Legends (TV series)

Last updated
Legends
Legends (TV) logo.jpg
Genre Crime drama
Action
Thriller
Based onLegends: A Novel of Dissimulation
by Robert Littell
Developed by
Starring
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes20
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Sean Bean
  • Kelly A. Manners
  • Jamie Payne
Cinematography
  • Yasu Tanida
  • Sidney Sidell
  • Mathias Herndl
Editors
  • James Kilton
  • Scott Lerner
  • Tod Feuerman
  • Scott Boyd
  • Lise Johnson
  • David Lebowitz
  • Mark C. Baldwin
  • Stephen Mark
  • Scott Powell
  • Leonard Jordan
Running time60 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network TNT
ReleaseAugust 13, 2014 (2014-08-13) 
December 28, 2015 (2015-12-28)

Legends is an American crime drama television series that aired on TNT from August 13, 2014, to December 28, 2015. [1] [2] Developed by Howard Gordon, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, and Mark Bomback, the series is based on the 2005 book Legends: A Novel of Dissimulation written by Robert Littell. [3] On December 4, 2014, TNT renewed Legends for a 10-episode second season, [4] which premiered on November 2, 2015. [5] On December 15, 2015, TNT canceled the series after two seasons and 20 episodes. [6]

Contents

Premise

Martin Odum (Bean) is an undercover FBI agent who changes himself into a different person for each case. A "mysterious stranger" (played by Billy Brown) causes him to question his sanity. [7]

Cast

Season 1

Season 2

Production

Music

The score of season 2 concludes with "Until We Go Down" by Ruelle, played during the climax of "The Legend of Alexei Volkov". Prior to this, the song was introduced to television as the opening theme of The Shannara Chronicles.

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 10August 13, 2014 (2014-08-13)October 8, 2014 (2014-10-08)
2 10November 2, 2015 (2015-11-02)December 28, 2015 (2015-12-28)

Season 1 (2014)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUS viewers
(millions)
11"Pilot" David Semel Story by: Howard Gordon & Mark Bomback and Jeffrey Nachmanoff
Teleplay by: Mark Bomback and Jeffrey Nachmanoff
August 13, 2014 (2014-08-13)2.58 [12]
22"Chemistry" Brad Turner David Wilcox and Ethan Reiff & Cyrus VorisAugust 20, 2014 (2014-08-20)1.73 [13]
33"Lords of War"Brad TurnerStory by: Josh Pate and Ethan Reiff & Cyrus Voris
Teleplay by: Josh Pate
August 27, 2014 (2014-08-27)1.76 [14]
44"Betrayal" Deran Sarafian Story by: Josh Pate & David Wilcox and Ethan Reiff & Cyrus Voris
Teleplay by: Josh Pate & David Wilcox
September 3, 2014 (2014-09-03)1.74 [15]
55"Rogue" Karen Gaviola Andrew Wilder September 10, 2014 (2014-09-10)1.43 [16]
66"Gauntlet"Brad TurnerAndrew WilderSeptember 17, 2014 (2014-09-17)1.63 [17]
77"Quicksand" Terrence O'Hara Josh PateSeptember 24, 2014 (2014-09-24)1.45 [18]
88"Iconoclast" John Behring Geoff AullOctober 1, 2014 (2014-10-01)1.06 [19]
99"Wilderness of Mirrors" Milan Cheylov Josh PateOctober 8, 2014 (2014-10-08)1.08 [20]
1010"Identity"Brad TurnerDavid WilcoxOctober 8, 2014 (2014-10-08)1.08 [20]

Season 2 (2015)

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUS viewers
(millions)
111"The Legend of Dmitry Petrovich"Jamie Payne Ken Biller November 2, 2015 (2015-11-02)0.68 [21]
122"The Legend of Kate Crawford"Jamie PayneRaf GreenNovember 9, 2015 (2015-11-09)0.48 [22]
133"The Legend of Curtis Ballard" Alrick Riley Aaron AllenNovember 23, 2015 (2015-11-23)0.58 [23]
144"The Legend of Ilyana Zakayeva"Alrick RileyAndrew ChapmanNovember 30, 2015 (2015-11-30)0.72 [24]
155"The Legend of Terrence Graves" Jon Jones Matthew NewmanDecember 7, 2015 (2015-12-07)0.67 [25]
166"The Legend of Tamir Zakayev"Jon JonesChris LevinsonDecember 14, 2015 (2015-12-14)0.51 [26]
177"The Second Legend of Dmitry Petrovich" Jeff T. Thomas Raf GreenDecember 21, 2015 (2015-12-21)0.82 [27]
188"The Legend of Doku Zakayev"Jeff T. ThomasAaron AllenDecember 28, 2015 (2015-12-28)0.51 [28]
199"The Legend of Gabi Miskova" Ken Biller Andrew Chapman & Raf GreenDecember 28, 2015 (2015-12-28)0.40 [28]
2010"The Legend of Alexei Volkov"Ken BillerMatthew Newman & Ken BillerDecember 28, 2015 (2015-12-28)0.32 [28]

Broadcast

Internationally, the series premiered in Australia on 11 November 2015 on FX. [29]

Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East & North Africa On the 4th of February 2016, BBC First HD started airing the first episode of the second season of the series on OSN (Orbit Showtime Network).

Critical reception

Legends scored 59 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 27 "mixed or average" reviews. [30] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 56% critics rating with an average rating of 6/10 based on 32 reviews. The website consensus reads: "Legends lacks originality, but derives watchability from Sean Bean's fine central performance". [31]

Development

With its second season, it was revealed Legends would be ‘’reimagined’’. The show would now focus on Bean's character's identity, [32] with most of the original cast being replaced and the initial California setting was replaced for London and continental Europe (Paris and Prague). British veteran TV-directors Jamie Payne [33] ( Indian Summers, The White Queen, The Hour ) and Alrick Riley ( Hustle, Spooks/MI-5, CSI ) [34] were added to the show. Ken Biller ( Legend of the Seeker, Perception ) became the new showrunner/executive producer/lead writer, and developed a brand new nonlinear storyline taking place in different countries and flashbacks to Bean's character's childhood at a British boarding school and scenes from Prague in 2001. [35]

Promotion

To promote the series, TNT launched an intensive advertising campaign targeted at social media [36] beginning at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con. [37] [38] Exploiting Sean Bean's reputation for varied and colorful on-screen deaths, [39] the campaign centered around the hashtag #DontKillSeanBean, and included Bean's image on airport machinery and pillars, a poster covering multiple floors of a hotel adjoining the SDCC site, and widely distributed black T-shirts emblazoned with the hashtag in white. Producer Howard Gordon tweeted images of celebrities, including Kiefer Sutherland, Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin [40] and Bean [38] himself wearing the T-shirt. The ad campaign quickly went viral on social media [41] [42] and became the central focus of publicity done by Bean, including a parody by the website Funny or Die. [43]

DVD release

NameRegion 1Region 2Region 4Discs
Legends: The Complete First SeasonOctober 13, 2015TBATBA3

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References

  1. Credited as Fox 21 for the first season
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