Manhattan (TV series)

Manhattan
File:ManhattanTV.png
Genre	Period drama
Created by	Sam Shaw
Starring	Rachel Brosnahan Michael Chernus Christopher Denham Alexia Fast Katja Herbers John Benjamin Hickey Harry Lloyd Daniel Stern Olivia Williams Ashley Zukerman William Petersen
Composer(s)	Jónsi & Alex Zoe Keating Jeff Russo
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	23 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Sam Shaw Thomas Schlamme David Ellison Dana Goldberg Marcy Ross Dustin Thomason
Production location(s)	New Mexico
Running time	44–57 minutes
Production company(s)	Lionsgate Television Skydance Television Tribune Studios
Release
Original network	WGN America
Original release	July 27, 2014 (2014-07-27) – December 15, 2015 (2015-12-15)
External links
Official website

Manhattan, sometimes styled MANH(A)TTAN, was an American television drama series based on the project of the same name that produced the first nuclear weapons. While some historical figures are referenced in Manhattan, most characters are fictional, and the show is not intended to maintain historical accuracy.

The show was the first drama production for WGN America since the revival of Tribune's production arm as Tribune Studios. The series premiered on WGN America on July 27, 2014. The series was canceled on February 2, 2016 after its second season, becoming the first WGN America original series to be canceled.

Plot

Set in 1943 and 1944 at the time of the Manhattan Project, the series focuses on Los Alamos, New Mexico, a town the outside world knows nothing about. The federal government tells the scientists only what they need to know, while the scientists keep secrets from their families.

Though the TV show is not intended to be historically accurate, it does reference many aspects of the actual Manhattan Project, and some actual historical figures such as head scientist Robert Oppenheimer. However, other contributors to the Manhattan Project, such as Nobel Laureates Enrico Fermi and Emilio G. Segrè, do not appear.

Cast

Main cast

• John Benjamin Hickey as Dr. Frank Winter, leader of a group of scientists working on implosion design (loosely based on Seth Neddermeyer)
• Olivia Williams as Dr. Liza Winter, Frank's wife and a botanist
• Ashley Zukerman as Dr. Charlie Isaacs, a rising young star of the Project
• Rachel Brosnahan as Abby Isaacs, Charlie's wife
• Daniel Stern as Dr. Glen Babbit, mentor to other scientists (season 1; special guest season 2)
• Katja Herbers as Dr. Helen Prins, one of the few women scientists
• Harry Lloyd as Paul Crosley, a British scientist who wants to advance at any cost
• Alexia Fast as Callie Winter, Frank and Liza's rebellious teenage daughter (season 1; guest season 2)
• Christopher Denham as Jim Meeks, a scientist
• Michael Chernus as Louis "Fritz" Fedowitz, a scientist
• William Petersen as Colonel Emmett Darrow (season 2), a United States military officer

Recurring cast

• David Harbour as Dr. Reed Akley, lead scientist for the Thin Man bomb design
• Eddie Shin as Dr. Sidney "Sid" Liao, a Chinese-American scientist
• Daniel London as Professor J. Robert Oppenheimer, the melancholic, somewhat reclusive, world-renowned theoretical physicist, and scientific director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory
• Mark Moses as Col. Alden Cox
• Carole Weyers as Elodie, a French switchboard operator.
• Richard Schiff as Mr. Fisher (aka "Occam")
• Jefferson White as Private First Class Cole Dunlavey (aka "Iowa")
• Sonny Mills as Vannevar Bush
• Neve Campbell as Kitty Oppenheimer (season 2)
• Mamie Gummer as Nora (season 2)
• Griffin Dunne as Woodrow Lorentzen, a reporter and old friend of Liza Winter (season 2)

Production

Television network WGN America premiered its first scripted show, the historical drama Salem, on April 20, 2014. Peter Liguori, CEO of WGN's parent, Tribune Media, emphasized a strategy of original content production as a way to improve the channel's prestige and profile. TV companies producing the show include Lionsgate Television, Skydance Television and Tribune Studios, a WGN affiliate. When announced in April 2014, 13 episodes were ordered.

The series began filming in mid-March across 12 acres (5 ha) in New Mexico. On October 14, 2014, Manhattan was renewed for a second season. Production on season 2 wrapped on July 24, 2015.

David Saltzberg, a physicist at the University of California, Los Angeles, acted as the scientific consultant for the show, and Alex Wellerstein, a historian of science at Stevens Institute of Technology who studies the history of nuclear weapons and secrecy, acted as a historical consultant for the show for Season 2, providing period detail to the writers.

Episodes

Main article: List of Manhattan episodes

Season		Episodes	Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
	1	13	July 27, 2014 (2014-07-27)	October 19, 2014 (2014-10-19)
	2	10	October 13, 2015 (2015-10-13)	December 15, 2015 (2015-12-15)

Reception

Season 1 of Manhattan has received highly positive reception from television critics and currently has a Metacritic score of 78 out of 100, based on 23 "generally favorable" reviews. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes currently reports a 89% "certified fresh" critics rating, with an average rating of 8.3/10 based on 28 reviews; the website consensus reads: "Though slow to start, Manhattan is a top-notch drama thanks to a talented cast, beautiful cinematography, and a keen eye for period detail."

Season 2 received further acclaim, scoring an 80 out of 100 on Metacritic. Rotten Tomatoes reports a 92% approval rating, with an average rating of 8.5/10, and a consensus reading, "Manhattan's slow-building intrigue and sense of impending doom deepen in season two, further enriching an already well-acted period drama."

External links

• Official website
• Manhattan at IMDb
• Manhattan at History vs. Hollywood
• Manhattan at epguides.com
• Series Manhattan Viewing and Discussion by the Los Alamos Historical Society

• "2015 Series Manhattan Viewing and Discussion", losalamoshistory.org