Found (TV series)

Found is an American procedural drama television series created by Nkechi Okoro Carroll that premiered on NBC on October 3, 2023. The series focuses on recovery specialist Gabi Mosely and her team of associates who work to find missing people that have been ignored or forgotten by law enforcement and the mainstream media. It stars Shanola Hampton, who also serves as a producer. The series is produced by Berlanti Productions and Rock My Soul Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television. In November 2023, the series was renewed for a second season which is set to premiere on October 3, 2024.

Found has received nominations at the GLAAD Media Awards and NAACP Image Awards.

Premise
Gabrielle "Gabi" Mosely, a recovery specialist, and her crisis management team works to find missing people who they believe are overlooked by the system. Her team of experts consists of those who have either been kidnapped themselves, or have a loved one who has been kidnapped. A kidnapping victim herself, as a teenage girl, Gabi secretly kidnapped the man who abducted her, Hugh "Sir" Evans, and has been keeping him locked up in her basement for seven months. Gabi uses Sir's knowledge as a kidnapper and criminal to help her solve cases.

Main

 * Shanola Hampton as Gabrielle "Gabi" Mosely, a former kidnapping victim who manages a crisis management firm named Mosely & Associates (M&A) that specializes in finding people who have been abducted that no one is looking for. 20 years after her kidnapping she abducted her kidnapper, Sir, and held him captive in her basement to get into the minds of kidnappers and understand their patterns.
 * Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Hugh Evans (Sir), a serial kidnapper who kidnapped Gabrielle (Gabi) for one year and eight days. When Gabi escaped the day Sir abducted Bella, Sir disappeared and evaded police for 20 years. Then Sir was abducted by Gabrielle, who locked him in her basement and used him to help solve some of her missing persons cases.
 * Kelli Williams as Margaret Reed, an associate investigator at Mosely and Associates (M&A). She has excellent deductive reasoning skills she obtained while looking for her missing son Jamie, who was abducted from a bus station 13 years before, and she spends every night at the bus station trying to find her son or evidence of his abduction.
 * Brett Dalton as Detective Mark Trent, a DC detective and Gabi's police liaison.
 * Gabrielle Walsh as Lacey Quinn (Bella), a law school student who works at M&A as an intern. She was also kidnapped by Sir when she was a kid. After Gabi and Bella escaped, Bella changed her name to Lacey.
 * Arlen Escarpeta as Zeke Wallace, a tech expert whose own past experience of being abducted as a child has given him a debilitating case of agoraphobia. He provides Gabi with surveillance and hacking techniques and helps fund M&A with money from his trust fund.
 * Karan Oberoi as Dhan Rana, a military veteran who was MIA and held captive for three years. He now acts as the association's security expert and enforcer when needed. He lives with his husband, who is a mental health professional.

Recurring

 * Dionne Gipson (season 2)
 * Michael Cassidy (season 2)
 * Danielle Savre (season 2)

Development
On August 23, 2019, It was announced that ABC had given a pilot commitment on Found, a drama from Warner Bros. Television and Berlanti Productions. In January 2022, it was announced that NBC had given a pilot order with the production company Rock My Soul Productions. Later in April 2022, it was announced that DeMane Davis would direct the pilot. On July 20, 2022, it was announced that NBC officially ordered the series. Greg Berlanti serves as an executive producer. On November 29, 2023, NBC renewed the series for a second season that will have 22 episodes.

Casting
On March 2, 2022, it was announced that Shanola Hampton would be starring in the pilot in the role of Gabi Mosely. On April 29, 2022, it was announced Mark-Paul Gosselaar had joined the cast as Sir. On May 18, 2022, Kelli Williams joined the cast. On July 20, 2022, alongside the series order, it was announced that Arlen Escarpeta, Brett Dalton, Gabrielle Walsh and Karan Oberoi were all cast. On March 29, 2024, Dionne Gipson was cast in a recurring role for the second season. On May 15, 2024, Michael Cassidy joined the cast in a recurring capacity for the second season. On June 14, 2024, Danielle Savre was cast in a recurring role for the second season.

Filming
After the show was ordered to series, the rest of the first season began shooting in October 2022 and wrapped in March 2023. The first season of the series was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia, and consists of 13 episodes. Filming on the second season started at early March 2024.

Music
On September 13, 2023, it was announced that Sherri Chung would compose the show's score.

Release
The series premiered on NBC on October 3, 2023. It was originally set to premiere as a midseason replacement on February 19, 2023. The series is available on the streaming service Peacock the day after it airs on NBC. The series airs on Citytv in Canada, the same day as it is simulcast in the United States. The pilot episode of Found then premiered on October 7, 2023, on USA Network. The second season is scheduled to premiere on October 3, 2024 on NBC.

Prior to its October debut, the series was first screened on June 17, 2023, at the American Black Film Festival. The pilot episode had its world premiere on September 23, 2023, at the Boston Film Festival.

Ratings
As of October 11, 2023, the series premiere of Found was watched by 10.5 million viewers across all platforms and earned a 1.9 rating in the adults 18–49 key demographic. Within six days of release, Found became NBC's most successful series launch on Peacock. By November 2023, the series premiere was watched by over 20 million viewers with subsequent episodes averaging 7.4 million viewers after seven days of viewing across all platforms. In Live+7 ratings, which exclude streaming numbers, the first season of Found averaged 4.99 million viewers and a 0.55 rating in the adults 18–49 key demographic.

Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 70% approval rating with an average rating of 7/10, based on 10 critic reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Anchored by a very watchable Shanola Hampton, Found is an uneasy marriage of procedural and serialized storytelling that's slick enough to get lost in." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 49 out of 100 based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Accolades
At the 35th GLAAD Media Awards, Found was nominated for Outstanding New TV Series. At the 55th NAACP Image Awards, Found was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series and Nkechi Okoro Carroll was nominated for Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series.