Designated Survivor | |
---|---|
Genre | |
Created by | David Guggenheim |
Starring | |
Theme music composer | |
Composers |
|
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 53 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Producers |
|
Production locations | |
Cinematography |
|
Editor | Michael Schweitzer |
Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time |
|
Production companies |
|
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | September 21, 2016 – May 16, 2018 |
Network | Netflix |
Release | June 7, 2019 |
Related | |
Designated Survivor: 60 Days |
Designated Survivor is an American political thriller drama television series created by David Guggenheim. It aired for three seasons, beginning on ABC and then exclusively on Netflix for the third and final season. Kiefer Sutherland stars as Thomas Kirkman, an American academic named as the designated survivor for the State of the Union address, who suddenly ascends from the position of U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to President of the United States after an explosion kills everyone ahead of him in the presidential line of succession. Kirkman deals with his inexperience as head of state while looking to uncover the truth behind the attack.
The project skipped the pilot stage. It was ordered straight to series on December 14, 2015, with a formal announcement on May 6, 2016. The first episode premiered on September 21, 2016, to an audience of over 10 million viewers. Eight days later, a full-season order was announced. The series was renewed for a second season on May 11, 2017, which premiered on September 27, 2017. In May 2018, ABC cancelled the series after two seasons. In September 2018, Netflix and Entertainment One announced they had reached a deal to pick up Designated Survivor for a third season of 10 episodes, with the latter being solely responsible for the production of the series. The third season premiered on Netflix on June 7, 2019. [4] In July 2019, the series was cancelled by Netflix due to complications with the actors' contracts. [5]
On the night of the State of the Union, an explosion destroys the Capitol Building, killing the president and everyone in the line of succession except for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Thomas Kirkman, who had been named the designated survivor. Kirkman is immediately sworn in as President of the United States of America, unaware that the attack is just the beginning of what is to come. He faces many challenges throughout the series, struggling to balance his political aspirations with the challenge of being seen as a legitimate president.
Character | Portrayed by | Seasons | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | ||
Tom Kirkman | Kiefer Sutherland | Main | ||
Alex Kirkman | Natascha McElhone | Main [a] | ||
Aaron Shore | Adan Canto | Main | ||
Emily Rhodes | Italia Ricci | Main | ||
Mike Ritter | LaMonica Garrett | Main | ||
Leo Kirkman | Tanner Buchanan | Main [b] | Recurring | |
Seth Wright | Kal Penn | Main | ||
Hannah Wells | Maggie Q | Main | ||
Chuck Russink | Jake Epstein | Main | ||
Lyor Boone | Paulo Costanzo | Main | ||
Kendra Daynes | Zoe McLellan | Main | ||
Damian Rennett | Ben Lawson | Main |
Designated Survivor was ordered straight to series by ABC in December 2015, [32] with a formal announcement of 13 episodes in May 2016. [33] [34] A month later, ABC revealed that the series would premiere on September 21, 2016. [35] Eight days after the premiere, on September 29, 2016, ABC gave the series a full season order. [36]
Created by David Guggenheim, the series is executive produced by Simon Kinberg, Sutherland, Suzan Bymel, Aditya Sood, and Nick Pepper. Paul McGuigan directed the pilot episode. Amy B. Harris was set to be the showrunner in February 2016, but after the series' official pick-up in May, it was announced she would be stepping down due to creative differences, and that Jon Harmon Feldman was in talks to replace her. [37] In July 2016, Feldman was confirmed as showrunner/executive producer. [16] In December 2016, Jeff Melvoin was hired as showrunner, replacing the departing Feldman, and supervised the second half of the season. [38] The series was renewed for a second season on May 11, 2017, which premiered on September 27, 2017. [39] [40] For the second season, writer Keith Eisner serves as the showrunner. [41] Kal Penn, who served as the associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs from 2009 to 2011, works as a consultant for the series in addition to his portraying Seth Wright. [42]
On May 11, 2018, ABC canceled the series after two seasons due to a high turnover of showrunners and declining ratings. [43] [44] Shortly after, eOne announced they were in "active discussions" with other networks to revive the show, including Netflix, which streams the series internationally. [45] On September 5, 2018, it was confirmed that Netflix had picked up the series for a third season of 10 episodes, which was released in 2019. Neal Baer served as the series showrunner, the fifth person to do so. [46] On April 24, 2019, it was announced that the third season was set to premiere on Netflix on June 7, 2019. [4]
The first two seasons were produced by ABC Studios, The Mark Gordon Company, and eOne, [46] with filming in Toronto, Ontario. [47] For the third season, ABC Studios was not involved, with eOne (which had fully acquired the Mark Gordon Company) being the sole production company for the series. [46]
On July 24, 2019, Netflix announced the series would not be renewed a fourth season, stating that the third season made for a satisfying final season. However, Netflix will continue to stream all three seasons on their platform. [5]
Producers Jon Harmon Feldman and Guggenheim described the series as more than one genre, drawing inspiration from other thriller-dramas, with Guggenheim explaining, "There is a West Wing component of a man governing and his team governing our nation at this critical time. It's also the Homeland aspect of investigating the conspiracy. It also has a House of Cards component, which is the characters and the business of government through the eyes of these characters." [48] [49]
Kiefer Sutherland joined the cast in December 2015, playing Tom Kirkman, the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development who suddenly becomes President of the United States. [50] Sutherland had no intention of returning to television; he read the first script of the series and changed his mind, saying, "I remember getting to the end of the script and thinking I was potentially holding the next 10 years of my life in my hands." [49]
In February 2016, it was announced that Kal Penn had been cast as Kirkman's speech writer, Maggie Q as Hannah, the lead FBI agent on the bombing of the U.S. Capitol, Natascha McElhone as Kirkman's wife, an EEOC attorney, as well as Italia Ricci as Emily, Kirkman's chief of staff. [8] Shortly after, Adan Canto had joined the series as Aaron Shore, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff. [9] In early March, LaMonica Garrett joined the cast as Mike Ritter, Kirkman's Secret Service agent, [10] and Tanner Buchanan and Mckenna Grace had been cast as Kirkman's children. [11]
In July 2016, Malik Yoba was announced for a recurring role as Jason Atwood, the seasoned Deputy Director of the FBI, to appear in seven episodes, [16] while Virginia Madsen had been cast in the recurring role of Kimble Hookstraten, a conservative Congresswoman and the designated survivor for the rival political party. [51] A month later, Ashley Zukerman joined the series in a recurring role as Peter MacLeish, an Afghan War veteran and popular third-term Congressman. [18] In September 2016, Mykelti Williamson was cast as Admiral Chernow, a career military man and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. [19] On November 4, 2016, it was announced that Mariana Klaveno had been cast for the show as the Dark-Haired Woman, a clandestine operator in league with the people behind the Capitol attack. [52]
For the second season, Paulo Costanzo, Zoe McLellan, and Ben Lawson joined the cast as series regulars, portraying White House Political Director Lyor Boone, [13] White House Counsel Kendra Daynes, [14] and Damian Rennett, [15] respectively.
After the third season renewal announcement, it was confirmed that Kiefer Sutherland, Adan Canto, Italia Ricci, Kal Penn and Maggie Q would return as series regulars. [7] On October 18, 2018, it was reported that Anthony Edwards, Julie White and Elena Tovar were cast in the recurring roles of Mars Harper, Lorraine Zimmer and Isabel Pardo respectively. [27] [28] [53] On November 15, 2018, Lauren Holly and Benjamin Watson were cast in recurring roles as Lynn Harper and Dontae Evans, respectively. [29]
Designated Survivor began airing on September 21, 2016, on ABC in the United States, [35] and CTV in Canada. [54] Netflix aired the series outside the United States and Canada, adding the episodes weekly, [55] [56] with distribution handled by eOne. [57] For the third season, Designated Survivor was released globally on Netflix. Before Netflix announced it would release the third season, an agreement had to be reached with Hulu, who held the streaming rights to the first two seasons in the United States; the first two seasons moved to Netflix in the United States and Canada during October 2018. [46]
ABC aired the series with a TV-14 rating (some episodes were TV-PG), while Netflix applied a TV-MA rating on the show's third and final season.
A teaser trailer for Designated Survivor was released on May 6, 2016, [33] with the full trailer released on May 17. [58] Producers and some of the cast members promoted the series at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2016, showing a special preview screening with co-stars Maggie Q and Kal Penn in attendance. [59]
The first season was released on DVD in Region 1 on August 29, 2017. [60]
The complete series featuring all three seasons was released on DVD in Region 1 on October 12, 2021. [61]
Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave Season 1 of the series an approval rating of 87% based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 7.07/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Kiefer Sutherland skillfully delivers the drama in Designated Survivor, a fast-paced, quickly engrossing escapist political action fantasy." [62] Metacritic reported a score of 71 out of 100 based on 35 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [63]
Terri Schwartz from IGN gave the first episode a rating of 8.0/10, saying, "Designated Survivor is a strong debut for a show that will fit well alongside Quantico and Scandal in ABC's government-set political drama lineup." [64] Variety said that the episode "does everything it needs to, checking off the necessary boxes for the unwilling American hero-president in efficient, compelling scenes." [65] Chuck Barney from Mercury News called the first episode "suspenseful". [66] Writing for TV Insider , Matt Roush compared Designated Survivor with other series as he said "fall's niftiest new drama has West Wing idealism, Homeland suspense and House of Cards political intrigue in its robust and compelling DNA." [67] Zack Handlen from The A.V. Club wrote positively about the show and the premiere, praising Sutherland's performance and commented on the symbol of Sutherland's glasses as he said, "The glasses he's wearing serve as a way to tell us this is a different kind of hero, but they're also a form of camouflage, making it easier for us to understand why so many people would underestimate this man." [68]
The editors of TV Guide placed Designated Survivor first among the top ten picks for the most anticipated new shows of the 2016–17 season. In writer Alexander Zalben's overall review, he pointed out the keys to one of the strongest pilots he had seen so far: "Designated Survivor is the rare show that delivers on the hype, and surpasses it," and later stating "It's shocking that a show can balance all of these elements, but credit a magnetic cast that hits the ground running, a crack script that makes the first hour feel like 10 minutes and, of course, Sutherland as the anchor that keeps it all grounded." Zalben's review concluded with this recommendation: "There's a reason Designated Survivor wasn't just the top pick across all of our Editors' lists, but also on the list compiled from TVGuide.com viewers' Watchlist adds: this is a show that delivers on its premise, feels timely, and most importantly, is a ton of fun." [69]
On the other hand, after watching the first episode of the first season, The Guardian 's Brian Moylan criticized the dialogue, writing in his review that "this drama needs dialogue that won't make the citizenry's eyeballs roll", adding that the show features "meaningless platitudes" of a "we're going to do this my way" attitude, and concluded by writing, "All we're left with is a really great concept without the backing of a real leader behind it." Moylan also wrote that "there's not enough family tension for it to be a domestic drama, not enough government intrigue to make it a political show, and not enough investigation to make it a procedural." [70] TVLine 's Dave Nemetz drew references between Kirkman and Jack Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland's role in drama thriller 24 , writing that "Sutherland does a good job portraying Kirkman's deep ambivalence about the situation he's been handed. But when he has to play hardball with an Iranian ambassador, the tough talk comes too easily to him. It's like Kirkman has been possessed by the ghost of Jack Bauer." Nemetz also questioned the series' longevity; "As compelling as Designated Survivor's concept is, it's hard to see how it will sustain itself as a weekly series." [71]
On Rotten Tomatoes, Season 2 of the series holds an approval rating of 60% based on ten reviews, with an average rating of 5.92/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Kiefer Sutherland remains commanding enough in Designated Survivor to get him re-elected, but this White House series' escalating earnestness may strike viewers as glaringly naive." [72]
On Rotten Tomatoes, Season 3 of the series holds an approval rating of 67% based on nine reviews, with an average of 6.36/10. [73]
The first episode set a record for DVR viewers with 7.67 million, surpassing the September 25, 2014, record of almost 7 million set by the pilot of How to Get Away with Murder . [74] [75]
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | TV Guide | Most Exciting TV Series | Designated Survivor | Won | [77] |
Critics' Choice Television Awards | Most Exciting New Series | Designated Survivor | Won | [78] | |
2017 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite New TV Drama | Designated Survivor | Nominated | [79] |
Favorite Actor In A New TV Series | Kiefer Sutherland | Nominated | |||
Saturn Awards | Best Action/Thriller Television Series | Designated Survivor | Nominated | [80] |
A South Korean remake titled Designated Survivor: 60 Days , developed by Studio Dragon and produced by DK E&M, premiered on tvN in South Korea and Netflix worldwide on July 1, 2019. [81] [82] Ji Jin-hee portrays the lead role in the series. [83]
Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the Fox drama series 24, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
Natascha Abigail Taylor, known professionally as Natascha McElhone, is an English actress. In film, she has starred in the action thriller Ronin (1998), the psychological comedy-drama The Truman Show (1998) and the science fiction drama Solaris (2002). On television, she has starred in the Showtime comedy-drama series Californication (2007–2014), the ABC political drama series Designated Survivor (2016–2017), the Hulu science fiction drama series The First (2018), the Netflix historical series The Crown (2022) and the Paramount+ military science fiction series Halo.
Italia Ricci is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for starring as April Carver in the 2014–2015 ABC Family television series Chasing Life, for playing Siobhan Smythe / Silver Banshee in Supergirl from 2015 to 2016 and for playing White House Chief of Staff and Special Advisor Emily Rhodes in the television drama series Designated Survivor from 2016 to 2019.
Amy B. Harris, sometimes credited as Amy Harris, is an American screenwriter and producer. She is best known for producing the HBO series Sex and the City (1998–2004) and developing its prequel series The Carrie Diaries (2013–14), which aired on The CW.
Marvel Television was an American television production company responsible for live-action and animated television shows and direct-to-DVD series based on characters from Marvel Comics. Marvel Television was formed as a division of Marvel Entertainment in June 2010, with producer Jeph Loeb serving as its executive vice president and head of television to produce shows for Marvel. The division was based at affiliate ABC Studios' location, and collaborated with the broadcast network ABC, streaming services Netflix and Hulu, and cable channel Freeform to release many of their series as a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise, a shared universe created by the film studio Marvel Studios. Animated series from Marvel Television were produced through Marvel Animation, and the division also collaborated with 20th Century Fox to produce shows based on the X-Men franchise such as Legion and The Gifted.
Adan Canto was a Mexican actor. He portrayed Sunspot in the 2014 superhero film X-Men: Days of Future Past, Paul Torres on the Fox drama series The Following, and A.J. Menendez in the ABC prime-time series Blood & Oil. He appeared as Rodrigo Lara Bonilla in the Netflix drama series Narcos, Aaron Shore in the ABC/Netflix political drama Designated Survivor, and starred on Fox's The Cleaning Lady until his death.
Genre Films, usually credited as Kinberg Genre, is a production company founded by screenwriter-producer-director Simon Kinberg.
The 2016–17 network television schedule for the five major English-language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers prime time hours from September 2016 to August 2017. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series canceled after the 2015–16 season.
24: Legacy is an American television series created by Manny Coto and Evan Katz that aired on Fox network from February 5 to April 17, 2017. The series is a spin-off of 24 which was created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran and its premiere served as the lead-out program for Super Bowl LI before moving to its regular time slot of Monday at 8:00 p.m. The series' premiere was watched by 17.6 million people, the lowest post-Super Bowl program viewership since 2003's Alias but the most viewed episode in the franchise's history.
Conviction is an American legal drama television series on ABC. It premiered on Monday, October 3, 2016. The series, starring Hayley Atwell, was picked up from pilot on May 12, 2016. A full trailer was released on May 17, 2016. On November 8, 2016, ABC announced there would be no back-order for more than the thirteen contracted episodes; however, the remaining episodes of the season aired until its conclusion on January 29, 2017. ABC canceled the series after one season on May 11, 2017.
American Housewife is an American television sitcom created and written by Sarah Dunn and co-executive produced with Aaron Kaplan, Kenny Schwartz, Rick Wiener, and for the pilot only Ruben Fleischer. The show, which premiered on ABC on October 11, 2016, is a Kapital Entertainment–ABC Signature co-production.
She's Gotta Have It is an American comedy-drama television series created by Spike Lee. It is based on his 1986 film of the same name. Ten 30-minute episodes were ordered by Netflix, all of which were directed by Lee. The show premiered on November 23, 2017. On January 1, 2018, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on May 24, 2019. On July 17, 2019, Netflix canceled the series after two seasons.
The 2017–18 network television schedule for the five major English-language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers prime time hours from September 2017 to August 2018. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series canceled after the 2016–17 season.
"Pilot" is the first episode in the American political drama series Designated Survivor. It was aired on ABC on September 21, 2016 in the United States, CTV in Canada, and on Netflix worldwide. The episode shows Thomas "Tom" Kirkman, a low-ranking member of the US Cabinet, unexpectedly ascending to the rank of President of the United States after his predecessor and every other member of the presidential line of succession is killed in a terrorist attack.
David Guggenheim is an American screenwriter, producer, and novelist. He is best known for writing the 2012 films Safe House and Stolen, as well as creating and writing for the 2016 television series Designated Survivor. In 2013, the film rights to a suspense novel published by Little, Brown and Company that Guggenheim co-wrote with Nicholas Mennuti entitled Weaponized, were purchased by Bluegrass Films and Guggenheim was attached as screenwriter. He also worked on an earlier draft of Bad Boys for Life, and the screenplays for Uncharted and the upcoming film Narco Sub.
The first season of the American political drama series Designated Survivor began airing on September 21, 2016 on ABC. The series was ordered straight to series by ABC in December 2015, with a formal announcement of 13 episodes in May 2016. Eight days after the premiere, on September 29, 2016, ABC gave the series a full season order. The series is produced by ABC Studios and The Mark Gordon Company, and is filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The second season of the American political drama series Designated Survivor was ordered on May 11, 2017. It premiered on September 27, 2017, and consisted of 22 episodes. The series is produced by ABC Studios and The Mark Gordon Company, and is filmed in Toronto and Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.
The 2018–19 network television schedule for the five major English-language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers the prime time hours from September 2018 to August 2019. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series canceled after the 2017–18 season.
The third and final season of the American political drama series Designated Survivor was ordered on September 5, 2018. Netflix reached a deal with Entertainment One to pick up the series after its cancellation from ABC. The third season, consisting of 10 episodes, premiered exclusively on Netflix on June 7, 2019.