Actor Kevin Bacon, left, and executive producer/creator Kevin Williamson of "The Following" attend the Fox Winter TCA Tourin Pasadena, Calif.PASADENA, Calif. - Fox's entertainment chief said Tuesday that the network did not change the content or promotion of "The Following," its upcoming drama about a serial killer, because of the Connecticut school shooting or other real-life acts of violence.
The drama featuring Kevin Bacon chasing a grisly killer who recruits murderous disciples is simultaneously the most stomach-churning and most anticipated new dramas on television's docket. Debuting Jan. 21 on Fox, the Kevin Williamson-created series opens by showing the bloody aftermath of knifed prison guards, has a woman commit suicide by gouging her eye and piercing her skull with an ice pick and shows a man set on fire at a coffee stand.
It's intense, but needs to be to compete in the world of thrillers, said Kevin Reilly, Fox entertainment chairman.
Williamson, creator of the "Scream" movie franchise, said he was traumatized by the events of Dec. 14, when 20 first graders and six educators were gunned down in a Newton, Conn., elementary school.
"I know it affected me," Williamson said. "I know what happens in the real world affects me. So when I take pen to paper, there is a reaction to it and it sort of finds its way into what I do."
He doesn't know how the latest attack will affect his work. "It just happened," he said. "We'll see."
But Williamson said "The Following" is partly inspired by the Columbine school shootings of a decade ago. He said he wonders how people like the Columbine killers are attracted to evil as a way of filling a void in their lives. The serial killer in "The Following" is a charismatic figure who attracts followers by trying to provide them with something they are missing.
Violence in movies, video games and television has received attention since the Newtown shootings, along with the availability of guns and mental health services. Reilly said people "can't be reactionary and you can't draw a direct linkage."
Reilly said he believed there have been more violent shows than "The Following" on broadcast television that haven't been noticed, partly because they were bad. Fox is trying to provide escapist entertainment, which include moments that can make you laugh or be your worst nightmare, he said.
"Of course, these things are on my mind," Reilly said. "But the question is a complex one and a broad one."
The question is also a touchy one for Reilly, who snapped at a reporter who asked about Newtown and said he'd take no more questions on the topic.
Fox has gone through a rough season, failing to mint any new hits or attract an audience to its buzzed-about Tuesday night comedies. It is looking forward to a better second half of the year with "The Following" and the return of "American Idol."
Reilly said Fox needs to make some more noise.
"It's a goal of mine to get the Fox back into Fox," he said. "Before there was cable, Fox was cable."