Zero Hour (2013 TV series)
| Zero Hour | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | Paul Scheuring |
| Starring | |
| Composer(s) |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 5 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Ken Topolsky |
| Editor(s) | Dennis Virkler |
| Location(s) | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Cinematography | Anthony Wolberg |
| Production company(s) |
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| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV) |
| Original run | February 14, 2013 – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Zero Hour (stylized as ZERØ HOUR) is an American conspiracy television series created by Paul Scheuring for ABC, starring Anthony Edwards. The first episode aired on February 14, 2013, at 8:00 pm Eastern and 7:00 pm Central. However, in the U.S., the pilot episode became available on Hulu Plus as of February 1, 2013[update].[1] On March 1, 2013, the series was removed from its airing schedule by ABC due to low ratings.[2] On April 26, 2013, it was announced that the remaining episodes will begin airing June 15, 2013, with two back-to-back episodes.[3][4][5]Zero Hour was aired in Canada on the Global Television Network until ABC canceled it but will return to the schedule in the summer after original episodes air on ABC.[3]Zero Hour is also airing via the Fox network in Spain [6][7] and the Danish Broadcasting Corporation.[8]
Plot
Hank Galliston (Anthony Edwards), publisher of a paranormal-skeptics magazine gets caught up in a hunt for the holiest of relics going back to the early days of Nazi Germany after his wife, Laila (Jacinda Barrett), is abducted.
Production
Zero Hour's pilot and second episode were written by series co-creator and co-executive producer Paul T. Scheuring. The two episodes were directed by co-executive producer Pierre Morel. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Dan McDermott are also co-executive producers for the series, which is produced by ABC Studios. ABC placed an order for the series in May 2012.[9]
The series was pulled from ABC after only three episodes were aired, and it was cancelled on March 1, 2013.[10][11]
Cast
- Anthony Edwards as Hank Galliston[12]
- Carmen Ejogo as Beck Riley[12]
- Scott Michael Foster as Arron Martin[12]
- Addison Timlin as Rachel Lewis[12]
- Jacinda Barrett as Laila Galliston[12]
- Michael Nyqvist as White Vincent[12]
Recurring stars
- Charles S. Dutton as Father Mickle
- Ken Leung as Father Reggie
- Grace Gummer as Paige Willis
- Dan Ziskie as Hank Galliston's Father
- Beth Dixon as Hank Galliston's Mother
- Amy Irving as Messenger Boy's Mother
- Dylan Baker as FBI Chief Terrance Fisk
Reception
Reception for Zero Hour has been mixed. On Metacritic, the series received "generally unfavorable reviews", reflected by a Metascore of 39 out of 100, based on 29 reviews.[13] The Wall Street Journal's Dorothy Rabinowitz said the first episode was "so awash in multiplying complications [it] manages to maintain its coherence and even a significant measure of suspense."[14] Verne Gay of Newsday called it "ambitious and intermittently entertaining," adding "Zero Hour—and its celebrated lead [Anthony Edwards]—don't quite hit all their marks. But at least the mystery's a hoot."[15] The New York Daily News' David Hinckley stated the series "dodges several bedrock problems that have torpedoed other recent attempts to make engaging series TV out of mystery thrillers", adding, "The question is whether Zero Hour can sustain [the setup] for 13 weeks, because what makes a good two-hour movie doesn't always make for 10 gripping hours of television."[16] Mike Hale of The New York Times stated the series "is entirely dispensable, its silliness matched by its comic-book solemnity".[17]The Washington Post's Hank Stuever called the series "rancid", adding "The dialogue is stilted and almost entirely expository. The plot is like receiving a coloring book that's already been colored. The grand mystery here fails to ignite interest."[18] Tim Goodman from The Hollywood Reporter says the series is "worth the ride".[19]
The premiere "marked the lowest-rated in-season debut for a scripted show ever on the network."[20]
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Strike" | Pierre Morel | Paul Scheuring | February 14, 2013 | 6.38[21] |
| Hank Galliston publishes the magazine Modern Skeptic, which focuses on the paranormal. His wife Laila buys a unique-looking clock from a boardwalk vendor and is later abducted. FBI Agent Riley arrives to show Hank and his copy editors, Arron and Rachel, video footage of Laila's abduction. The screen freezes on mercenary White Vincent, with whom Riley is familiar. Hank disassembles Laila's clock to find a flawed diamond. With light shone through it, the stone refracts a map. Hank shows the map and its markings to Father Mickle (Charles S. Dutton), a priest who talks of a language that died in the 2nd century. The priest also mentions the Rosicrucians, a group of Christian mystics of the time, and place called New Bartholomew. The map diamond is left with the priest and Vincent later assaults him, collecting the diamond. Hank leaves his team behind and travels to where New Bartholomew should be, with Agent Riley in tow, as she tells him White Vincent's terrorist history. Arron and Rachel travel to Bavaria to find the clock maker (Jan Tříska), who wears a Rosicrucian cross. He informs them that after the Nazis created a new "eternal life", the Church appointed twelve new "apostles" that assembled in 1938 to protect the war-torn world from doom. A clock was created for each. The apostles then scattered to hide from the Nazis. New Bartholomew was not a place, but one of the apostles. Hank finds the place on the map where New Bartholomew is located. It is a German submarine, stuck in Canadian ice, with some dead people inside including New Bartholomew, who resembles Hank. Outside, Vincent arrives as the clock maker's voiceover warns of the approaching tumultuous "zero hour". | |||||
| 2 | "Face" | Pierre Morel | Paul Scheuring | February 21, 2013 | 5.39[22] |
| Vincent is able to escape from Hank and Agent Riley. Hank had managed to take pictures of what Vincent came after – an old pocketwatch – and Riley retrieved a journal from the sinking submarine. Back in the office, Hank, his team and Father Mickle collaborate that the watch offers up another apostle, Thomas. Arron suggests the dots on the watch and its settings are a moment in time that a star constellation was visible. Vincent also surmises this on his own and all paths lead to Chennai, India. Riley hands over the journal to Rachel, who has Arron to translate some of it. They talk to a Nazi collector (Zach Grenier), who shows them a film of Bartholomew and his group studying a young girl in 1938 that could talk with the dead. Riley joins Hank in Chennai and Rachel calls him to suggest this girl is the "new Thomas". Hank and Riley meet "Standing Mother", (Yolande Bavan) a woman who made a defiant vow 70 years ago to never sit again. Hank asks about a clock and Riley translates that the woman was told to destroy it if she ever saw Hank's face again. New Bartholomew had told her it would prophesy the coming of the Angel of Death. Vincent arrives to distract Hank and Riley, kill the woman and take her clock. He escapes again, but not before Hank sees Laila in his car. | |||||
| 3 | "Pendulum" | Stephen Williams | Zack Estrin | February 28, 2013 | 5.05[23] |
| While Vincent persuades Laila to fix the broken clock he recently obtained, the FBI use the Modern Skeptic office as a new hub. Laila's repairs reveal a new clue, PR642. Vincent whisks her away, but Hank sees her gesture to a camera, which he knows is a clue for the FBI to search their abandoned hotel room. They find she etched the code under a desk and Hank's father (Dan Ziskie) suggests the digits are a 1938 phone number. The physics department of Princeton University's Institute for Advanced Study, where Albert Einstein had once worked, is the new location. It is revealed Einstein was also an apostle with a clock. Hank's team and the FBI believe Einstein's partially erased blackboard contains the much-sought-after answer in finding his clock. Meanwhile, Hank follows a trail he thinks was left by Laila but finds Vincent, who has lured him there to find a "flaw" in him. Riley interrupts and Vincent traps the two in the building. Before Vincent escapes again, he suggests to her that her husband's death was not incidental. Hank later finds Einstein's clock, and a message inside, believed to be Einstein's last words, gets decoded. The message states not only his remorse for helping creating the atomic bomb, but also his atonement by mentioning others' attempts to kill God. | |||||
| 4 | "Chain" | Steven DePaul | M. Scott Veach, Paul Scheuring & Tom Spezialy | June 15, 2013 | 2.11[24] |
| Suffering from wounds he sustained in the shootout with Riley, Vincent is in hiding and holding Laila captive. Laila sees how vulnerable he is and convinces him to let her help him extract the bullets, while she looks for an opportunity to escape. Vincent knows he must get Hank to find the next clock and barters with him for Laila's release. Not heeding the warnings from the Shepherds, Hank soon realizes that people aren't as they appear to be, including his wife of five years who has just briefly returned to him. | |||||
| 5 | "Suspension" | Mario Van Peebles | Jerome Schwartz | June 15, 2013 | 1.69[24] |
| Frustrated and confused about Laila possibly being a Shepherd, Hank and Beck must travel to Asunción, Paraguay, only to cross paths again with Vincent. He is also looking for Hank's elusive wife and shares revealing information with Hank about his past and their connection. Meanwhile, Arron and Rachel meet Melanie Lynch, whom we know as "Mother", head of the 41 Trust. Lynch has her own agenda and interest regarding the relic, which is believed to be the original cross of Jesus Christ. | |||||
| 6 | "Weight"[25] | TBA | TBA | June 22, 2013[*] | TBA |
| 7 | "Sync"[25] | TBA | TBA | June 29, 2013[*] | TBA |
| 8 | "Winding"[25] | TBA | TBA | July 6, 2013[*] | TBA |
| 9 | "Balance"[25] | TBA | TBA | July 13, 2013[*] | TBA |
| 10 | "Escapement"[25] | TBA | TBA | July 20, 2013[*] | TBA |
| 11 | "Hands"[25] | TBA | TBA | July 27, 2013[*] | TBA |
| 12 | "Ratchet"[25] | TBA | TBA | August 3, 2013[*] | TBA |
| 13 | "Spring"[25] | TBA | TBA | August 3, 2013[*] | TBA |
^ * The original air date shown here is for USA. Due to rescheduling by ABC after episode 3, the remaining episodes have earlier air dates in some other countries. For example, episode 4 aired April 19 on DR3 in Denmark.
References
- ^ "ABC.com — Zero Hour: Strike". November 13, 2012.
- ^ Seidman, Robert (March 1, 2013). "'Zero Hour' Cancelled (Updated)". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
- ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (April 26, 2013). "Cancelled 'Zero Hour' & 'Do No Harm' Get Summer Air Dates For Unaired Episodes". Deadline Hollywood.
- ^ "ABC to Revive "Zero Hour" on Saturdays Beginning June 15". The Futon Critic. April 26, 2013.
- ^ "'Zero Hour' Canceled: ABC Pulls Anthony Edwards Drama After Three Episodes". The Huffington Post. March 1, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Global Television Network. Retrieved March 14, 2013. "Occasionally, a show may be canceled by the originating US Network mid-season. When this happens, we do not have the rights to broadcast the remaining episodes."
- ^ "Zero Hour: Cancelled ABC Show Still Airing — Just Not Here". TV Series Finale. March 6, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2013. "GlobalTV has now pulled Zero Hour as well. Both ABC and GlobalTV only aired three episodes."
- ^ "Zero Hour - DR3 - DR". May 6, 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
- ^ Ausiello, Michael (May 11, 2012). "Fall TV: ABC Picks Up Connie Britton's Nashville, Sarah Chalke's Parents Plus 6 Others". TV Line. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
- ^ Seidman, Robert (March 1, 2013). "'Zero Hour' Cancelled (Updated)". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
- ^ "ABC's 'Zero Hour' Cancelled After 3 Airings". Deadline.com. March 1, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f "Meet the Cast of Zero Hour". ABC.com
- ^ "Zero Hour: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ Rabinowitz, Dorothy (February 6, 2013). "Leave the Latte at Home". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ Gay, Verne (February 13, 2013). "'Zero Hour' review: Anthony Edwards redux". Newsday. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ Hinckley, David (February 13, 2013). "TV review: 'Zero Hour' on ABC". Daily News. New York. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ Hale, Mike (February 13, 2013). "On the Magic Side of Brooklyn". The New York Times. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ Stuever, Hank (February 13, 2013). "ABC's 'Zero Hour' and AMC's 'Immortalized': Deadly dull and dully dead". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ Goodman, Tim (February 13, 2013). "Zero Hour: TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
- ^ Heldenfels, Rich (March 13, 2013). "Mailbag: Netflix's 'House of Cards' to return". Akron Beacon-Journal. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
- ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (February 15, 2013). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'Zero Hour', 'Big Bang Theory', 'Community', 'Idol', 'Elementary' & 'Grey's Anatomy' Adjusted Up; 'Scandal' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ Bibel, Sara (February 22, 2013). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'The Big Bang Theory', 'Parks and Recreation', 'Grey's Anatomy' & 'Elementary' Adjusted Up; 'Beauty and the Beast' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
- ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (March 1, 2013). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'Community' Adjusted Up; No Adjustment for 'American Idol' or 'Zero Hour'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
- ^ a b Bibel, Sara (June 16, 2013). "TV Ratings Saturday: 'Zero Hour' Returns Low, Baseball Wins Night". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Zero Hour on ABC". The Futon Critic. April 26, 2013.
- General references
- "Zero Hour on ABC". TV Guide. Retrieved February 19, 2013.
- "Shows A-Z – zero hour on abc". The Futon Critic. Retrieved February 19, 2013.
- "Zero Hour: Episode Guide". MSN TV. Retrieved February 19, 2013.
- "Zero Hour: Episode Guide". Zap2it. Retrieved February 19, 2013.
External links
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