''True Lies'' is an American

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

television series created by

Matt Nix Matthew E. Nix (born September 4, 1971) is an American writer, producer, and director. He is best known for creating the USA Network television series '' Burn Notice'', the Fox series '' The Good Guys'', and more recently the Fox series '' The Gi ...

, based on the 1994 film of the same name by

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...

, itself based on the 1991 French film ''

La Totale! ''La Totale! (The Total!)'' is a 1991 French spy comedy film directed by Claude Zidi. The film was the basis for director James Cameron's 1994 action comedy ''True Lies''. Plot François Voisin is a telecommunications employee with an ostensibly ...

'' by

Claude Zidi Claude Zidi (born 25 July 1934) is a French film director and screenwriter noted for his mainstream burlesque comedies. Born in Paris, he started as a cameraman and then a cinematographer, and he made his directorial and screenwriting debut in 1 ...

, Simon Michaël, and Didier Kaminka. It premiered on March 1, 2023 and ended on May 17, 2023 on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

. In May 2023, the series was canceled after one season.

Premise

The series revolves around a suburban housewife who discovers her computer consultant husband is a skilled international spy, which leads them to saving the world and their marriage.

Cast

Main

* Steve Howey as Harry Tasker *

Ginger Gonzaga Ginger Gonzaga (born May 17, 1983) is an American comedian and actress. She plays Nikki Ramos, best friend of Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk in the Disney+ series '' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law''. Early life Gonzaga grew up in Modesto, California, w ...

as Helen Tasker * Mike O'Gorman as Luther Tenet * Erica Hernandez as Maria Ruiz * Annabella Didion as Dana Tasker * Lucas Jaye as Jake Tasker *

Omar Miller Omar Benson Miller (born October 7, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for his work as Walter Simmons on ''CSI: Miami'' (2009–2012), as Charles Greane on ''Ballers'' (2015–2019), as the voice of Raphael on ''Rise of the Teenage Mutant ...

as Albert "Gib" Gibson Jr.

Guest

Carlo Rota Carlo Dante Rota (born 17 April 1961) is a British-born Canadian actor. He has appeared in ''Little Mosque on the Prairie'' and as systems analyst Morris O'Brian on the Fox series '' 24''. He also co-starred as Emilio Solano in ''Jane the Virg ...

as Francois * Andy Martin as Mikkel Rand *

Beverly D'Angelo Beverly Heather D'Angelo (born November 15, 1951) is an American actress who starred as Ellen Griswold in the ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' films (1983–2015). She has appeared in over 60 films and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for h ...

as Director Susan Trilby * Andrea Laing as Cherry * Deneen Tyler as Mrs. Myers * Liann Pattison as Donna * Ray Gaspard as Lawrence * Franco Castan as Taxi Driver * Christian Juru as Valet * John Jabaley as Fred * Jenny Mercein as Professor Gilpin * Jeremy Dean as Construction Crew Leader *

Jackson Hurst Jackson Ryan Hurst (born February 17, 1979) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Grayson Kent on the Lifetime comedy series ''Drop Dead Diva'' (2009–2014). Early life and education Hurst was born and raised in the Houston are ...

as Harold *

Matthew Lillard Matthew Lyn Lillard (born January 24, 1970) is an American actor. His early film work includes Chip Sutphin in ''Serial Mom'' (1994), Emmanuel "Cereal Killer" Goldstein in ''Hackers'' (1995), Stu Macher in ''Scream'' (1996), Stevo in ''SLC Punk ...

as Nathan "The Wolf" *

Tom Arnold Tom Arnold may refer to: * Tom Arnold (actor) (born 1959), American actor * Tom Arnold (economist) (born 1948), Irish CEO of Concern Worldwide * Tom Arnold (footballer) (1878–?), English footballer * Tom Arnold (literary scholar) (1823–1900), ...

as Arnie Orwig, Retired Omega Operative *

Keith David Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as '' T ...

as Albert "Al" Gibson Sr. * Tom Connolly as Ian Young *

Vanessa Lengies Vanessa Lengies (born July 21, 1985) is a Canadian actress, dancer and singer. She is known for starring in the drama ''American Dreams'' as Roxanne Bojarski. She appeared as Charge Nurse Kelly Epson on the TNT medical drama ''HawthoRNe'', and ha ...

as Quinn, OMEGA Engineer *Kate Vernon as Sharon Heinz, Retired Omega Operative *Jacqueline Grace Lopez as Eva *Alex Fernandez as Lance Dale *Charlie Nix as Max, a teen hacker & Dana's Boyfriend

Episodes

Development

In September 2010, multiple websites reported that

, writer/director of the 1994 film, was developing and executive producing with Rae Sanchini, through

Lightstorm Entertainment Lightstorm Entertainment is an American independent production company founded in 1990 by filmmaker James Cameron and producer Lawrence Kasanoff. The majority of its films have been distributed and owned by 20th Century Studios. Its productions i ...

and

20th Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Compa ...

, a ''True Lies'' television series with '' Dark Angel'' producer

René Echevarria René Echevarria is an American screenwriter and producer. He has worked on a number of television series, including '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', '' Dark Angel'' and ''Castle''. He created ''The 4400'' for USA Network, ''Carnival Row'' fo ...

serving as showrunner and producer. In 2017,

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 ...

planned to do a pilot of the series, with

Marc Guggenheim Marc Guggenheim (born September 24, 1970) is an American screenwriter, television producer, comic book writer, and novelist. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''Eli Stone'' (2008–2009), ''Arrow'' (2012– 2020), and ''Lege ...

as screenwriter,

McG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...

as executive producer and possible director. In May 2019, McG announced on '' Collider Live'' that the television series would air on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

. On February 10, 2021,

announced a pilot order for the second attempt at a ''True Lies'' series adaptation, with

writing the pilot and producing with Josh Levy via Flying Glass of Milk Productions.

Mary Viola Wonderland Sound and Vision is an American production company founded by director and producer Joseph McGinty Nichol in 2001. It independently develops, produces and finances its own slate of feature films, television and digital projects. The co ...

Wonderland Sound and Vision Wonderland Sound and Vision is an American production company founded by director and producer Joseph McGinty Nichol in 2001. It independently develops, produces and finances its own slate of feature films, television and digital projects. The co ...

executive produced, with Corey Marsh of Wonderland co-executive producing. McG was set to direct the pilot and executive produce via Wonderland. In March 2021, CBS moved the pilot "off cycle" to give the series producers more time to film the pilot later in the year. By May 2022, the series was revived, with

Anthony Hemingway Anthony Maurice Hemingway (born 1977) is an American television and film director. He has worked extensively in television, directing numerous episodes of ''CSI: NY'', '' Treme'', ''True Blood'' and '' Shameless'', among others. He has also direc ...

replacing McG as the director of the pilot and subsequent episodes, before CBS picked up the series to air in the 2022–2023 broadcast season. Steve Howey and

were cast in the lead roles, while Erica Hernandez,

, Mike O'Gorman, Annabella Didion, and Lucas Jaye round out the supporting roles. By February 2023,

, and Tom Connolly were confirmed to have guest roles, while

is set to return from the 1994 film. On May 8, 2023, CBS canceled the series after one season.

Release

''True Lies'' premiered on March 1, 2023 and ended on May 17, 2023 on

. It was previously set to premiere on February 23, 2023. It aired in Canada on CTV the same day as its US release. Overseas, ''True Lies'' streams on

Reception

Critical response

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

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 ...

reported a 42% approval rating with an average rating of 4.6/10, based on 19 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Bland as gruel, ''True Lies'' might borrow the name of a cinematic blockbuster but retains none of the personality that would differentiate it from the crowded field of espionage romances."

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 ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 49 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Tania Hussain of ''

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particle ...

'' gave the series a negative review, writing "

is no stranger to adapting previous material for success, but ''True Lies'' falls flat in carving out its own identity". Tim Surette of ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' also gave a negative review, summarizing that "CBS's commitment to making ''True Lies'' such an easy-breezy, network-friendly series means that it will have to face some hard truths: The idea that we want everything adapted into a TV show is a lie." Fred Topel of ''

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

'' similarly gave a negative review, concluding that the series "skips over some of the best parts of the ''True Lies'' story. The creative decision to make Helen a spy right away deprives the viewer of the fun of Helen figuring it out and Harry desperately trying to cover up his missions." Neal Justin of ''

Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'' gave the series a lukewarm review, speculating that "those who crave their action without the blood will be tempted to give it a try. And they'll be back."

Ratings

References

External links

* {{James Cameron 2020s American drama television series 2023 American television series debuts 2023 American television series endings American action television series American spy drama television series CBS original programming English-language television shows Live action television shows based on films Serial drama television series Television series based on adaptations Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series by Wonderland Sound and Vision