''Miracle Workers'' is an American
anthology comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
television series created by
Simon Rich
Simon Rich (born June 5, 1984) is an American humorist, novelist, and screenwriter. He has published two novels and six collections of humor pieces, several of which appeared in ''The New Yorker.'' His novels and short stories have been translat ...
for
TBS. It is based in part on Rich's writings, with the first season being based on his 2012 novel ''What in God's Name'', while the short story "Revolution" provided the basis for the second season. The series stars an
ensemble cast comprising
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. He rose to fame at age twelve, when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name; and has held various other film and theatre roles. Over his career, Rad ...
,
Steve Buscemi,
Geraldine Viswanathan,
Jon Bass,
Karan Soni
Karan Soni (born January 8, 1989) is an Indian-American actor and comedian. Often appearing in comedic roles, he came to prominence for playing Dopinder in the films ''Deadpool'' (2016) and its sequel ''Deadpool 2'' (2018).
Born in New Delhi, ...
,
Sasha Compère, and
Lolly Adefope
Ololade "Lolly" Adefope (born 14 September 1990) is a British stand-up comedian and actress, specialising in character comedy. She is known for playing the role of Fran in the Hulu comedy series '' Shrill'', and as Kitty, the ghost of a Georgia ...
.
''Miracle Workers'' premiered on February 12, 2019, with its seven-episode first season. A ten-episode second season, subtitled ''Dark Ages'', premiered in January 2020. The third season, subtitled ''Oregon Trail'', premiered on July 13, 2021. In November 2021, the series was renewed for a fourth season, subtitled ''End Times'', set to premiere on January 16, 2023.
Premise
Season 1
The first season follows Craig, a low-level angel responsible for handling all of humanity's prayers, and Eliza, a recent transfer from the Department of Dirt. Their boss, God, has pretty much checked out to focus on his favorite hobbies. To prevent Earth's destruction, Craig and Eliza must achieve their most impossible miracle to date.
The season is based on Rich's novel ''What in God's Name''.
Season 2
The second season is set during the
Dark Ages, and is based on Rich's short story "Revolution".
Season 3
Reverend Ezekiel Brown leads his dying, famine-stricken town for a better life on the
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what is now the state of Kans ...
, taking in notorious outlaw Benny the Teen as trailmaster.
Season 4
Season four takes place in a post-nuclear apocalyptic setting.
Cast and characters
Main
*
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. He rose to fame at age twelve, when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name; and has held various other film and theatre roles. Over his career, Rad ...
as:
** Craig Bog (season 1)
** Prince Chauncley the Pretty Cool (season 2)
** Reverend Ezekiel Brown (season 3)
*
Steve Buscemi as:
** God (season 1)
** Edward "Eddie" Murphy Shitshoveler (season 2)
** Benny the Teen (season 3)
*
Geraldine Viswanathan as:
** Eliza Hunter (season 1)
** Alexandra "Al" Shitshoveler (season 2)
** Prudence Aberdeen (season 3)
*
Karan Soni
Karan Soni (born January 8, 1989) is an Indian-American actor and comedian. Often appearing in comedic roles, he came to prominence for playing Dopinder in the films ''Deadpool'' (2016) and its sequel ''Deadpool 2'' (2018).
Born in New Delhi, ...
as:
** Sanjay Prince (season 1)
** Lord Chris Vexler (season 2)
** The Gunslinger (season 3)
*
Jon Bass as:
** Sam (season 1)
** Michael "Mikey" Shitshoveler (season 2)
** Todd Aberdeen (season 3)
*
Sasha Compère as Laura (season 1)
*
Lolly Adefope
Ololade "Lolly" Adefope (born 14 September 1990) is a British stand-up comedian and actress, specialising in character comedy. She is known for playing the role of Fran in the Hulu comedy series '' Shrill'', and as Kitty, the ghost of a Georgia ...
as:
** Rosie (season 1)
** Maggie (season 2)
Guest
Season 1
*
John Reynolds as Mason
*
Angela Kinsey
Angela Faye Kinsey (born June 25, 1971) is an American actress. She played Angela Martin in the sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013) and appeared in the sitcoms '' Your Family or Mine'' (2015) and ''Haters Back Off'' (2016–2017). Since ''The ...
as Gail, an angel in the Department of Angel Resources
*
Tim Meadows
Timothy Meadows (born February 5, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the longest-running cast members on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he appeared for ten seasons and for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emm ...
as Dave Shelby
*
Chris Parnell as God's Dad
*
Margaret Cho
Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and se ...
as God's Mom
*
Tituss Burgess
Tituss Burgess (born February 21, 1979) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in numerous Broadway musicals and is known for his high tenor voice. He is best known for starring as Titus Andromedon on the Netflix comedy series '' Unb ...
as God's Brother
* Ruby Matenko as God's Sister
Season 2
*
Peter Serafinowicz
Peter Szymon Serafinowicz ( ; born 10 July 1972) is an English actor, comedian, director and screenwriter, best known for his roles as the title character in the 2016 live-action series of '' The Tick'', Pete in ''Shaun of the Dead'' (2004) an ...
as King Cragnoor the Heartless
*
Tony Cavalero as Ted Carpenter
*
Jessica Lowe
''Wrecked'' is an American sitcom that was created by Jordan Shipley and Justin Shipley for TBS. The series is about a group of people stranded on an island, after their airplane crashed in the ocean and is a parody of '' Lost''. The 10-episode ...
as Mary Baker
*
Jamie Demetriou
Jamie Demetriou (born November 1987) is an English comedian, actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Bus Rodent in ''Fleabag'' and for creating, co-writing, and starring in ''Stath Lets Flats''. For the latter, he won Best Male A ...
as Town crier
*
Kevin Dunn as Bert Shitshoveler
*
Fred Armisen
Fereydun Robert Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. With his comedy partner Carrie Brownstein, Armisen was the co-creator and co-star of the IFC sketch comedy series '' Portlandia''. ...
as Percival Forthwind
*
Kerri Kenney-Silver
Kerri Kenney-Silver (born January 20, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and musician. She is best known for starring as Trudy Wiegel on the mockumentary series ''Reno 911!'' and previously for her sketch comedy work on MTV ...
as Lila
* Dee Ahluwalia as Lucas
* Jack Mosedale as Wesley Pervert
* Sinead Phelps as Trish
*
Greta Lee as Princess Vicki
Season 3
* Lamont Thompson as Farmer John
* Tammy Dahlstrom as Martha
* River Drosche as Young Levi
*
Shay Mitchell
Shannon Ashley Garcia "Shay" Mitchell (born April 10, 1987) is a Canadian actress and model. She rose to prominence for her role as Emily Fields in the mystery thriller drama series ''Pretty Little Liars'' (2010–2017), which earned her nom ...
as Purple
*
Jordan Firstman as Kaya
* Mary Anne McGarry as Granny McGill
*
Quinta Brunson as Trig
*
Carl Tart as Lionel
*
Tim Meadows
Timothy Meadows (born February 5, 1961) is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the longest-running cast members on ''Saturday Night Live'', where he appeared for ten seasons and for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emm ...
as Jedidiah Noonan
*
Erin Darke as Phaedra
*
Jessica Lowe
''Wrecked'' is an American sitcom that was created by Jordan Shipley and Justin Shipley for TBS. The series is about a group of people stranded on an island, after their airplane crashed in the ocean and is a parody of '' Lost''. The 10-episode ...
as Branchwater tavern host
*
Ron Funches
Ronald Kyle Funches (born March 12, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. Born in California, Funches spent his early life in Chicago before relocating to Salem, Oregon, as a teenager. He began his comedy career in Portland, Oregon, at ...
as Dirty Dick Bob
*
Karamo Brown
Karamo Karega Brown (born November 2, 1980) is an American television host, reality television personality, author, actor, and activist. Brown began his career in 2004 on the MTV reality show '' The Real World: Philadelphia'', becoming the first ...
as American Patriot
* Marisa Quintanilla as Sheila
*
Bobby Moynihan
Bobby Moynihan (born January 31, 1977) is an American actor, comedian and writer who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 until 2017. He also voiced Louie Duck on Disney's ''DuckTales'' from 2017 to 2021, Panda in ''We Bare Be ...
as Governor Lane
*
Paul F. Tompkins as Snake Oil Salesman
Season 4
Episodes
Season 1 (2019)
Season 2: ''Dark Ages'' (2020)
Season 3: ''Oregon Trail'' (2021)
Season 4: ''End Times''
Production
Development
On May 17, 2017,
TBS announced that it had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of seven episodes. The series was created by
Simon Rich
Simon Rich (born June 5, 1984) is an American humorist, novelist, and screenwriter. He has published two novels and six collections of humor pieces, several of which appeared in ''The New Yorker.'' His novels and short stories have been translat ...
and based on his novel ''What in God's Name''. Executive producers were expected to include Rich,
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...
, Andrew Singer,
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. He rose to fame at age twelve, when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name; and has held various other film and theatre roles. Over his career, Rad ...
, and
Owen Wilson
Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor. He has had a long association with filmmaker Wes Anderson with whom he shared writing and acting credits for '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), and '' The Royal ...
. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of
Broadway Video
Broadway Video is an American multimedia entertainment studio founded by Lorne Michaels, creator of the sketch comedy TV series ''Saturday Night Live'' and producer of other television programs and movies. Broadway Video also held the rights to ...
and Studio T.
On October 19, 2017, it was announced that Wilson would no longer be serving as an executive producer and would be replaced with
Steve Buscemi.
On May 15, 2019, the series was renewed for a second season.
On November 20, 2019, it was announced that the second season, titled ''Miracle Workers: Dark Ages'', would premiere on January 28, 2020. On August 6, 2020, the series was renewed for a third season
that will focus on the Wild West and Oregon Trail. On May 19, 2021, it was announced that the third season, titled ''Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail'', would premiere on July 13, 2021. On November 3, 2021, TBS renewed the series for a fourth season. On October 27, 2022, it was announced that the fourth season, titled ''End Times'', would premiere on January 16, 2023.
Casting
Alongside the initial series order announcement, it was confirmed that Daniel Radcliffe and Owen Wilson would star in the series.
On October 19, 2017, it was announced Steve Buscemi had replaced Wilson in the role of God after the latter had decided to vacate the part.
In November 2017, ''
Deadline Hollywood
''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, wit ...
'' and ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' reported that Geraldine Viswanathan,
Jon Bass,
Karan Soni
Karan Soni (born January 8, 1989) is an Indian-American actor and comedian. Often appearing in comedic roles, he came to prominence for playing Dopinder in the films ''Deadpool'' (2016) and its sequel ''Deadpool 2'' (2018).
Born in New Delhi, ...
, and
Sasha Compère had been cast in series regular roles. On March 25, 2018, it was announced that
Lolly Adefope
Ololade "Lolly" Adefope (born 14 September 1990) is a British stand-up comedian and actress, specialising in character comedy. She is known for playing the role of Fran in the Hulu comedy series '' Shrill'', and as Kitty, the ghost of a Georgia ...
had joined the cast in a main role. On May 27, 2021,
Quinta Brunson joined in recurring role for the third season.
Filming
Principal photography for the first season took place in December 2017 and January 2018 in and around
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
. Filming took place in
Norcross, Georgia
Norcross is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. The population as of the 2010 census was 9,116, while in 2020 the population was 17,209. It is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta metropolitan statistical area.
History
...
, on December 29, 2017, and in
Piedmont Park on January 16, 2018.
Release
On December 4, 2018, TBS announced that the series would premiere on February 12, 2019.
On February 8, 2019, TBS released the first episode of the series on its official YouTube channel.
In Australia, the series has same day release on the streaming service
Stan as a Stan Exclusive.
Marketing
On December 5, 2018, TBS released a teaser trailer for the series.
On December 19, 2018, the official full length trailer was released.
Premiere
On January 26, 2019, the series held a screening of the pilot episode during the
2019 Sundance Film Festival. Those in attendance included Daniel Radcliffe, Geraldine Viswanathan, Karan Soni, and Simon Rich.
Reception
Critical response
On
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 first season has an approval rating of 74% based on reviews from 39 critics, with an average rating of 6.26/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "More charming than clever, ''Miracle Workers'' functions as a palatable showcase of Daniel Radcliffe and Steve Buscemi's quirky star power." 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 score of 61 out of 100 based on reviews from 19 critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an approval rating of 78% based on reviews from 9 critics, with an average rating of 5.60/10.
Ratings
Season 1 (2019)
Season 2 (2020)
Season 3 (2021)
Accolade
Radcliffe was nominated for
Choice Comedy TV Actor for his work on the series at the
2019 Teen Choice Awards
The 2019 Teen Choice Awards ceremony was held on August 11, 2019, and used a temporary outdoor on-beach stage in Hermosa Beach, California near the beach pier. This was the first time the ceremony was held outdoors. The awards celebrated the year' ...
.
See also
*
List of films about angels
This is a list of films where angels appear.
Angels
* '' The Christmas Angel'' (1904)
* ''The Passing of the Third Floor Back'' (1935)
* ''The Green Pastures'' (1936)
* ''Here Comes Mr. Jordan'' (1941)
* ''I Married an Angel'' (1942)
* ''A Guy Na ...
Notes
References
External links
* on
TBS
*
{{Authority control
2010s American workplace comedy television series
2020s American workplace comedy television series
2019 American television series debuts
2010s American anthology television series
2020s American anthology television series
Angels in television
English-language television shows
Fiction about God
Religious comedy television series
TBS (American TV channel) original programming
Television shows based on American novels
Television series set in the Middle Ages
Television series by Broadway Video
Television series by Studio T
Works by Jeff Loveness
Television series created by Simon Rich
Adaptations of works by Simon Rich