Godfather of Harlem | |
---|---|
Genre | Crime drama |
Created by | |
Written by |
|
Starring |
|
Theme music composer | Mark Isham |
Opening theme | "Just In Case" by Swizz Beatz |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 30 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Production location | New York City |
Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time | 47–60 min |
Production companies |
|
Original release | |
Network | Epix |
Release | September 29, 2019 – August 29, 2021 |
Network | MGM+ |
Release | January 15, 2023 – present |
Godfather of Harlem is an American crime drama television series that premiered on September 29, 2019, on Epix. [1] The series is written by Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein, and stars Forest Whitaker as 1960s New York City gangster Bumpy Johnson. Whitaker is also executive producer alongside Nina Yang Bongiovi, James Acheson, John Ridley and Markuann Smith. Chris Brancato acts as showrunner. On February 12, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season; which premiered on April 18, 2021. On January 13, 2022, the series was renewed for a third season, which premiered on January 15, 2023, on the rebranded MGM+. On November 29, 2023, the series was renewed for a fourth season. [2]
A docu-series based on the series titled By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem and directed by Keith McQuirter premiered on November 8, 2020. [3] [4]
Godfather of Harlem tells the fictionalised story of infamous crime boss Bumpy Johnson, "who in the early 1960s returned from ten years in prison to find the neighborhood he once ruled in shambles. With the streets controlled by the Italian mob, Bumpy must take on the Genovese crime family to regain control. During the battle, he forms an alliance with Muslim minister Malcolm X – catching Malcolm's political rise in the crosshairs of social upheaval and a mob war that threatens to tear the city apart." [5]
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | Network | |||
1 | 10 | September 29, 2019 | December 1, 2019 | Epix | |
2 | 10 | April 18, 2021 | August 29, 2021 | ||
3 | 10 | January 15, 2023 | March 26, 2023 | MGM+ |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "By Whatever Means Necessary" | John Ridley | Chris Brancato & Paul Eckstein | September 29, 2019 |
2 | 2 | "The Nitty Gritty" | Joe Chappelle | Chris Brancato | October 6, 2019 |
3 | 3 | "Our Day Will Come" | Joe Chappelle | Paul Eckstein | October 13, 2019 |
4 | 4 | "I Am the Greatest" | Guillermo Navarro | Chris Brancato | October 20, 2019 |
5 | 5 | "It's All in the Game" | Guillermo Navarro | Lawrence Andries | October 27, 2019 |
6 | 6 | "Il Canto de Malavita" | Tanya Hamilton | Chris Brancato | November 3, 2019 |
7 | 7 | "Masters of War" | Tanya Hamilton | Zach Calig | November 10, 2019 |
8 | 8 | "How I Got Over" | Ernest R. Dickerson | Resheida Brady & Mosie Verneau | November 17, 2019 |
9 | 9 | "Rent Strike Blues" | Ernest R. Dickerson | Chris Brancato & Michael Panes | November 24, 2019 |
10 | 10 | "Chickens Come Home to Roost" | Joe Chappelle | Chris Brancato | December 1, 2019 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
11 | 1 | "The French Connection" | Joe Chappelle | Chris Brancato | April 18, 2021 |
12 | 2 | "Sting Like a Bee" | Guillermo Navarro | Chris Brancato & Michael Panes | April 25, 2021 |
13 | 3 | "The Fruit Stand Riot" | Guillermo Navarro | Chris Brancato & Paul Eckstein | May 2, 2021 |
14 | 4 | "The Geechee" | Joe Chappelle | Heather Mitchell, Chris Brancato & Michael Panes | May 9, 2021 |
15 | 5 | "It's a Small World After All" | Guillermo Navarro | Matthew Newman | May 16, 2021 |
16 | 6 | "The Ballot or the Bullet" | Marisol Adler | Chris Brancato & Michael Panes | May 23, 2021 |
17 | 7 | "Man of the Year" | Guillermo Navarro | Heather Mitchell, Chris Brancato & Michael Panes | August 8, 2021 |
18 | 8 | "Ten Harlems" | Joe Chappelle | Resheida Brady & Zach Calig | August 15, 2021 |
19 | 9 | "Bonanno Split" | Carl Seaton | Chris Brancato & Moise Verneau | August 22, 2021 |
20 | 10 | "The Hate That Hate Produced" | Joe Chappelle | Chris Brancato & Michael Panes | August 29, 2021 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title [6] | Directed by | Written by [7] | Original air date [6] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
21 | 1 | "The Negro in White America" | Joe Chappelle | Chris Brancato & Michael Panes | January 15, 2023 |
22 | 2 | "Alzado" | Louis Patrick Emmanuels | Chris Brancato & Michael Panes | January 22, 2023 |
23 | 3 | "Mecca" | Carl Seaton | Chris Brancato & Paul Eckstein | January 29, 2023 |
24 | 4 | "Captain Fields" | Guillermo Navarro | Moises Verneau & Dean Imperial | February 5, 2023 |
25 | 5 | "Angel of Death" | Lily Mariye | Chris Brancato & Michael Panes | February 19, 2023 |
26 | 6 | "Spooks" | Guillermo Navarro | Dean Imperial & Angelica Cheri | February 26, 2023 |
27 | 7 | "All Roads Lead to Malcolm" | Joe Chappelle | Chris Brancato & Michael Panes | March 5, 2023 |
28 | 8 | "Homeland or Death" | Guillermo Navarro | Michael Panes & Dean Imperial | March 12, 2023 |
29 | 9 | "We Are All Kings" | Rob Greenlea | Chris Brancato & Michael Panes | March 19, 2023 |
30 | 10 | "Our Black Shining Prince" | Joe Chappelle | Chris Brancato & Michael Panes | March 26, 2023 |
On April 25, 2018, it was announced that Epix had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes set to premiere in 2019. The series will be written by Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein who will also executive produce alongside Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi, James Acheson, and Markuann Smith. Brancato will also act as showrunner. Production companies involved with the series include ABC Signature Studios and Significant Productions. [5] [8] [9]
On June 19, 2018, it was reported that John Ridley would direct the first episode of the series. [10]
On February 12, 2020, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on April 18, 2021. [11] [12]
On January 13, 2022, the series was renewed for a third season which premiered on January 15, 2023. [13] [14]
Alongside the initial series announcement, it was confirmed that Forest Whitaker would star in the series as Bumpy Johnson. [5] In September 2018, it was announced that Vincent D'Onofrio, Ilfenesh Hadera, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, Nigél Thatch, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Lucy Fry and Paul Sorvino had been cast in starring roles. [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] In October 2018, it was reported that Giancarlo Esposito and Rafi Gavron had joined the cast in a series regular capacity. [21] [22] On January 8, 2019, it was announced that Kathrine Narducci had been cast in a recurring role. [23]
In March 2021, Justin Bartha, Annabella Sciorra, Ronald Guttman, Isaach de Bankolé, Method Man, Michael Rispoli and Grace Porter were announced to have joined the cast for the second season. [24] [25] In May, Whoopi Goldberg was announced to appear in a guest role. [26]
On July 25, 2022, Paul Sorvino died shortly before the third season began production. [27]
In August 2024, Rome Flynn was announced to have joined the cast for the fourth season. [28] In September, Michael Benjamin Washington and Elijah Wright were announced to have joined the cast. [29]
Principal photography for the series reportedly began in September 2018 in New York City. [30]
For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 92% approval rating with an average rating of 7.50/10, based on 25 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads: "As sharply dressed as it is smartly written, Godfather of Harlem walks familiar blocks to its own beat and makes a strong first impression." [31] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the season a score of 72 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [32] Cheryl Kahla of The South African said: "The Godfather of Harlem is an excellent example of what modern television is capable of today. Whitaker's character Bumpy is a drug kingpin but also just a man trying to make sense of the world and connect with his family". [33]
Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy" Johnson was an American crime boss in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City.
Kathrine Narducci is an American actress, known for her role as Charmaine Bucco, Artie Bucco's wife, on the HBO crime drama series The Sopranos (1999–2007). Her film credits include A Bronx Tale (1993), Chicago Overcoat (2009), Jersey Boys (2014), Bad Education (2019), The Irishman (2019), and Capone (2020).
Chris Brancato is an American television and film writer and producer. Brancato grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey and graduated in 1980 from Teaneck High School. He subsequently attended and graduated from Brown University.
Lucy Elizabeth Fry is an Australian actress. She is known for portraying Zoey in Lightning Point, Lyla in Mako: Island of Secrets, and Lissa Dragomir in the film Vampire Academy. Fry was also cast in Hulu's eight part miniseries 11.22.63 as Marina Oswald, wife of Lee Harvey Oswald, and played the lead in the 2016 Australian horror television series Wolf Creek and Tikka in the 2017 Netflix film Bright. Since 2019, she has portrayed Stella Gigante in the Epix series Godfather of Harlem.
Graves is an American comedy television series, created by Joshua Michael Stern, that premiered on October 16, 2016, on Epix. The series stars Nick Nolte as the eponymous Richard Graves, a former President of the United States attempting to make amends for the mistakes he made in office. After two seasons, it was cancelled by Epix in 2017.
StartUp is an American crime drama television series created by Ben Ketai that premiered on September 6, 2016 on Crackle. It stars Adam Brody, Martin Freeman, Edi Gathegi, Otmara Marrero, Ron Perlman, Mira Sorvino, and Addison Timlin. On November 15, 2017, it was renewed for a third season which was released on November 1, 2018. The show was not renewed for a fourth season.
Goliath is an American legal drama television series by Amazon Studios. The show was commissioned with a straight-to-series order of eight episodes on December 1, 2015 and premiered on October 13, 2016, on Amazon Prime Video. On February 15, 2017, Amazon announced the series had been renewed for a second season and confirmed that Clyde Phillips was joining the series as showrunner. The trailer for season 2 was released on May 1, 2018. Season 2, consisting of eight episodes, was released on June 15, 2018. On December 11, 2018, the series was renewed for a third season, which premiered on October 4, 2019. On November 14, 2019, Amazon announced the series was renewed for a fourth and final season, which premiered on September 24, 2021.
Get Shorty is an American comedy-drama television series, based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard, and serves as the third installment overall in its titular franchise. Created by Davey Holmes, it premiered on August 13, 2017, on Epix. It stars Chris O'Dowd, Ray Romano, Sean Bridgers, Carolyn Dodd, Lidia Porto, Goya Robles, Megan Stevenson, Lucy Walters, and Sarah Stiles. It has aired for three seasons, consisting of twenty-seven episodes. In December 2018, it was renewed for a third season, which began airing on October 6, 2019. Although no further seasons have been commissioned, MGM+ has not officially cancelled the show.
Condor is an American thriller television series based on the novel Six Days of the Condor by James Grady and its 1975 film adaptation Three Days of the Condor written by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and David Rayfiel. The series stars Max Irons. The series was created by Todd Katzberg, Jason Smilovic, and Ken Robinson and premiered on June 6, 2018 on Audience. In July 2018, the series had been renewed for a second season, although in January 2020, Audience announced it would be ending operations in its current format. The second season, already filmed at the time of the announcement, premiered on June 9, 2020, on C More and RTÉ2. In December 2020, its existing two seasons were picked up by Epix. They began premiering the second season on November 7, 2021.
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.
Forest Whitaker is an American actor, producer and director.
Pennyworth, marketed as Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman's Butler for its third season, is an American television series that premiered on July 28, 2019, on Epix, based on DC Comics' Batman character of the same name. The series was developed for television and is executive produced by Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon, and stars Jack Bannon as Alfred Pennyworth, a younger version of the iteration of the character previously portrayed by Sean Pertwee in Heller's and Cannon's Fox series Gotham (2014–2019), with the series serving as a prequel to both Gotham, and V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore, David Lloyd, and Tony Weare. Ben Aldridge, Hainsley Lloyd Bennett, Ryan Fletcher, Dorothy Atkinson, Emma Paetz, Paloma Faith, Polly Walker, James Purefoy, and Jason Flemyng also star.
Perpetual Grace, LTD is an American neo-noir thriller television series that premiered on Epix on June 2, 2019.
Nigél Thatch is an American actor. He played Malcolm X in the first two seasons of the Epix television series Godfather of Harlem and was nominated for a best supporting actor award at the 51st NAACP Image Awards for the role. He also portrayed Malcolm X in the 2014 film Selma.
Bridge and Tunnel is an American comedy drama television series written, directed and produced by Edward Burns for Epix. The first season consists of 6 episodes and premiered on January 24, 2021. In July 2021, the series was renewed for a second season. In September 2022, the series was canceled after two seasons.
Chapelwaite is an American horror television series based on the short story “Jerusalem's Lot” by author Stephen King. It was written by Peter and Jason Filardi, and premiered on Epix on August 22, 2021, and concluded on October 31, 2021. In February 2022, the series was renewed for a second season; however, in November 2023, it was announced that MGM+ had decided not to move forward with a second season.
The 2021–22 network television schedule for the five major English-language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers the prime time hours from September 2021 to August 2022. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series canceled after the 2020–21 television season.
Billy the Kid is an American Western drama television series created by Michael Hirst set in the 19th-century American Old West. It stars Tom Blyth as outlaw and gunfighter Billy the Kid. The series premiered on Epix on April 24, 2022. In January 2023, the series was renewed for a second season split into two parts. The first part premiered on the rebranded MGM+ on October 15, 2023, with the second part premiering on June 2, 2024. In October 2024, the series was renewed for a third and final season.
Antoinette Crowe-Legacy is an American actress best known for her role as Elise Johnson, the daughter of Bumpy Johnson, in the Epix series Godfather of Harlem.