Lifetime’s scary new TV series The Lottery is set in a dystopian future (2025) when women have stopped having children. Eleventh Hour actress Marley Shelton stars as Dr. Alison Lennon who has made a scientific breakthrough in her lab–she’s found a way that will allow women to conceive again (she has successfully inseminated 100 embryos). But not everyone wants the cure. And then there’s the decision of who gets the embryos. The big bad government steps in to implement a lottery in order to control the situation. Kidnapping, torture and overall sinister behavior ensues.
The Lottery has an interesting premise–with a Hunger Games feel–but is it too serious for Lifetime, where ‘Dance Moms’ and ‘Wife Swap’ are the main attractions? Maybe–Fox News and the Simpsons share a channel. But is it good enough? Brian Moylan at The Guardian doesn’t think it’s original enough. He described The Lottery as little more than a re-baked “X-Files but with frozen lumps of cells instead of aliens.” Michael Smith at Guardian Liberty Voice is more optimistic: “This [The Lottery] may just turn into the scariest show on television, all because the events, apart from man’s possible extinction, feel very current and real.” Episode 3 of The Lottery airs Sunday, August 3, 10pm EST.
