Call us suckers for secrets and intrigue — especially of the government project variety — and generally we’re wont to be on board. Add in some of our favorite actors, make it a period piece, and throw in a few bombs just for good, high-stakes measure? Yeah, we want that. It’s why we’re totally intrigued and kind of excited for WGN America’s second-ever original scripted series, Manhattan.

No, this is not about the city in New York — it’s about the mission to build the first-ever atomic bomb. In fact, the at-the-time top secret undertaking was one you may have heard of: does the phrase “The Manhattan Project” ring any bells? (They even made a movie about it back in the 60s.)

Back in the 1940s a small community was created in Los Alamos, New Mexico, to spearhead the American government’s race to make the first nuclear bomb — ahead of the Russians, preferably. Naturally this sort of remote and secretive environment became a hotbed of intrigue, deception, and some truly salacious (and audacious) business. Making it the perfect setting for a dramatic television series. This show has everything: brilliant-but-flawed scientists, an extraordinary assignment, and a heck of a lot of secrets kept by the highest concentration of geniuses anywhere.

Starring John Benjamin Hickey (The Good Wife, Pitch Perfect, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), Rachel Brosnahan (House of Cards), Michael Chernus (Orange is The New Black), Christopher Denham (Argo), Steve Larese (Terra Nova), and Ashley Zukerman, Manhattan premieres on WGN America July 27th at 9/8c.

What do you think about the trailer for Manhattan? Intrigued enough to tune in? Let us hear about it in the comments.