Free Agents is an American re-make of a British workplace sitcom that premiered on
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
September 14, 2011, in the 10:30 pm Eastern/9:30 pm Central time slot, before assuming its regular time slot on September 21, 2011, where it aired at 8:30 pm Eastern/7:30 pm Central on Wednesday nights. It is based on the
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comedy series
of the same nameFree Agents is a romantic black comedy starring Stephen Mangan, Sharon Horgan and Anthony Head. Originally a pilot for Channel 4 in November 2007, the series began on 13 February 2009. It spawned a short lived US remake, which was cancelled after just 4 episodes aired.-Plot:Alex works for CMA, a...
that was created by Chris Niel, who also serves as co-creator and producer on this version with John Enbom, Karey Burke,
Todd HollandTodd Holland is an American television and film director and producer.-Personal life:Holland was born in Kittanning, Pennsylvania and raised in Meadville, Pennsylvania. He was an honor student, graduating from Meadville Area Sr. High School. While there, he got his feet wet...
, and
Kenton AllenKenton Allen is Chief Executive of Big Talk Productions. He is a multi-award–winning programme maker with programmes such as the BAFTA Award–winning The Royle Family and the Oscar Award–winning film Six Shooter ....
for
Big Talk ProductionsBig Talk Productions Ltd. is an English film and television production company established in 1995 by Nira Park. The company, located in London, has produced films such as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz; it is also known for its British sitcoms such as Spaced and Free Agents...
, Dark Toy Productions and
Universal TelevisionUniversal Television is the television production arm of the NBCUniversal Television Group, and by extension, the NBC television network...
. This show was the last series to be produced by Universal Media Studios during the revival of
Universal TelevisionUniversal Television is the television production arm of the NBCUniversal Television Group, and by extension, the NBC television network...
.
NBC canceled
Free Agents on October 6, 2011 after four episodes were broadcast.
Synopsis
The series followed the lives of two
public relationsPublic relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
executives—Alex (
Hank AzariaHenry Albert "Hank" Azaria is an American film, television and stage actor, director, voice actor, and comedian. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons , on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief...
), who is recently divorced, and Helen (
Kathryn HahnKathryn Hahn is an American actress best known for her role as Lily Lebowski on the television series Crossing Jordan.-Personal life:...
), a woman trying to move on after the death of her fiancé–at an advertising firm in
Portland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. They discover that they seem to have an attraction for each other, and have a drunken one-night stand, but try to stay professional at work, where their friends will do anything to get them to re-enter the dating scene.
Cast
- Hank Azaria
Henry Albert "Hank" Azaria is an American film, television and stage actor, director, voice actor, and comedian. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons , on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief...
as Alex
- Kathryn Hahn
Kathryn Hahn is an American actress best known for her role as Lily Lebowski on the television series Crossing Jordan.-Personal life:...
as Helen
- Mo Mandel as Dan
- Natasha Leggero
Natasha Leggero is an American actress and stand-up comic from Rockford, Illinois.-Biography:Leggero began performing at age 10, in several Chicago plays. After graduating from high school, she moved to New York City to study at the Stella Adler Conservatory. While there, she also attended Hunter...
as Emma
- Al Madrigal
Alessandro Liborio "Al" Madrigal is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Perhaps best known for co-starring in the CBS prime-time situation comedies Gary Unmarried with Jay Mohr and Welcome to the Captain with Jeffrey Tambor and Raquel Welch, he is also a regular sketch performer on The Late...
as Gregg
- Anthony Head
Anthony Stewart Head , usually credited as Anthony Head, is an English actor and musician. He rose to fame in the UK following his role in television advertisements for Nescafé Gold Blend , and is known for his roles as Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and as Uther Pendragon in...
as Stephen
- Joe Lo Truglio
Joseph "Joe" Lo Truglio is an American actor, writer and comedian best known for his work as a cast member on the cult MTV sketch comedy series The State...
as Walter
Development and production
NBC took interest in this project after Executive Producer Todd Holland began developing the American adaptation with the UK's original writer Chris Niel and producers Nira Park, Kenton Allen and Matthew Justice in September 2010. They also made changes to the workplace setting from talent agents in the British version to PR executives for American viewers, after NBC greenlit the pilot in February 2011.
Actor
Anthony HeadAnthony Stewart Head , usually credited as Anthony Head, is an English actor and musician. He rose to fame in the UK following his role in television advertisements for Nescafé Gold Blend , and is known for his roles as Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and as Uther Pendragon in...
was the only cast member who had ties to both shows, in which he played Stephen, the boss in the UK and US adaptations.
Series overview
| Season |
Episodes |
Originally aired |
DVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release date |
| Series premiere |
Series finaleA series finale refers to the last installment of a series with a narrative presented through mediums such as television, film and literature. In many Commonwealth countries, the term final episode is commonly used in regards to a television series...
|
Region 1DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
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Region 2DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
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Region 4DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
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Episodes
| # |
Title |
Directed by |
Written by |
Original air date |
Production
code |
U.S. viewers
(million) |
|
>
Ratings
| No. | Title | Air date | 18-49 rating | Viewers
(millions) |
| 1 |
"Pilot" |
|
2.1 |
6.12 |
| 2 |
"What I Did For Work" |
|
1.3 |
3.86 |
| 3 |
"Dr. Hu" |
|
1.0 |
3.07 |
| 4 |
"Rebranding" |
|
1.0 |
3.25 |
| 5 |
"Nice Guys Finish...At Some Point" |
Unaired |
TBA |
TBA |
| 6 |
"Are You There, Helen? It's Me, God" |
Unaired |
TBA |
TBA |
International broadcasts
The series was
simulcastSimulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
in
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
by CTV2.
Broadcasted by TV Séries in
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
4 weeks after the US air date.
External links
- Official Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page
- Official Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
page
- Free Agents' "Dan" (Mo Mandel) audio interview on The Gentlemen's Club with Caleb Bacon