''Free Agents'' is an American
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
television series that premiered on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
September 14, 2011, in the 10:30 pm Eastern/9:30 pm Central time slot, before assuming its regular time slot on September 21, 2011, where it aired at 8:30 pm Eastern/7:30 pm Central on Wednesday nights.
It is based on the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
comedy series
of the same name that was created by Chris Niel, who also serves as co-creator and producer on this version with John Enbom, Karey Burke,
Todd Holland
Todd Holland (born August 13, 1961) is an American film and television director and producer. He directed over 50 episodes of '' The Larry Sanders Show'', for which he received an Emmy, and 26 episodes of ''Malcolm in the Middle'', for which he ...
, and
Kenton Allen
Kenton Allen is a British television producer and executive. He became Chief Executive of Big Talk Productions in September 2008. He is a multi-award–winning programme-maker with credits including the BAFTA Award-winning sitcoms ''The Royle F ...
for
Big Talk Productions
Big Talk Productions Limited is a British film and television production company founded by Nira Park in 1994. Big Talk was acquired by ITV Studios in 2013.
Film
Filmography
Released
Upcoming
Critical reception
Commercial performance
T ...
, Dark Toy Entertainment 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 predeces ...
. This show was the last series to be produced by
Universal Media Studios
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 predeces ...
during the revival of
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 predeces ...
.
On October 6, 2011, NBC cancelled the series after only four episodes were broadcast, due to low ratings. The remaining four episodes produced were later released via
Hulu
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...
on January 16, 2012.
Synopsis
The series followed the lives of two
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
executives at an advertising firm in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
: Alex Taylor (
Hank Azaria
Henry Albert Azaria ( ; born April 25, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for voicing many characters in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), most notably Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Sna ...
), who is recently divorced, and Helen Ryan (
Kathryn Hahn
Kathryn Marie Hahn (born July 23, 1973) is an American actress and comedian. She began her career on television, starring as grief counselor Lily Lebowski in the NBC crime drama series ''Crossing Jordan'' (2001–2007). Hahn gained prominence ap ...
), a woman trying to move on after the death of her fiancé. They discover that they seem to have an attraction for each other, and have a drunken one-night stand, but try to stay professional at work, where their friends will do anything to get them to re-enter the dating scene.
Cast and characters
*
Hank Azaria
Henry Albert Azaria ( ; born April 25, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for voicing many characters in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), most notably Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Sna ...
as Alex Taylor
*
Kathryn Hahn
Kathryn Marie Hahn (born July 23, 1973) is an American actress and comedian. She began her career on television, starring as grief counselor Lily Lebowski in the NBC crime drama series ''Crossing Jordan'' (2001–2007). Hahn gained prominence ap ...
as Helen Ryan
* Mo Mandel as Dan Mackey
*
Natasha Leggero
Natasha Leggero () (born March 26, 1974) is an American comedian, actress and writer. She rose to fame after appearing as the host of the MTV reality television series '' The 70s House'' in 2005, and as a regular roundtable panelist on Chelsea Ha ...
as Emma Parker
*
as Gregg
*
Joe Lo Truglio
Joseph Vincent Lo Truglio (; born December 2, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, writer and producer. Best known for his role as Charles Boyle on the Fox/NBC sitcom '' Brooklyn Nine-Nine'', he also was a cast member on the television series ' ...
as Walter
*
Anthony Head
Anthony Stewart Head (born 20 February 1954) is an English actor and singer. Primarily a performer in musical theatre, he rose to fame in the UK in the 1980s following his role in the Gold Blend couple television advertisements for Nescafé, w ...
as Stephen Yates
Development and production
NBC took interest in this project after Executive Producer Todd Holland began developing the American adaptation with the UK's original writer Chris Niel and producers Nira Park, Kenton Allen and Matthew Justice in September 2010. They also made changes to the workplace setting from talent agents in the British version to PR executives for American viewers, after NBC greenlit the pilot in February 2011.
Actor
Anthony Head
Anthony Stewart Head (born 20 February 1954) is an English actor and singer. Primarily a performer in musical theatre, he rose to fame in the UK in the 1980s following his role in the Gold Blend couple television advertisements for Nescafé, w ...
was the only cast member who had ties to both shows, in which he played Stephen, the boss in the UK and US adaptations.
Episodes
Ratings
International broadcasts
The series was
simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
in Canada by
CTV2
CTV 2 is a Canadian English-language television system owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. The system consists of four terrestrial owned-and-operated television stations (O&Os) in Ontario, one in British Columbia and two regional cab ...
.
From Channel Canada
Broadcast by TV Séries in Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
4 weeks after the US air date.
References
External links
*
Official
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
page
Official
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
page
* {{IMDb title, 1839481, Free Agents
2010s American single-camera sitcoms
2011 American television series debuts
2011 American television series endings
American television series based on British television series
English-language television shows
NBC original programming
Television shows set in Portland, Oregon
Television series by Universal Television
Television series by ITV Studios
Television series by Big Talk Productions