''Council of Dads'' is an American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

television series inspired by the book '' The Council of Dads'' by

Bruce Feiler Bruce Feiler (born October 25, 1964) is an American writer and television personality. He is the author of 15 books, including '' The Council of Dads'', a book that describes how he responded to a diagnosis of a rare cancer by asking a group of ...

, developed by

Joan Rater Joan Rater is an American television producer and screenwriter. Her most notable work has been for the medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'', for which she has served as writer, producer and supervising producer for over fifty separate episodes. She is ...

and

Tony Phelan Tony Phelan is an American television screenwriter, producer and director. He is married to television producer and screenwriter Joan Rater. Phelan is best known for his work on ABC's ''Grey's Anatomy'', for which he has been nominated for two Em ...

, that premiered on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

as part of the 2019–20 television season, on March 24, 2020. In June 2020, the series was canceled after one season.

Premise

Cancer patient Scott Perry worries about his five children growing up without his help and advice. He and his wife Robin recruit three friends to act as a "council of dads" to be father figures to his children. Scott dies and his loved ones form an expanded chosen family.

Cast

Main

Sarah Wayne Callies Sarah Wayne Callies (born June 1, 1977) is an American actress. She is known for starring as Sara Tancredi in Fox's ''Prison Break'' and as Lori Grimes in AMC's '' The Walking Dead''. She has also starred as Katie Bowman in USA Network's ''Col ...

as Dr. Robin Perry, Scott's widow. *

Clive Standen Clive James Standen (born 22 July 1981) is an English actor best known for playing Bryan Mills in the NBC series '' Taken'' (2017–2018), based on the film trilogy of the same name, as well as Rollo in the History Channel series ''Vikings'' ( ...

as Anthony Lavelle, Scott's best friend, a chef and a member of the council of dads as well as Luly's biological father, unknown to Luly or the rest of the family. * J. August Richards as Dr. Oliver Post, Robin's best friend since medical school and a member of the council of dads. * Michele Weaver as Luly Perry, Scott's biracial daughter, whom he raised as a single father for eight years before meeting Robin. *

Emjay Anthony Emjay Anthony Salazar (born June 1, 2003) is an American teen actor and model. His major films include '' It's Complicated'', '' Chef'', ''Krampus'', ''Replicas'', and ''Bad Moms''. Biography Emjay Anthony Salazar was born on June 1, 2003, in ...

as Theo Perry, Scott and Robin's temperamental teenage son. * Thalia Tran as Charlotte Perry, Scott and Robin's adopted daughter, who is of Chinese ancestry. * Blue Chapman as JJ Perry, Scott and Robin's seven-year-old

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

son, who was assigned female at birth. * Steven Silver as Evan Norris, Luly's husband. * Michael O'Neill as Larry Mills, Scott's Alcoholics Anonymous sponsee and a member of the council of dads.

Special guest stars

Tom Everett Scott Thomas Everett Scott (born September 7, 1970) is an American actor. His film work includes a starring role as drummer Guy Patterson in the film ''That Thing You Do!'', the protagonist in ''An American Werewolf in Paris'', and notable roles in ...

as Scott Perry

Recurring

* Lindsey Blackwell as Tess, Oliver and Peter's daughter *

Kevin Daniels Kevin Dwight Daniels Jr. (born December 9, 1976 in San Diego, California), is an American actor who started his career with a supporting role in the 1998 film ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' by director Nicholas Hytner. He has appeared i ...

as Peter Richards, Oliver's husband and Tess' other father *

Hilarie Burton Hilarie Ros Burton (born July 1, 1982) is an American actress, businesswoman, author and producer. A former host of MTV's ''Total Request Live'', she portrayed Peyton Sawyer on The WB/ CW drama '' One Tree Hill'' for six seasons (2003–2009). Po ...

as Margot

Episodes

Production

Development

On January 14, 2019, it was announced that NBC had given the production a pilot order under the name ''Council of Dads''. The pilot was written by Joan Rater and Tony Phelan who executive produces alongside

Jerry Bruckheimer Jerome Leon Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television producer. He has been active in the genres of action, drama, fantasy, and science fiction. His films include '' Flashdance'', ''Top Gun'', '' The Rock'', '' ...

, Jonathan Littman, KristieAnne Reed and producers are James Oh, Bruce Feiler. Production companies involved with the pilot include Jerry Bruckheimer Television, Midwest Livestock Productions and

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a prede ...

. On May 7, 2019, it was announced that the production had been given a series order. A few days later, it was announced that the series would premiere as a

mid-season replacement In American network television scheduling, a mid-season replacement is a television show that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between December and May. Mid-season replacements usually take place after a ...

in the spring of 2020. On January 11, 2020 it was announced that the series would premiere on March 10, 2020. On February 26, 2020, the premiere date was moved to March 24, 2020. On June 25, 2020, NBC canceled the series after one season.

Casting

In February 2019, it was announced that

and

had been cast in the pilot's lead roles. Alongside the pilot's order announcement, in March 2019 it was reported that Michael O'Neill, Steven Silver, and

had joined the cast.

Filming

The series was filmed in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the series has an approval rating of 50% based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Council of Dads'' talented cast tries its best, but its first season is too superficial to make the emotional moves necessary to really connect." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, it has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100 based on 5 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Ratings

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title 2020 American television series debuts 2020 American television series endings 2020s American drama television series 2020s American LGBT-related drama television series NBC original programming Television shows based on non-fiction books Television series about cancer Television series about families Television series by Universal Television Television shows filmed in Georgia (U.S. state) Television shows set in Savannah, Georgia Transgender-related television shows