Entertainment, TV, Television - Army Times

‘Hidden Palms’ might be like ‘O.C.’ — with a twist

“Hidden Palms” arrives Wednesday, May 30, offering beautiful places, beautiful people and ugly secrets.

The key people are teenagers, hard-bodied and strong-minded. That’s true of most shows from Kevin Williamson, the creator of “Dawson’s Creek” and “Scream.”

And the places are around Palm Springs, Calif.

“It’s very surreal in a lot of ways,” Williamson says. “It’s this man-made oasis and it’s plopped down in the middle of the desert where there’s a bit of a facade going on.”

That characters also have facades with dark stories underneath. During the eight-week run, Williamson promises, a core mystery will be solved and new ones will be set up in case the CW network renews the show.

This centers on young Johnny Miller. “I view him as an anti-hero,” says Taylor Handley, who plays him.

A year ago, his father committed suicide and Johnny descended into drugs and alcohol. Now his mother (Gail O’Grady) has a new husband (D.W. Moffett), a new home (in Palm Springs) and a new start.

This won’t be easy. Johnny promptly meets:

— Cliff (Michael Cassidy), a teen neighbor who manipulates people.

— Liza (Ellary Porterfield), a teen neighbor who does science experiments at night in the garage. She’s the sort of brainy-girl-next-door Williamson has been fond of. He knew one in real life; he created one (played by Katie Holmes) for “Dawson’s Creek.”

— Greta (Amber Heard), a bikini beauty who seems entwined in Cliff’s past and his secrets.

— Nikki (Tessa Thompson), who’s new to Palm Springs. Johnny met her in rehab in Los Angeles; she’s not nearly as rehabilitated as he is.

— And the grown-ups, some of whom are almost normal.

Cliff’s mom, Tess, is the flashy one. “She’s from Texas,” says Sharon Lawrence, who plays her. “She’s a pageant gal, [but] she’s not just narcissistic. She also is actually a good friend.” And she finds it easy — maybe too easy — to overlook her son’s faults.

Johnny’s mom, Karen (Gail O’Grady), is earnestly trying to rebuild her life. Her new husband, Bob, may be the most normal of the bunch.

“I think my relationship with [Karen] may be the moral compass at this point,” says D.W. Moffett, who plays him. “Hopefully at some point I will wind up being a huge drug dealer or something really exciting. But at this point, I’m just Bob.”

The younger actors usually get to be the psychopaths. Handley describes his old “O.C.” character, Oliver Trask, as “a psychotic, pill-popping crackhead.” He’s played handsome creeps on other shows and he was an abused teen in CBS’ “In From the Night,” giving a richly layered performance opposite Oscar-winner Marcia Gay Harden.

All of that fictional turmoil contrasts with his own childhood in the comfort and beauty of Santa Barbara, Calif.

“I love to surf,” he says. “You have the mountains and the beach right there.”

And you have Hollywood nearby, luring handsome teens. “On my third audition, I got a movie role,” Handley says.

He was 13 then, playing the friend of the central kid in “Jack Frost,” a Michael Keaton movie. There were more roles but not enough to throw his life off-course. “I got to go to a regular school,” he says.

After high school he could be an adult who plays teens, which is what Hollywood prefers.

Cassidy, 24, is the oldest of the “teens.” Thompson is 23; Handley turns 23 on June 1, two days after “Hidden Palms” debuts. Heard is 21. Porterfield, the only actual teen, turns 18 on June 5.

The first hour was filmed in Palm Springs, which Williamson says keeps changing. “There are all these gated communities that have just popped up, seemingly overnight. There’s a golf course everywhere.”

Other episodes have random footage from Palm Springs but were mainly filmed around Avondale, Ariz., near Phoenix and Scottsdale. “If you’ve been to Scottsdale you know how beautiful it is,” Williamson says. “It’s all palm trees and country clubs.”

It also requires some adjustment. “It was 125 degrees, the first day we shot,” Thompson says, possibly exaggerating for effect. “I was just concentrating on not melting.”

The actors may have been suffering, but the characters looked bright and sun-splashed. That’s the world of “Hidden Palms.”

On the tube:

— What: “Hidden Palms”

— When: 8 p.m. Wednesdays; premieres May 30.

— Where: CW

— Did you know?: The eight-episode run was ordered a year ago, as a midseason replacement, then kept being delayed. After the filming concluded, actors could take short-term jobs, but couldn’t hook onto longtime projects. That meant months in limbo, a sort of paid vacation they didn’t necessarily enjoy. “I hate not working,” Taylor Handley says.