''Soundtrack'' is an American

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

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 created by

Joshua Safran Joshua Safran is an American television screenwriter and executive producer. Education Safran attended the Horace Mann School prior to graduating from NYU Tisch with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in playwriting. He has stated he is Jewish. Car ...

, that premiered on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on December 18, 2019. The series is executive produced by Safran alongside

Megan Ellison Margaret "Megan" Elizabeth Ellison (born January 31, 1986) is an American film producer, entrepreneur, and daughter of multibillionaire Larry Ellison. She is a founder of Annapurna Pictures, established in 2011. She produced the films ''Zero D ...

and Ali Krug and stars Paul James, Callie Hernandez,

Marianne Jean-Baptiste Marianne Raigipcien Jean-Baptiste (born 26 April 1967) is an English actress. She is known for her role in Mike Leigh's drama film ''Secrets & Lies (film), Secrets & Lies'' (1996), for which she received acclaim and earned nominations for the A ...

Jenna Dewan Jenna Lee Dewan (; born December 3, 1980) is an American actress and dancer. She started her career as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson, and later worked with artists including Christina Aguilera, Pink, and Missy Elliott. She is known for her r ...

, Jahmil French,

Megan Ferguson Megan Ferguson (born ) is an American actress. In 2011, Ferguson married fellow actor Nico Evers-Swindell Nico Thomas Evers-Swindell is a New Zealand actor who portrayed Prince William in the 2011 Lifetime original film '' William & Kate''. P ...

, Isaiah Givens,

Madeleine Stowe Madeleine Stowe (born August 18, 1958) is an American actress. She appeared mostly on television before her role in the 1987 crime-comedy film '' Stakeout''. She went on to star in the films ''Revenge'' (1990), ''Unlawful Entry'' (1992), ''The L ...

, and

Campbell Scott Campbell Scott (born July 19, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. His roles include Steve Dunne in '' Singles'', Mark Usher in ''House of Cards'', Joseph Tobin in ''Damages'', Richard Parker in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and '' The Amazi ...

. In January 2020, the series was canceled after one season.

Premise

''Soundtrack'' takes a look at "the love stories connecting a diverse, disparate group of people in contemporary Los Angeles through the music that lives inside their hearts and minds."

Cast and characters

Main

* Paul James as Samson "Sam" Hughes, a widower who works several jobs and has a son * Callie Hernandez as Eleanor "Nellie" O’Brien, an aspiring artist *

as Annette Sands, Sam's aunt who is a manager at a restaurant *

as Joanna Kassem, a former struggling dancer who is now a social worker * Jahmil French as Dante Sands, Sam's cousin and Annette's eldest son who recently got out of prison and is a struggling to get a job as a convicted felon *

as Jean Dubrowski (assumed name is Gigi Dumont), Nellie's best friend * Isaiah Givens as Barry Hughes, Sam and Nellie's six-year-old son who is having a hard time coping with his mother's death *

as Margot Weston, Nellie's mother and Sam's mother-in-law *

as Frank O’Brien, Nellie's father

Recurring

Christina Milian Christina Milian ( , Flores; born September 26, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Following a number of minor television and film roles in the late nineties, Milian made her recording debut on American rapper Ja Rule's 20 ...

as De'Andra Green, Dante's ex-girlfriend who is in medical school and married to a doctor * Juliet G. James as Leah Sands, Annette's youngest daughter who is a high school student * Robbie Fairchild as Troy, as Nellie and Gigi's friend * Deron J. Powell as Arthur * Sammy A. Publes as Mr. Hernandez * Brian Keys as Carver * Amy J. Carle as Stella, Joanna's colleague *

James McDaniel James McDaniel Jr. (born March 25, 1958) is an American stage, film and television actor. He is best known for playing Lt. Arthur Fancy on the television show ''NYPD Blue''. He played the role of Paul in the hit Lincoln Center play ''Six Degre ...

as Moses, Barry's soccer coach and Annette's love interest

Guest

Leonard Wu Leonard Wu is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Orus in the Netflix television drama series ''Marco Polo'' (2016), Shiwei Chen in the drama television series '' Bosch'' (2018), Kinuba in the action film '' Alita: Battle Angel'' (2019 ...

as Stephen

Production

Development

On January 19, 2018, it was announced that

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

had given the production a pilot order. The pilot episode was written by

who was also set to executive produce alongside Megan Ellison and Sue Naegle. Ali Krug was set as a co-executive producer. Production companies involved with the pilot were expected to include Annapurna Television. On February 8, 2018, it was reported that

Jesse Peretz Jesse Peretz (born May 19, 1968) is an American film and television director, TV producer and former musician. He first rose to prominence as a bass guitarist and founding member of The Lemonheads, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based band that form ...

would direct the pilot. On May 11, 2018, Safran announced on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that Fox had passed on the pilot and declined to order the production to series. Later that month, it was confirmed that the production was being shopped to other potential outlets. On July 2, 2018, it was announced that

had given the production a straight-to-series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes. It was also reported that Ali Krug would now serve as an executive producer and that

20th Century Fox 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

Fox 21 Television Studios The second incarnation of Touchstone Television, formerly known as Fox 21 Television Studios, was an American television production company and a subsidiary of the Disney Television Studios, a subsidiary of the Disney Media Networks business se ...

were now serving as additional production companies for the series. On January 31, 2020, it was announced that the series was canceled after one season.

Casting

In February 2018, it was announced that

and Callie Hernandez had joined the pilot's main cast. In March 2018, it was reported that

Raúl Castillo Raul Castillo may refer to: * Raúl Castillo (actor), American actor and playwright * Raul Castillo (fighter), American mixed martial artist * Raúl Castillo (footballer), Mexican footballer {{hndis ...

had also joined the main cast of the pilot. Alongside the announcement of the series order in May 2018, it was reported that Castillo's role would be recast. On December 13, 2018, it was announced that Paul James had been cast to replace Castillo.

Episodes

Reception

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 ...

, the series holds an approval rating of 44% with an average rating of 4.83/10, based on 9 reviews. 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 ...

, it has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original ended series (2019–present) 2010s American drama television series 2019 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings American musical television series American English-language television shows Netflix television dramas Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television shows set in Los Angeles