Tru Calling
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| Tru Calling | |
| Genre | Supernatural Drama Science fiction |
|---|---|
| Created by | Jon Harmon Feldman |
| Starring | Eliza Dushku Zach Galifianakis Shawn Reaves A.J. Cook Jessica Collins Benjamín Benítez Matthew Bomer Jason Priestley |
| Opening theme | "Somebody Help Me?" by Full Blown Rose |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 43 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | FOX |
| Original run | October 30, 2003 – April 21, 2005 |
Tru Calling is an American television program, filmed in Vancouver, Canada, which premiered on the Fox Network in October 2003. It ran for two seasons and a total of 26 episodes before being canceled in January 2005.
Season two of Tru Calling first aired in New Zealand on TV3 beginning February 4, 2005, with the final episode shown on March 11, 2005, in Croatia, the following March/April; and, after nearly a year-long hiatus, in the U.S. beginning March 31, 2005. In the United Kingdom, the second season began October 12, 2006, on Sky One.
The complete series also aired in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Pakistan, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, and Bulgaria.
DVDs of both seasons have been released in the United States and the United Kingdom. The final episode filmed was not broadcast in the U.S. until January 21, 2008, when it aired as part of a marathon on SCI FI.
Contents |
[edit] Premise
The lead character, Tru Davies (Eliza Dushku), is a young woman trying to become a doctor. After losing an internship, she is sent to and begins working at the city morgue. Occasionally, the corpse of a newly dead person appears to awaken and utter the words "Help me" or "I need you" to her. As they do, Tru suddenly wakes up to find that the day has restarted and finds herself compelled to stop the death, which may be the result of anything from suicide to murder. In the course of the re-run day, Tru often takes the opportunity to rectify various personal situations involving family and friends.
Supporting characters in the series include Harrison Davies (Shawn Reaves), Tru's irresponsible younger brother (who becomes a loyal asset to Tru by the end of the first season), and Davis (Zach Galifianakis), her socially-challenged but loyal friend, confidante, and supervisor at the Morgue.
As the series progresses, it is revealed that several years earlier, Davis had a fateful encounter with Tru's mother (who was, apparently, the last person to receive the "calling" before her daughter).
Supporting characters present in only a portion of the series included: Meredith Davies (Jessica Collins), Tru's older sister; Lindsay Walker (A. J. Cook), her best friend in the first season; Luc Johnston (Matthew Bomer), her love interest in the first season; and Gardez (Benjamin Benitez), her former co-worker at the morgue.
Jack Harper (Jason Priestley), a counterpart to Tru's character, is introduced midseason as a foil. He is there to make sure fate gets its way and introduces a philosophical aspect to Tru's endeavors: should she be saving the lives of people who may have been intended to die? In the second season, Tru and Jack compete to get to a person first — she to save them, and he to restore the order of fate and maintain the balance of the universe as he understands it. It is eventually revealed that Tru's father had played a similarly antagonistic role to Tru's mother. The series was canceled before Tru or Harrison finds out about her father, though it was revealed that he intended to tell Harrison and attempt to get him on their side.
[edit] Episode list
[edit] Cancellation
On April 20, 2005, Fox announced that the second season's sixth and final episode would not be aired, and that the series would end its run one week early with the episode they originally intended to show the following evening.
[edit] Cast
Main Characters
- Eliza Dushku (Tru Davies) (2003-2005)
- Zach Galifianakis (Davis) (2003-2005)
- Shawn Reaves (Harrison Davies) (2003-2005)
- Jason Priestley (Jack Harper) (2004-2005)
- A. J. Cook (Lindsay Walker) (2003-2004)
- Jessica Collins (Meredith Davies) (2003-2004)
- Benjamin Benitez (Gardez) (2003-2004)
- Matthew Bomer (Luc Johnston) (2003-2004, recurring previously)
Special Guest Stars
Season two featured some recurring "Special Guest Stars", notably:
- Cotter Smith (Richard Davies) (2004-2005)
- Liz Vassey (Dr. Carrie Allen) (2005)
- Eric Christian Olsen (Jensen Ritchie) (2005)
Guest Stars
Tru's two medical school friends were also recurring characters in season two.
- Lizzy Caplan (Avery Bishop) (2005)
- Parry Shen (Tyler Li) (2005)
The pilot episode was directed by famous Australian filmmaker Phillip Noyce. He made a name for himself directing successful action movies such as Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. Tru Calling was created by executive producer/writer Jon Harmon Feldman. Marty Adelstein, Neal H. Moritz, Dawn Parouse and R. W. (Bob) Goodwin are also executive producers.[1]
[edit] U.S. television ratings
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Tru Calling on Fox. The Last episode was shown on Sci Fi.
Note: Each U.S. network television season begins in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.
| Season | Timeslot (Thursdays) |
TV Season |
U.S. Season Premiere |
U.S. Season Finale |
Season Rank |
Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8:00 / 7:00 pm | 2003–2004 | October 30, 2003 | April 29, 2004 | #151[2] | 4.50[2] |
| 2 | 9:00 / 8:00 pm | 2004–2005† | March 31, 2005 | January 21, 2008 | #121[3] | 4.89[3] |
| †These episodes (intended for fall 2004) did not air in the United States until the Sci Fi Channel aired them, and that the second season originally aired in New Zealand from 4 February 2005 – 11 March 2005. |
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[edit] DVD releases
[edit] Region 1
| Tru Calling: The Complete First Season | ||||
| Set Details | Special Features | |||
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| Release Date | ||||
| United States | November 30, 2004 | |||
| Tru Calling: The Complete Second Season | ||||
| Set Details | Special Features | |||
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| Release Date | ||||
| United States | November 15, 2005 | |||
| Tru Calling: The Complete Series | ||||
| Set Details | Special Features | |||
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| Release Date | ||||
| United States | August 12, 2008 | |||
[edit] Region 2 & 4
| Tru Calling: The Complete Series | ||||
| Set Details | Special Features | |||
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| Release Date | ||||
| United Kingdom | June 27, 2005 | |||
| Australia | October 24, 2006 | |||
[edit] References
- ^ Dawn Parouse. (2004). Finding the Calling: The Pilot (Tru Calling Season 1, Disc 6, Special Feature) [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b ABC Medianet
- ^ a b "2004-05 Final audience and ratings figures". Hollywood Reporter. May 27, 2005. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/feature_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000937471.
[edit] External links
- Tightrope Walker The LiveJournal of Tru Calling staff writer Doris Egan revealing where the Season 2 story arc was going.
(In reverse chronological order intermixed with other topics) - The Mythology of Tru Calling The Tru Calling posts archived in chronological order.
- Relive A Day Foundation A virtual continuation of the series.
- Tru Calling at Allmovie
- Tru Calling at the Internet Movie Database
- Tru Calling at TV.com
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