''Scoundrels'' is an American

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

television series that aired on the

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 ...

network. It is based on the New Zealand TV series ''Outrageous Fortune''. The one-hour

premiered on Sunday, June 20, 2010 at 9 pm. The eight-episode run ended on August 15, 2010.

Plot

Cheryl West is a middle-aged woman with four children: twin brothers Logan and Cal, and daughters Heather, an aspiring model and Hope, the youngest and an aspiring filmmaker. After Cheryl's career criminal husband Wolf is sentenced to five years in prison, Cheryl forces her family to quit its criminal activities. However, even from jail, Wolf interferes with her attempts to reform their family.

Cast

Virginia Madsen Virginia Madsen (born September 11, 1961) is an American actress. She is the recipient of two Critics' Choice Awards, an Independent Spirit Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Gl ...

as Cheryl West * David James Elliott as Wolfgang "Wolf" West *

Patrick Flueger Patrick John Flueger (born December 10, 1983) is an American actor, first known for a principal role as Shawn Farrell in the television series ''The 4400''. He currently appears in a lead role on '' Chicago P.D.'', playing Adam Ruzek. Life and ...

as Logan and Calvin "Cal" West (twins) *

Leven Rambin Leven Alice Rambin (born May 17, 1990) is an American actress. She is known for playing look-alike half-sisters Lily Montgomery and Ava Benton on ''All My Children'', and for her recurring roles on ''Grey's Anatomy'' and '' Gone'', as well as '' ...

as Heather West * Vanessa Marano as Hope West * Carlos Bernard as Sergeant Mack

Development and production

The series is based on the New Zealand TV series ''Outrageous Fortune'', which was created by James Griffin and Rachel Lang. (See also "Honest" starring Amanda Redman - a British version of the New Zealand series which transmitted on ITV in 2008.) Lyn Greene and Richard Levine wrote the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

of ''Scoundrels'' for American television, and they serve as the series

show runner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

s. ABC

green-lit 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 ...

the series in January 2010 with an eight episode order. Madsen was cast in early February, followed by Flueger. Rambin came on board in late February, along with

Neal McDonough Neal McDonough (born February 13, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Lynn Compton, Lynn "Buck" Compton in the HBO miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers'' (2001), Deputy District Attorney ...

, who was originally cast as Wolf West. Filming began March 16, 2010 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Three days into the shoot, McDonough was replaced by David James Elliot due to McDonough's religious beliefs and refusal to film sex scenes. This was ABC's second attempt at reformatting ''Outrageous Fortune'' for an American audience. In 2008, a pilot named '' Good Behavior'' wasn't picked up by the network.

Reception

The series pilot "And Jill Came Tumbling After" received mixed reviews with ''The Boston Herald'' claiming the show was "wicked fun" and praised the show's cast. A reviewer from ''The Boston Globe'' was quoted to say "Not a single one of the characters were funny enough, or touching enough, to make me want to see more of them. If the Wests were thrown in jail, I’d be tempted to throw away the key." On the review collaboration site

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 ...

, ''Scoundrels'' currently holds 56% (mixed or average) based on 18 critic reviews. The show's second episode ''Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary'' got overall a better response than the pilot with it earning positive reviews. TV Fanatic gave the episode 3/5 saying "the episode was an improvement on the pilot, with the characters developing and the show overall finding its tone and footing a bit." and "there were decent dramatic moments and good laughs in “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary."

Cancellation

On October 24, 2010 it was revealed on ABC's Twitter page that ''Scoundrels'' would not be returning for another season.

Episodes

Ratings

U.S. Nielsen ratings

Weekly ratings

Seasonal ratings

Canadian ratings

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 1595860, Scoundrels 2010s American drama television series 2010 American television series debuts 2010 American television series endings American television series based on New Zealand television series American English-language television shows Television series by South Pacific Pictures Television series by ABC Studios American Broadcasting Company comedy-dramas