Resurrection (American TV series)

Resurrection is an American fantasy drama television series that aired from March 9, 2014, to January 25, 2015, on ABC. It is based on Jason Mott's 2013 novel The Returned, and is centered on a town in which dead people come back to life. It was co-produced by ABC Studios and Plan B Entertainment, led by Brad Pitt, Aaron Zelman, JoAnn Alfano, Jon Liebman, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Michele Fazekas, and Tara Butters.

On May 7, 2015, ABC cancelled the series after two seasons.

Premise
The series follows the residents of Arcadia, Missouri, whose lives are upended when their loved ones return from the dead, unaged since their deaths. Among the returned is Jacob Langston (Landon Gimenez), an eight-year-old boy who drowned in 1982. Having been found alive in China, Jacob is brought back to the United States by an immigration agent named J. Martin ("Marty") Bellamy (Omar Epps), who defies orders and returns Jacob to his parents, Henry (Kurtwood Smith) and Lucille (Frances Fisher). Jacob's surprise return inspires his uncle, Arcadia Sheriff Fred Langston (Matt Craven), and Fred's daughter Dr. Maggie Langston (Devin Kelley), whose wife/mother drowned while allegedly trying to rescue the boy, to learn more about this mystery. Caleb Richards (Sam Hazeldine), the father of Maggie's best friend Elaine Richards (Samaire Armstrong), becomes the second Arcadia resident to return, and he warns that there are many more to follow.

Main

 * Omar Epps as Immigration and Customs Agent J. Martin "Marty" Bellamy/Robert Thompson
 * Frances Fisher as Lucille Langston
 * Matt Craven as Sheriff Fred Langston
 * Devin Kelley as Dr. Maggie Langston
 * Mark Hildreth as Pastor Thomas "Tom" Hale
 * Samaire Armstrong as Elaine Richards
 * Sam Hazeldine as Caleb Richards (main; season 1, recurring; season 2)
 * Landon Gimenez as Jacob Langston
 * Kurtwood Smith as Henry Langston

Recurring

 * Kathleen Munroe as Rachael Braidwood
 * Kevin Sizemore as Gary Humphrey
 * James Tupper as Dr. Eric Ward
 * Tamlyn Tomita as Dr. Toni Willis
 * Travis Young as Ray Richards
 * Veronica Cartwright as Helen Edgerton
 * Lori Beth Sikes as Janine Hale
 * April Billingsley as Barbara Langston
 * Ned Bellamy as Sam Catlin
 * Jwaundace Candece as Mrs. Camille Thompson
 * Shawn Shepard as Mr. Wallace Thompson
 * Nadej Bailey as Jenny Thompson
 * Christopher Berry as Deputy Carl Enders
 * Glenn Fleshler as Mikey Enders (season 2)
 * Michelle Fairley as Margaret Langston (season 2)
 * Donna Murphy as Elegant Woman/Angela Forrester (season 2)
 * Kyle Secor as Brian Addison (season 2)
 * T.J. Linnard as William Kirk (season 2)
 * Jim Parrack as Preacher James Goodman (season 2)

Development and production
In January 2013, ABC ordered the project to pilot status and in March brought in Charles McDougall as director as part of a two-year deal he signed with ABC Studios. On March 7, 2013, ABC released its list of potential hour-long pilot pick-ups, with the title changed to Forever. The title changed again after ABC ordered it to series in May 2013.

On May 7, 2015, ABC announced that it had cancelled Resurrection after two seasons. The network cited low ratings as the reason for its cancellation. It was high-rated in its first season, but saw a big drop in ratings in its second season. Resurrection produced by ABC Studios was one of the biggest cancellations for ABC along with two other shows Cristela and the Ioan Gruffudd drama Forever.

Critical response
Resurrection scored 59 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a 50% score with an average rating of 5.7/10, based on 40 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "With too much melodrama and not enough finesse, Resurrection is dangerously close to DOA." The second season holds a score of 57% with an average rating of 7.0/10, based on seven reviews.

Broadcast
In Australia, the series premiered on March 25, 2014, on Seven Network. Its debut episode was the highest rating series premiere for two years in Australia, attracting an audience of 1.9 million mainland capital city viewers (beating previous record holder Revenge whose first episode reached 2.06 million viewers in 2012) and 2.82 million viewers nationally. It also topped all three key advertising demographics. The second season premiered on February 22, 2015, at the new time of 10:30 p.m. every Sunday. The second season premiered to 112,000 in a new time slot and consequently was the lowest ratings for the series. In New Zealand, it premiered on July 16, 2014, on TV2.

In Canada, the series was simsubbed on Citytv for the first season and CTV for subsequent seasons.

In Ireland, the series debuted in summer 2014 on RTÉ Two. In the United Kingdom, the show began airing on pay-TV channel, Watch on August 18, 2014. The second season premiered on March 19, 2015.

Home media release
ABC and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment scheduled the release of the first season of Resurrection in DVD format for June 10, 2014. The two-disc set features all eight episodes and bonus features, such as "On Location in Georgia", "Resurrection: Building a Mystery", bloopers, and deleted scenes.