other upcoming shows.
How to watch 'La Brea'
Those interested in tuning into La Brea live will need to have some way to access their local NBC station. Thankfully, there are plenty of options to do so.
As one of the four major networks, NBC has a local station in all U.S. markets, which can either be received via broadcast signals with a TV antenna or is included in all traditional pay-TV subscription packages. Newer live TV streaming services also offer live access to local NBC channels, including Fubo TV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV.
If watching La Brea live isn't an option for whatever reason, subscribers to Peacock Premium can stream the latest episodes of the new series the day after they air on broadcast. The show will also be available to stream next-day on Hulu.
