Touch (TV series)

For the anime TV series, see Touch (manga).

Touch
Genre	Drama
Created by	Tim Kring
Starring	Kiefer Sutherland Gugu Mbatha-Raw David Mazouz Danny Glover Lukas Haas Saïd Taghmaoui Saxon Sharbino Maria Bello
Composer(s)	Wendy Melvoin Lisa Coleman
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	26 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Carol Barbee Suzan Bymel Peter Chernin Tim Kring Francis Lawrence Katherine Pope Kiefer Sutherland
Running time	44–49 minutes
Production company(s)	20th Century Fox Television Chernin Entertainment Tailwind Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Picture format	720p (HDTV)
Audio format	Dolby Digital 5.1
Original run	January 25, 2012 (2012-01-25) – May 10, 2013 (2013-05-10)
External links
[www.fox.com/touch/ Official website]

Touch is an American thriller drama television series that ran on Fox from January 25, 2012 to May 10, 2013. The series was created by Tim Kring and starred Kiefer Sutherland. During its first season the series aired regularly on Thursday nights beginning March 22, 2012. Thirteen episodes were ordered for the first season, with the two-episode season finale airing on Thursday, May 31, 2012. On May 9, 2012, Fox renewed the show for a second season. On Friday, September 14, 2012, a bonus episode of season one aired. The second season was originally scheduled to begin Friday, October 26, 2012 but was pushed back to Friday, February 8, 2013.

On May 9, 2013, Fox cancelled Touch after two seasons.

Premise

Touch centers on former reporter Martin Bohm (Kiefer Sutherland) and his 11-year-old emotionally disturbed son, Jake (David Mazouz). Martin's wife died in the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks, and he has been struggling to raise Jake since then, moving from job to job while tending to Jake's special needs. Jake has never spoken a word, but is fascinated by numbers and patterns relating to numbers, spending much of his days writing them down in notebooks, his touch-screen tablet and sometimes using objects (for instance popcorn kernels). He also shows a lot of interest in cell phones that Martin collects from the airport (where he works as a baggage handler) lost-and-found to give to Jake normally as a distraction when Jake is stressed out or acting out. Jake shows some surprising knowledge of cell phones in the first episode when he makes an entire box of phones set out in a circle all ring at once displaying a number. This is about the time Martin realizes that Jake is in fact communicating to him through the use of numbers. There are other instances of Jake using cell phones to 'help' him communicate with his father or someone else.

In the show's pilot, Jake's repeated escapes from special schools put Martin's capacity to raise the child in question, and social worker Clea Hopkins (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) arrives to perform an evaluation of Jake's living conditions. Martin, worried that he might lose his son, attempts to communicate with him, but the boy only continues to write down a specific pattern of numbers. This leads Martin to discover Professor Arthur Teller (Danny Glover), who has seen and worked with cases like this before, claiming that Jake is one of the few who can see the "pain of the universe" through the numbers. Teller also alludes to the interconnectivity of humanity as envisioned by the Chinese legend of the red string of fate, whereby actions, seen and unseen, can change the fate of people across the globe for the better. Martin realizes that Jake is trying to tell him to follow the numbers; this leads him to a former firefighter who had tried to save Martin's wife during the 9/11 attacks and who is attempting to atone for his failure. Because of his encounter with Martin, the man missed a train but was present to save all the children on an overturned school bus after an accident. On subsequent days, Martin continues to follow numbers that Jake focuses on, each time finding his actions improving those touched by the numbers, though his devotion to following Jake's message puts his evaluation with social services at risk.

A larger overarching plot involves Teller's work. Teller himself had seen the numbers during a stroke, and has been fascinated with them since. The sequence of numbers that Jake presents falls into what Teller claimed was the Amelia Sequence, based on one of his former child patients. Teller later is found dead after attempting to locate Amelia at the same facility where Jake spends his days. Martin discovers Teller's old office, rented out from a Jewish synagogue, where he performed further research on the Amelia Sequence. There Martin learns that Teller's office mate, Avram, recognizes Jake as one of the 36 Righteous Ones. Meanwhile, Clea learns that an organization called Aster Corps, which provides Jake's school with modern equipment, seems intent on studying Jake's abilities as well as having ties to Teller's previous work with Amelia. When Aster Corps attempts to force the state to relinquish Martin's custody rights, Martin, with Jake's and Clea's help, is able to sneak Jake out and leave the city. Through Jake's directions, they end up meeting Amelia's mother, Lucy (Maria Bello), on a pier in Los Angeles.

Complicating Lucy's quest to locate her daughter and Martin's attempts to protect Jake is a murderous former priest, Guillermo Ortiz (Saïd Taghmaoui), who is determined to eliminate all of the Righteous 36 from the earth in order to restore the natural order of the universe, with God on top.

God Sequence

The plot is based on a sequence of numbers (97-digits in all) called the God Sequence. It allows the future to be predicted and provides other insights. Not all numbers used in the series were derived from this sequence. The complete sequence is given as:

• 31852963287952297561188160455124254522174370 24522750010755991887789210262000017594820131026302153 then looping from the beginning.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Season one promotional poster

• Kiefer Sutherland as Martin Bohm: a former journalist turned baggage handler, whose wife died in the September 11 attacks.
• David Mazouz as Jacob "Jake" Bohm: Martin's mute 11-year-old son, who is obsessed with numbers and can see past, present and future events through the numbers, and shows his father the numbers so that his father can help stop bad events from happening
• Maria Bello as Lucy Robbins : the mother of Amelia, a girl who shares a gift similar to that of Jake and former client of Teller.
• Lukas Haas as Calvin Norburg: an Aster Corps genius whose path crosses with Martin and Jake. He is researching Amelia's brain activity, and plans to use the data to help his brother recover from a major accident that he caused.
• Saxon Sharbino as Amelia "Amy" Robbins: Lucy's missing daughter, who is gifted like Jake.
• Saïd Taghmaoui as Guillermo Ortiz: a priest-turned-murderer bent on killing the 36 people with Jake's ability, though he is one himself. When finally cornered by Martin, he kills himself rather than be captured, but not before apologizing to God (within earshot of Martin) for not finding the "nest of seven."
• Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Clea Hopkins: a social worker who is sent to do an evaluation of the Bohms’ living situation, and helps Martin and Jake escape from New York.
• Danny Glover as Professor Arthur Teller: an expert on the gifted few who possess numerical clairvoyance.

Recurring cast

• Bodhi Elfman as Avram Hadar: a Hasidic Jew who shares an office with Teller. A student of Kabbalah, Avram believes Jake’s special abilities are tied to Jewish mysticism.
• Greg Ellis as Trevor Wilcox: Martin's former reporter mentor who now owns a news syndicate and becomes an ally. He runs the facility where Martin often leaves Jake.
• Frances Fisher as Nicole Farington: CEO of Aster Corps who tries to decipher the god sequence in order to predict the future in advantage of Aster Corps.
• Mykelti Williamson as Detective Lange: an LAPD detective who believes Martin's story and conducts an investigation on Aster Corps.
• Adam Campbell as Tony Rigby: an Aster Corps executive who reports to Farington and is complicit in keeping Amelia away from her mother.
• Leland Orser as Dr. Linus: an Aster Corps employee in charge of the dangerous experiments being conducted on select members of the 36 at Aster Corps' Sleep Assessment Center. The experiments are disguised as treatment for sleep disorders, but are actually being used to complete the predictive number sequence for Aster Corps.
• D. B. Sweeney as Joseph Tanner: Aster Corps enforcer who works directly under Farington orders.
• Titus Welliver as Randall Meade: New York Lottery winner and a former firefighter who tried to rescue Martin's wife in the September 11 attacks. Meade believes he has a task to fulfill to atone for Sarah Bohm's death, which is driven by "his" numbers.
• Roxana Brusso as Sheri Strepling: the corrupt director of the board-and-care facility that Jake attended.
• Catherine Dent as Abigail Kelsey: Jake's aunt and an Aster Corps executive seeking custody of Jake.
• Linda Gehringer as Frances Norburg: Calvin's mother, a middle-school librarian who is called to be Amelia's handler after the girl is kidnapped but is soon murdered.
• Samantha Whittaker as Dr. Nell Plimpton: an archaeologist and one of the 36 who comes to Los Angeles to Aster Corps' Sleep Assessment Center.
• May Miyata and Satomi Okuno as Miyoko and Izumi: Flamboyant Japanese friends whose online presence runs throughout the series, beginning with a cellular telephone they start on an international journey.

Episodes

Main article: List of Touch episodes

Production

Touch season 1 was shot at The Culver Studios in Culver City, CA, and on location in Los Angeles, CA. Season 2 was filmed at Fox Studios in Century City, CA.

Post-production

"Three Little Birds", sung by Kayla Graham (Karen David), was released as a soundtrack single, on iTunes by 20th Century Fox TV Records on February 28, 2012.

Reception

Critical reception

The first season of the show was met with "generally positive" reviews, and obtained a Metacritic score of 63/100. The second season received "mixed or average" reviews and a Metacritic score of 60/100.

About the first episode, Michael Landweber of PopMatters called it "stunningly effective" and said that "its mix of spirituality and science, familial and global struggles, is galvanising." He also noted that "The boy’s narration, unnervingly matter-of-fact about the nature of the universe, takes on more power when he reveals that in 11 years, he has never spoken a word." In a review for the New York Post, Linda Stasi said "If you can’t get enough of number sequences and universal cylindrical patterns that constantly repeat [...], then for sure you’ll repeat the pattern of watching Fox’s new show." adding, "Yes, the show is intriguing, and it’s great to have Sutherland back on TV. But frankly, it’s awfully complicated." Lori Rackl, of the Chicago Sun-Times, said the show "operates on the mind-blowing premise that people around the world are linked to one another and their lives intersect — with potentially major repercussions". She finished the review saying it "delivers a suspenseful ride around the world, peppered with some tear-jerking moments. The bar has been set high. Here’s hoping "Touch" continues to reach it." Kiefer Sutherland's performance has also been met with praise, with Landweber saying "Sutherland, however, plays the part with such a combination of intensity and subtlety that we are drawn deep into Martin’s suffering, and rather than judging him, we feel with him. Every trial is etched in his face. He imbued Jack Bauer with similar stoicism, but Martin seems less resilient, more distressed."

Verne Gay of Newsday called the second season "more fun," adding "you have plain old smashmouth elemental TV story devices — good guys, bad guys, evil corporations, a family unit, and a headlong rush toward the Truth, whatever that may be." The New York Times' Neil Genzlinger called the season "considerably darker and more complex," adding "The intricacies may make it harder for new viewers to crack the show without doing some catch-up watching, but they also make it far more absorbing." David Hinckley of the Daily News found two problems with the second season—"characters like popups in a video game" and "as the action ramps up, Jake's gift recedes." He added, "The show still has some interesting things happening, and there are worse things on TV than a fast-paced action drama."

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations for Touch

Year	Association	Category	Nominee	Result
2012	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Main Title Theme Music		Nominated
2012	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Special Visual Effects		Nominated
2012	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Television Drama Show		Nominated
2012	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Actor: Drama	Kiefer Sutherland	Nominated
2013	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Series - Leading Young Actor	David Mazouz	Nominated

Ratings

Touch debuted to over 12 million viewers in the pilot episode, with the next episode pulling in more than 11.8 million. But ratings fell sharply after that, and the season one finale garnered just 4.6 million viewers. After the first two episodes of season two, all of the remaining 11 episodes fell short of 3 million viewers, leading to the series cancellation.

U.S. television ratings for Touch

Season	Timeslot (ET)	# Ep.	Premiered		Ended		TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
			Date	Premiere Viewers (in millions)	Date	Finale Viewers (in millions)
1	Thursday 9:00pm	13	January 25, 2012	12.01	September 14, 2012	4.60	2011–2012	#45	9.18
2	Friday 9:00pm	13	February 8, 2013	3.94	May 10, 2013	2.42	2013	#121	3.65

International distribution

Country	Channel	Premiere date
Austria	ORF eins	February 27, 2012 (Pilot) March 26, 2012 (regular)
Australia	Network Ten FOX8	April 22, 2012
Brazil	Fox Brasil	March 19, 2012
Canada	Global	January 25, 2012
	addikTV (in French)	September 25, 2012
China Southeast Asia	Fox Asia	March 25, 2012
Belgium	BeTV (in French)	June 7, 2012
	2BE (TV channel) (in Dutch)	September 3, 2012
Bulgaria	FOX	Coming soon
Croatia		March 27, 2012
Macedonia	Fox Life	March 27, 2012
Serbia		March 27, 2012
Slovenia		March 27, 2012
Denmark	TV 2	TBA
Finland	MTV3	October 9, 2012
Germany	Pro 7	February 27, 2012 (Pilot) March 26, 2012 (regular)
Cyprus Greece	FX	March 22, 2012
India	STAR World India	March 24, 2012
Israel	Yes Action	March 20, 2012
Italy	Fox	March 20, 2012
Latin America Argentina Chile Colombia Costa Rica Ecuador El Salvador Mexico Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela	Canal Fox	March 19, 2012
Lithuania	TV3	May 8, 2013
New Zealand	TV3	March 25, 2012
Norway	TV 2	March 19, 2012
Philippines	Jack TV and JACK City on BEAM TV 31	March 18, 2012
Poland	Fox	March 26, 2012
Portugal	Fox	March 20, 2012
Russia	Channel One	March 25, 2012
Spain	Fox España	March 22, 2012
Sweden	TV4	TBA
Switzerland	Pro 7	February 27, 2012 (Pilot) March 26, 2012 (regular)
United Kingdom Ireland	CNBC and Sky1	March 20, 2012
Taiwan Hong Kong Indonesia Malaysia Singapore Thailand	Fox Asia	March 25, 2012
Vietnam	STAR Movies	March 28, 2012
Hong Kong	TVB Pearl	December 18, 2012

External links

• Official website
• Touch at the Internet Movie Database
• Touch at TV.com