''A Million Little Things'' is an American

family drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...

television series created by DJ Nash for

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. Produced by

ABC Signature ABC Signature was a production arm of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a sub-division of the Disney Entertainment business segment and division of The Walt Disney Company. The studio ...

and

Kapital Entertainment Kapital Entertainment is an American entertainment company founded by Aaron Kaplan in 2009. Prior to founding Kapital, Kaplan was the worldwide head of scripted television at William Morris Agency, which he joined in 1991. He exited the company ...

, it features an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

including David Giuntoli, Grace Park, Romany Malco, Christina Moses, Allison Miller, James Roday Rodriguez,

Stéphanie Szostak Stéphanie Szostak (born 5 November 1975) is a French actress and author who started her career in the early 2000s. Szostak is best known for having appeared in the films '' The Devil Wears Prada'', '' Dinner for Schmucks'', ''Iron Man 3'', and ...

, Tristan Byon, and Lizzy Greene. The series aired from September 26, 2018 until May 3, 2023, across five seasons and 87 episodes.

Premise

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, a tight-knit circle of friends is shocked after a member of the group unexpectedly dies by suicide. The friends realize that they need to finally start living life as they cope with their loss. The title is a reference to the saying "Friendship isn't a big thing – it's a million little things".

Cast and characters

Main

* David Giuntoli as Eddie Saville, a musician, music teacher and stay-at-home dad who is a recovering alcoholic having marital problems with Katherine. He is the father of Theo and Charlie * Romany Malco as Rome Howard, an aspiring filmmaker who yearns to accomplish something more meaningful with his life * Allison Miller as Maggie Bloom, a therapist and Gary's love interest who survived

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

* Christina Moses as Regina Howard, a chef who wants to open her own restaurant * Christina Ochoa as Ashley Morales (season 1), Jon's assistant who is keeping a secret * Grace Park as Katherine Kim, who used to be the fun one of the group, but now juggles her career as a lawyer with parenting her son, Theo, while trying to repair her marriage * James Roday Rodriguez as Gary Mendez, a friend of Eddie, Jon, and Rome, and Maggie's love interest who also survived

. His birth name is revealed in season 3 to be Javier Mendez, Jr. *

as Delilah Dixon (seasons 1–4; recurring season 5), Jon's widow and mother of Sophie, Danny and Charlie * Tristan Byon as Theo Saville, Eddie and Katherine's son, and Charlie's older half-brother * Lizzy Greene as Sophie Dixon, Jon and Delilah's oldest child, Danny's older sister and Charlie's older half-sister * Chance Hurstfield as Danny Dixon (seasons 2–5; recurring season 1), Jon and Delilah's son, Sophie's younger brother, and Charlie's older half-brother * Floriana Lima as Darcy Cooper (season 3; recurring season 2, 4), Gary's new love interest, divorcée mother of Theo's classmate Liam, and a veteran of military service in Afghanistan experiencing PTSD

Recurring

Ron Livingston Ronald Joseph Livingston (born June 5, 1967) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Peter Gibbons in ''Office Space'' (1999) and Captain Lewis Nixon III in the miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers'' (2001). Liv ...

as Jon Dixon (season 1; guest season 2–3, 5), a successful businessman who unexpectedly takes his own life *

Constance Zimmer Constance Zimmer (born October 11, 1970) is an American actress. She rose to prominence playing Dana Gordon on the HBO series ''Entourage (American TV series), Entourage'' (2005–11) and List of Boston Legal characters#Claire Simms, Claire Sim ...

as Jeri Huntington (season 1), a councilwoman * Bodhi Sabongui as Elliot (season 1; guest season 2), Danny's crush and later boyfriend * Henderson Wade as Hunter (season 1), Katherine's co-worker *

Sam Pancake Sam Pancake (born May 10, 1964) is an American actor, improviser, writer, and comedian. He began his career with small roles in TV and film, such as '' Wings'' in 1990 and '' Pizza Man'' in 1991. Early life Sam Pancake was raised in Romney, We ...

as Carter French, Katherine's legal assistant *

Drea de Matteo Andrea Donna de Matteo (born January 19, 1972) is an American actress who is best known for her role as Adriana La Cerva on the television drama ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2006), for which she received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sup ...

as Barbara Nelson (seasons 1–2), a mysterious woman from Jon's past * Chandler Riggs as PJ Nelson (season 2; guest season 1), a young man who befriends Rome, later revealed to be Barbara Morgan's son *

Melora Hardin Melora Diane Hardin Jackson (born June 29, 1967) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Jan Levinson on NBC's ''The Office'' (2005–2013), Trudy Monk on USA Network's ''Monk'' (2004–2009), and Tammy Cashman o ...

as Patricia Bloom (seasons 2, 4; guest season 1), Maggie's mother *

Rhys Coiro Rhys Coiro (born March 12, 1979) is an American 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 Coiro studied theater at Carnegie Mellon University, ...

as Mitch Nelson (season 2; guest season 1), Barbara's husband *

Jason Ritter Jason Morgan Ritter (born February 17, 1980) is an American actor. The son of actors John Ritter and Nancy Morgan, he is known for his work in television series such as ''Joan of Arcadia'' (2003–2005), ''Gravity Falls'' (2012–2016), '' Anot ...

as Eric (season 2), a man who claims to have Maggie's deceased brother's heart. He later reveals that the heart actually went to his fiancée, who was killed in a motorcycle crash that Eric caused * Lou Beatty Jr. as Walter Howard (season 2–present; guest season 1), Rome's father * Ebboney Wilson as Eve (season 2), a young pregnant woman planning on giving up her baby for Rome and Regina to adopt *

Anna Akana Anna Kay Napualani Akana (born August 18, 1989) is an American actress, comedian, filmmaker, musician, and YouTuber. She has appeared in TV series, web series, films, and music videos that include Ray William Johnson's ''Breaking Los Angeles'' ...

as Dakota (season 2; guest season 3, 5), a young musician with whom Eddie produced music *

Chris Geere Christopher William Geere (born 18 March 1981) is an English actor. He is known for playing the lead role of Jimmy Shive-Overly in the FX and FXX dark comedy series ''You're the Worst'' (2014), Roger Clifford in the 2019 film '' Detective Pik ...

as Jamie (season 3), Maggie's Oxford roommate and friend with benefits * Mattia Castrillo as Liam (seasons 3–4), a classmate of Theo's who is Darcy's son with her ex-husband * Adam Swain as Tyrell (season 3–5) an industrious teenager taken in by Rome and Regina after his mother is deported to Haiti * Andrew Leeds as Peter Benoit (seasons 3–4), a music instructor who mentors Sophie when she attempts to get accepted into the exclusive music college MMI, and subsequently sexually abuses her * Erin Karpluk as Anna Benoit (seasons 3–4; guest season 5), Peter's wife and later Eddie's love interest * Karen Robinson as Florence (season 3; guest season 5), a woman Walter meets in the cemetery and subsequently starts a relationship with *

Terry Chen Terence Chen (born February 3, 1975) is a Canadian actor. Early life Chen was born on February 3, 1975, in Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the ...

as Alan (season 3), a lawyer with whom Katherine forms a friendship and possible romantic relationship as her marriage to Eddie falls apart * Nikiva Dionne as Shanice Williamson (seasons 3–4), a well-known actress and closeted bisexual woman who agreed to star in Rome's film before the COVID pandemic shut it down; she later becomes a potential love interest for Katherine * Michael Patrick Thornton as Russ (season 4), a physical trainer who helps Eddie and who is a paraplegic in a wheelchair *

Ryan Hansen Ryan Hansen (born July 5, 1981) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Dick Casablancas on the noir drama series ''Veronica Mars'' (2004–2007, 2019), as Kyle Bradway on the Starz comedy series '' Party Down'' (2009–2010, 2023 ...

as Camden Lamoureux (season 4), a

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

player whom Maggie is dating * Andrea Navedo as Valerie Sandoval (season 4; guest season 5), Regina's employee * Stephnie Weir as Jane Goodman (season 4), a radio station manager who hires Maggie to give therapy advice on the station *

Cameron Esposito Cameron Anne Young Anastasia Esposito (born October 17, 1981) is an American actress, comedian, and podcaster known for her show '' Take My Wife'', as well as her stand-up comedy and her podcast, '' Queery''. Esposito substantially focuses on top ...

as Greta Strobe (seasons 4–5), Katherine's former high school best friend who later becomes her girlfriend and wife * Bresha Webb as Dr. Jessica Bruno (seasons 5) * David Walton as Colton Cutler (seasons 5)

Guest

Sam Huntington Sam Huntington (born April 1, 1982) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Josh Levison on the Syfy series '' Being Human'' (2011–2014), Mimi-Siku in the Tim Allen vehicle '' Jungle 2 Jungle'' (1997) and Jimmy Olsen in the ...

as Tom (seasons 1 and 4), a man Maggie dated when she lived in Chicago, described as a "mystery man" from her past in early press *

Gerald McRaney Gerald Lee McRaney (born August 19, 1947) is an American television and film actor. McRaney is best known as one of the stars of the television shows ''Simon & Simon'', '' Major Dad'', ''Promised Land'' and '' House of Cards''. He most recently s ...

(season 1) and

Paul Guilfoyle Paul Vincent Guilfoyle () (born April 28, 1949) is an American character actor. He was a regular cast member of the CBS crime drama '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', on which he played Captain Jim Brass from 2000 to 2014. He returned for ...

(season 2) as Lenny Farache, Delilah's father and Sophie, Danny, and Charlie's grandfather who has

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

* L. Scott Caldwell as Renee Howard (seasons 1–2), Rome's mother * Romy Rosemont as Shelly (seasons 1–4), Regina's mother *

James Tupper James Tupper (born August 4, 1965) is a Canadian actor known for his roles as Jack Slattery on the ABC television series '' Men in Trees'', Dr. Chris Sands on the NBC medical drama series '' Mercy'', and David Clarke on ABC's ''Revenge''. He a ...

as Andrew Pollock (seasons 1–2), Regina and Delilah's financial partner in the restaurant * Tyler Cody as Jake Anderson (seasons 2–3), Sophie's boyfriend who works at Regina and Delilah's restaurant *

Marcia Gay Harden Marcia Gay Harden (born August 14, 1959) is an American actress. Her accolades include an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards. Harden's breakthrough came in 1990 with the Coen brothers' film '' Miller's ...

as Alice (season 2), Gary's estranged mother *

Sutton Foster Sutton Lenore Foster (born March 18, 1975) is an American actress. She is known for her work on the Broadway stage, for which she has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical seven times, winning in 2002 for her role as ...

as Chloe (season 2), Eric's deceased fiancée * Olivia Steele Falconer as Alex Stewart (season 2), Eddie's deceased high school love interest * Gerard Plunkett as Joseph Stewart (seasons 2–3), Alex and Colleen's father *

Betsy Brandt Betsy Brandt (born March 14, 1973) is an American actress. She is known for playing Marie Schrader on the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Heather Hughes on the CBS sitcom '' Life in Pieces'' (2015–2019). Early lif ...

as Colleen (season 2), the sister of Eddie's deceased high school love interest *

Andrea Savage Andrea Kristen Savage (born February 20, 1973) is an American actress and comedian best known for creating, writing and starring in the show '' I'm Sorry'' (2017–2019). The show originally aired on TruTV but became a hit when it streamed on Ne ...

as Dr. Stacy (season 3; voice only seasons 1 and 4), a therapist and radio talk show host * Paul Rodriguez as Javier Mendez (season 3), Gary's father *

Azie Tesfai Azie Tesfai is an American actress, writer, and producer. She is known for her television roles, including ''Jane the Virgin'' and ''Supergirl''. Early life and education Azalech ''(Azie)'' Tesfai was raised in Los Angeles, California, the daugh ...

as Cassandra Thomas (season 4) *

Mario Van Peebles Mario Van Peebles (born January 15, 1957) is a Mexican-born American director and actor. He is best known for appearing in ''Heartbreak Ridge'' in 1986, and known for directing and starring in ''New Jack City'' in 1991, and ''USS Indianapolis: ...

as Ronald (season 4), Regina's father *

JoBeth Williams Margaret JoBeth Williams (born December 6, 1948) is an American actress. She rose to prominence appearing in such films as '' Kramer vs. Kramer'' (1979), '' Stir Crazy'' (1980), ''Poltergeist'' (1982), '' The Big Chill'' (1983), '' The Day After' ...

as Lana Strobe (season 5), Greta's mother

Episodes

Production

Development

On August 18, 2017,

landed a series titled ''A Million Little Things'' with a

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

commitment, to be written by DJ Nash, who would serve as executive producer alongside Aaron Kaplan and Dana Honor. The series was described as "being in the tone of '' The Big Chill''," with the title stemming from the popular adage, "Friendship isn't a big thing – it's a million little things." Nash came up with the idea for the series following his

single-camera In filmmaking, television production and video production, the single-camera setup or single-camera mode of production (also known as portable single crew, portable single camera or single-cam) is a method in which all of the various shots and c ...

comedy pilot ''Losing It''. He said that "Sometimes in comedy, you have to apologize for adding drama, which is why I was so thrilled to see ABC's passion for a drama that has comedy." ABC officially ordered the series to pilot in January 2018, and the show was officially picked up to series on May 9, 2018. The series is produced by

ABC Studios ABC Signature was a production arm of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a sub-division of the Disney Entertainment business segment and division of The Walt Disney Company. The studio's ...

and

. In October 2018, the show was picked for a full season of 17 episodes. On February 5, 2019, during the TCA press tour, ''A Million Little Things'' was renewed for a second season. On August 8, 2019, it was announced that ABC had ordered a full season for the second season. On May 21, 2020, ABC renewed the series for a third season. At the PaleyFest New York panel, Nash announced that the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and the

Black Lives Matter movement Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and racial inequality experienced by black people, and to promote anti-racism. Its primary concerns are police brutalit ...

will be part of the storylines for the third season. On May 14, 2021, ABC renewed the series for a fourth season of 20 episodes. On May 13, 2022, ABC renewed the series for a fifth season. On November 7, 2022, ABC announced that the fifth season would be its final season.

Casting

On February 6, 2018, David Giuntoli was cast as Eddie. A week later, Romany Malco was cast as Rome. By the end of the month, Christina Ochoa had joined the cast as Ashley, along with Anne Son as Katherine, Christina Moses as Regina Howard, and James Roday Rodriguez as Gary. In early March 2018,

was cast as Delilah, while Lizzy Greene was cast as Sophie Dixon. That month, it was also revealed that

had joined the series in an unspecified role, which was revealed with the series order in May to be the character Jon. On June 27, 2018, Grace Park was cast as Katherine, replacing Anne Son who was in the original pilot.

Filming

Production on the pilot took place from March 12 to 29, 2018, 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 cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. Principal photography for the first season began on July 24, 2018, and concluded on February 4, 2019. Filming for the second season began on June 19, 2019, and ended on February 19, 2020. Filming for the third season began on August 27, 2020, and ended on May 12, 2021. Production on the fourth season began on July 27, 2021, and concluded on April 13, 2022. Filming for the fifth season began on September 7, 2022, and concluded on March 3, 2023.

Music

The soundtrack for the first season was released digitally on March 1, 2019, by

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by the Disney Music Group which focuses on pop, rock, alternative, hip hop and country genres, also specializing in recordings for a more mature audience not suitable for the flagship Wal ...

Release

Broadcast

The series premiered on September 26, 2018 on ABC. The second season premiered on September 26, 2019. The third season premiered on November 19, 2020. The fourth season premiered on September 22, 2021. The fifth and final season premiered on February 8, 2023. In Canada, the series aired on

Citytv Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Television in Canada, Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consis ...

for the first three seasons before moving to the

W Network W Network (often shortened to W) is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts general entertainment programming oriented towards a female audience. W Network was ...

. In Turkey, the series broadcast through pay broadcaster

Digiturk Digiturk is a Turkish satellite television provider founded in 1999, with services starting in mid-2000. They provide both national television channels and their own channels, national radio, and music streams of different genres. Digiturk is als ...

. In Germany, it streams on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

. In Australia, it streams on Stan and

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

Home media

The first season was released on DVD in Region 1 on August 27, 2019.

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregation

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

, the series holds an approval rating of 53% with an average rating of 6.34/10, based on 32 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Despite a decent ensemble and a few intriguing elements, ''A MillIon Little Things'' breaks under the weight of its own emotionally lofty ambitions."

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

, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 51 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Ratings

Overall

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Million Little Things, A 2010s American drama television series 2020s American drama television series 2018 American television series debuts 2023 American television series endings Television shows about adultery American English-language television shows Serial drama television series Television shows about suicide Television series about families Television series by ABC Studios Television shows filmed in Vancouver Television shows about the COVID-19 pandemic Television shows set in Boston Television series by Kapital Entertainment Television Academy Honors winners American Broadcasting Company television dramas