Ben Affleck, Oscar-winning co-writer of "Good Will Hunting," and Sean Bailey, his executive-producing partner on the Emmy-nominated hit "Project Greenlight," take another bold step in the re-invention of modern entertainment with the provocative and offbeat mystery series "Push, Nevada," premiering in a special preview, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET). Matt Damon and Chris Moore are also executive producers on the series, which will move to its regular day and time THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network.

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This preview episode of "Push, Nevada" will repeat on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 8:00 p.m., ET, and will be followed by a new episode at 9:00 p.m., ET.

In the premiere episode, "The Amount," written by Affleck and Bailey, mild-mannered IRS agent Jim Prufrock (Derek Cecil) travels to a remote desert town in search of missing money and stumbles on a place where mystery, danger and peculiar characters lurk around every corner. Everyone has a secret in Push, Nevada, but no one is talking, unless they're telling Jim to get out of town -- fast. Every word, every sign, every gesture could hold a clue to solving the riddle of this tiny Nevada town.

The mystery begins when a fax from the Versailles Casino in Push is sent by accident (perhaps) to Jim, alerting him to a sizable accounting error -- and an embezzlement scheme involving a fortune in cash. Casino honcho Silas Bodnick (Jon Polito) refuses to talk about the missing money, so Jim's investigation leads him to Push, where nothing is as it seems.

Push is a town where neighborhood couples indulge in synchronized romance each night at 9:15; where the only casino, the Versailles, pays out the biggest jackpots in the state; and where the lonely look for companionship at "Sloman's," a slow-dance bar. It's there that Jim meets Mary (Scarlett Chorvat), a beautiful and enigmatic woman who tells him that the mystery of Push is, "like all the best secrets, not quick in the telling," and warns him to go home before he gets hurt. A determined man, Jim plans to find out what mystery lies behind Push, no matter what the risk. All along the way, a shadowy team of high-tech operatives monitors his every encounter with the town's denizens.

Each episode will have new puzzles to follow and solve, along with a dazzling array of guest stars. In a next-generation twist, viewers following "Push, Nevada," the mystery series, will also be able to play "Push, Nevada," the game. Every episode of the show will hold clues to solving the game, beginning with the premiere episode, "The Amount." At the end of the 13 episodes, the clues will add up to a solution, and the winning audience member will be able to claim the stolen money.

"Push, Nevada" stars Derek Cecil as Jim Prufrock and Scarlett Chorvat as Mary. Guest starring are Jon Polito as Silas Bodnick, Armand Assante as Mr. Smooth, Conchata Ferrell as Martha, Josh Todd as Job, Gary Grossman as Ira, Andy Kreiss as the Versailles clerk, Monty Bane as the nude man, Melora

Walters as Grace, Tom Towles as BRB, Peggy Jo Jacobs as Ginger, Ryan Cutrona as the bartender, Grant Thompson as operative no 1, Kristen Lui as operative no. 2, Lynn Collins as BRB's wife, Cheryl Francis as the friendly librarian, Corinne Reilly as the perfect librarian, Willie Gault as the shark-skin-suited man and Daniel Serafini-Sauli as the large masked man.

John McNaughton ("Lansky," "Wild Things") directed the premiere episode. Sean Bailey, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Chris Moore are executive producers of "Push, Nevada," from LivePlanet in association with Touchstone Television.

A TV parental guideline will be posted closer to airdate.