September 30 (2014-09-30) – December 4, 2014 (2014-12-04)
Manhattan Love Story is an American romantic comedy television series created by Jeff Lowell, who also served as an executive producer alongside Peter Traugott, Robin Schwartz, Rachel Kaplan, and Jon Liebman for ABC Studios.[1] The series aired on ABC from September 30 to October 21, 2014, airing at 8:30 pm (Eastern).[2] Following modest viewership, the series' cancellation was announced on October 24: the first from network television for the fall schedule and for the 2014–15 season overall.[3][4]
The series aired online in New Zealand on TVNZ's on-demand service from October 1, 2014, prior to an intended airing on TV2 in 2015.[5] Following the series' cancellation by ABC, TVNZ continued to release the remaining episodes.[6] It was announced on November 25, 2014, that the remaining episodes that were unaired by ABC would be released in the United States on Hulu and WatchABC.com on a weekly basis beginning on December 2, 2014.[7][8] On December 4, 2014, all seven remaining episodes were released simultaneously on Hulu[9] and WatchABC.com, with non-subscriber availability a week later. As a result, episodes 10 and 11 were released on Hulu before their release on TVNZ OnDemand.
Synopsis
The series chronicles the journey of a new couple and the questions they are thinking from the moment they begin their relationship.
Cast and characters
Main
Lio Tipton[a] as Dana Hopkins, a young woman from a small town living in New York, determined to succeed in both business and love
Jake McDorman as Peter Cooper, a native New Yorker who tends to date his way throughout the city
Nicolas Wright as David Cooper, Peter's brother and Amy's husband, who loves his wife and money, even if she is the one who must manage it
Jade Catta-Preta as Amy Cooper, David's wife and Dana's sorority sister
Chloé Wepper as Chloe Cooper, Peter and David's half-sister
Kurt Fuller as William Cooper, Peter, David, and Chloe's father, who owns the company at which his children work
Recurring
Nico Evers-Swindell as Tucker, Dana's boss at the publishing house she works at as an editor
Reception
Manhattan Love Story received generally negative reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the series a rating of 28%, based on 43 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's consensus read, "Saddled with a worn setup and offensively bad jokes, Manhattan Love Story isn't very lovable."[11]Metacritic gave the show a score of 42 out of 100, based on reviews from 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12]
New to New York City, Dana encounters purses she wants to buy, co-workers refusing to work with her and a bad blind date. Peter's attitude makes a poor first impression, but given a second chance, they might find something to like about each other.
After seeing Peter on a date with another girl, Dana tries online dating to prove she is not a monogamous kind of girl. Peter's jealousy leads to more awkward run-ins and the pair just might relent to one more date.
Dana and Peter seem to have reached their perfect relationship balance—they have jointly agreed to see other people but not talk about it. But their dating anonymity is all about to change when Dana learns of a long-standing dinner party Amy is hosting at the loft—and the fact that Peter is attending and bringing someone else as his date.
Dana and Peter continue to enjoy New York and each other, but when they realize they still haven't had sex, both decide to do so following a sexy and swanky dinner at an upscale oyster restaurant. But when the couple finds their reservation is pushed, Dana and Peter head elsewhere, not knowing that their romantic evening is about to go from intimate dinner to disaster. Meanwhile, Amy and David spend an evening babysitting and make a decision that will impact their future forever.
5
"Sex Actually"
Peter Lauer
Leila Strachan
November 5, 2014 (2014-11-05) (NZ VoD)[17] December 4, 2014 (2014-12-04) (US VoD)
105
N/A
The topic of Dana and Peter's latest disagreement is the holiday-themed romantic comedy Love Actually, and it could not come at a more inopportune moment.
6
"Empire State of Mind Strikes Back"
Rebecca Asher
Scott King
December 3, 2014 (2014-12-03) (NZ VoD)[18][19][b] December 4, 2014 (2014-12-04) (US VoD)
106
N/A
An impending storm is a fitting end to a tough week for Dana until her boss calls with her first book to edit with a quick deadline. But when everyone she knows shows up at the office to wait out the storm, Dana is annoyed by the distraction—then the power goes out.
November 12, 2014 (2014-11-12) (NZ VoD)[20] December 4, 2014 (2014-12-04) (US VoD)
107
N/A
Dana is forced to reveal her live action role-playing hobby to Peter when he joins her on what he believes is an out of town work conference. But a supportive Peter eventually misses Dana and decides to join her on the playing field, putting everything she has worked so hard for and loves about the game in jeopardy.
November 19, 2014 (2014-11-19) (NZ VoD)[21] December 4, 2014 (2014-12-04) (US VoD)
108
N/A
When Dana replaces Peter with Tucker as her plus one to an old friend's wedding, Peter quickly realizes that he would rather have a miserable time with Dana than a wonderful time without her. Amy skips her spin class to secretly take dance lessons in preparation for the wedding and David thinks she might be having an affair.
November 26, 2014 (2014-11-26) (NZ VoD)[22][23] December 4, 2014 (2014-12-04) (US VoD)
109
N/A
Peter is embarrassed by his family and doesn't invite Dana to Thanksgiving, but when Dana's flight home suddenly gets cancelled, she ends up in the middle of Peter's horrible family Thanksmas tradition and is determined to turn things around and have fun.
10
"The Ex Factor"
John Fortenberry
Daniel Paige
December 4, 2014 (2014-12-04) (US VoD)
110
N/A
When Peter learns that Dana is still friends with all of her exes, even the one who proposed, he takes her cue and tries to reconnect with his one long term girlfriend. Plus, there is conflict at Cooper and Sons when Amy fills in for the receptionist and tries to tell everyone how to do their job.
11
"Let It Go"
John Fortenberry
Jameel Saleem
December 4, 2014 (2014-12-04) (US VoD)
111
N/A
When Dana's ex-boyfriend shows up in New York to win her back, Peter does everything he can to show Dana how much he cares, even letting her go if that's what it takes. David helps Chloe get out of her dating slump by showing her how to use the Cooper family secret dating trophy.
International broadcast
In New Zealand, the series was released online on TVNZ OnDemand, starting October 1, 2014, which included the episodes unaired by ABC. The release of episodes 5 through 9 was the first public release of the episodes.[citation needed]
The show began airing in Spain on November 23, 2014.[24]
In Australia, the series premiered from August 26, 2015, on the Seven Network at 1:30am.[28]
In India, the Murdoch-owned Star World[29] channel premiered the show for weekday runs starting 13 October 2015, sandwiched between Modern Family (reruns) and latest season of Masterchef Australia in primetime.
Notes
^ abCredited as Analeigh Tipton; Tipton came out as non-binary and changed their name in 2021.[10]
