''Saving Hope'' is a Canadian

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the chara ...

television series set in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

in the fictional hospital Hope Zion. The series stars Erica Durance and Michael Shanks. The show's premise originated with Malcolm MacRury and Morwyn Brebner, who are both credited as creators and executive producers. ''Saving Hope'' aired on

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

for five seasons from June 7, 2012 to August 3, 2017, with the first season airing on NBC.

Plot

The protagonist of the show is Dr. Alex Reid ( Erica Durance), a doctor whose fiancé, Dr. Charles Harris ( Michael Shanks), is in a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

after a car accident while on his way to their wedding. The show follows the life of Charlie in his comatose state and Alex dealing with her patients, all the while hoping that he will survive. Dr. Reid is the Chief Surgical Resident while Dr. Harris was the Chief of Surgery until his accident. Dr. Harris recovers at the end of season 1, but in subsequent seasons he continues to be able to see the spirits of comatose and dead patients. The show also stars Dr. Joel Goran ( Daniel Gillies), an orthopedic surgeon and Alex's former lover. Reid also works alongside Dr. Shahir Hamza ( Huse Madhavji), a neurosurgeon, Dr. Maggie Lin ( Julia Taylor Ross), a third year surgical resident on rotation in the General Surgery department, Dr. Gavin Murphy (

Kristopher Turner Kristopher Turner (born September 27, 1980) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. Gavin Murphy on the medical drama series ''Saving Hope'', and as Jamie Andrews on the CTV teen drama ''Instant Star''. Early life Turner was ...

), a

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial p ...

resident, Dr. Zachary Miller ( Benjamin Ayres), the ER doctor, OR nurse Victor Reis ( Salvatore Antonio), Dr. Tom Reycraft (

K. C. Collins K.C. Collins, also known as Chris Collins, is a Canadian film, voice and television actor. Best known for Hale on ‘’Lost Girl’’ (2010-2014), and Dr. Tom Reycraft on ‘’Saving Hope’’ (2012-2014). Early life He attended Monroe Comm ...

), Dr. Melanda Tolliver ( Glenda Braganza), and Dr. Dawn Bell ( Michelle Nolden), a cardiologist, who is Charlie's ex-wife.

Cast and characters

Main

* * Erica Durance as Dr. Alex Reid: At the start of the series, Chief Surgical Resident and Charlie Harris' fiancée. * Michael Shanks as Dr. Charles "Charlie" Harris: Chief of Surgery, orthopedic surgeon, and Alex's fiancé. * Daniel Gillies as Dr. Joel Goran: New orthopedic surgeon at Hope Zion and Alex's on-and-off boyfriend (seasons 1–3). * Huse Madhavji as Dr. Shahir Hamza: Chief of Neurosurgery, who is highly skilled but socially awkward due to his Asperger syndrome. * Julia Taylor Ross as Dr. Maggie Lin: A third year surgical resident on rotation in the hospital's General Surgery department and then in the OB-GYN department. *

as Dr. Gavin Murphy: A psychiatry resident and Maggie's former boyfriend (seasons 1–2; recurring season 3). * Wendy Crewson as Dr. Dana Kinney: Chief of Plastic Surgery, who is appointed Interim Chief of Surgery following Charlie's coma (seasons 1 & 4; recurring seasons 2, 3 & 5). * Benjamin Ayres as Dr. Zach Miller: An ER doctor. * Glenda Braganza as Dr. Melanda Tolliver: A friend of Alex's and an ICU doctor (seasons 1–3). * Salvatore Antonio as Victor Reis: An OR nurse and Shahir's former boyfriend (seasons 1 & 2). *

as Dr. Tom Reycraft: A fourth year surgical resident, who is appointed Chief Surgical Resident in place of Alex (seasons 1 & 2; recurring season 3). *

Joseph Pierre Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

as Jackson Wade: An ICU nurse (seasons 2–5; recurring season 1). * Michelle Nolden as Dr. Dawn Bell: A cardiologist and Charlie's ex-wife, later chief of staff (seasons 2–5; recurring season 1). *

Stacey Farber Stacey Farber (born August 25, 1987) is a Canadian actress. She is known for playing Ellie Nash in seasons 2 through 8 of the television series '' Degrassi: The Next Generation''. From 2010 to 2011, she starred in the CBC series ''18 to Life ...

as Dr. Sydney Katz: An OB/GYN and later Maggie's girlfriend (season 3; guest seasons 4 & 5). *

Kim Shaw Kim Shaw (born May 20, 1984) is a Canadian-born American actress. Early life and education Shaw grew up in Miami and Longwood, Florida. After graduating from Lake Brantley High School, Shaw moved to New York City to attend the American Acade ...

as Dr. Cassie Williams: A book-smart intern learning to apply the applications of medication rather than just reading about them (seasons 4–5).

Recurring

* Conrad Coates as Bryan Travers: The main executive of Hope Zion (seasons 1 & 2). * Steve Cumyn as Dr. George Baumann: An anesthesiologist (seasons 2–4). * Mac Fyfe as Dr. James Dey: A psychiatry resident (season 3). * Max Bennett as Dr. Patrick Curtis: A general surgeon and surgical fellow who filled in for Alex during her maternity leave (season 4). * Dejan Loyola as Dr. Dev Sekara: A junior resident doctor (seasons 4 & 5). * Parveen Kaur as Dr. Asha Mirani: A junior resident doctor (season 4). * Jess Salgueiro as Nurse Carbrera: A nurse (seasons 4 & 5). * Nicole Underhay as Kristine Fields: A nurse in palliative care who, like Charlie, is a medium (season 4). * Peter Mooney as Dr. Jeremy Bishop: A general surgeon and who has a past with Charlie (seasons 4 & 5). * Allison Wilson-Forbes as Nurse Alice: A nurse who works in the ER. * Jarod Joseph as Dr. Emanuel Palmer: A young interventional radiologist with a unique prospective and a laissez-faire attitude (season 5). * Greg Calderone as Dr. Billy Scott: A new transfer intern and Dev's former med school rival (season 5). * Christopher Jacot as Jonathan: Shahir's boyfriend (season 5).

Overview

The series premiered on June 7, 2012 on both

in Canada and NBC in the United States. On July 25, 2012, CTV ordered a second, 13 episode season for the summer of 2013. NBC, however, pulled the show's final two episodes from its broadcast schedule and made them available on their official website. On November 16, 2012, CTV announced they had increased their episode order for season 2 to eighteen episodes. On November 7, 2013, CTV ordered a third season of ''Saving Hope'' that consisted of eighteen episodes and aired in 2014. On November 10, 2014, CTV ordered a fourth season of ''Saving Hope'' that consisted of eighteen episodes, and premiered on September 24. 2015. On December 17, 2015, CTV ordered a fifth and final season of ''Saving Hope'' that consisted of 18 episodes. In 2014,

Ion Television Ion Television is an American broadcast television network owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented ent ...

announced that they had secured the American broadcast rights to the show.

Home Media

Production

Conception

Malcolm MacRury and Morwyn Brebner devised the concept of the series. MacRury had previously co-created the comedy series ''

Republic of Doyle ''Republic of Doyle'' is a Canadian comedy-drama television series set in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, which aired on CBC Television from January 6, 2010, to December 10, 2014. The show stars Allan Hawco as private investigator and ...

'' for CBC, while Brebner had previously co-created television drama ''

Rookie Blue ''Rookie Blue'' is a Canadian police drama television series starring Missy Peregrym and Gregory Smith. It was created by Morwyn Brebner, Tassie Cameron, and Ellen Vanstone. The series premiered on June 24, 2010, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/ ...

'' for the

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after CT ...

. Canadian broadcaster

had picked up the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other dist ...

in November 2011.

Executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights ...

s of the show went to

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 ...

, to pitch the series to U.S. broadcasters. Their efforts convinced NBC to pick up the series for airing in the United States. CTV and NBC ordered 13 episodes for the first season. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' claimed that MacRury and Brebner are trying to "combine a doctors-in-love medical soap opera modeled 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 ...

'' with something completely different, a paranormal ghost story with elements of '' A Gifted Man'' and ''

Ghost Whisperer ''Ghost Whisperer'' is an American supernatural television series, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005, to May 21, 2010. The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon (Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate wit ...

''.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

for the pilot episode took place in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

in the spring of 2011.

Reception

Ratings

In Canada, the premiere figures were the highest recorded for the summer season in 2012. The American premiere attracted 3.1 million viewers on NBC, which some critics were unimpressed with.

Reviews

''Saving Hope'' received mixed reviews 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 ...

with a score of 49 out of 100 based on 15 critics' reviews. Verne Gay of ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and ...

'' stated the series "is modeled out of particularly sturdy, comfortable and reliable material." He added that it is "a sober, intelligent, placidly paced drama as only the Canadians can make." The ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

''s Lori Rackl said the series "has some fun, clever and emotion-stirring moments, but they’re handicapped by cheesy montages and one too many scenarios designed to remind us of the importance of having hope."

Alan Sepinwall Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with '' The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He ...

of HitFix called Charlie Harris' "spirit walk" around the hospital "an interesting solution to the problem of telling stories we've seen a million times before. But doing it this way ultimately does more harm than good." He added: "It's not bad so much as tired." The ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pap ...

''s David Wiegand called the series "a lukewarm stew of ideas from other shows... and films... with stock characters and situations that occasionally jerk a demi-tear or two, but with absolutely no authenticity. The sloppy sentimentality is cheap and unearned."

Broadcast

In September 2014, the U.S. television network

announced a partnership with eOne to have exclusive broadcast rights for current and future American television seasons. In Australia, the series premiered on

SoHo Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

on February 6, 2015. The series will began airing reruns on G4, which will relaunch in the Summer of 2021.

References

External links

* at

*
''Saving Hope''
at ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program TV listings, listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Mag ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Saving Hope (Tv Series) 2012 Canadian television series debuts 2017 Canadian television series endings 2010s Canadian drama television series 2010s Canadian LGBT-related drama television series 2010s Canadian medical television series English-language television shows Ghosts in television Television shows filmed in Toronto Television series by Bell Media Television series by Entertainment One Television shows set in Toronto CTV Television Network original programming