The Big C | |
---|---|
Genre | Comedy drama |
Created by | Darlene Hunt |
Starring | Laura Linney Oliver Platt John Benjamin Hickey Gabriel Basso Gabourey Sidibe Phyllis Somerville |
Opening theme | "Game Called Life" by Leftover Cuties |
Composers | Marcelo Zarvos Jesse Voccia |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 4 |
No. of episodes | 40 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | Darlene Hunt Laura Linney Jenny Bicks Neal H. Moritz Vivian Cannon Mark J. Kunerth Michael Engler |
Producers | Cara DiPaolo Lou Fusaro (pilot only) Melanie Marnich |
Production locations | Minneapolis–Saint Paul (setting) Stamford, Connecticut (actual filming location) |
Running time |
|
Production companies | Perkins Street Productions Farm Kid Films Original Film Sony Pictures Television Showtime Networks |
Original release | |
Network | Showtime |
Release | August 16, 2010 – May 20, 2013 |
The Big C is an American television dramedy series which premiered on August 16, 2010, on Showtime. [1] It drew the largest audience for a Showtime original series premiere. [2] Season 2 premiered on June 27, 2011. [3] Season 3 premiered on April 8, 2012. [4] On July 31, 2012, The Big C was renewed for a fourth and final season, named "Hereafter", which premiered on Monday, April 29, 2013, [5] and concluded on May 20, 2013.
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 13 | August 16, 2010 | November 15, 2010 | |
2 | 13 | June 27, 2011 | September 26, 2011 | |
3 | 10 | April 8, 2012 | June 17, 2012 | |
4 | 4 | April 29, 2013 | May 20, 2013 |
The show follows, in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area, Westhill High School teacher Cathy Jamison –a reserved, suburban wife and mother – who is diagnosed with melanoma. The realization of this forces her to really begin to live for the first time in her life, in particular by doing what she had previously forbidden herself to do. At first she chooses to keep her diagnosis from her family, behaving in ways they find puzzling and increasingly bizarre. She finds new freedom to express herself. As the show progresses, Cathy allows her family and some new friends to support her as she copes with her terminal prognosis, and finds both humor and pathos in the many idiosyncratic relationships in her existence.
Actor | Character | Seasons | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||||
Laura Linney | Cathy Jamison | Main | ||||||||
Oliver Platt | Paul Jamison | Main | ||||||||
John Benjamin Hickey | Sean Tolkey | Main | ||||||||
Gabriel Basso | Adam Jamison | Main | ||||||||
Phyllis Somerville | Marlene | Main | Recurring | |||||||
Gabourey Sidibe | Andrea Jackson | Recurring | Main |
The Big C's pilot episode was received positively by critics, while subsequent episodes received mixed reviews from critics. Season One received an overall score of 66 on Metacritic based on 27 reviews. [7] Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times wrote: "The Big C works because most of the writing is strong and believable, and so is Ms. Linney, who rarely sounds a false note and here has perfect pitch... the series is at its best when sardonic and subdued." [8] Washington Post critic Hank Stuever said: "Buoyed by scalpel-sharp writing and even keener performances, The Big C …walks a fine line of having it both ways. It's for people who are repelled by the warm-fuzzy, disease-o'-the-week dramas of cable television." [9] EW.com's Ken Tucker quibbled with its major plot point: "My big problem with The Big C concerns a crucial decision the show made for the early episodes: Cathy declines to tell those closest to her that she has cancer. While this is one of the many different reactions people have to such a diagnosis in real life, in a comedy drama like this, it makes everyone around her seem a bit dim." [10]
The second season received similar reviews to the first, receiving a score of 64 on Metacritic based on reviews from 6 critics. [11] Maureen Ryan of AOL TV stated that "Having a character and her family deal with a potentially fatal illness is such a rich arena for both drama and black comedy, but so far, The Big C hasn't been able to mine that topic with consistent freshness and depth." [12] Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly was critical towards the show, but commended the acting, stating that "Much of The Big C's unoriginal dramatization of cancer concerns is mitigated by the fresh, dynamic performances of Laura Linney and Oliver Platt." [11] [ better source needed ]
The third season received a score of 65 on Metacritic based on reviews from 4 critics. [13]
The fourth and final season—consisting of four hour-long episodes received a score of 73 on Metacritic based on reviews from 10 critics. [14]
Sex and the City is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United States on June 6, 1998, and concluded on February 22, 2004, with 94 episodes broadcast over six seasons. Throughout its development, the series received contributions from various producers, screenwriters, and directors, principally Michael Patrick King.
Queer as Folk is a serial drama television series that ran on Showtime from December 3, 2000, to August 7, 2005. The series was by Cowlip Productions, Tony Jonas Productions, Temple Street Productions, and Showtime Networks, in association with Crowe Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television. It was developed and written by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, who were the showrunners and also the executive producers along with Tony Jonas, former president of Warner Bros. Television.
Nighty Night is a BBC black comedy television sitcom starring Julia Davis. It was first broadcast on 6 January 2004 on BBC Three.
Caroline "Carrie" Bradshaw is a fictional character from the HBO franchise Sex and the City, portrayed by Sarah Jessica Parker. Candace Bushnell created Carrie as a semi-autobiographical character for her column "Sex and the City" in The New York Observer. This column was later compiled into the book Sex and the City and adapted into the television series. Parker reprised the role in the films Sex and the City and Sex and the City 2, and the HBO Max series And Just Like That. Bushnell also authored the young adult novels The Carrie Diaries and Summer and the City featuring the character. The Carrie Diaries was adapted into a CW prequel series of the same name, with Carrie portrayed by AnnaSophia Robb.
Paul Stewart Robinson is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, a long-running serial drama about social life in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough. He is played by Stefan Dennis. Paul was created by producer Reg Watson as one of Neighbours' original characters. He debuted in the first episode of the show broadcast on 18 March 1985 and is one of two remaining original cast members, alongside his sister Lucy. Paul appeared on a regular basis until 1992 when Dennis quit Neighbours to pursue work elsewhere. He reprised the role for a guest appearance in 1993. Dennis returned to the show full-time in 2004 and has since remained in the role. Dennis viewed his decision to leave Neighbours as a mistake.
Debra Charlotte Morgan is a fictional character created by Jeff Lindsay for his Dexter book series. She also appears in the television series, based on Lindsay's books, portrayed by Jennifer Carpenter. In Lindsay's novels, she first appeared in Darkly Dreaming Dexter and was featured in every novel in the series. Debra is the sister of the series' antihero protagonist Dexter Morgan.
Greek is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on ABC Family from July 9, 2007, to March 7, 2011. The series follows students of the fictitious Cyprus-Rhodes University (CRU), located in Ohio, who participate in the school's Greek system.
RAW is an Irish drama television series which was broadcast on RTÉ. The show focuses on the staff at a Dublin restaurant. The first season featured six episodes shown on RTÉ Two in September 2008 and the second season of six episodes was shown on RTÉ One from 10 January 2010. The third season of six episodes was broadcast on RTÉ One from 9 January 2011. Season 4 was broadcast on RTÉ One from Sunday, 8 January 2012. Season 5 began on RTÉ One on Sunday, 6 January 2013 at 21:30, while also available on RTÉ One+1 at 22:30 and RTÉ Player. The Season 5 finale aired on 10 February 2013 with Charlene McKenna and Damon Gameau departing the series.
Olive Kitteridge is a 2008 novel or short story cycle by American author Elizabeth Strout. Set in Maine in the fictional coastal town of Crosby, it comprises 13 stories that are interrelated but narratively discontinuous and non-chronological. Olive Kitteridge is a main character in some stories and has a lesser or cameo role in others. Six of the stories had been published in periodicals between 1992 and 2007.
Episodes is a British television sitcom created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik and produced by Hat Trick Productions. It premiered on Showtime in the United States on January 9, 2011 and on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2011. The show is about a British husband-and-wife comedy writing team who travel to Hollywood to remake their successful British TV series, with unexpected results. It stars Matt LeBlanc portraying a satirical version of himself. LeBlanc made his regular return to television for the first time since he was on NBC's Joey.
Ian Gallagher is a character from the British Channel 4 comedy drama Shameless and its American remake on Showtime.
Aloysius "Alo" Creevey is a fictional character from the third generation of the British teen drama Skins. He is portrayed by Will Merrick. He appears in the fifth and sixth series of the show.
The fifth season of Shameless, an American comedy-drama television series based on the British series of the same name by Paul Abbott, premiered on January 11, 2015 on the Showtime television network. Executive producers are John Wells, Paul Abbott and Andrew Stearn, and producer Michael Hissrich. Like all previous seasons, the season consisted of 12 episodes.
Shameless is a British comedy drama television programme created and executive produced by Paul Abbott. Set in Manchester on the fictional Chatsworth council estate, the show revolves around the dysfunctional working-class Gallagher family, depicting and commenting on English working-class life and culture.