User:Mrs. Hastings/sandbox/Catherine

Catherine is an American family drama cable television series created by Chad Dunbar. Dunbar developed the series as a mix of family drama with investigation and mystery fiction, presenting a nonlinear narrative consisting of different time periods and featuring flashbacks and flashforwards. Besides being a writer and a director, Dunbar also serves as executive producer alongside Maya Goldsmith, Bryan M. Holdman, Mark Wilding, and Dana Honor, with Goldsmith and Holdman as showrunners. The series was broadcast in the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) for the two and initially-only seasons, before being revived shortly after at Ivy Channel, a network founded by Dunbar.

The first season stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Dylan McDermott, Katie Lowes, Kathryn Newton, Mckenna Grace, Kwesi Boakye, Lonnie Chavis, Elliot Knight, Jackson Hurst, André Holland, Grace Park, Robin Givens, and Meryl Streep. For the second season, Sope Dirisu and Kerry Washington were made series regulars. Ramón Rodríguez, Emma Roberts, and Kristen Bell joined the main cast for the third season. In the fourth season, Liza Weil joined the starring cast, followed by Coco Jones, A|Chelsea Zhang, Trevor Jackson, Karla Souza, and Cady Huffman in the fifth season.

Set in Santa Barbara, California, the series chronicles the ups and comings of the Morgan family, a wealthy dynasty with its first generation dating back to the 1880s. The first season, broadcast in 2026 and 2027, focuses on the aftermath of the death of Catherine Morgan (Streep), the family's oldest alive member. The second season, broadcast in 2027 and 2028, features the investigation of Patrick Palmer's (Knight) death, which occurred in the night of Catherine's requiem mass. The third season, broadcast in 2030, is set three years later and follows the three Morgan sisters working to restart a defunct family ritual. The fourth season, broadcast in 2031, is divided into two parts: the first revolves around the events that led to Catherine's (Streep) death, from the first season, whilst the second part is set immediately after the third season and centers on Kimberly Morgan (Roberts) being revealed as one of the reasons why Catherine died.

Catherine has received generally positive reviews from critics, with many praising its writing, directing, pacing, and acting, particularly the performances of Paltrow, Newton, Boakye, Streep, Washington, Bell, Roberts, and Weil.

Premise
The Morgan family lives in Santa Barbara, California, and has been recently shaken up with the death of their oldest member, the matriarch Catherine. In the aftermath of her death, the family members must deal with her absence whilst they react differently and one of them discovers she's pregnant. In the second season, a detective named Catherine Wilson arrives in Santa Barbara to investigate the death of Patrick Palmer, who was murdered in the night of Catherine Morgan's requiem mass. In the third season, which is set three years later, the three Morgan sisters — Susanne, Catherine Ann, and Kimberly — get together in Santa Barbara to restart a defunct family ritual.

The first part of the fourth season is set one year before the events of the first season. Several events that led to Catherine Morgan's death are explored whilst the storylines of then-absent characters are approached. The second part deals with the aftermath of the third season's finale, in which Cecily, Scott and Drew were kidnapped and Kimberly was revealed to the family to be the real motive behind Catherine's death.

The fifth season is set two years after the previous season and centers on Kelly Morgan's reckless friendship with Catherine Pierce, a recently-enrolled student at the fictitious Santa Barbara Institute of Sociology, where both of them study gender and its depiction in modern television productions. The season also chronicles Samantha Bennett's attempt of managing the Blue Napkins after her fiancé died, as well as the Morgan household, which now is headed by Susanne, Catherine Ann, and Kimberly.

The sixth season is set immediately after the fifth season, mainly dealing with the aftermath of the deaths of Catherine Ann and Catherine Pierce, with the latter leading to Kelly being a person of interest to the Santa Barbara Police Department, which enlists the help of Detective Catherine Wilson. The season also deals with the consequences of Lorraine's illegal adoption of Lana Hillwood, Susanne's pregnancy scare after casual sex, and Cecily's relationship with Drew.

The seventh season is set 10 years after the previous installment, with Susanne, Kimberly, and Cecily taking care of the Morgan mansion and dealing with their own life questions and jobs. Their lives are shaken by the unvealing of a long lost family member, Catherine Hawthorne, a partying celebrity and heir trying to maintain her family company alongside her half-brother Stuart. The season also focuses on Scott and Lana's relationship, Samantha's successful management of Blue Napkins, and Lorraine's newfound drama after she is approached by private investigator Pedro Vega-Johnson, who says her son Blake is still alive.

Cast and characters

 * Gwyneth Paltrow as Susanne Morgan, Catherine's first child, a therapist
 * Dylan McDermott as Alex Morgan, Susanne's husband, a journalist and writer (seasons 1–4)
 * Katie Lowes as Samantha Bennett, Susanne's best friend from college, also a therapist
 * Kathryn Newton as A|Kelly Morgan, Susanne and Alex's oldest daughter, who studies at Redwood High School (seasons 1–6)
 * Mckenna Grace as Cecily Morgan, Susanne and Alex's youngest daughter, who attends the Barbarian School for the Gifted
 * Kwesi Boakye as Scott Morgan, Susanne and Alex's adopted son, who also studies at Redwood High School
 * Lonnie Chavis as Drew Watterson, Cecily's best friend, who is a victim of bullying and racism
 * Elliot Knight as Patrick Palmer, Lorraine's youngest son, who lives with her (main, seasons 1–2; guest, season 4)
 * Jackson Hurst as Ted Freeman, a waiter at Blue Napkins (main, seasons 1–2; guest, season 4)
 * André Holland as Devon Malcolm, Samantha's boyfriend, the founding owner of Blue Napkins (seasons 1–4; guest, season 5)
 * Grace Park as Melody "Mellie" Dixon, Alex's lover, a pediatrician (seasons 1–2)
 * Robin Givens as Lorraine Palmer, Catherine's best friend and intimate friend of the Morgan family
 * Meryl Streep as Catherine Morgan, the family's matriarch (seasons 1, 4)
 * Sope Dirisu as James Gray, a police officer working under Wilson who grows close to Susanne (season 2)
 * Kerry Washington as Detective Catherine Wilson, a police detective investigating Patrick's murder who has recently moved to Santa Barbara (seasons 2, 6)
 * Ramón Rodríguez as Roberto Flores, Catherine Ann's fiancée, a former realtor aiming a new career (main, seasons 3–4; guest, season 6)
 * Emma Roberts as Kimberly Morgan, Susanne's youngest sister, a con-artist who moves into the Morgan household (season 3–)
 * Kristen Bell as Catherine Ann Morgan, Susanne's middle sister, who buys a house in Santa Barbara (main, season 3–5; guest, season 6)
 * Liza Weil as Kai Freeman, a former lover of Catherine, who helps the Morgan family understand Catherine's death (main, season 4; guest, season 5; recurring, season 6)
 * Coco Jones as Catherine Pierce, Kelly's roommate and best friend at the Santa Barbara Institute of Sociology (main, season 5; guest, season 6)
 * A|Chelsea Zhang as Lana Hillwood, a girl who Lorraine encounters in a parking lot and brings home (seasons 5–)
 * Trevor Jackson as Malcolm Pierce, Catherine's brother and Kelly's boyfriend (seasons 5–6)
 * Karla Souza as Megan Harvey, a professor at the Santa Barbara Institute of Sociology (seasons 5–6)
 * Cady Huffman as Eleanor Woodward, the Morgan and the Palmer's new neighbor (seasons 5–6)
 * Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as John O'Connors, a family man, born Blake Palmer, Lorraine's first son (season 7)
 * Alfie Allen as Stuart Hawthorne, Catherine's half-brother, who is fond of her, but dislikes her self-destructive nature (season 7)
 * Esai Morales as Pedro Vega-Johnson, a private investigator with an agenda of his own (season 7)
 * Bella Thorne as Catherine Hawthorne, a partying celebrity and heir, and long lost Morgan family member (season 7)

Development
Catherine was first announced by Chad Dunbar in November 2025. Shortly after, he revealed that the project received a straight-to-series order by ABC. A first season of 18 episodes was announced on January 2, 2026. An extensive marketing campaign was started by the network later that month, with a golden truck visiting several capitals of the United States announcing the premiere date of October 12, 2026. A second and final season of 16 episodes was commissioned by ABC in January 2027. The premiere date of October 18, 2025, was announced by Dunbar in April 2027. Regarding the second season being the last one, Dunbar explained that the cast salary would become more expensive throughout the series' course and the network wasn't intending to bear the costs. He stated that specifically the salaries of Gwyneth Paltrow, Dylan McDermott, Kerry Washington, and Kathryn Newton would affect the series' production budget.

In January 2028, a series of discussions between Dunbar and ABC chairman Dana Walden took place, leading to the removal of all of his productions from the network and its subsidiaries. At the same time, he announced the founding of Ivy Channel, a basic cable channel jointly owned by his company A|Ivy Worldwide and Discovery, Inc. Later that year, Dunbar announced that a third season of Catherine would air on Ivy Channel, premiering in late 2030. A 10-episode third season was officially commissioned in December 2028, scheduled for a June 2030 release. Ivy Channel renewed the series for a 10-episode fourth season on January 2, 2031. In September 2030, co-showrunner Maya Goldsmith announced that the season would be divided into parts, with the first airing in February and March 2031 and the second airing in September and October. In December 2030, Ivy Channel established a partnership with various brands to develop side products to promote the fourth season's premiere.

In November 2031, Ivy Channel renewed the series for a fifth season of fourteen episodes, scheduled to premiere in the third quarter of 2033. The season's episode count was later expanded to fifteen, and then reduced again to fourteen. In March 2033, the network announced that the fifth season would premiere on August 7 of that year, also revealing its poster and teaser trailers. On August 1, 2033, ahead of the fifth season's premiere, Ivy Channel renewed Catherine for a sixth and final season, stating that the series has been one of its most profitable productions since its inception due to marketing revenue and ratings numbers. However, the series would end because Goldsmith and the other writers had an idea for a sixth season that would "perfectly cut ties and end an incredibly-produced dramatic era." On September 18, 2034, Ivy Channel announced that the sixth and final season would premiere on January 21, 2035.

Casting
In January 2026, Dunbar revealed through his Twitter profile that Paltrow, McDermott, Meryl Streep, and Newton would portray the series' central characters. In March 2026, Mckenna Grace, Kwesi Boakye, and Lonnie Chavis were announced as part of the starring cast. In June 2026, Katie Lowes and Grace Park joined the main cast as Samantha Bundy and Melody Dixon. Lowes' character's surname was eventually changed to Bennett. That month, Deadline Hollywood reported that Elliot Knight, Jackson Hurst, and Robin Givens joined the main cast in undisclosed roles. In July 2026, Cornelius Smith Jr. was cast as Devon Malcolm, the owner of a local restaurant; however, later that month, the role was recast with André Holland due to "scheduling conflicts" with Smith Jr. For the second season, Streep left the main cast, whilst Washington joined as Detective Catherine Wilson, being cast in April 2027. That same month, Sope Dirisu was cast as James Gray, a police officer.

For the third season, Knight, Hurst, Park, Dirisu, and Washington left the main cast, due to their characters being written out of the series. In December 2029, it was announced that Ramón Rodríguez and Kristen Bell joined the main cast, with the latter portraying another character named Catherine. In January 2030, Emma Roberts joined the main cast in the role of Kimberly Morgan, a con-artist. The following month, TVLine reported that Katy Perry was cast in a guest capacity as Beatrice Dixon. In March 2030, Liza Weil joined the main cast for the fourth season, portraying Kai Freeman. For the fifth season, McDermott, Rodríguez and Holland left the cast after their characters were written out of the series, although the latter had a guest appearance. In May 2032, it was announced that Coco Jones, Trevor Jackson, and A|Chelsea Zhang were cast in undisclosed main roles. The following month, Karla Souza confirmed that she had joined the main cast in the role of Megan Harvey, a college professor. That June, Be Gone alum Cady Huffman also joined the starring cast.

Filming
Principal photography for the first season began on July 18, 2026. The filming took place in Los Angeles and ended on December 9, 2026. The directing of the eighteen episodes was divided by Dunbar, Jann Turner, Allison Liddi-Brown, Kimberly McCullough, Washington, Sharat Raju, Daryn Okada, Nzingha Stewart, and Valerie Weiss, with each director directing two back-to-back episodes. Filming for the second season began on July 22 and ended on December 10, 2027, with each episode filmed over eight days, on average. The directing of the sixteen episodes was divided by McCullough, Weiss, Liddi-Brown, Okada, Stewart, Zetna Fuentes, Elodie Keene, and Melanie Mayron, with the back-to-back filming method persisting.

Filming for the third season began on March 28, 2029, with the majority of the previous crew back and different referrals in the production. With ten episodes ordered, McCullough, Rebecca Thomas, Uta Briesewitz, Weiss, and Washington each directed two episodes back-to-back. For the third season, the directors were ordered to shot on Super 16 film due to Dunbar's desire to visually indicate to viewers that the series has had changed. Filming ended on July 30, 2029. For the fourth season, filming started on April 8 and wrapped on August 12, 2030. For the fifth season, filming took place between August 15 and December 14, 2032. The sixth and final season began filming on June 17 and wrapped on August 30, 2034.

Critical response
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the first season an approval rating of 83% based on 92 reviews, and a weighted average rating of 7.8/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Provocative and witty, Catherine fails to deliver a trustworthy drama, but has the needed surprise elements to leave audiences a little too much addicted". Review aggregator Metacritic gave the first season a normalized score of 72 out of 100 based on 50 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an approval rating of 94% based on 122 reviews and an average rating of 8.3/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Catherine 's sophomore season puts slow-burn storytelling to the side and catches an accelerated method that shapes the characters and settings in an interesting way." On Metacritic, the second season has a normalized score of 75 out of 100, based on 69 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season has an approval rating of 98% based on 234 reviews, and an average rating of 8.14/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Following a troubled change of base and attitude, Catherine 's third season delivers an improved series, with new and familiar characters, faces and paths—albeit with remarkably improved layouts." On Metacritic, the third season has a normalized score of 83 out of 100, based on 88 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

On Rotten Tomatoes, the fourth season has an approval rating of 98% based on 119 reviews, and an average rating of 8.10/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Split into two parts and fragmented plots, the fourth cycle of Catherine features powerhouse acting and delivers an example of great production." On Metacritic, the fourth season has a normalized score of 86 out of 100, based on 63 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

On Rotten Tomatoes, the fifth season has an approval rating of 99% based on 73 reviews, and an average rating of 9.03/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Catherine 's most dramatic and powerful cycle yet, the fifth season features a brand new story arc and acquires a fresh level of television drama." On Metacritic, the fifth season has a normalized score of 88 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

The sixth and final season has an approval rating of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 101 reviews, and an average rating of 8.82/10. The sist's critical consensus states, "A wild ride to the very end, the final piece of Catherine fits perfectly to the board and uses maestry to close up nine years of genre-beding storytelling." On Metacritic, the sixth season has a normalized score of 82 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".