TCA 2014: ‘Stalker’ turns up the scary in a CBS procedural

“Stalker,” the new thriller about investigators investigating stalkers, is a show that creator Kevin Williamson, the man behind the “Scream” franchise, has been wanting to do for a long time.

“I’ve been wanting to tell this story since 1998 when I first learned about the LAPD Threat Management Unit,” said Williamson, who also created the gory serial killer series “The Following.”

He stressed that he felt that although the shows are violent, they are “apples and oranges.” He called “The Following” “a popcorn thriller, a thrill ride” while “Stalker” is a crime procedural that explores the troubled lives of the two detectives.

Maggie Q and Dylan McDermott star at the detectives working in the LAPD’s Threat Management Unit, which specializes in tracking stalkers. She is the guarded head of the unit, while he is a newly transplanted detective from New York with a healthy ego and personal baggage.

CBS President Nina Tasseler has called the series the scariest drama that CBS has ever aired.

Williamson said social media has contributed to an increase in stalking incidents, which is an issue he wants to explore in the series.