''Rutherford Falls'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

television series that premiered on the

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

service

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

on April 22, 2021. It was created by

Ed Helms Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor, musician and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's '' The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sit ...

Michael Schur Michael Herbert Schur (born October 29, 1975) is an American television writer, producer, director, and actor. He started his career as a writer for ''Saturday Night Live'' (1998–2004) before gaining acclaim as a writer and producer of the si ...

, and

Sierra Teller Ornelas Sierra Nizhoni Teller Ornelas (Navajo, born March 3, 1981)@sierraornelas (March 3, 2024). https://twitter.com/sierraornelas/status/1764361410283254156/photo/1 Retrieved 21 April 2024. is a Native American showrunner, screenwriter, filmmaker and si ...

. In July 2021, the series was renewed for a second season, which was released on June 16, 2022. In September 2022, the series was canceled after two seasons.

Premise

The series is a comedy about two lifelong friends, Nathan Rutherford (

) and Reagan Wells (

Jana Schmieding Jana Schmieding is a Native American (Cheyenne River Lakota) comedian, actor, podcaster, and writer. She is best known for her roles hosting the podcast ''Woman of Size'', and as a writer and actor on the sitcom '' Rutherford Falls'', and an act ...

), whose relationship is tested when a crisis hits their fictional small town. After the mayor decides to move a statue of Nathan's ancestor, the town founder, because drivers keep hitting it, Nathan begins a quest to keep the statue in its place. Reagan has to juggle loyalty to her friend and to her people, the Minishonka Nation. She wants to develop a cultural center to highlight their history, and Rutherford's ancestor has become known for having attacked her people in the colonial era. Terry Thomas (

Michael Greyeyes Michael Greyeyes (born June 4, 1967) is a First Nations ( Muskeg Lake Cree Nation) actor, dancer, choreographer, director, and educator. In 1996, Greyeyes portrayed Crazy Horse in the television film ''Crazy Horse''. In 2018, Greyeyes portrayed ...

) is the CEO of the Minishonka casino, and he is interested in gaining power for his people and family. The show uses humor, jokes, and irony to highlight the biases that are present in today's society surrounding Native Americans. The show uses a marginalized community and a white community to compare and contrast society's view on their heritage and preservation throughout its entirety. While hard-hitting topics are presented throughout the show, an overarching sense of comedy, irony, and light-heartedness is evident from the beginning.

Cast

Main

as Nathan Rutherford, who runs the town's heritage museum and is a descendant of the town's founder *

( Cheyenne River Sioux) as Reagan Wells, Nathan's best friend and a Minishonka, who dreams of championing the history of her people *

( Muskeg Lake Cree Nation) as Terry Thomas, the C.E.O. of the Minishonka casino, who envisions big things for both Reagan Wells and their Nation * Jesse Leigh as Bobbie Yang, an ambitious high school student who works as Nathan's personal assistant *

Dustin Milligan Dustin Wallace Milligan (born July 28, 1985) is a Canadian actor best known as Jack Snowman in ''Hot Frosty'', Ted Mullens on ''Schitt's Creek'', Ethan Ward on ''90210 (TV series), 90210'', Tom Cummings in ''X Company'', and Josh Carter on ''Ruth ...

as Josh Carter, an

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

journalist seeking to reveal the real story of Rutherford Falls

Recurring

*Dana L. Wilson as Deirdre Chisenhall, Mayor of Rutherford Falls * Bobby Wilson (

Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota The Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation (), formerly Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe/Dakota Nation, is a federally recognized tribe comprising two bands and two subdivisions of the ''Isanti'' or Santee Dakota people. They are ...

) as Wayne, a casino employee * Beth Stelling as Peggy Fish, a teacher with a crush on Nathan *

Geraldine Keams Geraldine Keams (born August 19, 1951) is a Navajo actress. She is best known for her work in numerous television series, often playing a maternal role. Biography Keams was born on August 19, 1951, in Flagstaff, Arizona. She was raised on the Na ...

(

Diné The Navajo or Diné are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Navajo language, Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Din ...

) as Rayanne * Ben Koldyke as Dudley 'Duz' Rutherford, Nathan's brother * Migizi Pensoneau (

Ponca The Ponca people are a nation primarily located in the Great Plains of North America that share a common Ponca culture, history, and language, identified with two Indigenous nations: the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma or the Ponca Tribe of ...

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

) as Roy Crooks, CEO of Spirit Pond Resort, Casino, Indoor Water Park, and Dispensary *Adam Farabee as Charlie Cromwell *

Mimi Gianopulos Mimi Gianopulos (born May 12, 1989) is an American actress. She is best known for her supporting role as Molly in the 2012 film '' What to Expect When You're Expecting''. She currently stars as Giada Russo in the Disney Channel sitcom ''Wizards Be ...

as Kaitlyn, Vice President of Communications at Rutherford Inc. *Jason Grasl as Forest Grant *Chevonne Hughes as Bonnie *

Devery Jacobs Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (born August 8, 1993) is a Mohawk actress. For her performance in '' Rhymes for Young Ghouls'' (2013), she garnered a Canadian Screen Awards nomination for Best Actress. In 2023 and 2024, for her role on ''Reservation ...

( Kahnawake Mohawk) as Jess Wells, Reagan's cousin and Terry's assistant *

Julia Jones Julia Jones (born January 23, 1981) is an American actress. She may be best known for playing Leah Clearwater in '' The Twilight Saga'' film series and Angela Bishop in the television series '' Dexter: New Blood''. Early life and education Jul ...

as Sally, a casino employee * Monica Padman as Melanie, Kaitlyn's assistant *Camille Schurer as Madison * Paul F. Tompkins as Professor Tobias James Kaufman *

Kiawentiio Kiawenti:io Tarbell (, born 28 April 2006), known mononymously as Kiawentiio, is a Mohawk actress and singer. She made her television debut in the third season of the CBC series ''Anne with an E'' (2019) and her film debut in ''Beans'' (2020). ...

( Mohawk) as Maya Thomas, Terry's daughter * Martin Sensmeier (

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the I ...

) as Ray, Reagan's ex-fiancée *

Kaniehtiio Horn Kaniehtiio Alexandra Jessie Horn ( Batt; ; born November 8, 1986), sometimes credited as Tiio Horn, is a Canadian actress and filmmaker. She was nominated for a Gemini Award for her role in the television film '' Moccasin Flats: Redemption'' and ...

(

Kahnawake The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (, in the Mohawk language, ''Kahnawáˀkye'' in Tuscarora) is a First Nations reserve of the Mohawks of Kahnawà:ke on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, across from Montreal. Establi ...

Mohawk) as Feather Day, mayoral candidate (season 2) * Dallas Goldtooth ( Mdewakanton Dakota/

) as Nelson, newly hired museum curator and Reagan's new love interest (season 2)

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2021)

Season 2 (2022)

Production

Development

The series was created by

, and

. The initial idea came from discussions between Helms and Schur (who had previously worked together on ''

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

''), and once they had decided on a Native American theme, they asked Ornelas to get involved and serve as showrunner. Schur had worked with her previously on ''

Brooklyn Nine-Nine ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural sitcom television series that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox, and later on NBC, from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Dan G ...

''. After delays due to 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 ...

, the series announced in August 2020 their intentions to begin filming in Los Angeles in early September. On July 8, 2021, Peacock renewed the series for a second season. The writers' room features one of the largest Indigenous writing staffs on American television, with five writers being of Indigenous heritage. Teller Ornelas recruited Native writers from many different sources. The diversity present in the writers room brought multiple perspectives to the table and created a diversified representation of Indigenous people in the show. She hired Bobby Wilson of the 1491s, who also acts in the show, after laughing at a post he made on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

. Teller Ornelas said she had previously been told there wasn't enough Native American writing or acting talent to make a Native-themed sitcom, but told ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', "It’s not true. We found more Native writers than we could staff and multiple actors for each role. It was an embarrassment of riches." On September 2, 2022, Peacock announced that it would not be renewing the show for a third season, effectively cancelling it after two seasons.

Casting

When the series was announced in November 2019, it was reported that co-creator

would be starring in the series. On August 10, 2020, as part of a virtual press tour, the principal cast was announced as

, Jesse Leigh, and

Release

On March 16, 2021, the series released its first trailer. On April 22, Peacock released all ten episodes of the series' first season.

Reception

Reviews of the show's first season were generally positive.

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 ...

gave the series a score of 94% based on 36 critics with an average rating of 7.20/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though it takes a few episodes to find its footing, a winsome ensemble, witty writing, and a willingness to engage with complex issues facing Indigenous peoples in modern America make ''Rutherford Falls'' a place worth visiting."

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 ...

gave the series a score of 66 out of 100 indicating "generally favorable reviews" based on 17 critics. Based on the first four episodes of the series, Jen Chaney of ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...

'' said the show "skillfully braids discussions of serious sociocultural issues with character-based comedy in ways that seem neither forced nor overly didactic." Saloni Gajjar of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' gave the series a grade of "A−" and said the show "is distinguished by a sincere attempt to depict previously untold narratives without falling into a trap of stereotypes" and praised its "vibrant, heartwarming spirit."

References

External links

* * *
An interview with the show creators
from

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

An interview with Greyeyes
from ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

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