Lethal Weapon | |
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Genre | |
Based on | Lethal Weapon by Shane Black |
Developed by | Matt Miller |
Starring |
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Theme music composer | Vo Williams |
Composers |
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Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 55 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | |
Producer | Kelly Van Horn |
Production locations | Los Angeles, California |
Cinematography |
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Editor | Matt Barber |
Running time | 42–46 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | Fox |
Release | September 21, 2016 – February 26, 2019 |
Lethal Weapon is an American buddy cop action comedy-drama television series developed by Matt Miller and based on the Lethal Weapon film franchise created by Shane Black. The series served as a reboot, [1] which ran for three seasons on Fox, from September 21, 2016 to February 26, 2019. [2] [3]
For its first two seasons, Lethal Weapon starred Clayne Crawford as Martin Riggs and Damon Wayans as Roger Murtaugh, mismatched detective partners who were also the main characters in the films, originally played by Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. The series also includes other characters directly or loosely inspired by characters from the films, including Leo Getz (played by Thomas Lennon), a close friend of Riggs and Murtaugh, portrayed in the films by Joe Pesci.
In May 2018, amidst reports of alleged bad behavior and incidents of hostility between cast and crew on the show's set, Crawford was fired from the show, resulting in the Martin Riggs character being killed off. Seann William Scott was hired to replace him the following season as a new character, Wesley Cole. The third season premiered on September 25. [4]
Wayans left the series following the end-of-season production in December 2018. [5]
For the first two seasons, Roger Murtaugh, an aging detective with a wife and three children, is partnered with Martin Riggs, a young, unstable detective whose wife and unborn child were recently murdered. While Riggs' devil-may-care methods of collaring criminals puts his and Murtaugh's lives in danger on a regular basis, the two are able to develop a respect and form a close friendship. Following Riggs' death in season two, Murtaugh enters a six-month period of depression and during this time he meets and befriends Wesley Cole. Cole is a former CIA operative who has been everywhere and seen everything, and soon finds himself navigating a new partnership with Murtaugh, as he adjusts to life in Los Angeles.
The series was ordered in May 2016 and premiered on Fox on September 21. [2] Fox picked up the series for a full season of 18 episodes in October. [10] A 22-episode second season premiered on September 26, 2017. [11] [12] [13] The series was renewed for a 13-episode third season, with Seann William Scott replacing Clayne Crawford as the series' co-lead, playing a new character. [3] [14] Fox later ordered an additional two episodes for the third season, bringing the total for the season to fifteen episodes. [15] The third season premiered on September 25, 2018.
Damon Wayans was cast as Roger Murtaugh, [16] followed by Golden Brooks as Trish Murtaugh, [17] Jordana Brewster as Dr. Maureen Cahill, [18] Kevin Rahm as Captain Avery, [19] Clayne Crawford as Martin Riggs, [20] and Chandler Kinney as Riana Murtaugh. [21] Keesha Sharp took over the role of Trish Murtaugh from Brooks. [22] [23] Johnathan Fernandez was cast as Scorsese. [23] [24] When the pilot was picked up to series, Johnathan Fernandez was made a series regular. Though showrunner Matt Miller had expressed interest in making Thomas Lennon a series regular as Leo Getz at some point, he remained a recurring actor throughout the three season run.
In May 2018, Crawford was dismissed from the show for on-set behavioral issues and the producers were looking to replace him for a potential third season. [25] [26] Seann William Scott was cast that month as the new co-lead ahead of a third season renewal, playing a new character named Wesley Cole. [3] [27]
The same year in October, Damon Wayans announced his exit from the series, following the end of production for the third season in December. [5] However, Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier stated in February 2019 that there was a strong possibility of Wayans returning if the series were to be renewed for a fourth season. Wayans had cited health problems as the reason for his departure, as he revealed that he is diabetic. After these statements, producers rearranged Wayans' shooting schedules and provided diabetic meals for him on-set. [28]
In the United Kingdom, ITV started airing the series on March 3, 2017. [29] Its viewing figures remained consistent with around 2.5 million tuning in each week. Series two started on January 12, 2018. Series three started on July 26, 2019. In Australia, the Nine Network [30] premiered the series on January 29, 2017. [31] In the Philippines, it premiered on June 10, 2017 on ABS-CBN [32] and ended on September 9. Only 14 episodes were aired. In Hong Kong, the TVB Pearl premiered the series with switchable dual-language in original English and local Cantonese version on October 11, 2017. In New Zealand, it premiered on TV2 on 30 January 2017. In India, Zee Café premiered the first season on 29 September 2016. [33] In Brazil, it has appeared since September 22, 2017 on the Warner Channel Brasil and on the Free-to-air TV on Rede Globo. In Canada, the series is on Netflix with new seasons arriving each September. [34] In Greece, Star Channel started airing the series but after the conclusion of Season 2 on February 2, 2019 plans for broadcasting the final season have yet to be announced to this day[ when? ] by the network. In Bulgaria BTV (Bulgaria) started airing the series on August 1, 2019.
Ireland's RTE ran series 1 and 2 scheduled a few weeks after the US premiere of each episode. As of April 2021, they are still yet to first-run air any episodes in season 3.
Title | Release date | Additional | ||
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Region 1/A [35] | Region 2/B [36] | Region 4/B [37] | ||
The Complete First Season | September 19, 2017 | September 25, 2017 | September 20, 2017 | Features
Special features:
Rating: |
The Complete Second Season | September 18, 2018 | October 1, 2018 | TBA | Features
Special features:
Ratings:
|
The Complete Third Season | September 17, 2019 | TBA | TBA | Features
Special features:
Ratings:
|
Lethal Weapon received mixed reviews from critics. For the first season, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported a 67% approval rating, with an average rating of 5.35/10 based on 42 reviews. The consensus says, "Lethal Weapon's overly polished production values and tired narrative are somewhat overcome by solid chemistry between its two leads". [38] On Metacritic, the first season has a weighted average of 56 out of 100 based on 24 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [39]
The second season received positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave a rating of 100% with an average rating of 10/10 based on 5 reviews. [40]
For the third season, 100% of Rotten Tomatoes' 5 critic reviews were positive, with an average score of 10/10. [41]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an average score of 89%. [42]
Season | Timeslot (ET) | Episodes | First aired | Last aired | TV season | Viewership rank | Avg. viewers (millions) | 18–49 rank | Avg. 18–49 rating | ||
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Date | Viewers (millions) | Date | Viewers (millions) | ||||||||
1 | Wednesday 8:00 pm | 18 | September 21, 2016 | 7.93 [43] | March 15, 2017 | 6.02 [44] | 2016–17 | 35 | 8.63 | TBD | 2.2/8 [45] |
2 | Tuesday 8:00 pm | 22 | September 26, 2017 | 4.37 [46] | May 8, 2018 | 3.15 [47] | 2017–18 | 90 | 5.38 | TBD | 1.3 [48] |
3 | Tuesday 9:00 pm (1–9) Tuesday 8:00 pm (10–15) | 15 | September 25, 2018 | 3.43 [49] | February 26, 2019 | 3.06 [50] | 2018–19 | 78 | 5.40 | TBD | 1.2 [51] |
Year | Awards | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
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2017 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series | Keesha Sharp | Nominated | [52] |
Teen Choice Awards | Choice Action TV Show | Lethal Weapon | Nominated | [53] | |
Choice Action TV Actor | Clayne Crawford | Nominated | |||
Choice Action TV Actress | Jordana Brewster | Nominated | |||
2018 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Action TV Show | Lethal Weapon | Nominated | [54] |
Choice Action TV Actor | Damon Wayans | Nominated |
Lethal Weapon is a 1987 American action film directed by Richard Donner and written by Shane Black. It stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover alongside Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, Darlene Love, and Mitchell Ryan. In Lethal Weapon, a pair of mismatched LAPD detectives—Martin Riggs (Gibson), a former Green Beret who has become suicidal following the death of his wife, and veteran officer and family man Roger Murtaugh (Glover)—work together as partners.
Damon Kyle Wayans Sr. is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He performed as a comedian and actor throughout the 1980s, including a year-long stint on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live. He later became a writer and performer on Fox's sketch comedy show In Living Color (1990–1992), on his animated series Waynehead (1996–1997) and on his TV series Damon (1998). Since then, he has starred in a number of films and television shows, some of which he has co-produced or co-written, including Mo Money, The Last Boy Scout, Major Payne, Bulletproof, and the sitcom My Wife and Kids. From 2016 to 2019, he starred as Roger Murtaugh in the Fox television series Lethal Weapon. He is a member of the Wayans family of entertainers.
Lethal Weapon 4 is a 1998 American buddy cop action film directed and produced by Richard Donner, and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Chris Rock, and Jet Li. It is the fourth installment in the Lethal Weapon film series. It is the last film in the series directed by Donner before his death, and the latest to be released theatrically.
Seann William Scott is an American actor. Films in which Scott has starred have earned $4.91 billion at the global box office as of 2017.
Martin Riggs is a fictional character from the Lethal Weapon film series created by Shane Black. Riggs was originally played by actor Mel Gibson in all four films from 1987 to 1998, and later by Clayne Crawford in the Fox television series from 2016 to 2018.
Roger Murtaugh is a fictional character in the Lethal Weapon film series created by Shane Black. Murtaugh was originally played by actor Danny Glover in all four films from 1987 to 1998, and later by Damon Wayans in the Fox television series from 2016 to 2019.
Joseph "Clayne" Crawford is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Martin Riggs on the Fox series Lethal Weapon (2016–2018) and Teddy Talbot on the SundanceTV series Rectify (2013–2016), the latter earning him a nomination for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. He has also had supporting roles in the films A Walk to Remember (2002), Swimfan (2002), A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004), The Great Raid (2005), and Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006).
Keesha Ulricka Sharp is an American actress and television director. She played Monica Charles Brooks in the UPN/The CW comedy series, Girlfriends (2002–08), for which she received a nomination for NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
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