''Almost Paradise'' is an American-Filipino

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

television series produced by

Dean Devlin Dean Devlin (born August 27, 1962) is an American screenwriter, producer, director, and actor of film and television. He is best known for his collaborations with director Roland Emmerich, and for his work on the The Librarian (franchise), ''Li ...

and Gary Rosen. The series is the first American television series to be filmed entirely in the Philippines. It premiered March 30, 2020, on WGN America (now known as

NewsNation NewsNation is an American subscription television network owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and is the company's only wholly-owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel runs a mixture of entertainment programming (consistin ...

) in the United States, and in the Philippines, it premiered on March 21, 2021, on

Kapamilya Channel Kapamilya Channel (stylized as Kapamilya channel) is a 24-hour Philippine pay television network formerly known as ABS-CBN Corporation, a company under Lopez Holdings Corporation owned by the López family. The network is headquartered at th ...

Kapamilya Online Live Kapamilya Channel (stylized as Kapamilya channel) is a 24-hour Philippine pay television network formerly known as ABS-CBN Corporation, a company under Lopez Holdings Corporation owned by the López family. The network is headquartered at the ...

and A2Z Channel 11. The series has been renewed for a second season on

Amazon Freevee Amazon Freevee is an American ad-supported video-on-demand (VOD) streaming service owned by Amazon, with original and licensed programming. History Amazon Freevee launched as a free, ad-supported video channel by the Amazon-owned online data ...

Premise

Former

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...

Agent Alex Walker, forced into retirement, moves to the island of

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. He purchases the hotel gift shop in the hopes of managing his stress and high blood pressure, but the wealthy and criminal element on the island keep drawing him back into law enforcement.

Cast

Main

Christian Kane Christian Kane (born Christopher Michael Short) is an American actor and singer-songwriter. He is known for his roles in the television shows ''Angel'', ''Leverage'', '' The Librarians'', and '' Into the West'', and the movies ''Just Married'', ' ...

as Alex Walker, a former DEA agent *Samantha Richelle as Detective Kai Mendoza **

AC Bonifacio Andree Camille Bonifacio (; born December 13, 2002), known professionally as AC Bonifacio, is a Canadian-born Filipina dancer, singer, vlogger and actress known for being the first ever grand champion of Filipino TV dance competition ''Dance Kid ...

as teenage Kai. *Arthur Acuña as Ernesto Almares, Kai's partner *

Nonie Buencamino Anthony Buencamino (born November 28, 1966), professionally known as Nonie Buencamino, is a Filipino character actor known for his theater work. He is strongly associated with Philippine New Wave Cinema, playing roles such as Mayor Bartolome in Jun ...

as Ike Ocampo, chief of the Mactan Police Department *

Ces Quesada Ces Quesada (; born June 13, 1958) is a Filipina actress and TV host. She is currently signed with GMA Network and ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Netw ...

as Cory Santos, the manager of the hotel

Supporting

* Zsa Zsa Padilla as Gov. Nina Rosales *

Angeli Bayani Angeli Bayani (born November 13, 1977) is a Filipina actress. She is best known for starring in Philippine art-house and independent films notably those by Lav Diaz's ''Melancholia'' (2008), '' Century of Birthing'' (2011), and ''Norte, the En ...

as Dra.Sara Patel *

Sophia Reola ''Nang Ngumiti ang Langit'' (International title: ''Michaela'' / ) is a 2019 Philippine drama television series starring Sophia Reola. The series was aired on ABS-CBN's ''PrimeTanghali'' noontime block and worldwide on The Filipino Channel from ...

as Rita Cordero *

Ketchup Eusebio Michael Allen Eusebio (born September 9, 1985), better known by his stage name Ketchup Eusebio, is a Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the n ...

as Julio Torres *

Lotlot De Leon Charlotte Jennifer Villamayor de Leon El Soury (born February 16, 1971), known professionally as Lotlot de Leon, is a Filipino actress. Career She was a member of '' That's Entertainment'', along with Ramon "Monching" Christopher as her love-te ...

as Gloria Bautista *

Guji Lorenzana Gregory Lorenzana, Jr. (born May 11, 1980 in Long Beach, California, U.S.), better known as Guji (pronounced "Goo-G") Lorenzana or simply Guji, is a Filipino-American singer, songwriter, actor, host, club DJ, commercial model and former radio DJ ...

as Lester Cordero *

Raymond Bagatsing Ramon "Raymond" San Diego Bagatsing III is a Filipino actor, model and aspiring politician. Having jumpstarted his acting career in the early 90s, he is most notable for the role of Jaime Laurel in the hit ABS-CBN series ''Pusong Ligaw''. Ea ...

as Detective Cesar Rabara *

Will Devaughn William Devaughn Stumpf (born February 27, 1982) is a Filipino-American commercial model and actor. Biography He entered the Pinoy Big Brother house, during its Celebrity Edition 2, and became the fourth big placer of that season. He arrived in ...

as Jimmy Teo *

Ryan Eigenmann Ryan Richard Alatiit Eigenmann (; born July 22, 1977) is a Filipino actor. Early life Ryan Richard Alatiit Eigenmann was born on July 22, 1977. He is one of the third generation of the Mesa-Gil clan of actors. His grandparents are musician Eddi ...

as El Diablo *

Richard Yap Richard Edison Uy Yap (born May 18, 1967) is a Filipino actor, singer, model and businessman of Chinese descent. He is best known for portraying Richard "Sir Chief" Lim in ''Be Careful with My Heart'' and "Papa Chen" in ''My Binondo Girl''. ...

Zaijian Jaranilla Zaijian Godsick Lara Jaranilla (born August 23, 2001) is a Filipino actor and dancer who is best known for his role as the orphan Santino in the 2009–2010 religious-themed teleserye, '' May Bukas Pa''. Zaijian was also a cast member in the chi ...

Elijah Canlas Elijah Luiz Madiclum Canlas (born August 16, 2000) is a Filipino actor and commercial model. He began his professional acting career in the 2014 independent film ''Sundalong Kanin'', an official entry to Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film F ...

Episodes

Production

''Almost Paradise'' is the first American television series to be shot entirely in the Philippines. The show boasts an all-Filipino staff and crew, assisted by Cebu locals for the shoot. It was announced in September 2019 that

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

would be venturing into Hollywood television production for the U.S. film and TV producers

Electric Entertainment Electric Entertainment, Inc. is an American television and media production company, established in 2001 by veteran writer/producer Dean Devlin and led by Devlin along with partners Marc Roskin and Rachel Olschan. History Electric Entertainmen ...

, which is headed by Filipino-American producer

. A U.S. crime series set in

, Almost Paradise aired in the United States via the cable company WGN America. The series began filming at Bigfoot Soundstage Cebu in November 2019. Devlin mentioned in an interview on June 4, 2020, that WGN would not renew the show for a second season, but that an unnamed streaming platform was willing to stream all of the episodes to gauge public response for another season. On January 19, 2021, it was announced that Almost Paradise was streaming online on

. All episodes of the show were made available on demand as of February 1, 2021. It was IMDb TV who would end up renewing the show for a second season on February 8, 2022. The show is distributed by

in Europe, South America and the Middle East, and by

ABS-CBN Entertainment ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

in the Philippines.

Release

On January 19, 2020, the first trailer was released along with the announcement that the series would premiere on March 30, 2020.

International broadcast

* In the Philippines, the series is aired in Filipino-dubbed via

and

A2Z A2Z may refer to: *A2Z (2006 film), a 2006 German action film *A2Z (TV channel), a Philippine television channel **A2Z News Alert, a Philippine television newscast broadcast by A2Z (TV channel) *A2Z Group A2Z Group is an engineering, procurement ...

since March 21, 2021, replacing '' Pinoy Big Brother: Connect'' and replaced by ''

He's Into Her ''He's Into Her'' is a Philippine teen romantic comedy television series based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Maxinejiji (Maxine Lat Calibuso), starring Donny Pangilinan and Belle Mariano. The series released on iWantTFC from May 28, 202 ...

''. On April 9, 2021, the original version was released on

iWantTFC iWantTFC is a Filipino over-the-top content platform and production company owned and operated by ABS-CBN Digital Media, a division of ABS-CBN Corporation, formed in 2020 through the merger of two streaming services iWant and TFC Online. In ad ...

. It is re-airing again on January 7 and 8, 2023 replacing ''

Maalaala Mo Kaya ''Maalaala Mo Kaya'' (; formerly written as ''Maala-ala Mo Kaya...''; abbreviated as ''MMK''), also known as ''Memories'', is a Philippines, Philippine television drama anthology show broadcast by Kapamilya Channel under ABS-CBN Entertainment. ...

'' and the final season of ''

Click, Like, Share '' Click, Like, Share'' is a Philippine anthology streaming television series starring various ABS-CBN Star Magic and Rise artists, directed by Emmanuel "Manny" Quindo Palo and Andoy Ranay, and produced by ABS-CBN Entertainment, Dreamscape Enter ...

'' on its timeslot.

References

External links

* {{IMDB TV original programming 2020 American television series debuts 2020 American television series endings 2020s American crime drama television series 2021 Philippine television series debuts 2021 Philippine television series endings Philippine crime television series Philippine drama television series Television shows filmed in the Philippines WGN America original programming ABS-CBN original programming