''Hostages'' is an American drama television series that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

as part of the 2013–14 American television season. Developed for American television by Alon Aranya and

Jeffrey Nachmanoff Jeffrey Nachmanoff (born March 9, 1967) is an American screenwriter and director. He wrote the screenplay for the 2004 blockbuster film ''The Day After Tomorrow''. He wrote and directed '' Traitor'', which was released on August 27, 2008. His mos ...

, it is based on the Israeli series of the same name created by Omri Givon and Rotem Shamir and produced by Chaim Sharir, which premiered on October 13, 2013, almost three weeks after the American version's premiere.

wrote and directed the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in television in the United States, United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a te ...

for the American version. The series premiered on September 23, 2013 and ended on January 6, 2014. On May 10, 2014, CBS cancelled the series after one season.

Plot

The family of a doctor is taken hostage by a team led by a rogue FBI agent the night before she is scheduled to perform surgery on the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

. She is ordered by the kidnappers to assassinate the President during surgery in order to save her family.

Cast

Main

Toni Collette Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, inclu ...

as Dr. Ellen Sanders, a well respected thoracic surgeon at the Maryland College Hospital in Washington who is chosen to operate on the President of the United States. *

Dylan McDermott Dylan McDermott (born Mark Anthony McDermott; October 26, 1961) is an American actor. He is known for his role as lawyer and law firm head Bobby Donnell on the legal drama series ''The Practice'', which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best ...

as FBI Special Agent Duncan Carlisle, leader of the team that takes the Sanders family hostage. His motivation is to help his sick wife Nina, who has leukemia. *

Tate Donovan Tate Buckley Donovan (born September 25, 1963) is an American actor, comedian and television director. He is known for portraying Tom Shayes in ''Damages'', Jimmy Cooper in '' The O.C.'', and the voice of the title character in the 1997 Disney ...

as Brian Sanders, husband of Ellen Sanders and the owner of a real estate firm in Washington. He is having an affair with his assistant, Samantha. * Quinn Shephard as Morgan Sanders, teenage daughter of Ellen and Brian Sanders. *

Mateus Ward Mateus Cole Ward (born January 18, 1999) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jake Sanders in the CBS television series ''Hostages'', and as Dustin Maker in the TNT television series '' Murder in the First''. He is also known fo ...

as Jake Sanders, teenage son of Ellen and Brian Sanders, and younger than Morgan. * Billy Brown as Archer Petit, a member of the team that takes the Sanders family hostage. He and Duncan met 13 years ago after he was rescued from

FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian confl ...

guerrillas while working at the Colombian border. *

Sandrine Holt Sandrine Claire Holt (born Sandrine Vanessa Ho; 19 November 1972) is a British-born Canadian model and actress. Early life Holt was born Sandrine Vanessa Ho in Croydon. Her middle name was later changed to Claire. Her father, Man Shun ("Horace" ...

as Sandrine Renault, a member of the team that takes the Sanders family hostage. She and Archer met while in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

. *

Rhys Coiro John Rhys Coiro (born March 12, 1979) is an American film, television, and stage actor. He began acting on Broadway but is best known for on-screen roles such as Billy Walsh on the television series ''Entourage''. Early life Born in Santo Stef ...

as Kramer Delaney, a member of the team that takes the Sanders family hostage and Duncan's brother-in-law. *

James Naughton James Naughton (born December 6, 1945) is an American actor and director. He is best known as Michael Bower on '' Who's the Boss?'' (1984-1992) and was also notable for his earlier role as the astronaut Pete Burke in the 1974 single-season telev ...

as President Paul Kincaid.

Recurring

Hilarie Burton Hilarie Ros Burton (born July 1, 1982) is an American actress, businesswoman, author and producer. A former host of MTV's ''Total Request Live'', she portrayed Peyton Sawyer on The WB/ CW drama '' One Tree Hill'' for six seasons (2003–2009). Po ...

as Samantha,

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...

and assistant of Brian Sanders *

Paul Calderon Paul may refer to: * Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

as Secret Service Agent Stan Hoffman, a hardworking family man assigned to the joint FBI–Secret Service task force tasked with investigating the threat on the President's life. *

Jim True-Frost Jim True-Frost (''né'' True; July 31, 1966) is an American stage, television and screen actor. He is most known for his portrayal of Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski on all five seasons of the HBO program ''The Wire'', as James Woodrow in '' Tre ...

as Secret Service Agent Logan. * Brian White as Colonel Thomas Blair, Marine and current NSA director. *

Joanne Kelly Joanne M. Kelly is a Canadian actress, known for her appearances in films such as '' Going the Distance'', and in the TV series ''Warehouse 13'' as the character Myka Bering, a Secret Service agent. Early life and education Joanne Kelly was ...

as Vanessa Moore, sister of Mary Kincaid. *

Jeremy Bobb Jeremy Bobb (born May 13, 1981) is an American actor who has appeared on stage, television and in feature films. He had a recurring role in CBS's 2013 drama ''Hostages'' as White House Chief of Staff Quintin Creasy and co-starred as Herman Barro ...

as Quentin Creasy,

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

within the Kincaid administration. * Lola Cook as Sawyer Carlisle, Duncan's daughter. * Larry Pine as Burton Delaney, Duncan's father-in-law and Paul Kincaid's adviser when he was a senator. * Tyler Elliott Burke as Boyd Norton, Morgan's boyfriend. *

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (born November 17, 1958) is an American actress and singer. She made her Broadway debut in the 1980 revival of ''West Side Story'', and went on to appear in the 1983 film '' Scarface'' as Al Pacino's character's sist ...

as First Lady Mary Kincaid, wife of President Paul Kincaid. *

Francie Swift Francie Swift is an American actress best known for her role as Cynthia in ''Thoroughbreds'' and her recurring roles as Haylie Grimes on '' Outsiders'' and Anne Vanderbilt Archibald on ''Gossip Girl''. Life and career Swift was born in Amarill ...

as Nina Carlisle, Duncan's sick wife.

International broadcasts

''Hostages'' is broadcast internationally: in the UK on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

, Australia on

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

, in Canada on

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

, in Latin America on Warner Channel, in the Netherlands on

NET 5 Net5 is a Dutch free-to-cable commercial TV channel and is part of Talpa TV, formerly a part of SBS Broadcasting B.V. and now owned by Talpa Network. Other channels of the group in the Netherlands are SBS6, Veronica, and SBS9. It is aime ...

, in New Zealand on TV One, in Finland on

MTV3 MTV3 ( fi, MTV Kolme, sv, MTV Tre) is a Finnish commercial television station. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Yle TV1 (from Yle) took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV (literally "Advertisem ...

, in South Africa on

M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

, in India on

Zee Café Zee Café is an Indian pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The channel mainly syndicates popular American and British television shows to appeal to the English-speaking population of India. History Zee English was ...

, in France on

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

, in Portugal on RTP2, in Austria on ORF 1, in Belgium on één in Spain on Antena 3 and in Slovenia on

POP TV Pop TV is a Slovenian generalist television channel operated by Pro Plus d.o.o., a subsidiary of Central European Media Enterprises (CME), which is in turn owned by Czech investment company PPF. News programs POP TV's current news programmin ...

Episodes

Reception

The series received generally mixed reviews.

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

reports that 57% of 42 reviews were positive, with the consensus: "''Hostages'' has an intriguing premise and handsome production values, but its twisty plot sometimes strains credulity." David Hinckley of the New York ''Daily News'' gave the show 4 out of 5 stars. Robert Bianco of ''USA Today'' awarded it 3 out of 4 stars.

Awards and nominations

Locations recorded

A list of filming locations: *In New York **

Carle Place Carle Place (also known historically as Frog Hollow and Mineola Park) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The CDP's population was 4,981 at th ...

***

Carle Place High School Carle Place Middle/High School is a six-year comprehensive public high school located in the hamlet of Carle Place in the Town of North Hempstead, Nassau County, New York. As of the 2016–17 school year, the school had an enrollment of 652 st ...

** Uniondale ***RexCorp Plaza ***Charles Lindbergh Boulevard ** Hicksville *** Hicksville Train Station **

East Meadow East Meadow is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York. The population was 38,132 at the 2010 census. Many residents commute to Manhattan, which is away. History In 16 ...

*** Eisenhower Park **

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

(Greenpoint / Brooklyn Heights) ** White Plains *** Westchester County Airport

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 2647258, Hostages
Hostages
at

TV by the Numbers TV by the Numbers was a website devoted to collecting and analyzing television ratings data in the United States that operated from 2007 to 2020. It was a part of Nexstar Media Group's Zap2it television news/listings site. History An Internet a ...

2013 American television series debuts 2014 American television series endings 2010s American drama television series Serial drama television series American television series based on Israeli television series CBS original programming English-language television shows Hostage taking in fiction Television series about cancer Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows filmed in New York (state) Television shows set in Washington, D.C.