Television: Live...from the Brink

With Fail Safe, an ambitious, live cold war drama, George Clooney is after that old-time video magic

On Sunday, April 9, comes zero hour. The brave volunteers will be sealed in the war room--no civilians allowed, only a telecom link to their commanders--to carry out a perilous mission and stare into the void. They've rehearsed the horrifying scenario over and over. But this will be no drill. If all goes wrong...the survivors will envy the dead!

O.K., so the Warner Bros. set in Los Angeles isn't a NORAD bunker. But the similarity is no accident. When executive producer George Clooney and crew re-create Sidney Lumet's 1964 nuclear chiller Fail-Safe, with CBS execs and director Stephen Frears (High Fidelity,...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!