''The Cleaner'' is an A&E

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed ...

starring Benjamin Bratt. It debuted on Tuesday, July 15, 2008, at 10:00 pm EST and the last episode aired on September 15, 2009, when the show was officially cancelled. It was produced by Once a Frog Productions and

CBS Productions CBS Productions, Inc. was a production arm of the CBS television network (an initialism of Columbia Broadcasting System, along with its parent company CBS Television Studios, Inc.; the radio network was founded in 1927), now a part of Paramount G ...

Synopsis

William Banks is a recovering drug addict who lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. When his daughter Lula was born, Banks "made a deal with

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

", pledging that if he is given a second chance, he will end his drug abuse and help others end their addictions to drugs and alcohol. Banks and his small team of recovering addicts begin to work to help others in recovering from their addictions. They will resort to unethical and illegal tactics in order to end their clients' addictions. His success at cleaning people's addictions has gained him the respect of the

LAPD The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal Police, police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the thir ...

and other officials, who almost always turn a blind eye to the

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...

's methods. In fact, the LAPD and other law officials will frequently refer clients to Banks. Banks appears to believe that his work is a calling and will therefore work pro bono if a client is too poor to afford his services. Banks has a busy life; besides his addiction fighting capers, he runs a shop that primarily sells surfing equipment. His shop is connected to a garage where his business repairs automobiles and surfboards. Besides that he also works at a

drug rehabilitation center Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. The general inte ...

called Transitions. Each episode typically begins with Banks having a one-way conversation with God (or "talking", as he refers to it), usually asking for guidance and clarity on his mission, the

meaning of life The meaning of life, or the answer to the question: "What is the meaning of life?", pertains to the intrinsic value (ethics), significance of Life, living or existence in general. Many other related questions include: "Why are we here?", "Wha ...

and

human nature Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...

, among other things. Other times Banks will air his grievances to God, asking why He allows bad things to happen. William's one-way communications with God are somewhat of a theme during the series, implying that his faith plays an important role in his sobriety. However, whether all the scenes where Banks is shown praying out loud to God are real or whether they are simply illustrations of what is going on in his mind, are left ambiguous to the viewers. The show's intro states that Banks also helps people overcome addictions to sex and gambling, however, neither one was the focus of an episode.

Production

''The Cleaner'', whose protagonist, according to A&E, helps others defeat their habits "by any means necessary", is the first original drama for this cable network in over six years. The show is loosely based on the life of

Warren Boyd Warren Boyd (born 1958) is owner of Wavelengths Recovery Center, and recovering drug addict. He is a co-executive producer of the American A&E television series ''The Cleaner'', which is based on his life. By the time he was 32, Boyd had spent ...

who, as an addictions counselor, has helped such people as

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocal ...

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love ( née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence a ...

, and

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...

. On October 27, 2008, A&E declared they would pick up a second season of ''The Cleaner''. It went into production of thirteen all-new episodes, and premiered on June 23, 2009. A&E opted not to renew the series for a third season on September 25, 2009.

Cast

* Benjamin Bratt as William Banks * Grace Park as Akani Cuesta * Esteban Powell as Arnie Swenton *

Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in '' Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...

as Darnell McDowell (season 1) *

Amy Price-Francis Amy Elizabeth Price-Francis (born 16 September 1975) is a British- Canadian actress. She starred as Detective Jessica King on the Showcase drama, '' King''. Life and career Price-Francis was born in England and raised in Toronto, Ontari ...

as Melissa Banks, William's wife * Liliana Mumy as Lula Banks, William's daughter *Brett DelBuono as Ben Banks, William's son

Main crew

* Steve Boyum *

Félix Enríquez Alcalá Félix Enríquez Alcalá (sometimes credited as Felix Alcala) (born March 7, 1951 in Bakersfield, California) is an Argentinean-American film and television director. Career Alcalá's first major breakthrough came in 1991 when he was hired by ...

(2 episodes, 2008) * Leon Ichaso (2 episodes, 2008) * Robert Munic (13 episodes, 2008) * Jonathan Prince (

head writer A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits. In fictional comedy ...

)

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1: 2008

Season two

Home media

The first season of ''The Cleaner'' was released on DVD on June 9, 2009, and the second and final season was released on DVD on June 1, 2010.

Ratings

2008 first-run ratings for ''The Cleaner'' were 1.1 million in the 18-49 demographic. The series finale averaged 1.528 million viewers in live+7.

International airings

* The series was broadcast in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

through the A&E Latinamerica channel. Series one premiered on Sunday, October 5, 2008. The second season premiered on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. * The first season premiered in Bulgaria in 2009 on AXN and the Second premiered in January 2010. In 2010 also the first season started on

PRO.BG bTV Action is a Bulgarian man-based television channel. The channel, along with sports channel RING, bTV, bTV Comedy, bTV Cinema and bTV Lady are part of bTV Media Group, owned by the US media conglomerate CME(through WarnerMedia/AT&T). ...

with different dub. * The first season of the series premiered in Italy on Thursday September 10, 2009, on pay-TV channel Joi, ( Mediaset Premium). * The first season premiered in Ireland in January 2010, on

RTÉ Two (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...

. * The first season premiered in Kenya in January 2011, on nation tv. * The first season premiered in Greece in April 2011, on Skai TV. * The first and second season have been broadcast in Finland on

nelonen Nelonen () is a Finnish commercial television channel. It started out as Helsinki's local television channel PTV in 1990 on the HTV cable network (now part of DNA Welho), and changed its name first to PTV4. On June 1, 1997, the channel expand ...

References

External links

Official A&E site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cleaner, The 2000s American drama television series 2008 American television series debuts 2009 American television series endings A&E (TV network) original programming American action television series Television series by CBS Studios American religious television series English-language television shows Television shows set in Los Angeles Television series about dysfunctional families