City on a Hill (TV series)
City on a Hill is an American crime drama series created by Charlie MacLean, based on an original idea by Ben Affleck and MacLean. The series stars Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, Amanda Clayton, Cathy Moriarty, Kevin Dunn, and Jill Hennessy.[1][2] The series premiered on June 7, 2019 (online) and June 16, 2019 (Showtime). On August 2, 2019, Showtime renewed the series for a second season.[3]
City on a Hill | |
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Genre | Crime drama |
Created by | Charlie MacLean |
Starring | |
Composer(s) | Kevin Kiner |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 10 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
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Production location(s) |
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Running time | 55–58 minutes |
Production company(s) |
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Release | |
Original network | Showtime |
Original release | June 16, 2019 – present |
External links | |
Website |
Plot
The series is set in Boston in the early 1990s when the city was rife with violent criminals, emboldened by local law enforcement agencies in which corruption, tribalism, and "taking it to the street" were the norm—until it all suddenly changed. This is a fictional account of what was called the "Boston Miracle". The change agent is District Attorney Decourcy Ward (Aldis Hodge), who comes from Brooklyn and forms an unlikely alliance with Jackie Rohr (Kevin Bacon), a corrupt yet venerated FBI veteran who is deeply invested in maintaining the status quo. Together they take on a family of armored car robbers from Charlestown (Jonathan Tucker, Mark O'Brien, and Jimmy Cummings) in a case that grows to encompass Boston's citywide criminal justice system.
Cast
Main
- Kevin Bacon as John "Jackie" Rohr[4]
- Aldis Hodge as DeCourcy Ward[4]
- Jonathan Tucker as Francis "Frankie" Ryan[5]
- Mark O'Brien as James "Jimmy" Ryan[6]
- Lauren E. Banks as Siobhan Quay[4]
- Amanda Clayton as Cathy Ryan[4]
- Jere Shea as Henry "Hank" Signa[4]
- Kevin Chapman as Dickie Minogue[4]
- Jill Hennessy as Jennifer "Jenny" Rohr[7]
Recurring
- Cathy Moriarty as Ma Ryan
- Rory Culkin as Clay Roach
- Kevin Dunn as Nathan Rey[5]
- Vincent Elbaz as Officer Hugo Rey
- Zoe Margaret Colletti as Benedetta Rohr
- Mark Ryder as Father Doyle
- Michaela McManus as FBI Agent Sarah Rhodes
- Sarah Shahi as Rachel Benham[8]
- Jimmy Cummings as Tommy Hayes
- Georgina Reilly as Corie Struthers[9]
- James Remar as Richy Ryan[10]
- Gloria Reuben as Eloise Hastings[10]
Episodes
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "The Night Flynn Sent the Cops on the Ice" | Michael Cuesta | Chuck MacLean | June 7, 2019 (online) June 16, 2019 (Showtime) | 0.532[11] |
2 | "What They Saw in Southie High" | Ed Bianchi | Chuck MacLean | June 23, 2019 | 0.446[12] |
3 | "If Only the Fool Would Persist in His Folly" | Christoph Schrewe | Emily Ragsdale | June 30, 2019 | 0.409[13] |
4 | "The Wickedness of the Wicked Shall Be Upon Himself" | Hagar Ben-Asher | J.M. Holmes | July 7, 2019 | 0.411[14] |
5 | "From Injustice Came the Way to Describe Justice" | Alex Zakrzewski | Michele McPhee | July 14, 2019 | 0.459[15] |
6 | "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City" | Metin Hüseyin | Jorge Zamacona | July 21, 2019 | 0.406[16] |
7 | "There Are No Fucking Sides" | Kyra Sedgwick | Emily Ragsdale & J.M. Holmes | July 28, 2019 | 0.534[17] |
8 | "High on the Looming Gallows Tree" | Clark Johnson | Stephen Day | August 4, 2019 | 0.601[18] |
9 | "The Deaf Sage of Pompeii" | Adam Bernstein | Matthew Nemeth | August 11, 2019 | 0.555[19] |
10 | "Mayor Curley and the Last Hurrah" | Christoph Schrewe | Chuck MacLean | August 18, 2019 | 0.569[20] |
Development
The show was picked up by Showtime in May 2018.[21]
Release
The series premiered on June 16, 2019.[22]
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 73% approval rating with an average score of 6.8/10, based on 30 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though City on a Hill's meandering story can't quite match its ambitions, it's entertaining -- and even occasionally riveting -- to watch Kevin Bacon and company take on bureaucracy."[23] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[24]
Ratings
No. | Title | Air date | Rating (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | DVR viewers (millions) | Total viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "The Night Flynn Sent the Cops on the Ice" | June 16, 2019 | 0.07 | 0.532[11] | N/A | N/A |
2 | "What They Saw in Southie High" | June 23, 2019 | 0.06 | 0.446[12] | 0.584 | 1.030[25] |
3 | "If Only the Fool Would Persist in His Folly" | June 30, 2019 | 0.04 | 0.409[13] | 0.571 | 0.980[26] |
4 | "The Wickedness of the Wicked Shall Be Upon Himself" | July 7, 2019 | 0.06 | 0.411[14] | 0.574 | 0.985[27] |
5 | "From Injustice Came the Way to Describe Justice" | July 14, 2019 | 0.06 | 0.459[15] | N/A | N/A |
6 | "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City" | July 21, 2019 | 0.04 | 0.406[16] | N/A | N/A |
7 | "There Are No Fucking Sides" | July 28, 2019 | 0.06 | 0.534[17] | N/A | N/A |
8 | "High on the Looming Gallows Tree" | August 4, 2019 | 0.08 | 0.601[18] | 0.573 | 1.174[28] |
9 | "The Deaf Sage of Pompeii" | August 11, 2019 | 0.06 | 0.555[19] | N/A | N/A |
10 | "Mayor Curley and the Last Hurrah" | August 18, 2019 | 0.06 | 0.569[20] | N/A | N/A |
References
- Otterson, Joe (November 13, 2017). "Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge to Star in Showtime Drama Pilot 'City on a Hill'". Variety. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- Andreeva, Nellie (November 13, 2017). "'City on a Hill': Kevin Bacon & Aldis Hodge To Star In Ben Affleck & Matt Damon's Showtime Drama Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
- Ausiello, Michael (August 2, 2019). "City on a Hill Renewed for Season 2". TVLine. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
- Petski, Denise (December 12, 2017). "'City on a Hill': Jill Hennessy Among Four Regulars Cast In Ben Affleck & Matt Damon's Showtime Drama Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
- Pedersen, Erik (December 6, 2017). "'City on a Hill': Jonathan Tucker & Kevin Dunn Cast In Ben Affleck & Matt Damon's Showtime Drama Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
- Petski, Denise (November 21, 2017). "'City on a Hill': Mark O'Brien Cast As Series Regular In Showtime Drama Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
- Elise Sandberg, Bryn (December 12, 2017). "Jill Hennessy Cast in Showtime Pilot 'City on a Hill'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
- Denise Petski & Nellie Andreeva (January 14, 2019). "'City On A Hill': Sarah Shahi To Recur On Showtime Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
- Petski, Denise (March 4, 2019). "'You' Casts Marielle Scott; Georgina Reilly Joins 'City On A Hill'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
- Hipes, Patrick (February 26, 2019). "'City On A Hill': James Remar & Gloria Reuben To Recur On Showtime Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
- Metcalf, Mitch (June 18, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.16.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
- Metcalf, Mitch (June 25, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.23.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- Metcalf, Mitch (July 2, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.30.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
- Metcalf, Mitch (July 10, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.7.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
- Metcalf, Mitch (July 16, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.14.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
- Metcalf, Mitch (July 23, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.21.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
- Metcalf, Mitch (July 30, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.28.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
- Metcalf, Mitch (August 6, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.4.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- Metcalf, Mitch (August 13, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.11.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
- Metcalf, Mitch (August 20, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.18.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
- Denise Petski & Nellie Andreeva (May 17, 2018). "'City On A Hill': Showtime Picks Up Drama From Ben Affleck & Matt Damon To Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
- Lawrence, Derek (January 31, 2019). "Kevin Bacon's corrupt FBI agent takes on Boston crime in Showtime's City on a Hill trailer". Entertainment Weekly.
- "City on a Hill: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes (Fandango Media). Retrieved July 16, 2019.
- "City on a Hill Reviews". Metacritic (CBS Interactive). Retrieved July 16, 2019.
- Welch, Alex (July 9, 2019). "'Yellowstone' premiere doubles in cable Live +7 ratings for June 17–23". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
- Welch, Alex (July 16, 2019). "'Yellowstone' easily leads the cable Live +7 ratings for June 24–30". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
- Welch, Alex (August 2, 2019). "'Big Little Lies' tops viewer gains in cable Live +7 ratings for July 1–7". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
- Welch, Alex (August 19, 2019). "'Descendants 3' scores big gains in cable Live +7 ratings for July 29 – August 4". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved August 19, 2019.