Saving Hope is a Canadian supernatural medical drama television series set in the fictional Hope Zion Hospital in Toronto, Ontario. The show's premise originated with Malcolm MacRury and Morwyn Brebner, who are both credited as creators and executive producers. The pilot was filmed in Toronto. Saving Hope initially aired from June 7, 2012, to August 3, 2017, on CTV, and on NBC for its first season. During the course of the series, 85 episodes of Saving Hope aired over five seasons.
Video Saving Hope
Plot
The show's central character is Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance), a doctor whose fiancé, Dr. Charles Harris (Michael Shanks), is in a coma 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), a psychiatry resident, Dr. Zachary Miller (Benjamin Ayres), the ER doctor, OR nurse Victor Reis (Salvatore Antonio), Dr. Tom Reycraft (K. C. Collins), Dr. Melanda Tolliver (Glenda Braganza), and Dr. Dawn Bell (Michelle Nolden), a cardiologist, who is Charlie's ex-wife.
Maps Saving Hope
List of characters and cast
Main
- Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance), at the start of the series Chief Surgical Resident and Charlie Harris' fiancée. At the end of season 3 she passes her board certification exam.
- Dr. Charles "Charlie" Harris (Michael Shanks), Chief of Surgery, orthopedic surgeon, and Alex's fiancé.
- Dr. Joel Goran (Daniel Gillies), new orthopedic surgeon at Hope Zion and Alex's on-and-off boyfriend (seasons 1-3).
- Dr. Shahir Hamza (Huse Madhavji), Chief of Neurosurgery, who is highly skilled but socially awkward due to his Aspberger syndrome.
- Dr. Maggie Lin (Julia Taylor Ross), a third year surgical resident on rotation in the hospital's General Surgery department, and then in the OB-GYN department. At the end of season 3 she passes her board certification exam.
- Dr. Gavin Murphy (Kristopher Turner), a psychiatry resident (seasons 1 & 2, recurring season 3).
- Dr. Dana Kinney (Wendy Crewson), Chief of Plastic Surgery, who is appointed Interim Chief of Surgery following Charlie's coma (seasons 1 & 4, recurring seasons 2, 3 & 5).
- Dr. Zach Miller (Benjamin Ayres), an ER doctor.
- Dr. Melanda Tolliver (Glenda Braganza), a friend of Alex's and an ICU doctor (seasons 1-3).
- Victor Reis (Salvatore Antonio), an OR nurse and Shahir's former boyfriend (seasons 1 & 2).
- Dr. Tom Reycraft (K. C. Collins), a fourth year surgical resident, who in season 1, episode 9 ("Bea Again") is appointed Chief Surgical Resident in place of Alex (seasons 1-2, recurring season 3).
- Jackson Wade (Joseph Pierre), an ICU nurse (recurring season 1, seasons 2-5).
- Dr. Dawn Bell (Michelle Nolden), a cardiologist and Charlie's ex-wife, later chief of staff (recurring season 1, seasons 2-5).
- Dr. Sydney Katz (Stacey Farber), an OB/GYN (season 3, guest seasons 4 & 5).
- Dr. Cassie Williams (Kim Shaw), a book-smart intern learning to apply the applications of medication rather than just reading about them (seasons 4 & 5).
Recurring
- Bryan Travers (Conrad Coates), the main executive of Hope Zion (seasons 1 & 2).
- Dr. George Baumann (Steve Cumyn), an anesthesiologist (seasons 2 & 3).
- Dr. James Dey (Mac Fyfe), a psychiatry resident (season 3).
- Dr. Patrick Curtis (Max Bennett), a general surgeon and surgical fellow who filled in for Alex during her maternity leave (season 4).
- Dr. Dev Sekara (Dejan Loyola), a junior resident doctor (seasons 4 & 5).
- Dr. Asha Mirani (Parveen Kaur), a junior resident doctor (season 4).
- Nurse Carbrera (Jess Salgueiro) (seasons 4 & 5).
- Kristine Fields (Nicole Underhay), a nurse in palliative care who like Charlie is a medium (season 4).
- Dr. Jeremy Bishop (Peter Mooney), a general surgeon and who has a past with Charlie (seasons 4 & 5).
- Nurse Alice (Allison Wilson-Forbes), who works in the ER.
- Dr. Emanuel Palmer (Jarod Joseph), a young interventional radiologist with a unique prospective and a laissez-faire attitude (season 5).
- Dr. Billy Scott (Greg Calderone), a new transfer intern and Dev's former med school rival (season 5).
- Jonathan (Christopher Jacot), Shahir's boyfriend (season 5).
Overview
The series premiered on June 7, 2012 on both CTV 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 2015, Ion Television announced that they had secured the American broadcast rights to the show, and began airing it in 2016.
Production
Conception
Malcolm MacRury and Morwyn Brebner devised the concept of the series. MacRury had previously co-created the comedy series Republic of Doyle for CBC, while Brebner had previously co-created television drama Rookie Blue for the Global Television Network. Canadian broadcaster CTV had picked up the pilot episode in November 2011. Executive producers of the show went to Los Angeles, California, 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 claimed that MacRury and Brebner are trying to "combine a doctors-in-love medical soap opera modeled on Grey's Anatomy with something completely different, a paranormal ghost story with elements of A Gifted Man and Ghost Whisperer". Principal photography for the pilot episode took place in Toronto, Ontario 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 with a score of 49 out of 100 based on 15 critics' reviews. Verne Gay of Newsday 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'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 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'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 Ion Television announced a partnership with eOne to have exclusive broadcast rights for current and future American television seasons. In Australia, the series premiered on SoHo on February 6, 2015.
See also
- Television in Canada portal
References
External links
- Official website at CTV
- Saving Hope on Twitter
- Saving Hope on Facebook
- Saving Hope on IMDb
- Saving Hope at TV Guide
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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