''Mistresses'' is an American mystery

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

television series based on the 2008–10 British series of the same name, about the lives of four female friends and their involvement in an array of illicit and complex relationships. This adaptation was developed by K. J. Steinberg, and stars

Alyssa Milano Alyssa Jayne Milano ( ; born December 19, 1972) is an American actress and activist. She has played Samantha Micelli in '' Who's the Boss?'' (1984–1992), Jennifer Mancini in '' Melrose Place'' (1997–1998), Phoebe Halliwell in '' Charmed'' ...

Rochelle Aytes Rochelle Aytes (born May 17, 1976) is an American actress and model. She is best known for her role as April Malloy on American Broadcasting Company, ABC drama series ''Mistresses (U.S. TV series), Mistresses'' (2013–16) and as the voice of Lef ...

Yunjin Kim Yunjin Kim (; born November 7, 1973) is a South Korean and American actress. She is best known for her role as North Korean spy Bang-Hee in the South Korean film '' Shiri'' (1999) and Sun-Hwa Kwon on the American television series '' Lost'' (200 ...

Jes Macallan Jes Macallan is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Josslyn Carver in ABC drama series '' Mistresses'' and Ava Sharpe in The CW superhero comedy-drama ''Legends of Tomorrow''. Early life Macallan trained in dance in her you ...

, and

Jennifer Esposito Jennifer Esposito (born April 11, 1973) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in the feature films ''Summer of Sam'' (1999), ''Don't Say a Word'' (2001), ''The Master of Disguise'' (2002), ''Welcome to Collinwood'' (2002), ''Crash (2 ...

in the lead roles. The series was originally set to premiere on May 27, 2013. However, ABC announced that ''Mistresses'' would premiere on June 3, 2013. On September 9, 2016, ABC canceled ''Mistresses'' after four seasons. It had been expected that if there had been a fifth season it would have been intended to be the final season.

Cast and characters

as Savannah "Savi" Davis (seasons 1–2), a lawyer who is Harry's ex-wife and the older half-sister of Joss. *

as Dr. Karen Kim, a psychiatrist who was romantically involved with one of her patients. *

as April Malloy, a widowed single mother, who is the owner of home furnishings boutique and cafe. *

as Josslyn "Joss" Carver, a real estate agent and the younger half-sister of Savi. *

Brett Tucker Brett Alan Tucker (born 21 May 1972) is an Australian actor and singer. He was a series regular in '' The Saddle Club'', '' McLeod's Daughters'', and '' Mistresses''. He is also known for his role as Daniel Fitzgerald in ''Neighbours''. He pla ...

as Harry Davis, a chef/restaurateur who is Savi's ex-husband. * Erik Stocklin as Sam Grey (season 1), the son of Karen's deceased lover. *

Jason George Jason Winston George (born February 9, 1972) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Michael Bourne on the NBC daytime soap opera ''Sunset Beach'', as Jeremiah Thurgood "J.T." Hunter on the UPN television sitcom ''Eve'', as Dr. ...

as Dominic Taylor (main, seasons 1–2; guest, seasons 3–4), a lawyer and coworker of Savi's. * Rob Mayes as Marc Nickleby (seasons 3–4), a handsome new friend and colleague of Harry's and the uncle of Paul and Miranda's son who moves in with April. *

as Calista Raines (born Carla Rizzotti) (season 3), creative director of a luxury fashion brand who befriends Joss. * Tabrett Bethell as Kate Davis (guest, season 2; main, season 4), Harry's sister who relocates to Los Angeles looking for love after the breakdown of her engagement.

Episodes

Production

Development

In February 2012, ABC announced that it had

green-light In the context of the film and television industries, to greenlight is to give permission to proceed with a project. It specifically refers to formally approving its production finance and committing to this financing, thereby allowing the projec ...

ed ''Mistresses'' with a direct-to-series order and a planned summer 2013 airdate. Thirteen episodes were ordered. K.J. Steinberg wrote 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 ...

, which had previously been under consideration for a pilot order for ABC's fall 2012 schedule. This is the second attempt by a network to import the British series to the U.S. In 2008, Lifetime announced it was developing the series, but it never made it to air. The Lifetime version was also to have starred Aytes, alongside Milano's ''

Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadc ...

'' co-star

Holly Marie Combs Holly Marie Combs Ryan (born December 3, 1973) is an American actress and producer. Known for her work in television dramas, her career spans over four decades. Combs started her career in the 1980s with small roles on television soap operas a ...

. On September 25, 2013,

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 ...

renewed ''Mistresses'' for a second season, which aired from June 2 to September 1, 2014. On September 30, 2014, ABC renewed the series for a third season with production of the program being moved from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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. The season premiered on June 18, 2015, with a special two-hour premiere in a new Thursday timeslot. On September 25, 2015, ABC renewed ''Mistresses'' for a fourth season of 13 episodes. In December 2015, ''Mistresses'' was selected for the California film and TV tax credit, relocating filming of the series back to Los Angeles.

Casting

Casting announcements began in early March, with

and

being the first actors cast. Aytes portrays April, a widow and mother of one, while Macallan plays Josslyn, a real estate broker and the youngest of the women.

came on board the project in mid-March in the role of Karen, a psychiatrist who is upset over the death of a patient with whom she was involved.

completed the lead cast when she signed on to portray Savannah, a married lawyer and older sister to Josslyn. On September 30, 2014, Milano announced that she would not be returning for the third season of the series as production would be later moved from Los Angeles to Vancouver in order to cut production costs. On February 10, 2015, it was confirmed that actress

would join the cast as the new co-lead Calista Raines, described as the creative director of a luxury fashion brand. On September 25, 2015, the same day when ABC announced ''Mistressess fourth season renewal, Esposito also left the show after one season. On February 19, 2016, it was announced that Tabrett Bethell, who previously guest starred as Kate Davis in season two for one episode, would return in the remaining lead role during the fourth season.

Reception

Critical reception

''Mistresses'' holds a score of 42 out of 100, 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 ...

, based on 16 negative reviews by critics from early in the first season. Brian Lowry of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' was quite optimistic about the series, stating: "A frothy prime time soap with a definite naughty streak, the program looks well suited to scratch an itch for daytime serial fans ABC abandoned." He went on to state: "Although the characters and situations largely mirror its inspiration, this U.S. version wisely seeks a somewhat cheekier and less somber tone." Writing for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', Dorothy Rabinowitz likened the show to ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

'', stating: "''Mistresses'' carries very little hint of any complex lineage, give or take a few scenes that could, with ferocious effort, evoke memories of Carrie Bradshaw and company." Rabinowitz also stated that "the really delectable fun, the best of the sparkle, is to be found in the darkest plots, the looming catastrophes, which promise to come in an endless flow." In less positive reviews, ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

David Hinckley gave the premiere two out of five stars, stating that "ABC loves racy romantic dramas, but ''Mistresses'' is not its best work in the genre." He continued by saying that "the problem with ''Mistresses'' may lie with the expectations it has set." Mary McNamara of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' stated that executive producer K.J. Steinberg is "grasping the letter yet not the spirit of the thing, appears more interested in replicating plot from the British version rather than character or anything like nuance."

Ratings

The premiere episode scored a 1.2 in the 18–49 age demographic and 4.40 million viewers. The first season ranked as the No. 2 scripted summer drama among adults 18–49, behind '' Under the Dome'', and averaged around 5 million viewers and a 2.0 18–49 rating, with DVR ratings factored in.

Accolades

Broadcast

''Mistresses'' premiered on CTV in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

on June 3, 2013, the same day it premiered in the US. The series premiered in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on July 25, 2013, on

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, ''Mistresses'' premiered on September 30, 2013, on the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

References

External links

* * {{Mistresses (TV series) 2010s American drama television series 2013 American television series debuts 2016 American television series endings 2010s American LGBTQ-related drama television series 2010s American mystery television series American television series based on British television series American television soap operas American primetime television soap operas Bisexuality-related television series American English-language television shows Lesbian-related television shows Television series by ABC Signature Studios Television shows set in Los Angeles Television shows filmed in Vancouver American Broadcasting Company soap operas