''The Philanthropist'' 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 ...

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 b ...

television series that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

from June 24 to August 12, 2009. The program was a limited summer series, principally filmed in South Africa. It opened to strong ratings, but saw a drop in viewers in subsequent weeks. ''The Philanthropist'' is a Carnival Films production in association with The Levinson/Fontana Company and Original Media.

Tom Fontana Tom Fontana (born September 12, 1951) is an American screenwriter, writer, and television producer. Fontana worked on NBC's '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' and created HBO's ''Oz.'' Early life and education Fontana was born on the west si ...

Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); ''The Natural'' (1984); '' Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987); ...

Peter Horton Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, Charlie Corwin, Gareth Neame, and Teri Weinberg served as executive producers. On October 21, 2009, NBC cancelled the series after one season.

Synopsis

The title character, Teddy Rist (portrayed by

James Purefoy James Brian Mark Purefoy (born 3 June 1964) is an English actor. He played Mark Antony in the HBO series ''Rome'', Nick Jenkins in ''A Dance to the Music of Time'', college professor turned serial killer Joe Carroll in the series ''The Followin ...

), is a billionaire playboy haunted by the death of his only child. His life changes when he rescues a young boy during a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. As a result, Rist begins using his fortune to personally change the lives of others. ''The Philanthropist'' is based loosely on the life of Bobby Sager.

Cast and characters

Main

as Teddy Rist – a British billionaire, driven to do good works after the death of his son *

Neve Campbell Neve Adrianne Campbell (born October 3, 1973; ) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in the drama and horror genres. She has appeared on ''People'' magazine's list of "50 Most Beautiful People" twice. Following a series of minor ...

as Olivia Maidstone – Philip's wife, who runs the company's charitable foundation * Michael Kenneth Williams as Dax, an Iraq war veteran and Teddy's bodyguard *

Lindy Booth Lindy Booth (born April 2, 1979) is a Canadian actress. She played Riley Grant on the Disney Channel series ''The Famous Jett Jackson'' (and Agent Hawk in the show-within-a-show ''Silverstone'') and Claudia on '' Relic Hunter'' and A.J. Butterf ...

as A.J. Butterfield – the director of special projects at Maidstone-Rist

Recurring

* Jesse L. Martin as Philip Maidstone – the co-CEO of Rist's company and best friend to Teddy *

Krista Allen Krista Allen (born April 5, 1971) is an American actress, model and stand-up comic. She is best known for her work in the television series '' Days of Our Lives'', '' Baywatch Hawaii'', and the erotic TV series '' Emmanuelle in Space''. Allen a ...

as Julia Carson Rist – Teddy's ex-wife * James Albrecht as Gerard Kim – Teddy's personal assistant

Episodes

Reception

U.S. ratings

Critical reception

On review aggregator

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 ...

, the first season has an approval rating of 61% based on 23 reviews, with an average score of 6.5/10; the critical consensus reads: "Though it stumbles on its James Bond-esque premise, ''The Philanthropist'' is saved by its beautiful cinematography and the enigmatic charisma of its main star, James Purefoy." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the first season has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Non-US showings and re-airings

In December 2010 and January 2011, the show was aired in Australia on 7Two, a

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

digital channel. In August 2013 started on polish

TVP1 TVP1 (TVP Jeden, ''Program I Telewizji Polskiej'', ''"Jedynka"'') is the main public television channel of TVP (Telewizja Polska S.A.), Poland's national television broadcaster. It was the first Polish channel to be broadcast and remains one ...

Home media releases

The complete series was released on January 5, 2010 on DVD in Region 1. It was released as a two-disc set, with a total running time of 300 minutes.

Inspiration

''The Philanthropist'' is inspired by the hands-on philanthropy of Bobby Sager.

References

External links

*
Original music by Jose Villalobos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philanthropist, The 2000s American drama television series 2009 American television series debuts 2009 American television series endings English-language television shows NBC original programming Television series by Universal Television Television shows set in South Africa Television series created by Tom Fontana