''Tarzan'' is an American

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

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 been ...

television series that premiered on

The WB The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...

on October 5, 2003, and ended on November 23, 2003. Based on the

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

series by

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...

and developed by

Eric Kripke Eric Kripke (born 1974) is an American writer and television producer. He came to prominence as the creator of the fantasy drama series ''Supernatural'' (2005–2020) which aired on The CW. He served as the showrunner during the first five seasons ...

Mike Werb Mike Werb is an American screenwriter, whose writing credits include ''Face/Off'', '' The Mask'' and the story for '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider''. A Los Angeles native, Werb attended Stanford. He is a UCLA Film School graduate. He has worked as ...

and

Michael Colleary Michael Colleary is an American film producer, screenwriter and television writer. His writing credits include ''Face/Off'', '' Firehouse Dog'', ''The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents'', the story for '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,'' and the Cartoon ...

, the show was set in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and depicted modern-day adaptations of Burroughs' characters. In December 2003, the series was canceled after eight episodes.

Synopsis and creator commentary

NYPD detective Jane Porter's ordinary life is disrupted when a routine case unexpectedly leads her to John Clayton, who prefers to be called Tarzan. After being proclaimed dead for 20 years, John Clayton was found in the jungles of Africa by his billionaire uncle, Richard Clayton, who is the CEO of powerful Greystoke Industries. Held against his will at his uncle's home, Tarzan escapes and prowls all over the city, helping others in need. Upon meeting Jane, he begins to follow her from her home to crime scenes, simultaneously assisting her with her police cases. Kripke was critical of the show, calling it "a piece of crap" and saying: "I'll stand behind the pilot. It has a beginning, middle, and -- the problem -- it ends. I was hungry to have anything in production, so I wrote a 50-page story that ended. Then it got made and I had something in production, and it was all my dreams come true. They said to me, 'Let's do 12 more.' I said, 'Uh, wait! What's the story?' So, Tarzan was a hell ride in every way, and we only did eight before they wisely put us out of our misery."

Cast

Main

Travis Fimmel Travis Fimmel (born 15 July 1979) is an Australian actor and former model. He is known for his role as Ragnar Lothbrok in the History Channel television series ''Vikings'' (2013–2017),Prudom, LaurVikings On History: Travis Fimmel Previews The ...

as John Clayton Jr./Tarzan,

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...

of Greystoke Industries *

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 ''Colo ...

as Detective

Jane Porter Jane Porter (3 December 1775 – 24 May 1850) was an English historical novelist, dramatist and literary figure. Her bestselling novels, ''Thaddeus of Warsaw'' (1803) and ''The Scottish Chiefs'' (1810) are seen as among the earliest historical ...

Miguel A. Núñez Jr. Miguel A. Núñez Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in ''The Return of the Living Dead'' and ''Life''. He played leading roles in ''Juwanna Mann'' and ''Tour of Duty'' and appears on the hit BET drama ''The Family Busines ...

as Detective Sam Sullivan *

Leighton Meester Leighton Marissa Meester (; born April 9, 1986) is an American actress, singer, and model. She is best known for her starring role as the devious socialite Blair Waldorf on ''Gossip Girl'' on The CW (2007–2012). She has also appeared in films ...

as Nicki Porter, Jane's sister *

Mitch Pileggi Mitch Pileggi (born April 5, 1952) is an American actor. He played Horace Pinker in '' Shocker'', Walter Skinner on ''The X-Files'', Colonel Steven Caldwell on ''Stargate Atlantis'', Ernest Darby in ''Sons of Anarchy'', and Harris Ryland in th ...

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

Richard Clayton,

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Greystoke Industries and uncle of John Clayton Jr./Tarzan *

Lucy Lawless Lucille Frances Lawless (; born 29 March 1968) is a New Zealand actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Xena in the television series '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', as D'Anna Biers on the re-imagined '' Battlestar Galactica'' seri ...

as Kathleen Clayton, newspaper publisher,

of Greystoke Industries and aunt of John Clayton Jr./Tarzan

Recurring and guest stars

* Douglas O'Keeffe as Patrick Nash * Johnny Messner as Detective Michael Foster *

Fulvio Cecere Fulvio Cecere (born March 11, 1960) is a Canadian actor and filmmaker. Early life Born in Canada, he moved to Hawthorne, New Jersey as a teenager and attended Hawthorne High School, graduating as part of the class of 1978. Cecere attended Sou ...

as Detective Gene Taylor *

Joe Grifasi Joseph G. Grifasi (born June 14, 1944) is an American character actor of film, stage and television. Grifasi was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Patricia (née Gaglione) and Joseph J. Grifasi, a skilled laborer. Grifasi graduated from Bi ...

as Lieutenant Scott Connor *

Tim Guinee Timothy S. Guinee (born November 18, 1962) is an American stage, television, and feature-film actor. Primarily known for his roles as Tomin in the television series ''Stargate SG-1'' (1997–2007) and railroad entrepreneur Collis Huntington AMC ...

as Donald Ingram * James Carroll as Howard Rhinehart *

Marcus Chait Marcus E. Chait (born March 18, 1973) is an American film and television actor and producer. Early life Chait was born in Menlo Park, California on March 18, 1973. Career His television appearances include '' ER'', ''CSI: Miami'' and '' Termina ...

as Gary Lang *

David Warshofsky David Warshofsky (born David A. Warner; February 23, 1961) is an American film, television and stage actor. Life and career Warshofsky was born David A. WarnerAccording to the State of California. ''California Birth Index, 1905-1995''. Center fo ...

as Sheriff Tim Sweeney

Episodes

List of songs used

The opening theme song is ''"Try"'' by Paloalto.

Reception

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, 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 arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

the show has a score of 45% based on reviews from 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* {{Eric Kripke The WB original programming 2000s American drama television series 2000s American police procedural television series 2003 American television series debuts 2003 American television series endings American adventure television series English-language television shows Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department Tarzan television series Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows set in New York City