September 28, 2011 (2011-09-28) – May 14, 2014 (2014-05-14)
Suburgatory is an American televisionsitcom created byEmily Kapnek that aired onABC from September 28, 2011, to May 14, 2014. The series originally aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30/7:30 Central followingThe Middle.[1] The title is aportmanteau, devised by formerCNN Senior Producer Linda Keenan, of the words "suburban" and "purgatory". On May 9, 2014,Suburgatory was canceled by ABC after three seasons.[2]
The series follows single father George Altman, who has been raising his daughter Tessa in aNew York Cityapartment and providing for her with his job as anarchitect ever since his wife divorced him when Tessa was still an infant. Upon discovering a box ofcondoms in Tessa's bedroom drawer, he decides they should move to the suburbs, believing this environment will be more wholesome. Once in the suburban community of Chatswin, the Altmans quickly discover how much they do not fit in with the upper middle class lifestyles of their neighbors, and must learn to navigate the politics of their new surroundings.
Jeremy Sisto as George Altman, a single father and architect from New York City, who decides to move upstate to the suburbs wanting a better life for his daughter, Tessa. Many of the women in Chatswin become attracted to him, which even he is uncomfortable with. He remembers living in the city fondly, but realizes that he has become accustomed to Chatswin in season 3. He maintains a close friendship with Dallas, with whom he had a romantic relationship during season 2.
Jane Levy as Tessa Altman, George's daughter, who is less than thrilled about her new suburban surroundings. She maintains a romanticized idea of living in the city. She tries to maintain an emotional distance from the Chatswin residents, including her best friend Lisa and season 2 boyfriend Ryan. Because of this, she plots to subtly dump Ryan in season 2, but he ends the relationship first. In season 3, it is very clear that she is in love with Ryan and is not over their breakup.
Carly Chaikin as Dalia Oprah Royce, a materialistic and fashion-drivenvalley girl in the popular group at school who becomes Tessa's rival. She is known to have a dry sense of humor and rarely expresses emotion, including never smiling. In season 2, it is revealed that she is obsessed with becoming George's daughter, referring to him as "Daddy Altman".
Allie Grant as Lisa Marie Shay LeFrique, Tessa's best friend. She is rather awkward and often very embarrassed by her family. She is also very sensitive to any suggestions of rejection from her family or Tessa. Towards the end of season three, she marries Malik.
Alan Tudyk as Noah Werner,[3] George's best friend, who is a dentist. He often helps George assimilate into suburban culture, having moved out of the city some years earlier. He is married to Jill, but is divorced when it is revealed that he is infatuated with their maid Carmen. In season 3, he pressures George and Fred to live the bachelor lifestyle with him. He also has a young daughter with Jill.
Cheryl Hines as Dallas Royce, Dalia's mother and George's neighbor and later girlfriend. She employs Tessa and is a mother figure to her when she needs advice. She is married to Dalia's father in season one, but they divorce during the season. She dates George throughout season 2, but they break up when she realizes that she is not ready to live together. It is quite clear in season 3 that she and George are still interested in each other.
Rex Lee as Mr. Wolfe,[3] the school guidance counselor, who is always in a good mood. He is openly gay, after being inspired by Tessa to come out.
Ana Gasteyer as Sheila Shay, George and Tessa's nosy neighbor who lives directly across the street. She is Fred's domineering wife and Lisa's highly controlling mother. She is also the adoptive mother of both Ryan and Victor, upon whom she obsessively dotes, especially Ryan.
Chris Parnell as Fred Shay, Sheila's husband and Lisa's father. He is also the adoptive father to Ryan and Victor. He is often depicted as being henpecked and sheltered, but he tends to adapt well to new situations.
Maestro Harrell as Malik LeFrique, he became good friends with Tessa while working with her on the school newspaper. He has had an on-and-off relationship with Lisa. Towards the end of season 3, Malik and Lisa get married.
Parker Young as Ryan Shay, the dim-witted football jock and Lisa's often embarrassing older brother. He is the most popular person at school, and appears to be as superficial as most other Chatswin residents. In the season 1 finale, Lisa discovers that Ryan is adopted, adding to her perception their parents favor Ryan over her. He dates Tessa through season 2, and allows her to help change his personality. However, he breaks up with her when Dalia admits that Tessa was planning to break up with him. He moves to college in Florida in season 3, and starts dating a girl similar in personality to Tessa.
Bunnie Rivera as Carmen, Dallas' housekeeper, who is later hired by Noah. Noah later falls in love with her.
Sam Lerner as Evan, a nerdy classmate who had a crush on Dalia.
Todd Sherry as Tom, father of the twins Kaitlin and Kenzie.
Gillian Vigman as Jill Werner, Noah's emotionally cold wife, who divorces him in season 2. She believes herself to be a successful self-employed writer, despite only releasing one self-published book. (seasons 1–2)
Abbie Cobb as Kimantha, one of Dalia's friends. (seasons 1–2)
Kara Pacitto and Katelyn Pacitto as Kenzie and Kaitlin, Dalia's friends, who are also twin sisters. When they are together with Kimantha, Tessa has referred to the three as "The KKK". Not only is this a reference to their shared first name initial, but to their common response "'kay". (seasons 1–2)
Malin Åkerman as Alex, George's ex-wife, Tessa's mother in season 2. Tessa talks about her fondly in seasons 1 & 2, and goes to live with her. At the beginning of season 3, she has walked out on Tessa, for the second time.
Miriam Flynn as Helen, Alex's mother, Tessa's Grandmother (seasons 1–2)
Arden Myrin as Jocelyn, an employee at the local country club who is attracted to George. (season 1)
Jay Mohr as Steven Royce, Dalia's father and Dallas' ex-husband. (seasons 1–2)
Alicia Silverstone as Eden, George's ex-girlfriend and the surrogate mother of Noah and Jill's child, Opus. At the end of season one, she and George were together, but in the season two premiere it was mentioned that she and George had split up. (season 1)
Thomas McDonell as Scott Strauss, a college-aged crush of Dalia's who becomes Tessa's love interest for a story arc. (seasons 1–2)
Evan Arnold as Chef Alan, Mr. Wolfe's boyfriend who works as the chef in the high school cafeteria. He later cheats on Mr Wolfe, with his ex-boyfriend. (seasons 1–2)
Alex Boling as Alex, Tom's best friend (seasons 1–2)
Natasha Leggero as Nora, the owner of a pet shop and George's (potential) girlfriend. (season 3)
Lindsey Shaw as June, Ryan's girlfriend who Tessa feels is a lot like her. (season 3)
Ely Henry as Reggie, a nerdy student at Chatswin High. (seasons 2–3)
Bryson Barretto as Victor Ha Shay, a little boy whom the Shays adopt to replace Ryan after he leaves for college. He is especially polite and always eager to please others, especially his foster family. (season 3)
The series first appeared onABC's development slate in October 2010.[4] On January 14, 2011, ABC placed apilot order, written byEmily Kapnek and directed byMichael Fresco, who also served as executive producers.[5][6] The half-hour comedy was produced byWarner Bros. Television.
Casting announcements began in February 2011, withJane Levy the first actor cast, playing the role of Tessa Altman, a Manhattan teen who has been raised for the last fifteen years by a single father, George. Tessa dreads the idea of living in the suburbs.[7] Next to join the series wasAlan Tudyk in the role of Noah Werner, George's college buddy and a dentist who moved to the suburbs some years earlier.[8]Allie Grant then joined the series as Lisa Shay, a socially awkward girl at school who befriends Tessa.[9]Jeremy Sisto andCarly Chaikin followed with Sisto playing George Altman, Tessa's architect father who moves her from Manhattan to the suburbs, and Chaikin playing Dalia Royce, Tessa's neighbor who quickly becomes her nemesis at school.[10]Cheryl Hines was next cast in the role of Dallas Royce, a well-to-do housewife and the mother of Dalia. She tells George that her absentee husband (Jay Mohr) "travels a lot".[11]Rex Lee was the last actor cast, playing Mr. Wolfe, Tessa's clueless high school guidance counselor. He was originally a guest star but was upped to a series regular after the pilot.[12]Saturday Night Live (SNL) alumnaAna Gasteyer plays the Altmans' domineering neighbor, Sheila Shay, whom they vainly try to avoid. FellowSNL alumChris Parnell plays Fred, her husband, who toes the line. The Shays have two children: Lisa, who is Tessa's closest thing to a friend, and Ryan (Parker Young).
On May 13, 2011, ABC ordered the pilot to series, to air in the fall of the2011–12 United States network television schedule.[13][14]Suburgatory premiered on September 28, 2011, and aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30/7:30 central followingThe Middle.[15] After initially ordering 11 episodes, ABC picked upSuburgatory for a full season on October 13, 2011.[16] On December 16, 2011, it was announced thatAlicia Silverstone would have a recurring role as Eden, a potential love interest for single father George. This marked the third time Silverstone and Jeremy Sisto had worked together, since first working on the 1995 American comedy filmClueless, and the 1995 thrillerHideaway.[17][18][19]
On March 23, 2012, ABC announced that the series was renewed for the 2012–2013 television season.[20] It would air afterModern Family, on 9:30/8:30 central timeslot replacing the new seriesThe Neighbors which was originally scheduled to air in that timeslot.[21]
Suburgatory was renewed for a third season. However, there were budget cuts due to a reduction in the license fee. Alan Tudyk and Rex Lee did not return as regular cast members,[22] although Tudyk made a few guest appearances. The final season aired on January 15, 2014 until May 14, 2014. The show was canceled in early May 2014.[23] It was reported that Warner Brothers was exploring options for a new home includingTBS,[24] but ultimately the show was not shopped to another network.
The theme song, "Pleasant Nightmare", was written by Jared Faber and Emily Kapnek and is sung byAlih Jey.[25] The theme song is slightly different in episode 22 (the last episode of season 1). In the season 2 premiere, Tessa performs a longer version of the song, which she says her mother wrote. George performs the song for Dalia as the season 2 finale ends.
The series takes place in the fictional town of Chatswin.[26] The onscreen map animation displayed in the opening credits zooms in on the affluent New York City suburbs of southernWestchester County as the geographic location of "Chatswin". The Westchester County914 area code is also referenced in the show. The use of the10805 postal code of theNew Rochelle community, as the Chatswin postal code of main character George Altman signifies it as being the fictional town's true location.
The series takes its title fromSuburgatory: Twisted Tales from Darkest Suburbia, a book by former CNN Senior Producer Linda Keenan, based in part on her experiences after she moved from New York City to three affluent suburbs, the first of which was in Westchester County. The book, released on October 11, 2011, thirteen days after the show premiered, is described on the front cover as "The Title behind the ABC Sitcom".[27]
Suburgatory attracted generally positive reviews. The first season holds an 83% rating onRotten Tomatoes, an average rating of 7.1/10, sampled from reviews from 35 critics. Its consensus reads: "Suburban satires are nothing new, butSuburgatory offers enough abrasive wit and left-field jokes to keep it fresh."[30]Metacritic gives the first season an initial score of 71 out of 100, calculated from reviews from 25 critics.[31] On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds a score of 92%, with an average score of 8.1/10, based on 12 reviews, the consensus reads "Suburgatory's second season continues to cleverly balance its cheesy clichés and suburban spoofs."[32] On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season holds a score of 100%, with an average score of 7.2/10, based on eight reviews.[33]
"Kapnek manages to make a show that is both satiric and emotionally engaging", said David Wiegand of theSan Francisco Chronicle, "two varieties of comedy [that] don't always work well together."[34] On the other end,Neil Genzlinger ofThe New York Times blasted the show. "[It] begins with a tenuous premise, uses it to leap to an inaccurate dichotomy and supports that with tired, unfunny stereotypes."[35]
Suburgatory was nominated for a 2012 People's Choice Award for "Favorite New TV Comedy", but lost to2 Broke Girls, another show fromWarner Bros. Television.
The series has been picked up in Canada byCity, where it issimulcast with the ABC broadcasts.[47] InLatin America the series premiered on October 31, 2011, on Warner Channel.[48] The show premiered on January 3 inSweden onKanal 5. In theRepublic of Ireland the show began broadcasting onRTÉ Two from March 21, 2012[49] airing Wednesdays at 19:00. InSpain, it premiered onCosmopolitan TV on January 13, 2012.[50] The series began airing on theNine Network'sGO! Channel in Australia from February 5, 2012, until it was taken off air in 2012–2013 after poor ratings losing to7TWO,The Comedy Channel fromFoxtel now airs the sitcom. It premiered inSerbia on SerbianHBO Comedy on February 27, 2012, theSerbian name of the show isČistilište u predgrađu.[51] It also premiered inPoland on PolishHBO Comedy, on February 27, 2012, asPodmiejski czyściec (Suburban Purgatory).[52] The show began airing inNew Zealand onTV2 on February 14, 2012. In the United Kingdom,Suburgatory started airing onChannel 4's digital channelE4 from July 17, 2012.[53] ForGermany,ProSiebenSat.1 has picked up the series and will start airing it on Wednesday nights beginning on August 29.[54] It is also shown inDenmark on TV2 Zulu. InPortugal, it was aired Monday to Friday, at 18:30, from November 22, 2012, until December 21, 2012, onRTP2.[55] InBrazil, the show premiered on January 3, 2013, at 3:30 AM in theSBT.[56] InGreece the show premiered on July 15, 2013, onStar Channel airing Monday to Friday at 2:30 PM, airing the first 2 Seasons. In Asia, the show started airing on Star World from January 16, 2014.[57] The show also aired briefly, on Malaysia's,NTV7 in 2013. InFrance, the show premiered onCanal+ Family on May 3, 2013. The series finale aired on March 23, 2015. The show also aired onHD1 from April 24, 2014.
