''Togetherness'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by

Mark Duplass Mark David Duplass (born December 7, 1976) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician. With his brother Jay Duplass, he started the film production company Duplass Brothers Productions in 1996. Duplass has written and directed films, ...

Jay Duplass Lawrence Jay Duplass (born March 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker, actor and author widely known for his films '' The Puffy Chair'' (2005), ''Cyrus'' (2010), and ''Jeff, Who Lives at Home'' (2011), made in collaboration with his younger brother, ...

and

Steve Zissis Steve Zissis ( el, Στηβ Ζήσης; born December 17, 1975) is an American actor, writer and producer. A longtime friend of Jay and Mark Duplass, he has appeared in and co-produced some of their productions, including the films '' Baghead'' ...

. It is primarily written and directed by the Duplass brothers, and stars Mark Duplass,

Melanie Lynskey Melanie Jayne Lynskey ( ; born 16 May 1977) is a New Zealand actress widely known for her portrayals of complex women in several independent films and television shows and also known for her command of American dialects. Lynskey is the recipi ...

Amanda Peet Amanda Peet (born January 11, 1972) is an American actress. She began her career with small parts on television, and made her feature film debut in '' Animal Room'' (1995). Her portrayal of Jill St. Claire in '' The Whole Nine Yards'' (2000) bro ...

, Steve Zissis, and

Abby Ryder Fortson Abby Ryder Fortson (born March 14, 2008) is an American actress who played Ella Novak in '' Transparent'', Harper Weil in '' The Whispers'', Sophie Pierson in '' Togetherness'' and Cassie Lang in ''Ant-Man'' (2015) and ''Ant-Man and the Wasp'' ( ...

. The series focuses on themes such as marriage and friendship. The show's first season premiered on HBO on January 11, 2015. The series was renewed for an eight-episode second season, which premiered on February 21, 2016. On March 25, 2016 ''Togetherness'' was canceled after two seasons.

Cast

Main

as Brett Pierson, a sound editor and Michelle's husband *

as Michelle Pierson, Brett's wife *

as Tina Morris, Michelle's sister *

as Alex Pappas, an aspiring actor and Brett's best friend *

as Sophie Pierson, Brett and Michelle's daughter (recurring season 1, starring season 2)

Recurring

Peter Gallagher Peter Killian Gallagher (born August 19, 1955) is an American actor. Since 1980, he has played roles in numerous Hollywood films. He is best known for starring as Sandy Cohen in the television drama series '' The O.C.'' from 2003 to 2007, recu ...

as Larry Kozinski, a producer and Tina's boyfriend *

John Ortiz John Ortiz (born May 23, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for his antagonist role as Arturo Braga in ''Fast & Furious'' (2009) and ''Fast & Furious 6'' (2013), and Clyde in ''Jack Goes Boating'' (2010), which earned him a nomination for t ...

as David Garcia, a single father who becomes involved with Michelle *

Joshua Leonard Joshua Granville Leonard (born June 17, 1975) is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his role in ''The Blair Witch Project'' (1999). He has since starred in films such as '' Madhouse'' (2004), '' The Shaggy Dog'' (2006), '' Higher G ...

as Dudley Walker, a director * Mary Steenburgen as Linda, a free spirited woman who becomes Brett's friend (season 1) * Amy Adair as Peggy, the Pierson's babysitter (season 1) *

Ginger Gonzaga Ginger Gonzaga (born May 17, 1983) is an American comedian and actress. She plays Nikki Ramos, best friend of Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk in the Disney+ series '' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law''. Early life Gonzaga grew up in Modesto, California, w ...

as Christy, a film industry worker and Alex's girlfriend (season 2) *

Katie Aselton Kathryn Aselton (born October 1, 1978) is an American actress, film director and producer. She directed and co-starred in '' The Freebie'', which was shown in the non-competition "Next" category at the Sundance Film Festival in 2010. She also st ...

as Anna, a helper in Michelle's school plan (season 2) * Emily Althaus as Natalie, a woman Brett meets while working for

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), packa ...

(season 2)

Episodes

Production

In January 2013, HBO ordered the pilot for the series with,

and

writing, directing, and executive producing the series, with Stephanie Langhoff under their

Duplass Brothers Productions Duplass Brothers Productions is an American independent film and television production company founded by Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass, two brothers who are also actors, directors, producers and writers. They have produced films such as ''The Puff ...

banner. In March 2013, it was revealed that

and Steve Zissis joined the cast of the series. In May 2013, it was revealed that

would be starring in the pilot in the lead role. In July 2013, the pilot was picked up to series, with Steve Zissis now joining as a consultant producer and writer. In January 2016,

joined the series in a recurring role. Michael Andrews composed the score for the series.

Reception

Critical response

The first season received positive reviews from many critics. Review aggregator

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 Wang ...

gave the first season a 93% approval rating, with an average rating of 8.08 out of 10 based on 43 critic reviews. The critical consensus reads: "''Togetherness'' is a delightful surprise that interweaves day-to-day life with moving, dramatic characters who have an affinity for deprecating, squirmy humor."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

gave the first season a score of 79 based on 23 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

reviewer Matt Fowler gave the entire first season an 8.3 out of 10, saying that "The Duplass brothers, along with several wonderful performances, have managed to take an oft-trodden road and paved it fresh." The second season continued to receive positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the second season an 88% approval rating, with an average rating of 7.42 out of 10 based on 17 critic reviews. The critical consensus reads: "''Togetherness'' returns with its charm intact, though its compelling characters could stand to have a few more laughs." On Metacritic, it has a score of 73 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Alan Sepinwall Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He ...

HitFix HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...

wrote, "The stories are told with such intimacy, such empathy, and such attention to detail, that it transcends labels and generalities" and that the show is "even better this year".

Accolades

For the

5th Critics' Choice Television Awards The 5th Critics' Choice Television Awards ceremony, presented by the Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA), honored the best in primetime television programming from June 1, 2014, to May 31, 2015, and was held on May 31, 2015, at Th ...

was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and

was nominated for Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series.

International broadcast

In Canada, the series aired on

HBO Canada HBO (previously known as HBO Canada, and still referred to as such on social media) is a Canadian premium television network from Crave (formerly The Movie Network), which is owned by Bell Media. The channel is primarily devoted to original pro ...

simultaneously with the American broadcast, and premiered on January 11, 2015. In Australia, the series premiered on April 21, 2015, on

Showcase Showcase or vitrine may refer to: *Cabinet (furniture) *Display case Music * ''Showcase'' (Bill Anderson album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Patsy Cline album), 1961 * ''Showcase'' (Buddy Holly album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Philly Joe Jones album), 1959 ...

References

External links

* * {{HBONetwork Shows 2010s American comedy-drama television series 2015 American television series debuts 2016 American television series endings English-language television shows HBO original programming Television series by Duplass Brothers Productions Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows set in Los Angeles