''Upload'' is an American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

comedy-drama television series created by

Greg Daniels Gregory Martin Daniels (born June 13, 1963) is an American screenwriter, television producer, and director. He has worked on several television series, including writing for ''Saturday Night Live'' and ''The Simpsons'', adapting ''The Office (Am ...

. The series premiered on May 1, 2020, on Amazon Prime Video and was renewed for a second season. The second season premiered on March 11, 2022; it had seven episodes, three fewer than the first. In May 2022, the series was renewed for a third season.

Premise

In 2033, humans can "

upload Uploading refers to ''transmitting'' data from one computer system to another through means of a network. Common methods of uploading include: uploading via web browsers, FTP clients], and computer terminal, terminals ( SCP/ SFTP). Uploadin ...

" themselves into a virtual afterlife of their choosing. When computer programmer Nathan Brown dies prematurely, he is uploaded to the very expensive Lakeview, but then finds himself under the thumb of his possessive, still-living girlfriend Ingrid. As Nathan adjusts to the pros and cons of digital heaven, he bonds with Nora, his living customer service rep. Nora struggles with the pressures of her job, her dying father who does not want to be uploaded, and her growing feelings for Nathan while slowly coming to believe that Nathan was murdered.

Cast and characters

Main

Robbie Amell Robert Patrick Amell IV (born April 21, 1988) is a Canadian-American actor and producer. He is best-known for his roles as Stephen Jameson on The CW series ''The Tomorrow People'', Ronnie Raymond/Firestorm on The CW series ''The Flash'', Natha ...

as Nathan Brown, a 27-year-old computer engineering grad and newly deceased computer programmer who is uploaded to the digital afterlife Lakeview. * Andy Allo as Nora Antony, a living woman who is Nathan's handler in his afterlife * Allegra Edwards as Ingrid Kannerman, Nathan's materialistic, obsessive girlfriend * Zainab Johnson as Aleesha, Nora's coworker who is Luke's handler *

Kevin Bigley Kevin Bigley (born October 5, 1986) is an American television and film actor, best known for playing rookie paramedic Brian Czyk on the USA Network series '' Sirens''. Biography Bigley was born in Yuba City, California, and studied acting at The ...

as Luke, a former army corporal and Lakeview resident who befriends Nathan and is dating Mildred * Josh Banday as Ivan (season 2; recurring season 1), Nora's coworker

Recurring

* Jordan Johnson-Hinds as Jamie, Nathan's best friend and business partner * Chris Williams as Dave Antony, Nora's father *

Christine Ko Christine Ko (born August 3, 1988) is a Taiwanese-American actress, known for her roles as Emma on the CBS sitcom '' The Great Indoors'', Mandy on ''Upload'' and Emma on ''Dave''. Before her success in America, she had a brief career in Taiwa ...

as Mandi, Nora's roommate *

Jessica Tuck Jessica Tuck is an American actress, best known for her performances on television as Megan Gordon Harrison on the ABC soap opera ''One Life to Live'', Gillian Gray in the CBS drama series ''Judging Amy,'' and as Nan Flanagan on the HBO series ...

as Viv, Nathan's mother * Philip Granger as Uncle Larry, Viv's brother and Nathan's favorite uncle * William B. Davis as David Choak, a wealthy man living across the hall from Nathan * Elizabeth Bowen as Fran Booth, Nathan's awkward cousin who is investigating his car accident * Andy Thompson as Lionel Winters (identified only as the Professor in season 1) *

Chloe Coleman Chloe Coleman (born December 2008) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films '' My Spy'', ''Gunpowder Milkshake'', and '' Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves'' Career Coleman made her acting debut at the age of 5 i ...

as Nevaeh, Nathan's niece * Julian Christopher as Ernie, a Horizen therapist whose avatar in Lakeview is a Labrador retriever * Rhys Slack as Dylan, a child who lives in Lakeview after falling into the Grand Canyon and is trapped in the form of a 12-year-old despite being uploaded six years prior * Matt Ward as Byron, Nora's casual sex partner *

Barclay Hope Barclay Hope (born February 25, 1958) is a Canadian actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Clifford and Claudius Blossom on '' Riverdale'', Mike Hayden on '' Street Legal'', Peter Axon on ''PSI Factor'', Col. Lionel Pendergast on ''Sta ...

as Oliver Kannerman, Ingrid's father * Yvetta Fisher as Batia, Nora's coworker * Megan Ferguson (pilot), Hilary Jardine (season 1), and Vic Michaelis (season 2) as Mildred, Ingrid's centenarian grandmother who resides in Lakeview, and whose avatar was based on an old black and white photograph * Scott Patey as Josh Pitzer, an executive hoping to buy Nathan's and Jamie's software *

Paulo Costanzo Paulo Costanzo (born September 21, 1978) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill (Ax) in the TV series '' Animorphs'', the roles of Rubin Carver in the comedy film ''Road Trip'', Alexander Cabot in '' Josie a ...

as Matteo (season 2) * Mackenzie Cardwell as Tinsley, a temp hired by Aleesha (season 2) * Owen Daniels as A.I. Guy, a virtual employee at Lakeview who can appear in many places at once; also later as Boris Netherlands, an unemployed actor who was paid for his likeness to be used in Lakeview *

Andrea Rosen Andrea Rosen (born September 29, 1974) is an American comedian and actress most notable for her work with comedy troupes Stella and Variety Shac, and for her appearances in numerous television commercials. She is the creator of '' Take Me to Y ...

as Lucy, Nora and Aleesha's domineering boss

Guest

* Justin Stone as Dan the Orbit Gum Guy * Philip Granger as Uncle Larry * Phoebe Miu as Yang * Brea St. James as Older (female) Dylan * Peter James Smith as Mauricio, a digital afterlife salesman * Lucas Wyka as Jack Kannerman *

Matt Braunger Matthew Braunger (born August 1, 1974) is an American actor, writer, and stand-up comedian. His most recent special ''Finally Live In Portland'' was launched by Comedy Dynamics in 2019. Outside of performing stand-up, Braunger is noted for bein ...

as Brad * Wayne Wilderson as Zach *

Creed Bratton Creed Bratton (born William Charles Schneider, February 8, 1943) is an American actor, singer and musician. A former member of the rock band the Grass Roots, he is best known for playing a fictionalized version of himself on the NBC sitcom '' ...

as Rupert Tilford * Larry Wilmore as Mr. Whitbridge *

Gigi Gorgeous Gigi Loren Lazzarato Getty (born Gregory Allan Lazzarato; April 20, 1992), known professionally as Gigi Gorgeous Getty, is a Canadian YouTuber, socialite, actress, and model. In 2008, Lazzarato began uploading video blogs onto streaming platfo ...

as Jordan *

Jennifer Garner Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Compa ...

as Officer Jennifer Garner * Hiro Kanagawa as Detective Sato

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2020)

Season 2 (2022)

Production

Development

On September 8, 2017, Amazon announced it had ordered a pilot for a new

single-camera The single-camera setup, or single-camera mode of production, also known as portable single camera, is a method of filmmaking and video production. The single-camera setup originally developed during the birth of the classical Hollywood cinema ...

comedy series created by

. On July 28, 2018, Amazon announced it had given the production an order for a first season of ten episodes. Daniels and Howard Klein are executive producers, and the series is produced by

3 Arts Entertainment 3 Arts Entertainment is an American talent management and television/film production company founded by Erwin Stoff, Michael Rotenberg and Howard Klein in 1991. The company has gone on to produce TV shows such as '' King of the Hill'', ''The Of ...

. On May 8, 2020, Amazon renewed the series for a second season, which premiered March 11, 2022. On May 11, 2022, the series was renewed for a third season.

Casting

In January 2018, it was announced that

and Andy Allo had received the pilot's male and female lead roles. While the series was filming its second season in February–March 2021,

and Mackenzie Cardwell were cast in recurring roles. At the release-date announcement, it was also confirmed that Amell, Allo, Allegra Edwards, Zainab Johnson and

would return; and Josh Banday, who recurred in Season 1, was promoted to a series regular.

Filming

Season 1's principal photography took place from March 5 to May 10, 2019, 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 ...

, Canada. Some exterior photography for the Lakeview

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...

world was shot at

Mohonk Mountain House The Mohonk Mountain House, also known as Lake Mohonk Mountain House, is an American resort hotel located south of the Catskill Mountains on the crest of the Shawangunk Ridge. The property lies at the junction of the towns of New Paltz, Marbletow ...

and Preserve in New Paltz, New York, including images of the hotel, groundskeeper, and lake. A small number of interior shots, including rooms at the hotel, were also filmed on location. Season 2 was filmed from January 25 to April 15, 2021. Season 3 was filmed from August 15, 2022, to November 2, 2022.

Reception

''Upload'' received positive reviews. On

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 ...

, the first season has an approval rating of 88% with an average score of 6.9 out of 10 based on reviews from 56 critics. The website's critical consensus is, "Though ''Upload'' at times suffers from tonal overload, witty writing and a winsome cast make it an afterlife worth living." On

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 ...

, the season has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. The second season has received an approval rating of 100% with an average score of 7.4/10 based on 10 critics on Rotten Tomatoes. The website's critical consensus is, "''Upload''’s sophomore season goes into sleep mode just when it's revving up, but even a truncated installment of this techno afterlife makes for terrific comedy." Meanwhile, on Metacritic it received a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

References

External links

* *
Official season 2 finale screenplay
{{DEFAULTSORT:Upload (TV series) 2020 American television series debuts 2020s American comic science fiction television series 2020s American satirical television series English-language television shows Fiction about consciousness transfer Amazon Prime Video original programming Television series by 3 Arts Entertainment Television series by Amazon Studios Fiction about the afterlife Fiction set in 2033 Fiction set in the 2030s Transhumanism in television series Television series set in the 2030s Television shows filmed in Vancouver Television series created by Greg Daniels Television shows set in Los Angeles Television shows set in New York City