''Manhunt'' is an American drama anthology television series created by Andrew Sodroski, Jim Clemente, and Tony Gittelson, initially commissioned as a television miniseries. The first season, ''Manhunt: Unabomber'', stars

Sam Worthington Samuel Henry John Worthington (born 2 August 1976) is an Australian actor. He is known for playing Jake Sully in the ''Avatar'' franchise (2009–present), Marcus Wright in '' Terminator Salvation'' (2009), and Perseus in '' Clash of the Titan ...

and

Paul Bettany Paul Bettany (born 27 May 1971) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as J.A.R.V.I.S. and Vision (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the Disney+ series ''WandaVision'' (2021), which garn ...

, and depicts a fictionalized account of the

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 ...

's hunt for the

Unabomber Theodore John Kaczynski ( ; May 22, 1942 – June 10, 2023), also known as the Unabomber ( ), was an American mathematician and domestic terrorist. He was a mathematics prodigy, but abandoned his academic career in 1969 to pursue a reclusi ...

. It premiered on

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

on August 1, 2017. On July 17, 2018,

Charter Communications Charter Communications, Inc., is an American telecommunications and mass media company with services branded as Spectrum. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. With over 32 million customers in 41 states as of 2022, it is the ...

was in advanced negotiations with the series' producers to pick up the series for two additional seasons to be aired on their

Spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...

cable service. The show's second season follows the hunt for

Eric Rudolph Eric Robert Rudolph (born September 19, 1966), also known as the Olympic Park Bomber, is an American domestic terrorist convicted of a series of bombings across the Southern United States between 1996 and 1998, which killed two people and injur ...

, who was the perpetrator of the

Centennial Olympic Park bombing The Centennial Olympic Park bombing was a pipe bombing attack on Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, on July 27, 1996, during the Summer Olympics. The blast directly killed one person and injured 111 others; another pers ...

, after suspicion initially fell on

security guard A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, factory guard, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) ...

Richard Jewell Richard Allensworth Jewell (born Richard White; December 17, 1962 – August 29, 2007) was an American security guard and law enforcement officer who alerted police during the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atl ...

. The second season, ''Manhunt: Deadly Games'', premiered on February 3, 2020.

Cast

''Unabomber''

Main

as Jim Fitzgerald *

Ted Kaczynski Theodore John Kaczynski ( ; May 22, 1942 – June 10, 2023), also known as the Unabomber ( ), was an American mathematician and domestic terrorist. He was a mathematics prodigy, but abandoned his academic career in 1969 to pursue a reclusi ...

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 Stan Cole *

Keisha Castle-Hughes Keisha Castle-Hughes (born 24 March 1990) is a New Zealand actress. She made her acting debut in the drama film '' Whale Rider'' (2002), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the second-youngest nominee ...

as Tabby Milgrim *

Lynn Collins Viola Lynn Collins (born May 16, 1977) is an American actress. She has made television appearances in '' True Blood'' (2008), '' Manhunt: Unabomber'' (2017) and '' The Walking Dead'' (2021–2022), and is recognized for her roles in films such ...

as Natalie Rogers *

Brían F. O'Byrne Brían Francis O'Byrne (born 16 May 1967) is an Irish actor who works and lives in the United States. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his role in the miniseries '' Mildred Pierce'' (2011) and won a BAFTA TV Award for his role in ...

as Frank McAlpine *

Elizabeth Reaser Elizabeth Ann Reaser (born July 2, 1975) is an American film, television, and stage actress. Her work includes the films '' Stay'', '' The Family Stone'', '' Sweet Land'', '' Against the Current'', '' The Twilight Saga'', ''Young Adult'', and '' ...

as Ellie Fitzgerald * Ben Weber as Andy Genelli *

Chris Noth Christopher David Noth ( ; born November 13, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Mike Logan on ''Law & Order'' (1990–1995), Big on ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), and Peter Florrick on ''The ...

as Don Ackerman

Recurring

Jane Lynch Jane Marie Lynch (born July 14, 1960) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. Known for playing starring and recurring roles in comedic television, her accolades include one Golden Globe, five Primetime Emmys and two Screen Actors Gui ...

Janet Reno Janet Wood Reno (July 21, 1938 – November 7, 2016) was an American lawyer and public official who served as the 78th United States Attorney General, United States attorney general from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. A member of ...

Katja Herbers Katja Mira Herbers (born 19 October 1980) is a Dutch actress. She is best known for portraying Dr. Helen Prins on the WGN America drama series ''Manhattan'' (2014–2015), Emily Grace in the HBO science fiction drama series ''Westworld'' (2018� ...

as Linda Kaczynski *

Michael Nouri Michael Nouri (born December 9, 1945) is an American screen and stage actor. He is best known for his television roles, including Dr. Neil Roberts on '' The O.C.'', Phil Grey on ''Damages'', Caleb Cortlandt on ''All My Children'', Eli David in ...

Bob Guccione Robert Charles Joseph Edward Sabatini Guccione ( ; December 17, 1930 – October 20, 2010) was an American visual artist, photographer and publisher. He founded the adult magazine '' Penthouse'' in 1965. This was aimed at competing with ''Playbo ...

* Jill Remez as Susan Mosse *

Wallace Langham James Wallace Langham II (born March 11, 1965) is an American actor. He is known for playing the role of Phil the Head Writer on ''The Larry Sanders Show''. He has also played the roles of David Hodges on the crime drama television series '' CSI: ...

Louis Freeh Louis Joseph Freeh (born January 6, 1950) is an American attorney and former judge who served as the fifth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from September 1993 to June 2001. Graduated from Rutgers University and New York Univers ...

Brian d'Arcy James Brian d'Arcy James (born June 29, 1968) is an American actor and musician. He is known primarily for his Broadway roles, including Shrek in '' Shrek the Musical'', Nick Bottom in '' Something Rotten!'', King George III in '' Hamilton'', and T ...

Henry Murray Henry Alexander Murray (May 13, 1893 – June 23, 1988) was an American psychologist at Harvard University. From 1959 to 1962, he conducted a series of psychologically damaging and purposefully abusive experiments on minors and undergradua ...

Mark Duplass Mark David Duplass (born December 7, 1976) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician. With his brother Jay Duplass, he started the film production company Duplass Brothers Productions in 1996, for which they wrote and directed ''The ...

David Kaczynski David Richard Kaczynski (born October 3, 1949) is an American charity worker. He is the younger brother of the domestic terrorist and mathematician Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber. His memoir, ''Every Last Tie: The Story of the Unabomb ...

*Diesel Madkins as Ernie Esposito *Will Murden as Sean Fitzgerald *Carter and Colby Zier as Ryan Fitzgerald *Jana Allen as Heidi Shumway * Trieste Kelly Dunn as Theresa Oakes *

Griff Furst Griff Furst (born September 17, 1981, in Van Nuys, California) is an American actor, film producer, and film director. Furst has appeared in over a hundred television and film productions. In 2011 a ''Variety'' article singled him out with ...

as Burkhardt *

Rebecca Henderson Rebecca Henderson (born June 4, 1980) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her portrayal of Lizzy on the Netflix series ''Russian Doll (TV series), Russian Doll'' and for her roles in independent films ''Appropriate Behavior'', ''They Remain ...

as Judy Clarke *Bonnie Johnson as Wanda Kaczynski *Steve Coulter as Anthony Bisceglie *Mary Rachel Dudley as Lois Epstein *Tyler Huth as Timmy Oakes *Doug Kruse as David Gelernter *

Mike Pniewski Michael Pniewski (born April 20, 1961) is an American actor and public speaker. Life and career Pniewski was born in Los Angeles, California. His education began at UCLA, where he graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theater and a ...

as Charles Epstein *

Gregory Alan Williams Gregory Alan Williams (born June 12, 1956) sometimes credited as Gregalan Williams, is an American actor and author. He is best known for portraying LAPD Officer Garner Ellerbee in ''Baywatch''. From 2011 until 2013, Williams portrayed the role ...

as Garland Burrell *McKenna Grace Martin as Joanna Epstein

''Deadly Games''

Main

Cameron Britton Cameron Britton (born ) is an American actor known for his role as Ed Kemper in the Netflix crime drama television series ''Mindhunter'', for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, an ...

Jack Huston Jack Alexander Huston (born 7 December 1982) is an English actor and director. He is best known for his role as Richard Harrow in the HBO television drama series ''Boardwalk Empire''. He also had a supporting role in the 2013 film ''American ...

Judith Light Judith Ellen Light (born February 9, 1949) is an American actress. She made her professional stage debut in 1970, before making her Broadway debut in the 1975 revival of ''A Doll's House''. Her breakthrough role was in the ABC daytime soap oper ...

as Bobi Jewell *

Carla Gugino Carla Gugino ( ; born August 29, 1971) is an American actress. After early roles in the films '' Troop Beverly Hills'' (1989), '' This Boy's Life'' (1993), '' Son in Law'' (1993), and '' Snake Eyes'' (1998), Gugino received wider recognition fo ...

as Kathy Scruggs *

Gethin Anthony Gethin David L. Anthony (born 9 October 1983) is an English television and film actor best known for his role as Renly Baratheon for the first two seasons of ''Game of Thrones''. Early life and education Anthony was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, ...

as Jack Brennan * Kelly Jenrette as Stacy Knox *

Arliss Howard Leslie Richard "Arliss" Howard (born October 18, 1954) is an American actor, screenwriter, and film director. He is known for his roles in the films ''Full Metal Jacket'' (1987), '' Tequila Sunrise'' (1988), '' The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' (19 ...

as Earl Embry

Recurring

* Jay O. Sanders as Watson Bryant *

Nick Searcy Nicholas Alan Searcy (born March 7, 1959) is an American character actor best known for portraying Chief Deputy United States Marshal Art Mullen on FX's '' Justified''. He also had a major role in the Tom Hanks–produced miniseries ''From the ...

as Sheriff Thompson *

Marley Shelton Marley Eve Shelton (born April 12, 1974) is an American actress. She made her film debut in ''Grand Canyon (1991 film), Grand Canyon'' (1991) and had a supporting role in the coming-of-age film ''The Sandlot'' (1993) before receiving recognition ...

as Hannah Gray *

Becky Ann Baker Becky Ann Baker (née Gelke; born February 17, 1953) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Jean Weir on the NBC comedy-drama series ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000) and as Loreen Horvath on the HBO comedy-drama series '' G ...

as Patricia Rudolph *

Brad William Henke Brad William Henke (April 10, 1966 – November 29, 2022) was an American actor and professional football player in the National Football League (NFL) and Arena Football League (AFL). He was best known for his role as Corrections Officer Desi Pi ...

as Big John

Episodes

Season 1: ''Unabomber'' (2017)

Season 2: ''Deadly Games'' (2020)

Production

The working title for the series was ''Manifesto'', and the series order was announced in March 2016 at a presentation by

Discovery Communications Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1982, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Cha ...

president

Rich Ross Rich Ross is the former Group President of Discovery Channel and Science Channel. Earlier in his tenure at Discovery he also oversaw Animal Planet and Velocity (TV network). Previously he was the Chief Executive Officer of Shine America, respon ...

. On May 15, 2016, ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' released several promotional photos, showing a first look at Paul Bettany's portrayal of

Release

Lionsgate Home Entertainment Lionsgate Studios Corp. (simply known as Lionsgate Studios) is a Canadian-American film and television production and distribution conglomerate, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, and primarily based in Santa Monica, California. It was f ...

released the entire miniseries on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on December 26, 2017.

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

secured the rights to the series in November 2017. It premiered on the site on December 12, 2017, in various territories.

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 ...

acquired the broadcast rights to ''Deadly Games'' in August 2020, where it premiered on September 21, 2020. In December 2020, ''Deadly Games'' was added to Netflix.

Reception

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

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 ...

reported a 93% approval rating and an average rating of 7.67/10, based on 29 reviews. The site's critics consensus reads: "Engrossing and affecting, ''Manhunt: Unabomber'' uses a taut, meticulously constructed narrative to uncover the facts behind the oft-exaggerated true story." On

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 ...

, the series has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Historical accuracy

Season 1

Former FBI agent Greg Stejskal was involved in the UNABOM investigation, and he criticized the writers of the show in ''

TheWrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news organization that covers the business of entertainment and media. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman in 2009 and is based in Los Angeles. The site features original reporting, analysis, and editor ...

'', accusing them of making "a minor member" of the FBI investigative team "into the star player who won the game," referring to the show's portrayal of Jim Fitzgerald. He said that Fitzgerald never met Kaczynski, was not in

Lincoln, Montana Lincoln is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lewis and Clark County, Montana, Lewis and Clark County, Montana, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the ...

, during the time of Kaczynski's arrest (although the show does not place Fitzgerald in Lincoln at the time of Kaczynski's arrest), had no part in the search of Kaczynski's cabin, and never interviewed him. Fitzgerald told ''

Bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment or wire frame used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skir ...

'' Magazine in August 2017 that the show is in the "high 80 percentile" of accuracy, though "the Fitz character is a composite." He also stated that he had not interviewed Kaczynski, although he said that he was on his way to do so in 2007 when Kaczynski changed his mind.

References

External links

* {{Ted Kaczynski 2010s American drama television miniseries 2017 American television series debuts American English-language television shows Discovery Channel original programming Spectrum Originals original programming Cultural depictions of mathematicians Television shows filmed in Pittsburgh Works about Ted Kaczynski

Cast

''Unabomber''

Main

Recurring

''Deadly Games''

Main

Recurring

Episodes

Season 1: ''Unabomber'' (2017)

Season 2: ''Deadly Games'' (2020)

Production

Release

Reception

Historical accuracy

Season 1

References

Further reading

External links