Ryan Hurst says the Farrell clan from WGN’s runaway hit Outsiders are like “Tarzan meets Shakespeare”.
Speaking at the Television Critics Association (TCA) winter press tour, he described the show — which returns for Season 2 on January 24 — as having a “primal elegance”.
He added: “If Tarzan and Shakespeare were put together, you’d have the Farrells.”
The series focuses on the struggles the outlier family face as they live atop a mountain in Appalachia. In Season 2 the conflict between the clan grows as the law and corporations war with the family, who refuse to leave.
Even the townspeople and the Farrell clan are now at loggerheads over Big Coal interests.
The standoff at the end of Season 1 continues to reverberate across the land as the Farrells must stick together to keep from being evicted off their mountain.
Also at the TCA winter press tour were executive producers Paul Giamatti and Peter Tolan, creator and executive producer Peter Mattei, and stars David Morse, Kyle Gallner, Christina Jackson and Francie Swift.
Outsiders premieres January 24, 2017, 9:00 p.m. ET/PT