''Ordinary Joe'' is an American drama television series that ran from September 20, 2021 to January 24, 2022 on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. The series, produced by

20th Television 20th Television, Inc. (formerly known as TCF Television Productions, Inc., 20th Century-Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Television) is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Di ...

and

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is ...

, is co-developed and co-executive produced by

Garrett Lerner Garrett Lerner is an American television writer and producer who served as an executive producer on the Fox series ''House''. He often works with his writing partner Russel Friend. Television career Lerner's writing career began on the CBS ...

and

Russel Friend Russel Friend is an American television writer and producer who served as an executive producer on the Fox series ''House'', for which he won a Writers Guild of America Award in 2010 for co-writing the episode "Broken". He often works with his ...

James Wolk James Joseph Wolk (born March 22, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in the CBS comedy series '' The Crazy Ones'' (2013–2014), the AMC period drama series ''Mad Men'' (2013–2014), the CBS drama thriller series ''Zo ...

plays the title role. In March 2022, the series was canceled after one season.

Premise

The series centers on Joe Kimbreau as he makes a pivotal, life-changing decision at his graduation from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

. The show follows him on three parallel timelines, starting ten years after his graduation: as a police officer, following in his father's footsteps; as a music star, following his passion; and as a nurse, after he marries his college sweetheart.

Cast and characters

Main

as Joe Kimbreau, a man whose one fateful choice on the day of his college graduation has profound effects on who he becomes ten years later: ** Musician Joe: a famous musician who is married to Amy. ** Nurse Joe: a mild-mannered nurse who is married to Jenny, with whom Joe shares a son, Christopher. ** Officer Joe: A heroic police officer who is reunited with Amy after ten years. *

Natalie Martinez Natalie Martinez (born July 12, 1984) is an American actress and model. She appeared in the 2008 film '' Death Race'', several music videos between 2003 and 2011, and two short-lived telenovelas in 2006 and 2007. Martinez starred in the single se ...

as Amy Kindelán, whom Joe meets on the day of his graduation: she is married to Joe, and about to launch a political career, in the "Musician Joe" timeline; she is married to Eric in the "Nurse Joe" timeline; and she is working for Congressman Diaz when Joe reenters her life after ten years in the "Officer Joe" timeline. *

Elizabeth Lail Elizabeth Dean Lail (born March 25, 1992) is an American actress. She played Anna (Frozen), Anna in the fantasy series ''Once Upon a Time (TV series), Once Upon a Time'' (2014) and Guinevere Beck in the Netflix thriller series ''You (TV series), ...

as Jenny Banks, Joe's college sweetheart: in the "Musician Joe" timeline, she is a high-powered attorney who reveals to Joe that she put their son up for adoption ten years before; in the "Nurse Joe" timeline, she is a paralegal who is married to Joe, but initially estranged from him, and together they are raising their son Christopher; and in the "Officer Joe" timeline, she is an assistant district attorney who is keeping the existence of their son with Joe secret from him. * Charlie Barnett as Eric Payne, Joe's best friend: he is single and managing Joe in the "Musician Joe" timeline; he is a chef and is married to Amy in the "Nurse Joe" timeline; and he runs a pizza place and is married to Mallory in the "Officer Joe" timeline.

Recurring

David Warshofsky David Warshofsky (born David A. Warner; February 23, 1961) is an American film, television and stage actor. Life and career Warshofsky was born David A. WarnerAccording to the State of California. ''California Birth Index, 1905-1995''. Center fo ...

as Frank Kimbreau, Joe's uncle, who in the "Officer Joe" timeline is an NYPD detective. In the "Musician Joe" timeline, he has become Joe's head of security. In the "Nurse Joe" timeline, he has become a homeless drunk, estranged from most of his family. *

Anne Ramsay Anne Ramsay is an American actress best known for her role as Lisa Stemple on '' Mad About You'', for which she shared a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Ensemble in a Comedy series. Early life Ramsay was raised in La Habra, Cal ...

as Gwen Kimbreau, Joe's mother *

Adam Rodriguez Adam Michael Rodriguez (born April 2, 1975)"Adam Rodriguez" (2006). ''Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television''. Vol. 71. Detroit: Gale. Accessed via ''Biography in Context'' database, August 7, 2016. is an American actor, screenwriter and ...

as Bobby Diaz, a United States congressman who aspires to higher office * John Gluck as Joe and Jenny's son with

muscular dystrophy Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily affe ...

, who was given a different name in each timeline: ** Christopher ("Nurse Joe" timeline), cared for by a married Joe and Jenny. ** Lucas ("Officer Joe" timeline), raised by Jenny and her husband. ** Zeke ("Musician Joe" timeline), given up for adoption by Jenny years previously. * Joe Carroll as Ray, Jenny's husband in the "Officer Joe" timeline * Gabrielle Byndloss as Mallory, Eric's wife in the "Officer Joe" timeline * Jason Burkey as Darren, Jenny's husband in the "Musician Joe" timeline * Jack Coleman as Dr. Douglas Banks, Jenny's father * Christine Adams as Regina Diaz, Bobby's wife

Notable guest cast

* David Paluck as Christopher Kimbreau Sr., Joe's police officer father who died on 9/11 (in "Requiem", "The Letter") *

Wynn Everett Wynn Everett is an American actress. Life and career Everett was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She grew up in Dunwoody and Cumming, Georgia. She attended Forsyth Central High School. Her junior year, she was the lead role in a One Act Competition pr ...

as Celeste Kimbreau, Joe's older sister (in "The Letter", "Thankful") * Maurice P. Kerry as Officer Gary Winnick, saved by Joe's father on 9/11 (in "The Letter")

Episodes

Production

Development

The series was originally written as a pilot by executive producer

Matt Reeves Matt Reeves (born April 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker. He first gained recognition for the WB drama series '' Felicity'' (1998–2002), which he co-created with J. J. Abrams. Reeves came to widespread attention for directing the hit monste ...

for

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 ...

in 2006, based on a concept that Caleb Ranson had been developing for a separate British series for ITV, but neither program ended up moving forward. The project was revived a decade later and received a

put pilot 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 ...

commitment by

on November 5, 2018. In January 2020, the series received a pilot order for the 2020–21 season and Adam Davidson was brought on as director the following month. The outbreak of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in March 2020 resulted in the series being pushed to the 2021–22 season. On March 31, 2021, NBC picked up the pilot to series. On March 4, 2022, NBC canceled the series after one season.

Casting

was the first member to be cast in the series on February 19, 2020, in the title role of Joe Kimbreau. He was joined the following month by

and Charlie Barnett portraying the characters Amy and Eric Payne respectively. In March 2021, it was announced that

would also be co-starring in the series. In June 2021,

was revealed to be a part of the series cast. In July 2021,

joined the cast in a recurring role. In August 2021, Jack Coleman, Christine Adams, Joe Carroll, Rushi Kota, Jason Burkey, and Gabrielle Byndloss joined the cast in recurring capacities.

Production design

The show uses color palettes to distinguish among the three timelines: green hues when Joe is a nurse, blue hues when he is a cop, and red hues when he is a rock star.

Filming

Principal photography on the pilot began in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, in March 2020, but was suspended within a few days due to COVID-related shutdowns. Consequently, the pilot remained only partially filmed. Production on the pilot resumed in November 2020 and was completed the following month. Filming on the remainder of the first season commenced on July 27, 2021 in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, and concluded on December 10, 2021.

Release

Broadcast

In May 2021, it was announced that the series would premiere in Fall 2021 and would air on Monday nights at 10 pm. On July 23, 2021, NBC released the first official trailer for the series. The series premiered on September 20, 2021 and concluded on January 24, 2022.

International

In Canada, the series aired on

Citytv Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Television in Canada, Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consis ...

, with episodes being aired in simulcast with NBC. In Malaysia, the series aired on

PRIMEtime Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to b ...

Reception

Critical response

The

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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 ...

reports a 50% approval rating with an average rating of 6.3/10, based on 20 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Ordinary Joe'' has an appealing start and premise, but it's hard to see whether it's triple timelines will add up to a satisfactory season of television."

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 ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The show's use of multiple color palettes was described by a critic as "notable but not distracting" to distinguish among the three timelines: green when Joe is a nurse, blue when he is a cop, and orange when he is a rock star.

Ratings

*Note: Live+3 day ratings have been used where Live+7 day ratings are unavailable.

References

External links

* * {{Matt Reeves 2020s American drama television series 2021 American television series debuts 2022 American television series endings Nonlinear narrative television series American English-language television shows Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department Television productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic Television series by 20th Television Television series by Universal Television Television series by 3 Arts Entertainment Television series created by Matt Reeves Television shows set in New York City Television shows set in New York (state) NBC television dramas