''The Catch'' is an American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television series that aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

from March 24, 2016, to May 11, 2017. It stars

Mireille Enos Mireille Enos (; born September 22, 1975) is an American actress. Drawn to acting from a young age, she graduated in performing arts from Brigham Young University, where she was awarded the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship. Having made her acting ...

and

Peter Krause Peter William Krause (; born August 12, 1965) is an American actor, director, and producer. He has played lead roles in multiple television series, portraying Casey McCall on '' Sports Night'' (1998–2000), Nate Fisher on '' Six Feet Under'' ( ...

, was created by Jennifer Schuur,

Kate Atkinson Kate Atkinson may refer to: * Kate Atkinson (actress) (born 1972), Australian actress * Kate Atkinson (writer) Kate Atkinson (born 20 December 1951) is an English writer of novels, plays and short stories. She is known for creating the Jac ...

, and Helen Gregory, and developed by

Allan Heinberg Allan Heinberg (born June 29, 1967) is an American film screenwriter, television writer and producer and comic book writer. Heinberg is the screenwriter of the 2017 film ''Wonder Woman'', directed by Patty Jenkins. His television writing and p ...

, and was executive produced by

Shondaland Shondaland (stylized as ShondaLand from 2005 to 2016 and shondaland thereafter) is an American television production company founded by television writer/producer Shonda Rhimes. She founded it to be one of the production companies of her first s ...

Shonda Rhimes Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television screenwriter, producer, and author. She is best known as the showrunner—creator, head writer, and executive producer—of the television medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'', it ...

and

Betsy Beers Betsy Beers (born 1957) is an American television and film producer whose credits include ShondaLand's ''Grey's Anatomy,'' ''Scandal,'' '' Private Practice'', ''How to Get Away with Murder'', '' The Catch'', ''Station 19'', '' For the People'', a ...

Julie Anne Robinson Julie Anne Robinson is a British theatre, television, film director and producer based in the United States and United Kingdom. She is known for her work on '' The Catch,'' which she developed and executive produced with Shonda Rhimes, as well a ...

also served as an executive producer and directed the pilot episode. The series premiered on May 12, 2016 and was renewed for a second season. The second season premiered on March 9, 2017. On May 11, 2017, ABC cancelled the series after two seasons.

Premise

''The Catch'' follows Alice Vaughan (

Enos Enos or Enosh (Hebrew: , Standard ''Enosh'', Tiberian ''ʼĔnôš''; "mortal man”) may refer to: People in religious scripture * Enos (biblical figure), a genealogical figure in the Bible. * The Book of Enos, one of the books that make up the B ...

), who runs a private investigation firm 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 world' ...

, California. After being defrauded by her fiancé, she is determined to find him—between working on other cases—before it ruins her career. Her fiancé, Benjamin Jones (

Krause Krause (German for ''ruffle'') is a common German surname. Geographical distribution As of 2014, 64.9% of all known bearers of the surname ''Krause'' were residents of Germany (frequency 1:531), 20.6% of the United States (1:7,541), 3.5% of Brazil ...

), is revealed to be a master

con artist A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...

working for a high-stakes international crime operation along with Margot Bishop (

Sonya Walger Sonya Walger (born 6 June 1974) is a British actress who also holds American citizenship. She had starring roles in the short-lived sitcoms ''The Mind of the Married Man'' (2001–2002) and ''Coupling'' (2003) before landing her role as Penny W ...

Rose Rollins Rose Rollins (born April 30, 1981) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Tasha Williams in the Showtime (TV network), Showtime drama series, ''The L Word'' (2007–09) and as Valerie Anderson in the American Broadcasting Company, AB ...

, Elvy Yost, Jay Hayden,

Jacky Ido Jacky Ido (born 14 May 1977) is a Burkinabé-born French actor. His first role was as Lemalian in the 2005 German film, ''The White Masai''. He is best known to English-language audiences for his role as Marcel, the film projectionist in Quentin ...

, and

Alimi Ballard Alimi Ballard (born October 17, 1977) is an American television actor. He is best known for his role as FBI agent David Sinclair on the CBS police procedural ''Numb3rs'' (2005–2010). Early life Ballard was born in The Bronx, New York and be ...

also co-star.

Production

Development

On October 21, 2014, it was announced that

had bought the original concept for a drama series about a gutsy female

forensic accountant Forensic accountants are experienced auditors, accountants, and investigators of legal and financial documents that are hired to look into possible suspicions of fraudulent activity within a company; or are hired by a company who may just want to ...

, based on a treatment written by novelist

. The script was written by Jennifer Schuur. ''The Catch'' is produced by

, and Schuur. ABC ordered the pilot on January 26, 2015 for the 2015–16 television season. The pilot episode was filmed in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

and was directed by Julie Anne Robinson. On May 7, 2015, ABC picked up the pilot to series. In June 2015, it was announced ''The Catch'' would take over ''

How to Get Away with Murder ''How to Get Away with Murder'' is an American legal thriller television series that premiered on ABC on September 25, 2014, and concluded on May 14, 2020. The series was created by Peter Nowalk, and produced by Shonda Rhimes and ABC Studios. Th ...

''s Thursday 10 ET/9 CT slot and form part of

's mid-season #TGIT block. On August 18, 2015, it was announced that the series creator Jennifer Schuur had exited the series as

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

because of creative differences. Shondaland's

, who has worked on ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...

'' and ''

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

'', then stepped in as showrunner of ''The Catch''.

Casting

Casting advertisement began in February 2015. On March 2, 2015, it was announced that

would play the leading role of Alice Vaughan. Newcomer Damon Dayoub was cast for the male leading role as Alice's fiancé, Benjamin Jones.

Bethany Joy Lenz Bethany Joy Lenz (born April 2, 1981) is an American actress, singer-songwriter and filmmaker. She is known for her portrayal of Haley James Scott on The WB / The CW television drama ''One Tree Hill'' (2003–2012). She also starred as Michell ...

later was cast as his criminal wife, Zoe.

Alan Ruck Alan Douglas Ruck (born July 1, 1956) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Cameron Frye, Ferris Bueller's best friend, in John Hughes's film ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986); Stuart Bondek, a lecherous, power-hungry member of ...

and

were cast as an estranged couple and friends of Alice and Alice's fiancé Benjamin's.

was cast as an FBI agent who becomes suspicious of Alice, along with Jay Hayden and Elvy Yost as Alice's co-workers in her forensic firm. On May 18, 2015, Lenz revealed on her

WhoSay WhoSay is an American social media service and branding platform for celebrities and their fans. Founded in Los Angeles in 2010, with financing by Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Amazon.com and other investors, it is notable for allowing its users ...

account that she was being replaced. The same day, it was announced that Damon Dayoub, the male lead, was also being replaced. On July 14, 2015, it was reported that

had taken over the male lead role of Benjamin Jones replacing Dayoub, who played the role in the pilot. On July 22, 2015,

was added to the cast as Margot Bishop, replacing Lenz. The pilot was reshot with the new cast members. For the second season it was announced that

John Simm John Ronald Simm (born 10 July 1970) is an English actor, director, and musician. He is best known for playing Sam Tyler in ''Life on Mars'', the Master in ''Doctor Who,'' and DS Roy Grace in ''Grace.'' His other television credits include '' S ...

would be upped to the series regular cast, while Ballard and Ido would be departing the series. However, Ido returned as Jules Dao for the season 2 premiere to wrap up his character's storyline.

Cast and characters

Main cast

as Alice Vaughan *

as Benjamin Jones *

as Margot Bishop *

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

Special Agent Jules Dao (season 1; guest, season 2) *

as Valerie Anderson *

as Reginald Lennox III (season 1) *

Jay Hayden Jonathan Hayden (February 20, 1979), known professionally as Jay Hayden, is an American actor. He is best known for his work in the ABC comedy-drama series '' The Catch'' (2016–17) and the ''Grey's Anatomy'' spinoff ''Station 19'', both produce ...

as Danny Yoon * Elvy Yost as Sophie Novak *

as Rhys Griffiths (season 2; recurring, season 1)

Recurring cast

Medalion Rahimi Medalion Rahimi (born July 15, 1992) is an American actress of Iranian descent. She is known for playing Princess Isabella on the 2017 ABC Shonda Rhimes Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television screenwriter, pro ...

as Zara Al-Salim (season 1) *

as Gordan Bailey (season 1) *

Shivani Ghai Shivaani Ghai (born 25 April 1975) is an English actress. Early life Ghai is of Indian origin and was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. She grew up in Gosforth and attended Gosforth High School. Later, she went to university, where she gained a BA ...

as Felicity *

Nia Vardalos Antonia Eugenia Vardalos (born September 24, 1962) is a Canadian actress, director, producer and screenwriter. She is best known for starring in and writing the romantic comedy film ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' (2002), which garnered her nominati ...

as Leah Wells (season 1) * Caleb Smith as Agent Shawn Sullivan (season 1) * Lesley Nicol as Sybil Griffiths *

T.R. Knight Theodore Raymond Knight (born March 26, 1973) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. George O'Malley on the ABC medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005–2009, 2020), which earned him a nomination for the P ...

as Tommy Vaughan (season 2) *

Gina Torres Gina Torres (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Zoe Washburne in the science fiction series ''Firefly'' (2002–2003) and its feature film sequel '' Serenity'' (2005), and as Jessica Pearson in t ...

as Agent Justine Diaz (season 2) *

Ismael Cruz Córdova Ismael Enrique Cruz Córdova (born April 7, 1987) is a Puerto Rican actor who gained national attention playing Mando on ''Sesame Street''. Cruz also had a role in the Showtime original series ''Ray Donovan ''Ray Donovan'' is an American c ...

as The Hammer (season 2) *

Warren Christie Hans Warren Christie (born 4 November 1975) is a British-Canadian television and film actor known for his roles as Ray Cataldo on the ABC drama '' October Road'' and as Aidan "Greggy" Stiviletto on the ABC series '' Happy Town''. More recently ...

as Ethan Ward (season 2) *

Philippa Coulthard Philippa Anne Coulthard is an Australian television actress, best known for playing Jorjie in the '' Doctor Who'' spin-off series '' K-9'', lead character Amber Mitchell in '' Lightning Point'', and Helen Schlegel in the BBC production of ''Howa ...

as Tessa Riley (season 2) * Kevin Carroll as Nicholas Turner (season 2) The Vaughan character was significantly revised after the pilot episode: instead of a Chicago-based auditor, she became a Los Angeles-based private investigator. She also became sexier: instead of being a "very guarded, lacquered ’50s-era Hitchcock presence," Vaughan became "peppier, a life-lover with mascaraed lashes and a closet filled with

Bond girl A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest or female companion of James Bond in a novel, film or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as Pussy Galore, Plenty O'Toole, Xenia Onatopp, o ...

minidresses." Her style is a "modernised look of the 1960s".

Broadcast

Internationally, the series premiered in Australia on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

on October 10, 2016. In the UK the show premiered on

Sky Living Sky Living was a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky. The channel's programming was aimed mainly at women and young adults. It originally launched as UK Living in 1993 and closed 25 years later, being replaced by Sky Witness. ...

. Since 2022, the show became available 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 ...

outside the US.

Episodes

Season 1 (2016)

Season 2 (2017)

Reception

''The Catch'' has been met with generally positive reviews from critics, with most praising Mireille Enos' leading performance.

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 ...

gave season one of the show a score of 59 out of 100 based on 30 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". 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 ...

reports a 72% approval rating. The site's general consensus reads:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Catch, The 2016 American television series debuts 2010s American comedy-drama television series 2017 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming 2010s American crime drama television series 2010s American romantic comedy television series 2010s American legal television series 2010s American LGBT-related drama television series English-language television shows Lesbian-related television shows Television shows set in Los Angeles Television series by ABC Studios Television series by Shondaland