The fourth season premiered Friday, November 15, 2013, at 9:00 pm Eastern/8:00 pm Central with back-to-back episodes.[2] Greg Garcia left Raising Hope to work on The Millers for CBS.[3] On March 10, 2014, Fox cancelled the show after four seasons. The series finale aired on April 4, 2014.[4]
Premise
James "Jimmy" Chance is a 23-year-old living in the quirky fictional town of Natesville, Virginia who impregnates a serial killer during a one-night stand. Earning custody of his unexpected daughter, Hope, after the mother is sentenced to death, Jimmy relies on his unorthodox but well-intentioned family for support in raising her.
Lucas Neff as James "Jimmy" Bon Jovi Chance, Hope's father. A good-natured, wide-eyed 23-year-old who is clueless about raising a child and everything else. Jimmy goes to Howdy's Market in Natesville to get items for baby Hope, where he meets Sabrina.
Martha Plimpton as Virginia Slims Chance. Hope's paternal grandmother, Jimmy's mother, and Burt's wife. Virginia became pregnant with Jimmy at age fifteen, delivering him when she was sixteen. Virginia works as a maid, cleaning houses of upper-class people while the Chances appear to live just above the poverty line.
Garret Dillahunt as Engleburt "Burt" Jebbidiah Chance. Hope's paternal grandfather, Jimmy's father, and Virginia's husband. Burt conceived Jimmy with Virginia when he was seventeen. He has a lawn care/pool cleaning business with Jimmy as his assistant.
Shannon Woodward as Sabrina Chance (née Collins), Jimmy's coworker and eventual wife and Hope's adoptive mother.
Cloris Leachman as Barbara June "Maw Maw" Thompson (recurring season 1, starring seasons 2–4), Virginia's 84-year-old grandmother, Jimmy's great-grandmother, and Hope's great-great-grandmother. Her dementia is a plot line of several episodes and forces her granddaughter to have to take care of her, while Virginia and Burt live in Maw Maw's house rent free.
Gregg Binkley as Barney Hughes (recurring season 1, starring seasons 2–4), Manager of the store where Jimmy and Sabrina work.
Baylie and Rylie Cregut as Hope Chance (born Princess Beyonce Carlyle), Jimmy's and Lucy's daughter and adopted daughter of Sabrina, Virginia and Burt's granddaughter and Maw Maw's great-great-granddaughter.
In June 2009, Fox announced it had booked a put pilot commitment with show creator Greg Garcia.[5]
Actress Olesya Rulin was originally cast as Sabrina, the love interest for Jimmy, and Kate Micucci was added to the cast as Jimmy’s cousin. The pilot was filmed in December 2009.[6][7] In March 2010, Fox decided to recast two roles from the pilot. Shannon Woodward replaced Rulin as Sabrina.[8] Also recast was the role of Jimmy's cousin, changing from Micucci to male actor Skyler Stone as Mike.[7] With this, Micucci's role changed from Jimmy's cousin to become Shelley, Sabrina's cousin.[9]
Fox green-lit the pilot to series with an order in mid-May 2010 for a fall premiere in its 2010–11 television schedule.[10][11]
On January 10, 2011, Fox renewed Raising Hope for a second season.[12] On April 9, 2012, Raising Hope was renewed for a third season.[13] On March 4, 2013, Raising Hope was renewed for a fourth season.[14] On March 10, 2014, Fox announced the cancellation of the show after four seasons.
Raising Hope has received positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the show's first season holds a 87% based on 38 reviews, with an average score of 6.7/10. The website's consensus reads, "Thanks to a talented and well-matched cast, Raising Hope largely manages to balance crude, absurdist humor with moments of charm without languishing in one or exploiting the other."[15] On Metacritic, the season holds an weighted average score of 75 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 24 critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[16]
Tom Gilatto of People Weekly called the show the best new sitcom of the season, favorably comparing it to Malcolm in the Middle. Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times was lukewarm towards the show, stating that "Raising Hope is funny, sweet, occasionally provocative, and occasionally over-the-top in a regrettable way." James Poniewozik of Time Magazine was upbeat, stating that "Neff is amiably charming, Dillahunt and Plimpton give their characters a realism that belies the pilot's often-contemptuous jokes, and maybe 20% of the first episode shows a sweet-heartedness that rises above the easy white-trash humor." While not all of the reviews were positive, they were mostly positive by the end of the first season. Much of the show's praise went to the performances of Martha Plimpton and Garret Dillahunt.[17]
The second season received critical acclaim on Rotten Tomatoes with a 100% based on 11 reviews, with an average score of 7/10. The consensus reads, "Raising Hope nurses a winsome sweetness in an improved second season that shears off the comedic bits that didn't work while expounding upon the blue collar charm and gleaming heart that lured viewers in."[18] Matt Roush of TV Guide called the show in his season 2 review "A treat for anyone who loves a good call-back to classic sitcoms."[19]
The third and fourth season also received critical acclaim on Rotten Tomatoes with a 100% based on 6 reviews for season 3[20] and based on 8 reviews for season 4.[21]
In the United Kingdom, Sky1 picked up the broadcast rights and added the show to its 2010–2011 UK & Ireland autumn schedule, beginning in November 2010.[40]
In Australia, Ten originally broadcast the series before moving it to Eleven.
In Canada, the first season aired on the Global Television Network[45] at the same time as Fox in the United States. In 2011, City bought rights from the Global Television Network, and began broadcasting the show.[46] On the morning show that City airs, Breakfast Television, they announced on May 29, 2011, that the series will start airing at 8:00 pm on Tuesdays instead of 9:30 pm on Tuesdays due to other Fox series Glee moving to Thursdays at 9:00pm. This started on September 18, 2012.
In Finland, the first season aired on Sub on January 10, 2013. The Finnish title is Isän Tyttö.[47]
In Germany, the series broadcasts on RTL Nitro, where it on September 10, 2012.[48] Seasons 3 and 4 premiered on NOW!.[49]
In Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia, the series was broadcast on Fox Adria. In January, 2018 RTL 2 picked up series for Croatia.
