Designated Survivor season 2 teaser promo all about Kiefer Sutherland

The first Designated Survivor season 2 teaser promo is now online, and it doesn’t take too much time to figure out what ABC is going for here. They love having Kiefer Sutherland as their leading man and will promote the show based on him to the ends of the earth.

In a way, it does make sense if the goal is to try and get as many fans of 24 on board as humanly possible. During that show’s heyday it was one of the most-watched scripted shows on TV, and Kiefer’s performance was a big part of the reason why. Designated Survivor lost some ratings steam during its first season, and it may be a little easier to market towards its star than it would be trying to explain the wide array of things that happened in season 1 during a 15-second promo.

For those who haven’t seen the show before, here’s the easy roundup: Sutherland’s Kirkman is now President after a mass tragedy, a role he was never prepared to take on. Unfortunately, for him things haven’t been easy from the moment he took the oath. There are still conspiracies, there are still shocking deaths, and nothing within his life is going altogether smoothly.

One of the challenges when it comes to marketing the second season is strictly this: The real-life political climate is bonkers. Nobody ever could have anticipated that there would be this many headlines surrounding the Presidency at all times. We’re not trying to get overly political; we’re just commenting more on how the truth sometimes is stranger than fiction. It hurts the show to some extent that things are so crazy with our present-day politics that a show about crazy politics may just feel like more of the same.

It’s with this in mind that our season 2 advice is fairly steadfast: Focus on Kirkman, Hannah Wells, and some of the other characters. Let us understand them better, and make this a show more about overcoming the odds and understanding the people. You’ve got a new showrunner, and with that opportunities to tell a wide array of new stories. We just hope that the show does opt to take a few more risks in this department as opposed to relying more on the jaw-droppers. Save those more for the big event episodes so that when they happen, they are even crazier and unexpected.

Maybe we’re trying to change Designated Survivor into The West Wing, and you can’t go THAT far in that direction. We just want the show to be as great as it can possibly be moving into season 2, and we know that it definitely does have potential to be even better than it’s been.

While you wait for more news…

We recommend that you head over here and take a look at our Designed Survivor archive! That is where you will see some additional insight into some castings and what’s next. (Photo: ABC.)