''Chance'' is an American television series created by

Kem Nunn Kem Nunn (born 1948) is a third-generation Californian novelist, surfer, and magazine and television writer who lives in southern California. He has been described as "the inventor of ''surf-noir''" for his novels' dark themes, political overton ...

and

Alexandra Cunningham Alexandra Cunningham (born 1972/73) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and television producer. From 1998 through 2000, she attended the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at The Juilliard School. Her plays include ''The Th ...

which stars

Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, singer, musician and writer. He first gained professional recognition as a member of the English comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. Fry and Laurie act ...

. The series is based on Nunn's 2014 book of the same name and was ordered straight-to-series in January 2016 with a straight two-season order containing twenty episodes. It premiered on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

on October 19, 2016. The second season premiered on October 11, 2017. On January 9, 2018, the series was cancelled.

Premise

The series focuses on a forensic neuropsychiatrist, Dr. Eldon Chance, living in San Francisco, who is semi-willingly pulled into his patient Jaclyn Blackstone's dangerous life of police corruption, manipulation, and abuse. While dealing with a divorce of his own and secrets he has been trying to hold back for years, he has to save Jaclyn, as well as himself, from her abusive partner, a corrupt police detective. Chance enlists the aid of an intelligent but violent furniture restorer, Darius, who moonlights as a quasi-mercenary, and they receive low-key assistance in their vigilante endeavor from a morally ambiguous cop, Detective Hynes. In the second season, Hynes blackmails Chance and Darius into going after a software tycoon who may secretly be a serial killer, while the pair also use Darius's fighting skills to bring justice to the various abusers of Chance's patients. The once mild-mannered Chance finds himself drawn more deeply into Darius's view of violence as a solution to problems, while also dealing with his daughter's continuing struggle with mental health problems she may have inherited from him.

Cast

Main

as Dr. Eldon Chance *

Ethan Suplee Ethan L. Suplee (; born May 25, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films ''American History X'', '' Blow'', ''Remember the Titans'', ''John Q'', '' The Wolf of Wall Street'', '' Cold Mountain'', '' Without a Paddle ...

as Darius 'D' Pringle * LisaGay Hamilton as Suzanne Simms (season 1) * Greta Lee as Lucy Baek * Stefania LaVie Owen as Nicole Chance, Chance's teenage daughter. *

Paul Adelstein Paul Adelstein (born April 29, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for the role of Agent Paul Kellerman in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox television series ''Prison Break'' and his role as pediatrician Cooper Freedman in the American Broad ...

as Raymond Blackstone (season 1) *

Gretchen Mol Gretchen Mol (born November 8, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Gillian Darmody in the HBO series '' Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–2014). She also appeared in the films ''Rounders'' (1998), ''Celebrity'' (1998), ''The Thir ...

as Jaclyn Blackstone, a woman being physically and mentally abused by her husband, Raymond. As a result of her abuse, she has developed a secondary personality, known as 'Jackie Black'. (season 1) *

Clarke Peters Peter Clarke (born April 7, 1952), known professionally as Clarke Peters, is an American actor, writer, and director, who has spent much of his adult life in the United Kingdom. He is best known for his roles as Lester Freamon in the television ...

as Carl Allan (recurring, season 1; main, season 2) * Brian Goodman as Detective Kevin Hynes (recurring, season 1; main, season 2) * Paul Schneider as Ryan Winter (season 2)

Recurring

Diane Farr Diane Farr (born September 7, 1969) is an American actress, producer, and writer. Her television roles have included FBI agent Megan Reeves in '' Numb3rs'', the firefighter Laura Miles in '' Rescue Me'', and the division chief Sharon Leone in ...

as Christina Chance, Chance's ex-wife *

Michael McGrady Michael McGrady is an American theater, film and television actor. He portrayed Tom Matthews in '' Beyond'' and voiced and provided the motion capture for Rusty Galloway in the 2011 video game '' LA Noire''. He is also an artist. Life and work ...

as Sanford Pringle * Elizabeth Rodriguez as Kristen Clayton (season 2) *

Alyson Reed Alyson Reed is an American dancer and actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in ...

as Lindsay (season 2) *

Ginger Gonzaga Ginger Gonzaga (born May 17, 1983) is an American comedian and actress. Since coming to attention hosting Hulu's daily pop culture show '' The Morning After'' (2011–12), she has had numerous guest and recurring roles on television and has bee ...

as Lorena (season 2) *

Tim Griffin John Timothy Griffin (born August 21, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas, attorney general of Arkansas. He served as the 20th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, lieutenant governor of Arkans ...

as ADA Frank Lambert (season 2)

Episodes

Season 1 (2016)

Season 2 (2017)

Release

Both seasons of ''Chance'' were later released 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 ...

via the Star hub in selected territories following Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox which included the show's distributor and production company Fox 21 Television Studios.

Reception

Critical response

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 has an approval rating of 75% based on 32 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Chance'' is an entertaining and profoundly dark thriller primarily kept afloat by Hugh Laurie's outstanding performance."

References

External links

* * {{Hulu 2016 American television series debuts 2017 American television series endings 2010s American crime drama television series 2010s American medical drama television series 2010s American mystery television series American English-language television shows Hulu original programming Television shows based on American novels Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television shows set in San Francisco