Cold Feet is an American comedy-drama television series produced by Kerry Ehrin Productions and Granada Entertainment USA for NBC. Based on the British TV series of the same name, the series follows three Seattle couples, each at different stages of their romantic relationships. It premiered on September 24, 1999 to mixed reviews and was canceled on October 29, 1999, one month later because of falling ratings. Eight episodes were produced, of which four aired.
| Cold Feet | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy drama |
| Based on | Cold Feet by Mike Bullen |
| Developed by | Kerry Ehrin |
| Starring |
|
| Composer | David Schwartz |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 (4 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Mark A. Burley |
| Production locations | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | September 24 – October 29, 1999 |
Production
editThe British production of Cold Feet first aired as a one-off television pilot in 1997. Despite low ratings and few critical reviews, it won the prestigious Rose d'Or at that year's Montreux Television Festival, and British broadcaster ITV commissioned a six-episode series of the show. Granada Entertainment USA, the American arm of the series producer Granada, tendered the series to U.S. networks and cable channels from late 1997, with the format eventually being sold to NBC, which commissioned thirteen 60-minute episodes in May 1999 for the Fall season.[1][2] The series was broadcast at 10 p.m. on Friday nights, in the timeslot occupied by Homicide: Life on the Street in previous seasons. Most episodes were written by Kerry Ehrin, who strived to make the series similar to the original. The series was shot at NBC's studios in Vancouver, British Columbia.[3]
Characters
edit- Adam Williams (played by David Sutcliffe)
- Shelley Sullivan (played by Jean Louisa Kelly)
- Pete Lombardi (played by William Keane)
- Jenny Lombardi (played by Dina Spybey)
- David Chandler (played by Anthony Starke)
- Karen Chandler (played by Alicia Coppola)
- Ramona (played by Maria J. Cruz)
Episodes
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | Nicole Holofcener | Kerry Ehrin | September 24, 1999 | 63551 |
| 2 | "A Thong, a Potty and a Napoleon" | Nick Marck | Kerry Ehrin | October 1, 1999 | 63552 |
| 3 | "How Much is that Sex Act in the Window" | Rob Thompson | Kerry Ehrin | October 22, 1999 | 63553 |
| 4 | "The Strange Loves of Shelley Bumstead" | Joe Napolitano | Kerry Ehrin & Craig Munson | October 29, 1999 | 63554 |
| 5 | "An Affair to Dismember" | TBD | TBD | Unaired | 63555 |
| 6 | "I've Got a Crush on You, Frigidaire" | TBD | TBD | Unaired | 63556 |
| 7 | "Trying to Do the Right Thing" | TBD | TBD | Unaired | 63557 |
| 8 | "Girls' Night Out, Boys' Night In" | TBD | TBD | Unaired | 63558 |
Reception
editCritics
editWriting in Variety, Ray Richmond described the pilot as "more or less a primer on selfishness" and "breezy and entertaining", predicting the series would retain viewers in the following weeks.[3] Entertainment Weekly called the scene in which Adam stands with a rose clenched in his buttocks the peak of the episode, but was not impressed by the series replacing Homicide.[4] Humor website TeeVee.org echoed this sentiment, but the rose scene had the opposite effect on the reviewer, who described it as giving her "mental hypothermia".[5] Fay Ripley, who played Jenny Gifford in the original British series, did not enjoy it, calling it "utterly shit" and criticizing the characterization of her character's American counterpart.[6] Months after the cancellation, David Bondelvitch was nominated for a Golden Reel Award at the MPSE awards for his music from the pilot.[7]
Ratings
editThe ratings for the first four episodes are:
| # | Episode | Airdate | Rating | Share | 18–49 | Viewers | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot"[8] | September 24, 1999 | – | – | – | 8.8 | 68 |
| 2 | "A Thong, a Potty and a Napoleon" | October 1, 1999 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 3 | "How Much is that Sex Act in the Window"[9] | October 22, 1999 | 2.5 | 8 | – | 5.69 | – |
| 4 | "The Strange Loves of Shelley Bumstead"[10] | October 29, 1999 | 3.4 | 6 | – | – | – |
The series averaged 4.9/9 for the four weeks it was on air, with "How Much is that Sex Act in the Window" bringing NBC its worst-ever homes rating for an original Friday night show.[10][11] Following the broadcast of "The Strange Loves of Shelley Bumstead", NBC announced the series was cancelled.[10] Granada cited the two-week hiatus between episodes two and three as the main reason for the loss of viewers.[12]
References
edit- ^ Dawtrey, Adam (1997-11-18). "Granada in green". Variety. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
- ^ Staff writer (1999-05-21). "NBC gets Cold Feet from Granada USA". Broadcast.
- ^ a b Richmond, Ray (1999-09-24). "Cold Feet". Variety. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
- ^ Staff writer (1999-09-10). "New Shows". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
- ^ Schmeiser, Lisa (1999-10-03). "Fall '99: "Cold Feet"". TeeVee.org. Archived from the original on 2005-12-15. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
- ^ Mackay, Neil (2001-09-09). "The talented; Miss Ripley". The Sunday Herald (at Find Articles). Retrieved 2007-07-22.
- ^ Ault, Susanne (2000-02-17). "Sound editors mix in TV noms". Variety. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
- ^ Staff writer (1999-10-08). "Dramatic Improvement". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
- ^ Bierbaum, Tom (1999-10-25). "Thursday, Friday rookies fail to make Nielsen cut". Variety. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
- ^ a b c Adalian, Josef (1999-11-02). "NBC ices 'Cold Feet'". Variety. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
- ^ Bierbaum, Tom (1999-10-27). "'Ally' gives Fox hope". Variety. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
- ^ Gibson, Janine (1999-11-03). "US network gets cold feet over British import". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
Further reading
edit- "Latinowood and TV: Prime Time for a Reality Check" (PDF). National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts. 2000-09-20. pp. 9–10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
External links
edit- Cold Feet at IMDb
- Cold Feet at epguides.com