Awake is an American police procedural fantasy drama television series that originally aired on NBC for one season from March 1 to May 24, 2012.

The pilot episode had an early release on Hulu on February 16, 2012, two weeks before the series' premiere on television.

The show's central character is Michael Britten (Jason Isaacs), a detective who works for the Los Angeles Police Department.

In the first episode, Michael, his wife Hannah (Laura Allen), and their son Rex (Dylan Minnette) get into a serious car accident.

However, its ratings were low, averaging 4.8 million viewers per episode and sitting in 125th place in viewership for the 2011–12 season.

Michael Britten, a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), and his family are involved in a car accident.

[1] In the "red reality" Hannah plans to move to Portland, Oregon, but later decides against it[2][3] (partly due to Michael's objections).

[4] Before the crash Michael worked with his long-time partner, Detective Isaiah Freeman (known to his LAPD team as "Bird").

Vega was previously an officer, when Bird was transferred to the western division to work with Detective Ed Hawkins.

[4] Michael slowly begins to remember what happened in the accident;[4][5] after realizing that Ed caused it, he speaks with Dr. Evans and Dr.

[10] Captain Carl Kessel (commanding officer at Hawkins' precinct) hid heroin in a storage unit for himself and Harper, and was behind Michael's car accident.

Pregnant with Rex's baby, she was originally told to give it up for adoption;[3] however, after a talk with her father Joaquin (Carlos Lacámara) she is allowed to keep it.

"[30] After being turned down by Fox,[31] the pilot (then titled REM) was picked up by NBC in 2011,[29][32] and the series was green-lit shortly thereafter.

[33][34][35] Awake was a co-production of Letter Eleven and Howard Gordon's Teakwood Lane Productions, in association with 20th Century Fox Television.

[38] Feliks Parnell was the show's primary cinematographer;[1] principal photography for the pilot was completed at Fox Studios in Los Angeles, California.

[42] Wong left his role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit to join the cast of Awake.

[30] He and his writing team would often get confused with exchanging and executing ideas for the script; as a result they created outlines, distinguishing the separate realities with green or red ink.

Stating that things are "initially confusing to us when we are just trying to break story," he hoped that when viewers watched the pilot episode, they would be immediately oriented in the reality on screen at the time.

The website's critical consensus reads: "Intelligent and thought-provoking, Awake tempts audiences with an original and complex concept that keeps them guessing.

Rachel Ray of The Daily Telegraph called the premiere episode "impressive",[49] while NPR's Linda Holmes said that it laid the foundation for several emotional storylines, evaluating it among the strongest shows in recent memory.

[50] James Poniewozik of Time noted that while its concept seemed melodramatic, the episode "focuses unflinchingly on the subject of loss, yet manages to be not a downer or painful to watch, but moving, absorbing and even hopeful.

"[52] Matt Fowler of IGN said Isaacs "delivers a graceful and subdued performance as a man who, on a daily basis, must taste both heaven and hell.

Writing for The Washington Post, Hank Stuever felt that despite high ambitions the pilot episode was slow and drowsy.

[56] Certain episodes were singled out for particularly poor quality: "Game Day" was called "childishly simple",[57] "Ricky's Tacos" was criticized for too closely resembling Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,[58] and "Nightswimming" was described as uneven and boring.

[64] In June 2011 Awake was honored, along with seven others, with the Critics' Choice Television Award for Most Exciting New Series, chosen by journalists who had seen the pilots.

It aired on the Global Television Network in Canada,[80] on W in Australia,[81] and on Sky Atlantic in the United Kingdom and Ireland.