''Endlings'' is a Canadian science fiction television series that premiered on January 5, 2020 on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

. The series is produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment. Endlings premiered in the US 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 January 17, 2019. In October 2019, the series was renewed for a second twelve-episode season.Greg David
"Sinking Ship Entertainment in production on Season 2 of Endlings"
''TV, eh?'', October 5, 2018.

Premise

The series centres on four young children living with a foster father, Mr. Leopold (

Neil Crone Neil Crone (born May 29, 1960) is a Canadian actor and writer. He is known for portraying Fred Tupper in '' Little Mosque on the Prairie'', Jerry Whitehall in '' Cube 2: Hypercube'' and the voices of Gordon, Diesel 10 and Splatter in ''Thomas an ...

) on a farm, who discover an extraterrestrial alien on their property after its spaceship crashes, and become drawn into the adventure of helping the alien in its mission to save endangered species.

Plot

Season 1

The season begins in the year 2040 when an alien being abducts the last

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

on Earth, Tuko, from the African wildlife refuge where she's lived since she was orphaned as a baby. But before the Alien can leave Earth's atmosphere, its ship malfunctions and crash lands on a farm in North America. The crash happens just as Mr. Leopold, the foster parent who owns the farm, is about to take in Julia, a new foster kid, to join his other wards: Johnny, Tabby and Finn. Almost as soon as she arrives, Julia runs away but finding the last elephant on Earth in one of Mr. Leopold's cornfields makes her turn back. While Julia, Johnny, Tabby and Finn are not fast friends, they do learn to work together when they discover that an alien ship has crashed into the barn with an injured alien inside and another escaped insect alien loose on the farm. Julia, though initially wary of her newfound family, slowly learns to trust her fellow foster kids. But just as she grows more comfortable opening up to the others about the struggles she experienced prior to ending up at the Leopold farmstead, Johnny, Tabby and Finn start to reveal painful memories from their pasts. At the same time, the Alien, unfamiliar with Earth's natural environment and unable to communicate directly with its new caretakers, is steadily growing weaker. Fortunately, Abiona Maina, the wildlife activist who cared for Tuko at the refuge, manages to track the elephant down to Mr. Leopold's farm. After she's convinced that the Alien isn't evil, Abiona uses her knowledge of animals to save its life. The kids have a lot to deal with but, luckily, they also have each other to rely upon. This growing bond is especially helpful as it will take their combined talents to recapture the endlings released when the Alien's ship crashed into their barn. These include endlings that communicate in a variety of different ways, like frequencies too high or too low for humans to hear, endlings that are more bark than bite, as well as endlings that the kids want to keep forever, even though they shouldn't.

Season 2

The year is 2041; Julia, Johnny, Tabby and Finn continue to help their extraterrestrial friend Ling save fantastical endlings. With the aid of their foster father Mr. Leopold and animal activist Dr. Abiona Maina the group is getting closer to receiving the remaining 'last of their kind' creatures and completing their mission. But when Ling accidentally shows Tabby a vision of their quest failing, the team learns that Ling's powers don't just shows their pasts but also their futures. This glimpse of what's to come reveals Tresa Hewes CEO of Infinitum Corporation, who has been tracking them on her own elusive reasons, capturing Ling and the endlings and tearing the foster family apart. Together, the group makes the choice to confront the pain of their pasts in order to change their futures and save Ling. This decision to fight fate, kicks off a season of high-octane adventure where four wounded teens must learn to let their hopes, not their hurts, shape their future.

Cast

* Edison Grant as Johnny, the eldest child and first child to arrive at the Leopold household. Johnny works hard to make sure the farm feels like the first real home for the other kids, just like it does for him. * Kamaia Fairburn as Julia, the latest addition to the Leopold household. Ever since the sudden loss of her father, Julia has just been mad — mad at the world, mad at her situation, mad at her sadness. However, the more time she spends with her new foster family the more she warms up to them. * Michela Luci as Tabby, the second-youngest child and the engineer of the family. Tabby has a sharp tongue and quick wit which developed from constantly being let down by a lot of people in her life. * Cale Thomas Ferrin as Finn, the youngest child on the farm. Finn doesn't speak a word but communicates his love through his colorful drawings, his expressive face or his hugs. *

as Mr. Kenneth Leopold, the foster parent of the four kids. Mr. Leopold knows that what these kids need is someone to believe in them, because the world doesn't. * Oyin Oladejo as Abiona Maina, Tuko's caretaker, a wildlife activist who spent her childhood growing up around animals. Her fight to keep Tuko safe leads her to the Leopold farm. * Lisa Ryder as Tresa Hewes, an intelligent forward lead who is part of a special division of the government that tracks unexplained phenomenon.

Episodes

Season 1 (2020)

Season 2 (2021)

Production

Season One was filmed in and around the city of

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

and the second season was scheduled to also be filmed in that city, starting January 6, 2020. Production of the second season commenced in October 2019.

Broadcast

In addition to CBC and

, the series will air on

Universal Kids Universal Kids was an American children's cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The channel launched on September 26, 2005, as PBS Kids Sprout, a preschool-oriented offshoot of ...

in the US,

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

in the UK,

Norddeutscher Rundfunk (; "North German Broadcasting"), commonly shortened to NDR (), is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, ...

in Germany,

ABC Me ABC Entertains is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was launched on 4 December 2009 as a children's channel called ABC3. It was rebranded on 19 September 2016 to ABC ME. It rebra ...

in Australia,

Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...

in Sweden,

NRK The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

in Norway, and

Gloob Gloob (Portuguese language, Portuguese pronunciation: "Glubi"), also known as Mundo Gloob, is a Brazilian pay television children's Television channel, channel that was launched on 15 June 2012, aimed at children 6 to 12 years old. Owned, operat ...

in Brazil.

References

External links

* * * {{CBC Television Shows (current and upcoming) 2020s Canadian children's television series 2020s Canadian drama television series 2020s Canadian science fiction television series 2020 Canadian television series debuts Television series set in 2040 Television series set in 2041 Canadian children's science fiction television series Canadian television shows featuring puppetry CBC Television original programming Fictional endangered and extinct species Hulu original programming Hulu children's programming Television series about alien visitations Television series about children Television series about extraterrestrial life Television shows set on farms Children's and Family Emmy Award-winning broadcasts