''Breaking News'' is an American drama television series about the fictional

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

-based

24-hour The modern 24-hour clock, popularly referred to in the United States as military time, is the convention of timekeeping in which the day runs from midnight to midnight and is divided into 24 hours. This is indicated by the hours (and minutes) pass ...

cable news Cable news channels are television networks devoted to television news broadcasts, with the name deriving from the proliferation of such networks during the 1980s with the advent of cable television. In the United States, the first nationwide ca ...

television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid- ...

I-24, with the motto 'Around the Clock, Around the World'. The series premiered July 17, 2002, on Bravo.

Cast and characters

Main

Tim Matheson Tim Matheson (born Timothy Lewis Matthieson; December 31, 1947) is an American actor and director. Some of his best-known acting roles include the title character of the 1960s animated '' Jonny Quest'' TV series, Eric "Otter" Stratton in the 19 ...

as anchorman Bill Dunne * Scott Bairstow as producer Ethan Barnes *

Myndy Crist Myndy Crist (born February 5, 1971) is an American actress who has appeared in more than 50 films and television series. In 2019, she received a Jury Best Actress Award at the 2019 Riverside International Film Festival for her role in the 2018 f ...

as reporter Janet LeClaire * Vincent Gale as Quentin Druzinski *

Rowena King Rowena in the Matter of Britain was the daughter of the purported Anglo-Saxon chief Hengist and wife of Vortigern, " King of the Britons". Presented as a beautiful '' femme fatale'', she won her people the Kingdom of Kent through her treachero ...

as reporter Jamie Templeton * Jeffrey D. Sams as reporter Mel Thomas * Lisa Ann Walter as senior/executive producer Rachel Glass *

Clancy Brown Clarence John "Clancy" Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles. Brown's film roles include Viking Lofgren in ''Bad Boys'' ...

as news division president Peter Kozyck

Recurring

Paul Adelstein Paul Adelstein (born April 29, 1969) is an American actor and writer, known for the role of Agent Paul Kellerman in the Fox television series ''Prison Break'' and his role as pediatrician Cooper Freedman in the ABC medical drama '' Private Prac ...

as cameraman Julian Kerbis *

James Handy James Handy is an American film actor. He appeared in numerous films and television shows since 1977. On film, he appeared in as Byers in '' K-9'' and in '' Logan''. His most notable television appearances are as Arthur Devlin in '' Alias'' and ...

as Jack Barnes, independent stations owner, and Ethan Barnes' father *

Patricia Wettig Patricia Anne Wettig (born December 4, 1951) is an American actress and playwright. She is best known for her role as Nancy Weston in the television series ''Thirtysomething'' (1987–1991), for which she received a Golden Globe Award and three P ...

as feature reporter Alison Dunne, and wife of Bill Dunne

Production

''Breaking News'' was filmed in 2000 and 2001 at The Bridge Studios and Vancouver Film Studios in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. The series was originally developed for

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

, however they dropped the show before airing any of the 13 episodes, with the series ultimately airing on Bravo. TNT spent $20 million and nine months putting the series together.

Episodes

Reception

Manuel Mendoza of ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the '' Galvest ...

'' rated the series a B− say that it "tries to do for journalism what ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White Hous ...

'' does for politics — make it sexy again". However, Mendoza goes on to say that the series "is not as snappily written or as heroically shot as ''The West Wing'', but it has the same chaotic, frenetic energy". Preston Turegano of ''

The San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

'' said the pilot episode is "predictable, familiar and mired with some cliches" before conceding that the show has "some original and humorous moments". Joanne Ostrow of ''

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

'' called it a "smart, expensive, well-cast series", "even if it's an uneven effort".

References

External links

* * {{Bravo programming Bravo (American TV network) original programming Television series about television Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios 2000s American drama television series 2002 American television series debuts 2002 American television series endings Television series about journalism Television shows filmed in Vancouver English-language television shows Television series by New Line Television