NBC has released a 30-second commercial for its new superhero series, The Cape. Created by Thomas Wheeler (Empire) and Executive Produced by Con Air visionary Simon West, the series debuts as a two-hour pilot in January. As to what it's actually about, the network released a description that I have not read. Instead, I will summarize The Cape based only on what NBC has provided to the public in the form of the promo clip, which you can also view after the jump.


In a world where men wake up in a watered-down version of HBO's Carnivale that invokes similar-to-but-legally-distinct-from memories of Dick Grayson/Robin's origins as a circus performer, a white man must come to grips with the fact that beautiful women are contorting their bodies in all sorts of amazing ways... all around him. After donning a wifebeater and wandering behind a red velour curtain that is similar to but legally distinct from that seen in every David Lynch thing ever, this white man discovers a black cloak that compels him to wave it around and jump about like that bullfighter from that old Bugs Bunny cartoon. From that moment on, this white man became... The Cape, a black-clad hero with a nebulously European accent who is similar to but legally distinct from Batman... coming soon to NBC... which is more colorful... and all while someone's niece plays some nonsense on a piano while her teacher is in the bathroom....

Okay, here's the actual network synopsis:

"The Cape" is a one-hour drama series starring David Lyons ("ER") as Vince Faraday, an honest cop on a corrupt police force, who finds himself framed for a series of murders and presumed dead. He is forced into hiding, leaving behind his wife, Dana (Jennifer Ferrin, "Life on Mars") and son, Trip (Ryan Wynott, "Flash Forward"). Fueled by a desire to reunite with his family and to battle the criminal forces that have overtaken Palm City, Faraday becomes "The Cape" his son's favorite comic book superhero -- and takes the law into his own hands. Rounding out the cast are James Frain ("The Tudors") as billionaire Peter Fleming -- The Cape's nemesis -- who moonlights as the twisted killer: Chess; Keith David ("Death at a Funeral") as Max Malini, the ringleader of a circus gang of bank robbers who mentors Vince Faraday and trains him to be The Cape, Summer Glau ("Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles") as Orwell, an investigative blogger who wages war on crime and corruption in Palm City; and Dorian Missick ("Six Degrees") as Marty Voyt, a former police detective and friend to Faraday. "The Cape" is a Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun production from executive producer/creator Thomas Wheeler ("Empire"), executive producer/director Simon West ("Con Air"), the executive producing team of Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun (NBC's "Mercy), and executive producer Gene Stein ("Accidentally on Purpose").

Which one is more accurate? You decide!

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