Saving Hope Information

Saving Hope is a Canadian television supernatural medical drama that debuted on the CTV and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) networks simultaneously on June 7, 2012. The show's central character is Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance), a doctor whose fiancé, Dr. Charles Harris (Michael Shanks), is in a coma after being in a car accident. The show follows the life of Charlie in his coma state, and Alex dealing with patients, and hoping that he will survive. Dr. Reid is the Chief Surgical Resident at Hope Zion Hospital in Toronto, and Dr. Harris would normally be the Chief of Surgery, but had been replaced due to his current condition.

The show also stars Dr. Joel Goran (Daniel Gillies), a new orthopedic surgeon and Alex's former lover. Reid also works along with Dr. Shahir Hamza (Huse Madhavji), a neurosurgeon, Dr. Maggie Lin (Julia Taylor Ross), a third year surgical resident on rotation in the General Surgery department, Dr. Gavin Murphy (Kristopher Turner), a psychiatry resident, Dr. Zachary Miller (Benjamin Ayres), the ER doctor, OR nurse Victor Reis (Salvatore Antonio), Dr. Tom Reycraft (K.C. Collins), Dr. Melanda Tolliver (Glenda Braganza), and Dr. Dawn Bell (Michelle Nolden), a cardiologist and Charlie's ex-wife.

The show's premise originated with Malcolm MacRury and Morwyn Brebner, who are both credited as creators and executive producers alongside Ilana Frank, David Wellington, Lesley Harrison, and Aaron Martin. The pilot was filmed in Toronto, Ontario.

Saving Hope has received mixed reviews from television critics for its storylines. Commentators noted that the show seemed like other dramas, such as Grey's Anatomy.

On July 25, 2012, CTV ordered Season 2, with 13 new episodes, for Summer 2013. NBC, however, pulled the show's final two episodes from its broadcast schedule and made them viewable on their official website. It is unknown if NBC will broadcast the show's second season. On 16 November 2012 CTV announced they had increased their episode order for Season 2 to 18 episodes.

Production

Conception

Malcolm MacRury and Morwyn Brebner devised the concept of the series. MacRury had previously co-created the comedy series Republic of Doyle for CBC, while Brebner had previously created television drama Rookie Blue for the Global Television Network. Canadian broadcaster CTV had picked up the pilot episode in November 2011. Executive producers of the show went to Los Angeles, California, to pitch the series to U.S. broadcasters. Their efforts convinced the National Broadcasting Company to pick up the series for airing in the United States. CTV and NBC ordered 13 episodes for the first season.

The Los Angeles Times claimed that MacRury and Brebner are trying to "combine a doctors-in-love medical soap opera modeled on Grey's Anatomy with something completely different, a paranormal ghost story with elements of A Gifted Man and Ghost Whisperer". Principal photography for the pilot episode took place in Toronto, Ontario in the spring of 2011.

Plot

After a car crash on the way to his wedding, the Chief of Surgery, Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks), of Toronto's Hope Zion Hospital ends up in a coma. He finds out that he can roam the hospital in spirit form.

His fiancée and fellow surgeon, Alex Reid (Erica Durance), tries to save his life with the help of other doctors, including surgeon Joel Goran (Daniel Gillies), as they struggle with their day to day lives to keep the hope alive at Hope Zion.

Cast

• Erica Durance as Dr. Alex Reid, at the start of the series Chief Surgical Resident and Charlie Harris' fiancée
• Michael Shanks as Dr. Charles "Charlie" Harris, Chief of Surgery, orthopedic surgeon, and Alex's fiancé
• Daniel Gillies as Dr. Joel Goran, new orthopedic surgeon at Hope Zion and Alex's former lover
• Huse Madhavji as Dr. Shahir Hamza, Chief of Neurosurgery and Victor Reis's longtime boyfriend
• Julia Taylor Ross as Dr. Maggie Lin, a third year surgical resident on rotation in the hospital's General Surgery department
• Kristopher Turner as Dr. Gavin Murphy, a psychiatry resident
• Wendy Crewson as Dr. Dana Kinney, Chief of Plastic Surgery, who is appointed Interim Chief of Surgery following Charlie's coma
• Benjamin Ayres as Dr. Zach Miller, an ER doctor
• Glenda Braganza as Dr. Melanda Tolliver, a friend of Alex's and an ICU doctor
• Salvatore Antonio as Victor Reis, an OR nurse and Shahir's longtime boyfriend
• K. C. Collins as Dr. Tom Reycraft, a fourth year surgical resident, who in season 1, episode 9 ("Bea Again") is appointed Chief Surgical Resident in place of Dr. Reid
• Joseph Pierre as Jackson Wade, an ICU nurse
• Michelle Nolden as Dr. Dawn Bell, a cardiologist and Charlie's ex-wife
• Conrad Coates as Bryan Travers, the main executive

Episodes

See List of Saving Hope episodes for more information

Season		Episodes	Originally aired
			Season premiere	Season finale
	1	13
	2	18

Reception

Ratings

In Canada, the premiere figures were the highest recorded for the summer season in 2012. The American premiere attracted 3.1 million viewers on NBC, which some critics were unimpressed with.

Season	Timeslot (ET)	# Ep.	Premiered		Ended		TV Season	Viewers (in millions)
			Date	Premiere Viewers (in millions)	Date	Finale Viewers (in millions)
1	Thursday 9:00 pm	13	June 7, 2012	1.520	September 13, 2012	1.548	2012	1.700
2	Tuesday 10:00 pm	18	June 25, 2013	1.083	TBA 2013	TBA	2013	TBA

Reviews

Saving Hope received mixed reviews on Metacritic with a score of 49 out of 100 based on 15 critics' reviews. Verne Gay of Newsday stated the series "is modeled out of particularly sturdy, comfortable and reliable material." He added that it is "a sober, intelligent, placidly paced drama as only the Canadians can make." The Chicago Sun-Timess Lori Rackl said the series "has some fun, clever and emotion-stirring moments, but they're handicapped by cheesy montages and one too many scenarios designed to remind us of the importance of having hope." Alan Sepinwall of HitFix called Charlie Harris' "spirit walk" around the hospital "an interesting solution to the problem of telling stories we've seen a million times before. But doing it this way ultimately does more harm than good." He added: "It's not bad so much as tired." The San Francisco Chronicles David Wiegand called the series "a lukewarm stew of ideas from other shows... and films... with stock characters and situations that occasionally jerk a demi-tear or two, but with absolutely no authenticity. The sloppy sentimentality is cheap and unearned."