WVTV Premieres ‘Babel’ in Connelly

Erica Dolson

There’s been a lot of talk about Villanova Television’s latest drama, “Babel,” about six college freshmen, their amazing abilities and their destiny to save the world.

“It’s actually ‘Heroes’ meets ‘Lost,'” said freshman Andrew Simone, who is the show’s creator, writer, producer and one of its stars. “These people have been chosen as descendants of the Tower of Babel incident. The premise is to reunite the languages that were split and to stop Lucifer.”

The idea for this television show began as doodles done in Simone’s high school Scripture class. His drawings turned into a comic book and now a WVTV drama with allusions to the Book of Revelation and other biblical themes.

The show seeks to speak to all Villanovans, both religious and non-religious, with universal themes of good and evil.

“It’s not de-moralizing Christianity,” Simone said. “It really glorifies the idea that good will triumph over evil … A lot of it is just believing that everything will turn out okay.”

Many of the characters in the cast of “Babel” are based on important people from Simone’s life, including his parents, his girlfriend and himself.

“The cast is brilliant,” Simone said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

Each cast member plays his or her role just as Simone imagined and with even more chemistry than he expected.

“It was surprising how well everyone got along,” he said.

Even though two of the cast members are dating off the set, there is no behind-the-scenes drama with this ensemble cast.

“I almost like the parts when we’re not acting the best,” said freshman Greg Meade, who plays the role of Jay. “They’re all good people even when the camera isn’t rolling.”

The premiere, inspired by the success of another WVTV drama, “Sheehan Beach,” was held on Tuesday night in the Connelly Center Cinema. The first episode was filled with action, suspense, and mystery and foreshadowed the powers that will be coming in the series’ future.

Simone advertised the premiere with a Facebook invitation and hopes that the Connelly Center event will spread excitement about the series.

The cast is currently working on this season’s second episode in which viewers will meet the villains and “get a sense of what is happening,” Simone said.

“I know what happens in the end,” said Simone, who already has the show’s future planned. “This season is all about discovery. Next season is going to be about betrayal. The third season is redemption. Destiny is the theme of the fourth.”

Although the cast is kept in the dark about the series finale, each member is excited about the potential of the show.

“I hope that a lot of people watch it,” Meade said. “You really want to know what’s next.”

Simone agreed. “There’s always that cliffhanger-type ending,” he said. “If people watch the show, they will like the show.”