''Hostages'' is an American drama television series that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

as part of the 2013–14 American television season. Developed for American television by Alon Aranya and

Jeffrey Nachmanoff Jeffrey Nachmanoff (born March 9, 1967) is an American screenwriter and director. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 2004 blockbuster film ''The Day After Tomorrow''. He wrote and directed ''Traitor'', which was released on August 27, 2008. His ...

, it is based on the Israeli series of the same name created by Omri Givon and Rotem Shamir and produced by Chaim Sharir, which premiered on October 13, 2013, almost three weeks after the American version's premiere.

wrote and directed the

pilot episode 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 ...

for the American version. The series premiered on September 23, 2013 and ended on January 6, 2014. On May 10, 2014, CBS cancelled the series after one season.

Plot

The family of a doctor is taken hostage by a team led by a rogue FBI agent the night before she is scheduled to perform surgery on the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

. She is ordered by the kidnappers to assassinate the President during surgery in order to save her family.

Cast

Main

Toni Collette Toni Collette (born Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television, blockbusters and independent films, her accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, wit ...

as Dr. Ellen Sanders, a well respected thoracic surgeon at the Maryland College Hospital in Washington who is chosen to operate on the President of the United States. *

Dylan McDermott Mark Anthony "Dylan" McDermott (born October 26, 1961) is an American actor. He is known for his role as lawyer and law firm head Bobby Donnell on the legal drama series ''The Practice'', which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Performa ...

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

Special Agent In the United States, a special agent is an official title used to refer to certain investigators or detectives of federal, military, tribal, or state agencies who primarily serve in criminal investigatory positions. Additionally, some special ...

Duncan Carlisle, leader of the team that takes the Sanders family hostage. His motivation is to help his sick wife Nina, who has leukemia. *

Tate Donovan Tate Buckley Donovan (born September 25, 1963) is an American actor, comedian and television director. He is known for portraying Tom Shayes in ''Damages'', Jimmy Cooper in '' The O.C.'', and the voice of the title character in the 1997 Disne ...

as Brian Sanders, husband of Ellen Sanders and the owner of a real estate firm in Washington. He is having an affair with his assistant, Samantha. *

Quinn Shephard Quinn Shephard (born February 28, 1995) is an American actress, writer, producer, director, and film editor. She played the roles of Donna Malone in the Christmas comedy ''Unaccompanied Minors'' and Morgan Sanders in the television series ''Hosta ...

as Morgan Sanders, teenage daughter of Ellen and Brian Sanders. Secretly she has gotten pregnant by her boyfriend, but initially doesn't reveal it to her parents. *

Mateus Ward Mateus Cole Ward (born January 18, 1999) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jake Sanders in the CBS television series ''Hostages'', and as Dustin Maker in the TNT television series '' Murder in the First''. He is also known for ...

as Jake Sanders, teenage son of Ellen and Brian Sanders, and younger than Morgan. * Billy Brown as Archer Petit, a member of the team that takes the Sanders family hostage. He and Duncan met 13 years ago after he was rescued from

FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (, FARC–EP or FARC) was a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in 1966 from peasan ...

guerrillas while working at the Colombian border. *

Sandrine Holt Sandrine Claire Holt (born Sandrine Vanessa Ho; 19 November 1972) is a Canadian actress. She was born in London and raised in Toronto. Early life Holt was born Sandrine Vanessa Ho in Croydon. Her middle name was later changed to Claire. Her fa ...

as Sandrine Renault, a member of the team that takes the Sanders family hostage. She and Archer met while in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. *

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 Kramer Delaney, a member of the team that takes the Sanders family hostage and Duncan's brother-in-law. *

James Naughton James Naughton (born December 6, 1945) is an American actor and director. On television he is best known as astronaut Pete Burke in the 1974 single-season television series ''Planet of the Apes''. He won Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical ...

as President Paul Kincaid.

Recurring

Hilarie Burton Hilarie Ros Burton (born July 1, 1982), also known as Hilarie Burton Morgan, is an American actress. A former host of MTV's ''Total Request Live'', she portrayed Peyton Sawyer on The WB/The CW drama '' One Tree Hill'' for six seasons (2003–200 ...

as Samantha,

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a female lover of a married man ** Royal mistress * Maîtresse-en-titre, official mistress of a ...

and assistant of Brian Sanders *

Paul Calderon Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo P ...

as Secret Service Agent Stan Hoffman, a hardworking family man assigned to the joint FBI–Secret Service task force tasked with investigating the threat on the President's life. *

Jim True-Frost Jim True-Frost (''né'' True; July 31, 1966) is an American stage, television and screen actor. He is most known for his portrayal of Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski on all five seasons of the HBO program ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), as James Woodrow ...

as Secret Service Agent Logan. * Brian White as Colonel Thomas Blair, Marine and current NSA director. *

Joanne Kelly Joanne M. Kelly (born December 22, 1978) is a Canadian actress, known for her appearances in films such as '' Going the Distance'', and in the TV series ''Warehouse 13'' as the character Myka Bering, a Secret Service agent. Early life and edu ...

as Vanessa Moore, sister of Mary Kincaid. *

Jeremy Bobb Jeremy Bobb (born May 13, 1981) is an American actor who has appeared on stage, television and in feature films. He had a recurring role in CBS's 2013 drama '' Hostages'' as White House Chief of Staff Quintin Creasy and co-starred as Herman Bar ...

as Quentin Creasy,

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

within the Kincaid administration. * Lola Cook as Sawyer Carlisle, Duncan's daughter. *

Larry Pine Larry Pine (born March 3, 1945) is an American actor. A veteran of the Broadway stage, he began his career playing the role of Fop in the 1968 production of ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. He has since starred in film and television, with recurring role ...

as Burton Delaney, Duncan's father-in-law and Paul Kincaid's adviser when he was a senator. * Tyler Elliott Burke as Boyd Norton, Morgan's boyfriend. *

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (born November 17, 1958) is an American actress and singer. She made her Broadway debut in the 1980 revival of ''West Side Story'', and went on to appear in the 1983 film '' Scarface'' as Al Pacino's character's si ...

as First Lady Mary Kincaid, wife of President Paul Kincaid. *

Francie Swift Francie Swift (born 1969/1970) is an American actress best known for her role as Cynthia in ''Thoroughbreds'' and her recurring roles as Haylie Grimes on '' Outsiders'' and Anne Vanderbilt Archibald on ''Gossip Girl''. Life and career Swift was ...

as Nina Carlisle, Duncan's sick wife.

International broadcasts

''Hostages'' is broadcast internationally: in the UK on

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

and

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

, Australia on

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

, in Canada on CTV, in Latin America on

Warner Channel Warner TV is a pay television channel mainly airing in Latin America, Europe, parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia, which is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its International unit that focuses on airing American series and films. Mo ...

, in the Netherlands on

NET 5 Net5 is a Dutch free-to-cable commercial TV channel and is part of Talpa TV, formerly a part of SBS Broadcasting B.V. and now owned by Talpa Network. Other channels of the group in the Netherlands are SBS6, Veronica, and SBS9. It is aim ...

, in New Zealand on TV One, in Finland on

MTV3 MTV3 (, ) is a Finnish commercial television channel owned and operated by the media company MTV Oy, originally launched on 13 August 1957 as a programming block, becoming its own channel on 1 January 1993. It had the biggest audience share ...

, in South Africa on

M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

, in India on

Zee Café ''Zee Café'' is an Indian pay television, pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The channel mainly syndicates popular American and British television shows to appeal to the English-speaking population of India. Histor ...

, in France on

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

, in Portugal on

RTP2 RTP2 (''RTP dois'') is a Portuguese free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP). It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting cultural ...

, in Austria on

ORF 1 ORF 1 (''ORF eins'', ''Österreichischer Rundfunk 1'') is an Austrian public television channel owned by ORF. It was the first television channel in Austria, started in 1955, with regular programming started in 1957 when it now operated six days ...

, in Belgium on

één VRT 1 is a public Dutch-language TV station in Belgium, owned by the VRT, which also owns Ketnet, VRT Canvas and several radio stations. Although the channel is commercial-free, short sponsorship messages are broadcast in between some programm ...

in Spain on

Antena 3 Antena 3 may refer to: *Antena 3 (Portugal), a national radio channel produced by the Portuguese public broadcasting entity Rádio e Televisão de Portugal *Antena 3 (Romania), a Romanian television channel owned by Intact Media Group *Antena 3 (Spa ...

and in Slovenia on

POP TV Pop TV is a Slovenian generalist television channel operated by Pro Plus d.o.o., a subsidiary of Central European Media Enterprises (CME), which is in turn owned by Czech investment company PPF. History It was established by ProPlus, CME's Sl ...

Episodes

Reception

The series received generally mixed reviews.

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 ...

reports that 57% of 42 reviews were positive, with the consensus: "''Hostages'' has an intriguing premise and handsome production values, but its twisty plot sometimes strains credulity." David Hinckley of the New York ''Daily News'' gave the show 4 out of 5 stars. Robert Bianco of ''USA Today'' awarded it 3 out of 4 stars.

Awards and nominations

Locations recorded

A list of filming locations: *In New York ** Carle Place ***

Carle Place High School Carle Place Middle/High School is a six-year comprehensive State school, public High school (North America), high school located in the Hamlet (New York), hamlet of Carle Place in the North Hempstead, New York, Town of North Hempstead, Nassau C ...

** Uniondale ***RexCorp Plaza ***Charles Lindbergh Boulevard ** Hicksville *** Hicksville Train Station **

East Meadow East Meadow is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in central Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 36,856 per the 2024 Census estimates. Many residents commute to Manhatta ...

***

Eisenhower Park Eisenhower Park, formerly known as Salisbury Park, is a public park in East Meadow, New York bordered by Hempstead Turnpike on the south and Old Country Road on the north. At , it is larger than Central Park (in Manhattan, New York City), with m ...

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

(Greenpoint / Brooklyn Heights) ** White Plains ***

Westchester County Airport Westchester County Airport is a county-owned airport in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States, northeast of downtown White Plains, New York, White Plains, with territory in the Town (New Y ...

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 2647258, Hostages
Hostages
at

TV by the Numbers TV by the Numbers was a website devoted to collecting and analyzing television ratings data in the United States that operated from 2007 to 2020. It was a part of Nexstar Media Group's Zap2it television news/listings site. History An Internet an ...

2013 American television series debuts 2014 American television series endings 2010s American drama television series Serial drama television series American television series based on Israeli television series American English-language television shows Hostage taking in fiction Television series about cancer Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows filmed in New York (state) Television shows set in Washington, D.C. CBS television dramas