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The Listener (TV series)

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The Listener
GenreScience fiction
Drama
Created byMichael Amo
StarringCraig Olejnik
Ennis Esmer
Mylène Dinh-Robic
Lisa Marcos
Lauren Lee Smith
Rainbow Sun Francks
Peter Stebbings
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes27 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Running time40 minutes
Production companiesShaftesbury Films
Fox International Channels
Bell Media
Original release
NetworkCTV
ReleaseMarch 1, 2009 –
present

The Listener is a Canadian science fiction drama created by Michael Amo. It premiered on Fox Series on March 1, 2009 in the Arab world and had its domestic debut in Canada on CTV on June 3, 2009.

The Listener was renewed by CTV for a third season on June 1, 2011.[1] It is set to premiere on May 30, 2012.[2]

Fox International Channels controls right of the show outside of Canada.[3]

History

The series premiered on Fox International Channels beginning with the Arabic-speaking area of northern Africa and south-western Asia on March 1, 2009. The Listener' premiered in Canada on June 3, 2009 on CTV and in the United States one day later on NBC. NBC removed the show from their broadcast schedule part way through the first season due to low ratings.[4] It was announced on November 17, 2009 that CTV had renewed The Listener for a second season of 13 episodes.[5] After a delay of over one year, the second season premiered on February 8, 2011, airing Tuesday nights. After that, it moved to Fridays and then Saturdays.[6] It was announced on June 1, 2011 that The Listener had been renewed for a third season.

Plot

Main article: List of The Listener episodes

Season One (2009)

Toby is a 28-year-old first year paramedic who's never known his father and grew up in foster homes.[7] Until now, Toby has kept his ability to listen to people's surface thoughts a secret and the only one he has shared it with is his old counsellor and confidant, Dr. Ray Mercer (Colm Feore), prior to the series' first episode. While he crosses the city of Toronto in his ambulance with his partner Osman "Oz" Bey (Enis Esmer), Toby helps people in crisis and on the way come to terms with his own past. With the help of Detective Charlie Marks (Lisa Marcos) and his on-and-off girlfriend Olivia Fawcett (Mylène Dinh-Robic), an E.R doctor, Toby realizes that his gift can serve to help other people.

Season Two (2011)

It's a year and a half later and Toby has finally come to terms with his telepathic powers and is still working with his paramedic partner Osman Bey. After assisting with an undercover case investigated by the Integrated Investigative Bureau (a special unit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Toby reveals his gift to Sgt. Michelle McCluskey (Lauren Lee Smith). Despite her initial scepticism, she realises that Toby's special abilities could be her team's secret weapon. So alongside his paramedic work Toby joins Michelle and other members of the IIB to help solve some of their most difficult and high profile cases ranging from suspicious homicides to cases of arms dealing. But the price to pay for having such a gift is the emotional and physical effects of delving into some of the most deranged criminal minds out there and it is his old flame Dr Olivia Fawcett who helps him deal with his problems.[8]

Season Three (2012)

The Listener was renewed for a third season on June 1, 2011, and will premiere on May 30, 2012.[9]

Production

The series is produced by Shaftesbury Films in association with CTV and Space and was created by Michael Amo. The pilot episode was directed by Clement Virgo.[10] Production began in spring 2008.

Production for the second season began in September 2010 and ended February 2011.[11]

With the delayed second season came several production changes. Firstly, the entire writing staff has been replaced. The likes of Michael Amo and Dennis Heaton have been replaced by writers like Jason Sherman and Wil Zmak.

In terms of storylines and overall tone, star Craig Olejnik has said that "season two is more mature, stronger, smoother, and it really picks up... it really moves into a whole new world."[12] Examples of this "new world" include the ways in which Toby finds himself in cases. In season one, the majority of cases in which Toby was involved were approached by Toby. That is, Toby, as a paramedic, was called to a location and found himself wrapped inside of a case. On the other hand, season two sees Toby approached by Sergeant McCluskey on most cases. In addition, season one had more of a mysterious, conspiracy sci-fi theme whereas season two has, as star Lauren Lee Smith states, "no real sci-fi aspect to it... It’s a guy who can read people’s minds and he helps the cops out with that." [13] Season two nearly abandons Toby's search for his mother and an understanding of his powers. Colm Feore's character is gone, and the telepathic link is only through Toby solving crimes. Rather than try to discover what has happened to his mother and to learn more about his psychic sense, Toby "further embraces his telepathic powers to help solve criminal investigations." [14]

Cast

Reception

In Italy The Listener not only grew the timeslot average by 470%, according to research company Auditel/AGB, but it was the second-most watched show ever on Fox.[15]

NBC pulled the show off the air after the July 23rd airing of "Inside the Man" due to low ratings.[16]

International airings

Fox International Channels premiered the series on the first week of March 2009, in 180 territories American television network NBC announced on February 1, 2008, a deal to pick up 13 episodes.[10][17] The show is distributed through Program Partners, which owns the American rights with advertising sales by Sony Pictures Television. The show began airing in the U.S. on Thursday evenings in June 2009, but was removed from the schedule after the ninth episode due to low ratings. The remaining four episodes, were available for screening online at no charge through the NBC.com and Hulu.com websites until 31 December 2009 for U.S. viewers.

The second season premièred February 8, 2011 in Canada on CTV and internationally in the UK on FX on March 1, 2011.

Country/Region Network Premiere Date
Arab League Arab World Fox Series March 1, 2009 (2009-03-01)
Latin America Fox March 2, 2009 (2009-03-02)
 Greece Fox Life Greece March 2, 2009 (2009-03-02)(season 1)
June 8, 2011 (2011-06-08)(season 2)
June 14, 2012 (2012-06-14)(season 3)
 Japan FOX March 2, 2009 (2009-03-02)
 South Korea FOX March 2, 2009 (2009-03-02)
 Portugal FOX March 2, 2009 (2009-03-02)
 Argentina FOX March 3, 2009 (2009-03-03)
 Bulgaria Fox Crime March 3, 2009 (2009-03-03)
 Germany FOX March 3, 2009 (2009-03-03)
RTL II January 30, 2010 (2010-01-30)
 Malaysia RTM's tv2 March 30, 2011 (2011-03-30)
 Spain FOX March 3, 2009 (2009-03-03)
Antena 3 August 4, 2009 (2009-08-04)
Italy Italy FOX Italy March 5, 2009 (2009-03-05)
Cielo March 29, 2010 (2010-03-29)
 Russia Fox Life March 6, 2009 (2009-03-06)
 India FX March 6, 2009 (2009-03-06)
 Poland Fox Life March 8, 2009 (2009-03-08)
Polsat December 5, 2011 (2011-12-05)
 United Kingdom FX March 8, 2009 (2009-03-08)
 Ireland FX March 8, 2009 (2009-03-08)
 Brazil FOX March 31, 2009 (2009-March-31)
 Mexico FOX March 10, 2009 (2009-03-10)
Azteca 7 January 13, 2010 (2010-01-13)
 Netherlands Net 5 April 19, 2009 (2009-04-19)
 Canada CTV June 3, 2009 (2009-06-03) [18]
A / CTV two June 4, 2009 (2009-06-04) [19]
addikTV (in French) —
 United States NBC June 4, 2009 (2009-06-04)
Ion Television 2012 (2012)
 Israel Yes Stars Action June 23, 2009 (2009-06-23)
 Slovenia Fox Life August 10, 2009 (2009-08-10)
 France 13ème Rue October 19, 2009 (2009-10-19)[20]
 New Zealand Prime November 16, 2009 (2009-11-16)
Australia Australia GO! March 3, 2010 (2010-03-03)
W March 6, 2011 (2011-03-06) (season 1)
July 24, 2011 (2011-07-24)(season 2)
Hungary Hungary RTL Klub June 24, 2010 (2010-06-24)
Norway Norway FEM Un­known
Denmark Denmark Kanal 4 Un­known
Latvia Latvia Fox Life Un­known
Sweden Sweden Kanal 9 Un­known

DVD release

Season one of The Listener was released on DVD in Region 2 in the UK on September 13, 2010.[21] Release dates for other regions are yet to be announced.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Bell Media Announces Commencement of the Bell Benefits as Key Canadian Programs Re-Ordered" (Press release). Bell Media. June 1, 2011. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  2. ^ "A 'Flashpoint' crossover and the death of a major character in store on Season 3 of 'The Listener'" (Press release). Bell Media. May 2, 2012. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
  3. ^ http://www.foxinternationalchannels.com/about/press/ctv,-fox-international-channels,-and-shaftesbury-announce-start-of-production-on-season-3-of-the-listener
  4. ^ NBC Cancels Canadian Imported “The Listener”, July 15, 2009
  5. ^ By BILL HARRIS, Sun Media (2009-11-17). "'The Listener' gets renewed, Nov 17, 2009". Torontosun.com. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  6. ^ "Season 2 of 'The Listener' returns Feb. 8 on CTV". Shows.ctv.ca. 2011-01-28. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  7. ^ "Foggy Notion". The Listener. Season 1. Episode 6. April 7, 2009. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "The Listener - Shows". FXUK.com. 2009-10-12. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  9. ^ "Bell Media Announces Commencement of the Bell Benefits as Key Canadian Programs Re-Ordered" (Press release). Bell Media. June 1, 2011. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  10. ^ a b "NBC picks up "The Listener" - CTV's original drama series from Shaftesbury Films". The Futon Critic. 2008-02-01.
  11. ^ Sep 22 2010. "The Listener starts production on Season 2 | TV, eh?". Tv-eh.com. Retrieved 2011-03-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Tyrone Warner (2011-02-08). "Craig Olejnik talks season two of The Listener on CTV". CTV. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
  13. ^ Tyrone Warner (2011-02-10). "Q&A with the newest star of The Listener, Lauren Lee Smith". CTV. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
  14. ^ Tyrone Warner (2011-01-28). "Season 2 of The Listener returns Feb 8 on CTV". CTV. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
  15. ^ Whiteman, Bobby (March 11, 2009). "Global audiences love 'The Listener'". Variety. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
  16. ^ Schneider, Michael (July 15, 2009). "NBC Tuning out 'The Listener'". Variety. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  17. ^ "Canada's CBC and ABC wedded to teen sitcom". The Hollywood Reporter. 2008-07-29.
  18. ^ "The Listener Premiere on CTV, CTV press release, May 28, 2009". Ctv.ca. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  19. ^ "The Listener to Premiere on A". Atv.ca. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  20. ^ "The Listener Premiere on 13ème Rue, October 19, 2009". Serieslive.com. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  21. ^ "The Listener - Season 1 (DVD)". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved March 28, 2011.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Listener_(TV_series)&oldid=495388939"