''Resurrection'' is an American

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

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 ...

television series that aired from March 9, 2014, to January 25, 2015, on ABC. It is based on Jason Mott's 2013 novel '' The Returned'', and is centered on a town in which dead people come back to life. It was co-produced by

ABC Studios ABC Signature was a production arm of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a sub-division of the Disney Entertainment business segment and division of The Walt Disney Company. The studio's ...

and

Plan B Entertainment Plan B Entertainment, Inc., more commonly known as Plan B, is an American production company founded in November 2001 by Brad Pitt, Brad Grey, Kristin Hahn and Jennifer Aniston. The company first signed with Warner Bros. as a replacement for ...

, led by

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. In a Brad Pitt filmography, film career spanning more than thirty years, Pitt has received list of awards and nominations received by Brad Pitt, numerous a ...

, Aaron Zelman, JoAnn Alfano, Jon Liebman, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Michele Fazekas, and Tara Butters. On May 7, 2015, ABC cancelled the series after two seasons.

Premise

The series follows the residents of Arcadia, Missouri, whose lives are upended when their loved ones return from the dead, unaged since their deaths. Among the returned is Jacob Langston (Landon Gimenez), an eight-year-old boy who drowned in 1982. Having been found alive in China, Jacob is brought back to the United States by an immigration agent named J. Martin ("Marty") Bellamy (

Omar Epps Omar Hashim Epps (born July 20, 1973) is an American actor, rapper, and producer. Epps's film roles include ''Juice (1992 film), Juice'', ''Higher Learning'', ''The Wood'', ''In Too Deep (1999 film), In Too Deep'', and ''Love & Basketball''. His ...

), who defies orders and returns Jacob to his parents, Henry ( Kurtwood Smith) and Lucille (

Frances Fisher Frances Louise Fisher (born May 11, 1952) is an American actress. She began her career in theater and later starred as Detective Deborah Saxon in the CBS daytime soap opera ''The Edge of Night'' (1976–1981). In film, she is known for her rol ...

). Jacob's surprise return inspires his uncle, Arcadia Sheriff Fred Langston ( Matt Craven), and Fred's daughter Dr. Maggie Langston ( Devin Kelley), whose wife/mother drowned while allegedly trying to rescue the boy, to learn more about this mystery. Caleb Richards ( Sam Hazeldine), the father of Maggie's best friend Elaine Richards ( Samaire Armstrong), becomes the second Arcadia resident to return, and he warns that there are many more to follow.

Cast and characters

Main

as Immigration and Customs Agent J. Martin "Marty" Bellamy/Robert Thompson *

as Lucille Langston * Matt Craven as Sheriff Fred Langston * Devin Kelley as Dr. Maggie Langston * Mark Hildreth as Pastor Thomas "Tom" Hale * Samaire Armstrong as Elaine Richards * Sam Hazeldine as Caleb Richards (main; season 1, recurring; season 2) * Landon Gimenez as Jacob Langston * Kurtwood Smith as Henry Langston

Recurring

* Kathleen Munroe as Rachael Braidwood * Kevin Sizemore as Gary Humphrey *

James Tupper James Tupper (born August 4, 1965) is a Canadian actor known for his roles as Jack Slattery on the ABC television series '' Men in Trees'', Dr. Chris Sands on the NBC medical drama series '' Mercy'', and David Clarke on ABC's ''Revenge''. He a ...

as Dr. Eric Ward * Tamlyn Tomita as Dr. Toni Willis * Travis Young as Ray Richards * Veronica Cartwright as Helen Edgerton * Lori Beth Sikes as Janine Hale * April Billingsley as Barbara Langston * Ned Bellamy as Sam Catlin * Jwaundace Candece as Mrs. Camille Thompson * Shawn Shepard as Mr. Wallace Thompson * Nadej Bailey as Jenny Thompson * Christopher Berry as Deputy Carl Enders * Glenn Fleshler as Mikey Enders (season 2) * Michelle Fairley as Margaret Langston (season 2) *

Donna Murphy Donna Murphy (born March 7, 1959) is an American actress, best known for her work in musical theater. A five-time Tony Award nominee, she has twice won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical: for her role as Fosca in '' Passion'' (1994–1995) ...

as Elegant Woman/Angela Forrester (season 2) * Kyle Secor as Brian Addison (season 2) * T.J. Linnard as William Kirk (season 2) *

Jim Parrack Jim Parrack (born February 8, 1981) is an American actor best known for his role as List of True Blood characters#Hoyt Fortenberry, Hoyt Fortenberry in HBO series ''True Blood''. He has also appeared in the film ''Battle: Los Angeles'' and as "Sl ...

as Preacher James Goodman (season 2)

Episodes

Season 1 (2014)

Season 2 (2014–15)

Development and production

In January 2013, ABC ordered the project to pilot status and in March brought in Charles McDougall as director as part of a two-year deal he signed with ABC Studios. On March 7, 2013, ABC released its list of potential hour-long pilot pick-ups, with the title changed to ''Forever''. The title changed again after ABC ordered it to series in May 2013. On May 7, 2015, ABC announced that it had cancelled ''Resurrection'' after two seasons. The network cited low ratings as the reason for its cancellation. It was high-rated in its first season, but saw a big drop in ratings in its second season. ''Resurrection'' produced by ABC Studios was one of the biggest cancellations for ABC along with two other shows '' Cristela'' and the Ioan Gruffudd drama ''

Forever Forever or 4ever may refer to: Film and television Films * ''Forever'' (1921 film), an American silent film by George Fitzmaurice * ''Forever'' (1978 film), an American made-for-television romantic drama, based on the novel by Judy Blume * '' ...

''.

Reception

Critical response

''Resurrection'' scored 59 out of 100 on

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 ...

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 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On

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, the first season holds a 50% score with an average rating of 5.7/10, based on 40 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "With too much melodrama and not enough finesse, ''Resurrection'' is dangerously close to DOA." The second season holds a score of 57% with an average rating of 7.0/10, based on seven reviews.

Ratings

Overall

Season 1

Season 2

Broadcast

In Australia, the series premiered on March 25, 2014, on

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, ...

. Its debut episode was the highest rating series premiere for two years in Australia, attracting an audience of 1.9 million mainland capital city viewers (beating previous record holder ''

Revenge Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more fo ...

'' whose first episode reached 2.06 million viewers in 2012) and 2.82 million viewers nationally. It also topped all three key advertising demographics. The second season premiered on February 22, 2015, at the new time of 10:30 p.m. every Sunday. The second season premiered to 112,000 in a new time slot and consequently was the lowest ratings for the series. In New Zealand, it premiered on July 16, 2014, on TV2. In Canada, the series was simsubbed 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 ...

for the first season and CTV for subsequent seasons. In Ireland, the series debuted in summer 2014 on

RTÉ Two (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Republic of Ireland, Irish Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, television, RT� ...

. In the United Kingdom, the show began airing on pay-TV channel,

Watch A watch is a timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another type of ...

on August 18, 2014. The second season premiered on March 19, 2015.

Home media release

ABC and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment scheduled the release of the first season of ''Resurrection'' in DVD format for June 10, 2014. The two-disc set features all eight episodes and bonus features, such as "On Location in Georgia", "Resurrection: Building a Mystery",

blooper A blooper, or gag reel, is short clip from a film, television program or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or ...

s, and deleted scenes.

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 2647586, Resurrection 2010s American drama television series 2014 American television series debuts 2015 American television series endings 2010s American science fiction television series 2010s American supernatural television series American English-language television shows Serial drama television series Television shows based on American novels Television series by ABC Studios Television shows filmed in Georgia (U.S. state) Television shows set in Missouri Fiction about resurrection American fantasy drama television series American Broadcasting Company television dramas