Almost Paradise (TV series)

Almost Paradise is an American-Philippine crime drama television series produced by Dean Devlin and Gary Rosen. The series is the first American television series to be filmed entirely in the Philippines. It premiered on March 30, 2020, on WGN America (now known as NewsNation) in the United States. The series was renewed for a second season on Amazon Freevee, with all 10 episodes premiering on July 21, 2023.

Premise
Former DEA Agent Alex Walker, forced into retirement, moves to the island of Cebu in the Philippines. He purchases a hotel gift shop in the hope of managing his stress and high blood pressure, but the wealthy and criminal elements on the island keep drawing him back into law enforcement. Alex struggles to balance his time running his gift shop, which is worn down and in extensive need of repairs and upgrades, with solving various high profile crimes that threaten the island and its residents, often working alongside Mactan Police detective Kai Mendoza, her partner Ernesto Alamares, and Chief Ike Ocampo.

Main

 * Christian Kane as Alex Walker, a former DEA agent
 * Samantha Richelle as Detective Kai Mendoza
 * AC Bonifacio as teenage Kai.
 * Arthur Acuña as Ernesto Alamares, Kai's partner
 * Nonie Buencamino as Ike Ocampo, chief of the Mactan Police Department
 * Ces Quesada as Cory Santos, the manager of the hotel
 * Sophia Reola as Rita Cordero

Supporting

 * Raymond Bagatsing as Detective Cesar Rabara
 * Angeli Bayani as Dr. Sara Patel
 * Zeppi Borromeo as Face Tats
 * Elijah Canlas
 * Max Collins as Ann Villegas (season 2)
 * Lotlot De Leon as Gloria Bautista
 * Will Devaughn as Jimmy Teo
 * Annicka Dolonius as Jessa Torres
 * Ryan Eigenmann as El Diablo
 * Sol Eugenio as Shanghai Triad Henchman
 * Ketchup Eusebio as Julio Torres
 * Jaime Fabregas as Fr. Christo (season 2)
 * Jay Gonzaga as Hotel Clerk
 * Zaijian Jaranilla as Teenager
 * Michael Roy Jornales as Big Bones
 * Boom Labrusca
 * Chanel Latorre as Sampaguita
 * Guji Lorenzana as Lester Cordero
 * Shaina Magdayao as Maria Manalo (season 2)
 * Sandino Martin as Kidlat Luzon
 * Zsa Zsa Padilla as Gov. Nina Rosales
 * Miko Raval as Tongo
 * Eric Tai as Stretch
 * Jared Turner as Todd Carpenter
 * Nikki Valdez as Pilar Cordero
 * Richard Yap

Production
Almost Paradise is the first American television series to be shot entirely in the Philippines. The show boasts an all-Filipino staff and crew, assisted by Cebu locals for the shoot.

In September 2019, it was announced that ABS-CBN would be venturing into Hollywood television production with the American television and media production company Electric Entertainment, which is headed by Filipino-American producer Dean Devlin. A U.S. crime series set in Cebu, Almost Paradise aired in the United States via the cable company WGN America. The series began filming at Bigfoot Soundstage Cebu in November 2019.

Devlin mentioned in an interview on June 4, 2020, that WGN would not renew the show for a second season, but that an unnamed streaming platform was willing to stream all of the episodes to gauge public response for another season. On January 19, 2021, it was announced that Almost Paradise would stream online on IMDb TV (rebranded Amazon Freevee in May 2022). All season one episodes of the show were made available on demand as of February 1, 2021. The series was eventually picked up for a second season, by IMDb TV, on February 8, 2022.

The show is distributed by Electric Entertainment in Europe, South America and the Middle East, and by ABS-CBN Entertainment in the Philippines. The second season was produced by Arcade Film Factory.

Release
On January 19, 2020, the first trailer was released along with the announcement that the series would premiere on March 30, 2020.

In the Philippines, the series aired in a Filipino dub via Kapamilya Channel's Yes Weekend Sunday primetime block, Kapamilya Online Live and A2Z from March 21 to May 23, 2021, replacing Pinoy Big Brother: Connect and was replaced by the first season of He's Into Her. On April 9, 2021, the original version was released on iWantTFC. The series re-aired the dubbed Season 1 from January 7 to February 5, 2023 replacing Maalaala Mo Kaya and Click, Like, Share.

On February 8, 2022, it was announced that Almost Paradise was renewed for season 2. All 10 episodes of the second season premiered on Amazon Freevee on July 21, 2023.