Scoundrels (TV series)

Scoundrels
A poster marketing the show's pilot
Genre	Comedy drama
Based on	Outrageous Fortune by James Griffin & Rachel Lang
Developed by	Lyn Greene Richard Levine
Starring	Virginia Madsen David James Elliott Patrick Flueger Leven Rambin Vanessa Marano Carlos Bernard
Composer	Peter Himmelman
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producers	Lyn Greene Richard Levine Francie Calfo Michael R. Goldstein Michael G. Larkin Bruce Cervi John Lansing John Barnett Ken Topolsky
Running time	43 minutes
Production companies	Old Friends Productions Long Run Productions South Pacific Pictures ABC Studios
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	June 20 (2010-06-20) – August 15, 2010 (2010-08-15)[1]
Related
Outrageous Fortune Good Behavior Honest

Scoundrels is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on the ABC network. It is based on the New Zealand TV series Outrageous Fortune.^[2] The one-hour comedy-drama premiered on Sunday, June 20, 2010 at 9 pm.^[3] The eight-episode run ended on August 15, 2010.

Plot

Cheryl West is a middle-aged woman with four children: twin brothers Logan and Cal, and daughters Heather, an aspiring model and Hope, the youngest and an aspiring filmmaker. After Cheryl's career criminal husband Wolf is sentenced to five years in prison, Cheryl forces her family to quit its criminal activities. However, even from jail, Wolf interferes with her attempts to reform their family.

Cast

• Virginia Madsen as Cheryl West
• David James Elliott as Wolfgang "Wolf" West
• Patrick Flueger as Logan and Calvin "Cal" West (twins)
• Leven Rambin as Heather West
• Vanessa Marano as Hope West
• Carlos Bernard as Sergeant Mack

Development and production

The series is based on the New Zealand TV series Outrageous Fortune, which was created by James Griffin and Rachel Lang.^[2] (See also "Honest" starring Amanda Redman - a UK version of the New Zealand series which transmitted on ITV in 2008.) Lyn Greene and Richard Levine wrote the pilot of Scoundrels for American television, and they serve as the series show runners. ABC green-lit the series in January 2010 with an eight episode order.^[4]

Madsen was cast in early February, followed by Flueger.^[5][6] Rambin came on board in late February, along with Neal McDonough, who was originally cast as Wolf West.^[7][8] Filming began March 16, 2010 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.^[9][10] Three days into the shoot, McDonough was replaced by David James Elliot due to McDonough's religious beliefs and refusal to film sex scenes.^[11][12]

This was ABC's second attempt at reformatting Outrageous Fortune for an American audience. In 2008, a pilot named Good Behavior wasn't picked up by the network.

Reception

The series pilot "And Jill Came Tumbling After" received mixed reviews with The Boston Herald claiming the show was "wicked fun" and praised the show's cast.^[13] A reviewer from The Boston Globe was quoted to say "Not a single one of the characters were funny enough, or touching enough, to make me want to see more of them. If the Wests were thrown in jail, I’d be tempted to throw away the key."^[14] On the review collaboration site Metacritic, Scoundrels currently holds 56% (mixed or average) based on 18 critic reviews.^[15] The show's second episode Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary got overall a better response than the pilot with it earning positive reviews. TV Fanatic gave the episode 3/5 saying "the episode was an improvement on the pilot, with the characters developing and the show overall finding its tone and footing a bit." and "there were decent dramatic moments and good laughs in “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary."^[16]

Cancellation

On October 24, 2010 it was revealed on ABC's Twitter page that Scoundrels would not be returning for another season.^[1]

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (in millions)
1	"And Jill Came Tumbling After"	Julie Anne Robinson	Lyn Greene & Richard Levine	June 20, 2010 (2010-06-20)	5.17[17]
2	"Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary"	Julie Anne Robinson	Lyn Greene & Richard Levine	June 27, 2010 (2010-06-27)	3.63[18]
3	"Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire"	Michael Katleman	Rick Cleveland	July 11, 2010 (2010-07-11)	3.00[19]
4	"Where Have You Been, Charming Billy?"	Michael Katleman	Lisa Melamed	July 18, 2010 (2010-07-18)	3.16[20]
5	"Yes, Sir, Yes, Sir, Three Bags Full"	Deran Sarafian	Joy Gregory	July 25, 2010 (2010-07-25)	3.1^[citation needed]
6	"Birds of a Feather Flock Together"	Deran Sarafian	Lisa Melamed	August 1, 2010 (2010-08-01)	3.22[21]
7	"That's the Way the Money Goes"	John Scott	Joy Gregory	August 8, 2010 (2010-08-08)	3.33[22]
8	"Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"	John Scott	Rick Cleveland	August 15, 2010 (2010-08-15)	2.84[23]

Ratings

U.S. Nielsen ratings

Weekly ratings

Episode Number	Episode	Rating	Share	Rating/Share (18-49)	Viewers (millions)	Rank (Timeslot)	Rank (Night)
1	"And Jill Came Tumbling After"	3.5	6	1.3/4[17]	5.17	2	3^[citation needed]
2	"Mary Mary Quite Contrary"	3.3	4	1.1/3[18]	3.63	4	7^[citation needed]
3	"Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire"	2.0	3^[citation needed]	0.8/2[19]	3.00	4	15
4	"Where Have You Been, Charming Billy?"	2.1	4	0.7/2[20]	3.16	4	14^[citation needed]
5	"Yes, Sir, Yes, Sir, Three Bags Full"	2.1	3^[citation needed]	3.10	4	14^[citation needed]
6	"Birds of a Feather Flock Together"	2.0	3	0.7/2[21]	3.22	4	13^[citation needed]
7	"That's the Way the Money Goes"	2.1	3^[citation needed]	0.8/2^[citation needed]	3.33	4	14
8	"Who's Afraid Of the Big Bad Wolf?"	1.8	3^[citation needed]	0.8/2^[citation needed]	2.84	4	14

Seasonal ratings

Season	Episodes	Original airing			Viewers (in millions)	Network
		Season premiere	Season finale	TV Season
1	8	June 20, 2010 (2010-06-20)	August 15, 2010 (2010-08-15)	2009–2010	3.43	ABC

Canadian ratings

Episode Number	Episode	Viewers (millions)	Rank (Week)
1	"And Jill Came Tumbling After"	1.041	#17[24]
2	"Mary Mary Quite Contrary"	1.260	#15[25]
3	"Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire"	0.936	#28[26]
4	"Where Have You Been, Charming Billy?"	0.925	#28[27]

References

1. @ABCScoundrels (October 24, 2010). "Sorry to say guys, SCOUNDRELS will not return for a Season 2. We are all very sad, but thank you all for your loving support!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
2. "ABC Announces 2010 Summer Schedule" (Press release). ABC Television Network. April 7, 2010.
3. "Editor's Note on Airtime Changes for Scoundrels and The Gates (6/20)" (Press release). ABC Television Network. May 5, 2010.
4. "Development Update: Friday, January 8". The Futon Critic. January 8, 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
5. Andreeva, Nellie (February 2, 2010). "Virginia Madsen to star in ABC's 'Scoundrels'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
6. Andreeva, Nellie (February 8, 2010). "ABC, NBC pilots expand casts". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
7. "Development Update: Monday, February 22". The Futon Critic. February 22, 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
8. Ausiello, Michael (February 22, 2010). "Scoop: McSteamy's daughter joins 'Scoundrels'". The Ausiello Files. Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 25, 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
9. "ABQ Studios hosts new TV series". New Mexico Business Weekly. American City Business Journals. March 2, 2010. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
10. "Governor Bill Richardson Announces ABC TV Series Will Shoot in New Mexico". New Mexico Film Office. March 1, 2010. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
11. Andreeva, Nellie (March 29, 2010). "David James Elliott joins ABC's 'Scoundrels'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
12. Roberts, Soraya (April 1, 2010). "Neal McDonough fired from ABC's 'Scoundrels' after refusing sex scenes with Virginia Madsen". New York Daily News. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
13. Perigard, Mark A. (June 17, 2010). "'Scoundrels' steals spotlight while 'Gates' totally bites". Boston Herald. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
14. Gilbert, Matthew (June 18, 2010). "'Scoundrels' and 'The Gates' try their best to warp suburbia". Boston Globe. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
15. "Scoundrels reviews at". Metacritic.com. June 18, 2010. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
16. Marsi, Steve (June 28, 2010). "Scoundrels Review: "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary"". TV Fanatic.
17. Gorman, Bill (June 21, 2010). "TV Ratings Sunday: US Open Tops Leaderboard; Scoundrels, The Gates Out Of Bounds". TVbytheNumbers. Archived from the original on June 28, 2010. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
18. Gorman, Bill (June 28, 2010). "TV Ratings Sunday: Daytime Emmys Up; Scoundrels, The Gates Go From Bad To Worse". TVbytheNumbers. Archived from the original on July 1, 2010. Retrieved June 28, 2010.
19. Gorman, Bill (July 12, 2010). "TV Ratings Sunday: Big Brother On Top, Scoundrels Keeps Falling". TVbytheNumbers. Archived from the original on July 15, 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
20. Seidman, Robert (July 19, 2010). "TV Ratings: FOX Repeats & Big Brother Lead Night; Scoundrels & The Gates Finish Last". TVbytheNumbers. Archived from the original on July 23, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
21. Seidman, Robert (August 2, 2010). "TV Ratings: CBS & FOX Duel As 'Big Brother' & 'Family Guy' Reruns Pace Night;". TVbytheNumbers. Archived from the original on August 5, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
22. Seidman, Robert (August 9, 2010). "TV Ratings: 'Bengals vs. Cowboys' T.O./Romo Trumps All; 'Scoundrels' Up; 'The Gates' Down". TVbytheNumbers. Archived from the original on August 16, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
23. Seidman, Robert (August 15, 2010). "TV Ratings: PGA Championship & 'Big Brother' Lead CBS to Victory; 'Scoundrels' Ends Quietly". TVbytheNumbers. Archived from the original on August 19, 2010. Retrieved September 12, 2010.
24. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
25. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
26. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
27. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2010-08-04.

External links

• Scoundrels at IMDb