Hidden Palms
| Hidden Palms | |
|---|---|
 Hidden Palms intertitle | |
| Created by | Kevin Williamson |
| Starring | see below |
| Opening theme | "Blind" by Mega Bass |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 8 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Kevin Williamson Scott Winant |
| Running time | approx. 44 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | The CW |
| Release | May 30, 2007 – July 4, 2007 |
Hidden Palms is a short-lived American teen drama television series that ran from May 30, 2007 until July 4, 2007 on The CW in the United States. It was cancelled after eight first-run episodes. The series, created by Kevin Williamson, portrays the fictional lives of a group of teenagers and their families residing in Palm Springs, California.
There are currently no plans to release Hidden Palms on DVD from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.
Production
Origin
The series, produced by Lionsgate Television, began production in late 2006 with the tentative title Palm Springs. The pilot episode was subsequently leaked onto the Internet before the series premiered.
In early 2007, Hidden Palms was announced to begin on Tuesday, March 6, 2007 at 9:00PM Eastern/8:00PM Central on The CW,[1] but this timeslot later became occupied by Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll. The series eventually premiered on The CW on Wednesday May 30, 2007 at 8:00PM Eastern/7:00PM Central.[2] It was announced on June 12, 2007 that Hidden Palms would wrap up two weeks earlier on the CW, and stop rebroadcasting it on Sundays.[3][4][5]
Filming
Because of the high labor costs of filming in Palm Springs, California, Hidden Palms is actually filmed at a studio in Avondale, Arizona. In the promos, mountains are shown in many (if not most) clips. However, parts of the pilot episode were filmed in Palm Springs including downtown Palm Springs, where Greta asks Johnny if he has seen Titanic.
Broadcast
Hidden Palms premiered on The CW in the United States on May 30, 2007 at 8:00PM Eastern/7:00PM Central. Hidden Palms also simultaneously premiered in Canada on Citytv, whilst premiering later in other countries around the world, including:Bulgaria on FOX Life at July 21, 2007 Thursday at 10:00PM EET, Brazil and Latin America on the A&E Network, Hungary on Viasat3, Spain on Cuatro TV, Portugal on RTP1, Sweden on TV3 and in the United Kingdom on Sky One in September 2007, Go in South Africa. The Nine Network in Australia have acquired the rights to broadcast it.
Cast
- Taylor Handley as Johnny Miller
- Michael Cassidy as Cliff Wiatt
- Amber Heard as Greta Matthews
- Leslie Jordan as Jesse Jo
- Sharon Lawrence as Tess Wiatt
- D. W. Moffett as Bob Hardy
- Gail O'Grady as Karen Hardy
- Ellary Porterfield as Liza Witter
- Cheryl White as Helen Witter
- Tessa Thompson as Nikki Barnes
- J.D. Pardo as Edward "Eddie" Nolan
- Katy Flynn as Kira (She was cast as Kira, girlfriend of Vance, and filmed 5 full episodes. She was later replaced by Amber Heard when the plot was re-written. Vance's character was also eliminated.)
Episodes
Hidden Palms was first slated to be a mid-season show and 13 episodes had been ordered. During production, the shows episode number was lowered to 8 and The CW decided to keep it for the summer.[citation needed]
In a press release, The CW announced that it would stop airing encores on Sundays and that the series would air two new episodes on Wednesdays, replacing what would have been One Tree Hill repeats, and wrap up on two weeks earlier. [citation needed]
The Series Finale aired Wednesday, July 4, at 8:00PM Eastern/7:00PM Central.
Ratings
| Episode # | Title | Air Date | Rating | Share | 18-49 | Viewers | Weekly Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pilot | May 30, 2007 | 1.3 | 2 | 0.6/2 | 1.86 | # 83 |
| 2 | Ghosts | June 6, 2007 | 1.1 | 2 | 0.4/1 | 1.49 | # 89 |
| 3 | Party Hardy | June 13, 2007 | 1.0 | 2 | 0.5/2 | 1.37 | # 91 |
| 4 | What Liza Beneath | June 20, 2007 | 1.1 | 2 | 0.5/2 | 1.28 | # 93 |
| 5 | Mulligan | June 20, 2007 | 1.1 | 2 | 0.6/2 | 1.76 | # 88 |
| 6 | Dangerous Liaisons | June 27, 2007 | 0.9 | 2 | 0.5/2 | 1.41 | # 96 |
| 7 | Stand By Your Woman | June 27, 2007 | 0.8 | 1 | 0.6/2 | 1.39 | # 99 |
| 8 | Second Chances | July 4, 2007 | 0.7 | 1 | 0.3/1 | 0.97 | # 99 |
Critical reception
As of May 31, 2007, the show had a composite score of 45% based on 22 reviews at Metacritic[6]. Linda Stasi of the New York Post called it "the best rich kid show to appear on TV since that other California show died."[7] Diane Werts of Newsday said the show "is enough to make me forgive The CW's entire sorry first season".[8]
However, there has also been negative reception of the show. Mike Duffy of the Detroit Free Press said the show is "luridly derivative" and that "there's nothing remotely hip" about it.[9] Charlie McCollum of the San Jose Mercury News said the show "spends far too much time exploring the whiny angst of the teens".[10] Tom Shales of The Washington Post said of the show, "you're likely to find more fascinating figures and intriguing dramatis personae in the latest catalogue from J. Peterman."[11]
The show has also come under fire from the Parents Television Council, which called the pilot episode "cliché-ridden" and claimed the overall plot was inappropriate for its teenage target audience because of its depiction of underage drinking, parental suicide and sex, the pilot[12] and finale episodes[13] being named the most offensive television programming of the weeks of their respective broadcasts on the CW network.
References
- ^ The CW Announces Midseason Premiere Dates, The Futon Critic, January 19, 2007
- ^ The CW to Premiere "Hidden Palms" in May, Mediaweek, April 3, 2007
- ^ The CW to Wrap "Palms" Early, Drops Sunday Encores, The Futon Critic, June 12, 2007
- ^ "Hidden Palms" Finale Moves Up, Zap2It, June 13, 2007
- ^ "Hidden Palms" Accelerates Its Final Episodes, The City Paper, June 18, 2007
- ^ Hidden Palms at Metacritic
- ^ 'THE O.C.' + 'DAWSON'S CREEK' = 'HIDDEN PALMS' by Linda Stasi
- ^ Late-season soap-worthy surprise by Diane Werts
- ^ This oasis is just like the others by Mike Duffy
- ^ Something's wrong with CW's teen melodrama by Charlie McCollum
- ^ Teen Soap All in a Lather by Tom Shales
- ^ Shirlen, Josh (2007-06-08). "Worst TV Show of the Week - Hidden Palms on CW". ParentsTV.org. Parents Television Council. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Shirlen, Josh (2007-07-06). < "Worst TV Show of the Week - Hidden Palms on CW". ParentsTV.org. Parents Television Council. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help)