Bradley Cooper Appeared In This Short-Lived Sci-Fi Show Based On His Own Box Office Hit

When the news broke that Bradley Cooper planned to both star in and make his directorial debut on a revamp of "A Star is Born," it was obvious: the man was thirsting for an Oscar. All three prior screen versions of the romantic tragedy about an alcoholic pop idol on the decline and the young upstart he falls for had been awards magnets, and Cooper's 2018 rendition was no exception. It didn't net him the prize he so clearly coveted (that year's Best Actor Oscar contest is a topic unto itself), but it did cap off his nearly decade-long transition from handsome comedy lead to bonafide character actor and filmmaker.

Cooper's journey began with 2011's "Limitless," which snagged him his first executive producer credit. A loose adaptation of Alan Glynn's 2001 sci-fi thriller book "The Dark Fields," the film casts Cooper as Eddie Morra, an underachieving writer who completely turns his life around after he begins taking NZT-48, a drug that enhances his cognitive abilities. Suffice it to say, though, this substance is not FDA approved, and on top of having to deal with its potentially deadly side effects, Eddie soon finds himself on the wrong side of loan sharks, tycoons, and other skeevy types.

"Limitless" went on to make almost six times its modest $27 million budget at the box office, which was enough to convince CBS to sign off on a TV show continuation a few years later. Also titled "Limitless," the series once again featured Cooper as an executive producer, but he only reprised his role from the original film for a handful of episodes. That, coupled with the way it stretched the movie's already strained premise even thinner, spelled doom for the show, which was axed after just one season.

Neither version of "Limitless" knows entirely what to do with their neato sci-fi premise. The film, at least, has some snazzy visual flourishes courtesy of director Neil Burger, including the "fractal zooms" he employs to illustrate Eddie's heightened sense of reality on NZT-48. Screenwriter Leslie Dixon crafts inspiredly far-fetched moments like the scene where Eddie's girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) is being hunted by a goon, culminating in her wielding a child on ice skates like a battle axe while high on her beau's drug of choice. This movie could use more inventive mayhem like that.

Developed by Craig Sweeny (who put a B-movie spin on "Star Trek" by writing the "Discovery" spin-off "Section 31"), the "Limitless" TV series shifts its attention to Brian Finch, as played by Bradley Cooper's "American Sniper" co-star Jake McDorman. Brian, like Eddie, is stuck in a directionless existence when he's introduced to NZT-48, which he uses to ... help the FBI solve crimes. Fictional mind-altering drugs aside, this is mostly your standard procedural with a light sci-fi twist, with Brian serving as an eccentric foil to Jennifer Carpenter's strait-laced FBI Special Agent Rebecca Harris.

There's nothing altogether bad about the "Limitless" show, but it falters when it tries to replicate the movie's stylistic elements, and Cooper was too busy being a Hollywood superstar to flesh out its subplot concerning Eddie's political career. Critics were, in turn, ho-hum on the series, and it failed to become a ratings juggernaut when it aired from 2015-2016 (making its cancellation a bit of a foregone conclusion, at least in hindsight).

As for McDorman? If you want to see him in a wild sci-fi series that showcases his talents, check him out in "Mrs. Davis" on Peacock.