''Pasadena'' is an American prime time

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

that originally aired on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

from September to November 2001.

Summary

The series starred

Alison Lohman Alison Marion Lohman (born September 18, 1979) is an American former actress. Born in Palm Springs, California, she began her career with small roles in short and independent films. Lohman headlined the drama film '' White Oleander'' (2002), wh ...

as Lily McAllister, an initially naïve young woman who witnesses a stranger's suicide and begins to investigate the secrets being hidden by her own very wealthy

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

family, the Greeleys. Other cast members included

Dana Delany Dana Welles Delany (born March 13, 1956) is an American actress. After appearing in small roles early in her career, Delany received her breakthrough role as Colleen McMurphy on the ABC television drama ''China Beach'' (1988–1991), for which s ...

and

Martin Donovan Martin Donovan (born Martin Paul Smith; August 19, 1957) is an American actor. He has had a long collaboration with director Hal Hartley, appearing in many of his films, such as ''Trust'' (1990), '' Surviving Desire'' (1991), '' Simple Men'' (199 ...

as Lily's parents, Will and Catherine McAllister, and

Chris Marquette Chris Marquette (born October 3, 1984) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in such films as ''The Tic Code'', ''Freddy vs. Jason'', '' The Girl Next Door'', ''Just Friends'', '' Alpha Dog'' and '' Fanboys''. He is also known for his ...

as Lily's brother Mason. Mark Valley,

Balthazar Getty Paul Balthazar Getty (; born January 22, 1975) is an American actor and musician. His acting debut was in ''Lord of the Flies'' (1990) as Ralph. He went on to appear in '' Lost Highway'' (1997) and had a recurring role as Richard Montana in ''Cha ...

, and

Natasha Gregson Wagner Natasha Gregson Wagner ( Gregson; born September 29, 1970) is an American actress. She is the daughter of film producer Richard Gregson and actress Natalie Wood. She has appeared in films including '' Lost Highway'' (1997), ''Two Girls and a Guy ...

portrayed Catherine's siblings Robert, Nate, and Beth Greeley, while Philip Baker Hall and

Barbara Babcock Barbara Babcock (born February 27, 1937) is an American actress who played Grace Gardner on ''Hill Street Blues'', for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress—Drama Series in 1981, She played Dorothy Jennings on ''Dr. Quinn, ...

played Greeley patriarch and matriarch George and Lillian. Alan Simpson was cast as Lily's love interest Henry Bellow, with

Derek Cecil Derek Cecil (born January 5, 1973) is an American actor. He played the role of Seth Grayson on the Netflix series ''House of Cards'', starred in the short-lived series ''Push, Nevada'' and '' The Beat'', and made several appearances in the series ...

as Henry's brother Tom.

Cast

as Lily McAllister * Alan Simpson as Henry Bellow *

as Will McAllister *

as Catherine McAllister *

as Mason McAllister *

as Beth Greeley * Mark Valley as Robert Greeley * Nicole Paggi as Jennie Bradbury *

as Nate Greeley

Production

''Pasadena'' was created by Mike White, who attended elementary and high school in

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

. Actress/director

Diane Keaton Diane Keaton ('' née'' Hall, born January 5, 1946) is an American actress and director. She has received various accolades throughout her career spanning over six decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Gl ...

directed the pilot episode, and was among the show's executive producers. Other producers included Mark B. Perry, Dana Baratta, R. W. Goodwin, and Bill Robinson. The pilot was edited by

Tatiana S. Riegel Tatiana S. Riegel A.C.E., is an United States, American film editor known for independent films such as ''Lars and the Real Girl'', ''The Way Way Back'' and ''I, Tonya''. She received an American Cinema Editors, ACE Eddie award for "Best Edited M ...

Episodes

Release

Broadcast and syndication

Only four episodes were originally aired in the U.S. in 2001, though thirteen were filmed, with the last episode seemingly resolving the central mystery of the series. In late 2005, the series was shown in its entirety for the first time in the United States, on the cable channel SoapNet. In 2003 and 2004, all thirteen episodes were aired in various countries such as

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(by the public television

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(BTV Channel),

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México Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, Russia,

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(on the pay channel

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), Israel (on cable Channel 3) and China. It began airing in Belgium on

Club RTL Club RTL is a Luxembourgish channel of French language based in Kirchberg, Luxembourg-City, Luxembourg and it was owned by DPG Media and Groupe Rossel, it was originally owned by RTL Group until 31 March 2022. The two principals countries of tr ...

on June 27, 2010.

Home media

Mill Creek Entertainment announced the series on DVD.

Reception

Although the show was critically acclaimed, it was watched by only 4.3 million viewers. The general speculation at the time was that, with the series having premiered two weeks after the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

, American audiences were not willing to watch a show like ''Pasadena'', with its dark atmosphere and cynical storylines.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pasadena (TV Series) 2001 American television series debuts 2001 American television series endings 2000s American drama television series 2000s American mystery television series American primetime television soap operas English-language television shows Fox Broadcasting Company original programming Television series created by Mike White Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in Los Angeles