'Revolution's' rules: Jon Favreau and Eric Kripke tease the show's big secret

When "Revolution" debuts on NBC this fall, viewers will be introduced to a world without electricty. Meaning it's more dystopic than shows like "The Walking Dead" and "Lost" -- they have/had generators, after all. At Tuesday's (July 24) Television Critics Association press tour, producers Jon Favreau ("Iron Man") and Eric Kripke ("Supernatural") explained a little something about the dynamics of the show's world.

"The laws of physics seem to have changed," says Favreau.

And that's about as close as the pair came to explaining why exactly the power goes off. "Revolution" -- for those of you not in on the conceit -- is about a United States 15 years after the lights go off. Meaning everything from massive nuclear reactors down to the smallest flashlight battery.

"It's about electricity so it's about anything that throws a spark, anything that carries an electric charge," says Kripke. "Everything expands from that -- which means batteries, spark plugs, engines and everything."

So guns -- yes. Laser guns -- no.

"We brought a physicist into the offices and gave him the big secret and vetted it from a scientific point of view," he says. "And his face lit up and he said he never considered it but it is possible."

So there you have it.