'Designated Survivor' Season 1 Premiere Release, News & Update: Kiefer Sutherland's New Show Pegged To Become A Hit

ABC's new political drama "Designated Survivor" is already being touted as a hit. Scheduled to have it premiere debut on Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 10 p.m., the show has been gaining a strong following on social media. "Designated Survivor" marks the return of Kiefer Sutherland on primetime broadcast television.

Lost Remote notes that among the new crop of shows for the 2016-2017 TV season, "Designated Survivor" ranks first among ABC's freshmen series and second among all the other new shows from the different networks. The show's Facebook page reflects a following of over 150,000 users as of press time. Except for "Designated Survivor" and "This is Us" on NBC, no other new series has breached hundred thousand followers even before the first episode has aired on television.

"Designated Survivor" is about a family man, Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland), who works as a low-level U.S. Cabinet secretary. He became the appointed President of the United States, following a terrorist attack during the State of the Union address, per ABC press release.

This is the framework that the series will work with, which has been created by David Guggenheim. The term "Designated Survivor" does exist in a real government policy called the Presidential Succession Act. It ensures that the government continues to exist in case the president and the rest of those in line to succeed him are killed. The designated person assumes as acting president.

During the State of the Union, one cabinet member does not attend. Just in case. #DesignatedSurvivor pic.twitter.com/NyXUK2xRHk

— Designated Survivor (@ABCDesignated) August 31, 2016

However, behind the politics, "Designated Survivor" on ABC is also a story of a family. Joining Kiefer Sutherland in the cast is Natascha McElhone, who plays his wife Alex Kirkman. Adan Canto (Aaron Shore), Italia Ricci (Emily Rhodes), Maggie Q (Hannah Wells), Kal Pen (Seth Wright) and LaMonica Garrett (Mike Ritter) are in the supporting cast. Photos from the first episode featuring the cast ensemble have been posted via Disney ABC Press.

Will you be tuning to "Designated Survivor" when it airs on Wednesday, Sept. 21? Learn more about the show in this feature below.