''The Lottery'' is an American

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...

drama television series that aired on Lifetime from July 20 through September 28, 2014. The series was set in a

dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

n future when women have stopped having children due to an

infertility Infertility is the inability of a person, animal or plant to reproduce by natural means. It is usually not the natural state of a healthy adult, except notably among certain eusocial species (mostly haplodiploid insects). It is the normal st ...

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic disease with a stable number of in ...

. It starred Marley Shelton, Michael Graziadei,

Athena Karkanis Athena Karkanis (born September 7, 1981) is a Canadian television, film and voice actress. She is noted for her role as Grace Stone in the NBC/Netflix science fiction drama series '' Manifest''. Life and career Karkanis was born in Alberta and ...

, David Alpay,

Shelley Conn Shelley Deborah Conn (born 21 September 1976) is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Lady Mary Sharma in the hugely successful Netflix series ''Bridgerton'', as Isabella in the film ''Love Sarah'', as Dr Elizabeth Sha ...

, Yul Vazquez and

Martin Donovan Martin Donovan (born Martin Paul Smith; August 19, 1957) is an American actor. He has had a long collaboration with director Hal Hartley, appearing in many of his films, such as ''Trust'' (1990), ''Surviving Desire'' (1991), ''Simple Men'' (1992) ...

. On October 17, 2014, Lifetime cancelled ''The Lottery'' after one season.

Synopsis

It is the year 2025, and no children have been born on Earth since 2019 due to an infertility pandemic that first became noticeable in 2016. Dr. Alison Lennon and her assistant, Dr. James Lynch, make a breakthrough in their lab work for the Department of Humanity (DOH), and are able to successfully fertilize eggs to create 100 viable human embryos. Darius Hayes, Director of the DOH, strongly believes that the embryos should immediately become property of the U.S. government. But the President of the United States, Thomas Westwood, is fighting sagging poll numbers and sides with his chief of staff, Vanessa Keller, who suggests they hold a public lottery to select 100 women who will carry the embryos to term. The DOH is also looking to control all young children in the country, which includes Elvis Walker, the six-year-old son of Kyle Walker. Meanwhile, an anti-government group called the Second of May Resistance, or "MayTwos", is also trying to seize control of the embryos for its own purposes. In researching the egg and sperm donors that produced the embryos, Alison and James discover a common bond that leads them to uncover the cause of the global infertility crisis. The battle to affect the future of the human race, along with the need to keep secrets buried, becomes a life-and-death struggle, with many paying the ultimate price.

Cast and characters

Main cast

* Marley Shelton as Dr. Alison Lennon * Michael Graziadei as Kyle Walker, father of Elvis *

as Chief of Staff Vanessa Keller * David Alpay as Dr. James Lynch, Alison's colleague and lab assistant *

as Gabrielle Westwood, the First Lady of the United States * Yul Vazquez as President Thomas Westwood, the President of the United States *

as Darius Hayes, the Director of the U.S. Fertility Commission and the head of the Department of Humanity (DOH)

Recurring cast

J. August Richards Jaime Augusto Richards III (born August 28, 1973), commonly known as J. August Richards, is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Charles Gunn on The WB television series ''Angel'' and Mike Peterson on ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ...

as Deputy Secretary of State Nathan Mitchell * Jesse Filkow as Elvis Walker, Kyle's son and one of the last six children born in 2019 *

Rex Linn Rex Maynard Linn (born November 13, 1956) is an American film and television actor. He is best known domestically for playing the role of Sgt. Frank Tripp in the CBS drama ''CSI: Miami'' and more recently for playing Kevin Wachtell in the televi ...

as General Alan Langdon, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs *

Megan Park Megan Park (born July 24, 1986) is a Canadian actress and director. She is known for her portrayal of Grace Bowman in the television series '' The Secret Life of the American Teenager''. In 2021, Park made her feature directorial debut with '' T ...

as Rose, Darius' daughter * Karissa Lee Staples as Perry Sommers, a Lottery finalist *

Christiana Leucas Christiana may refer to: * Christiana incident (or riot), 1851, an armed intervention by citizens in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to save a fugitive slave Geography * Christiana, Delaware, US * Christiana, Pennsylvania, US * Christiana, Ten ...

as Angela Maria Perez, a Lottery finalist *

Ernie Hudson Earnest Lee Hudson (born December 17, 1945) is an American actor. His roles include Winston Zeddemore in the '' Ghostbusters'' film series, Sergeant Darryl Albrecht in '' The Crow'' (1994), and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's '' Oz'' (1997–2003) ...

as Randall Mitchell, a former Attorney General and Nathan's father * Arturo del Puerto as Rojas, the leader of the MayTwos, the Second of May Resistance *

Steven Culp Steven Bradford Culp (born December 3, 1955) is an American actor. Culp appeared in films '' Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday'' (1993), ''James and the Giant Peach'' (1996), ''The Emperor's Club'' (2002), and most notably in the 2000 politica ...

as Dan Melrose, the Vice President of the United States

Production

On September 16, 2013, Lifetime placed a pilot order on ''The Lottery''. On November 4, 2013, Michael Graziadei, Lesley-Ann Brandt and Louise Lombard were cast as regulars. On November 21, 2013, Marley Shelton signed on to star in the pilot episode. David Alpay later was cast as her character's assistant. On December 2, 2013, Martin Donovan was cast as a regular and

Salli Richardson Salli Elise Richardson-Whitfield () is an American actress, director and producer. Richardson is known for her role as Angela in the film ''A Low Down Dirty Shame'' (1994) and for her role as Dr. Allison Blake on the Syfy comedy-drama series '' ...

was cast in a recurring role as the first lady of the United States. On February 11, 2014, Lifetime officially green-lit ''The Lottery'' with a 10-episode series order. The series filmed in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. After the pilot was picked up by Lifetime, several characters were recast. Lesley-Ann Brandt was reduced to recurring status, Athena Karkanis replaced

Louise Lombard Louise Lombard (born Louise Marie Perkins; 13 September 1970) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Evangeline Eliott in the BBC drama series '' The House of Eliott'' (1991–94) and Sofia Curtis in the CBS drama series ''CSI: ...

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 ...

Vanessa Keller. Yul Vazquez was cast as President of the United States, and Shelley Conn replaced

in the role of First Lady of the United States.

Episodes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lottery (TV series) 2010s American drama television series 2014 American television series debuts 2014 American television series endings English-language television shows Lifetime (TV network) original programming Post-apocalyptic television series Pregnancy-themed television shows Television series by Warner Horizon Television Television shows filmed in Montreal Television series set in the 2020s Television shows set in the United States