The Loop Information

The Loop is an American sitcom that ran from March 15, 2006 to July 1, 2007 on Fox. The show starred Bret Harrison as Sam Sullivan, a young professional trying to balance the needs of his social life with the pressures of working at the corporate headquarters of TransAlliance Airways, a major U.S. airline. Set in the city of Chicago, whose downtown loop area acted as the setting for most of the show. The show's theme song is "Hockey Monkey" by James Kochalka Superstar and the Zambonis.

Premise

The Loop focuses on the life of its main character, Sam Sullivan (Bret Harrison). The show is shot with a single-camera setup instead of a multiple-camera setup more typical for situation comedies. The series follows Sam, his friends and his co-workers, as they try to survive both their personal and professional lives. In every episode most of the characters say many "situation comedy" style lines, which are often a result of improvisation. A complete script is written for each episode of The Loop; however, actors are given opportunities to improvise their lines during the shooting process.

The series was filmed in 480i (SDTV), 720p (HDTV). The Loop lasted only two seasons, season 1 lasted only 7 episodes. The show was renewed for a second season consisting of 13 episodes on May 12 by FOX. It was one of only two live-action sitcoms renewed for the 2006-2007 season on FOX, along with The War at Home. The Loop's second season took place mainly in the workplace, and less of it with Sam's friends. The producers stated they "found most of the comedy to be with Sam and his co-workers and they wanted to expand on that." On November 28, 2006, it was announced that the show's second season episode order had been reduced from thirteen to ten, with FOX's crowded spring schedule believed to be the main reason for the reduction. The show was cancelled on May 17, 2007, before the second season was even broadcast. FOX eventually burned off the remaining episodes on Sundays beginning June 10, 2007.

Characters

Name	Portrayed by	Description	Character status
Sam Sullivan	Bret Harrison	A young professional trying to balance the needs of his social life with the pressures of working at the corporate headquarters of TransAlliance Airways.	Regular (2006"2007) Episodes:17
Russ McDonald	Philip Baker Hall	Head executive of TransAlliance Airways (Sam's male boss).	Regular (2006"2007) Episodes: 17
Sully Sullivan	Eric Christian Olsen	Sam's goofy, carefree and jobless older brother, he is also his roommate.	Regular (2006"2007) Episodes: 17
Meryl	Mimi Rogers	Sexual predator, and co-head executive of TransAlliance Airways (Sam's female boss).	Regular (2006"2007) Episodes: 17
Darcy	Joy Osmanski	Sam's personal assistant and former student at MIT, she frequently reminds the audience that most of her classmates are in space.	Regular (2006"2007) Episodes: 17
Derek Renee Tricolli	Ian Reed Kesler	Derek is a jocky businessman for Goldman Sachs, who constantly gets under Sam's skin. In Season 2, it is indicated that Derek is a closet homosexual.	Recurring (2006-2007)
DeKeyser	Howard Miller	Executive of TransAlliance Airways	Recurring (2006"2007)
Hibbert	Michael D. Roberts	Executive of TransAlliance Airways	Recurring (2006"2007)
Piper	Amanda Loncar	Piper is one of Sam's friends, whom he has had a crush on since they met freshmen year of college, she is also his roommate. In the first season she was studying to become a doctor.	Former regular (2006) Episodes: 7
Lizzy	Sarah Mason	Lizzy is one of Sam's friends, and roommate. Her job in the first season was a bartender.	Former regular (2006) Episodes: 7

U.S. television ratings

Below is a table of the seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of The Loop on FOX.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

Season	Episodes	Timeslot (EST)	Season Premiere	Season Finale	Viewers (in millions)
1	7	Wednesday 9:30 PM (premiere) Tuesday 9:00 PM	March 15, 2006	April 13, 2006	3.86
2	10	Sunday 8:30 PM and 9:30 PM	June 10, 2007	July 1, 2007	2.36

Broadcast and distribution

Episode list

See List of The Loop episodes for more information The first season of The Loop premiered on FOX in the United States on March 15, 2006 at 8:30pm ET. The series finale of The Loop aired on July 1, 2007. All 17 episodes of The Loop can be watched, for free, at The Loop's TV.com site

Season	Ep #	First Airdate	Last Airdate
1	7	March 15, 2006	April 13, 2006
2	10	June 10, 2007	July 1, 2007

Online distribution

In the U.S., both the first and second seasons of the show are available for purchase on the iTunes Store, as well as the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace or for free on Hulu. In an aggressive marketing campaign by FOX, the pilot episode was released across a broad range of mediums from satellite broadcasting to popular social networking websites such as Facebook, shown on United Airlines flights, freely distributed on video on demand on about 30 cable and satellite systems including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Dish Network, on Yahoo, and from Amazon Unbox. Also, prior to the airing of The Loop in the United Kingdom the pilot episode was released as a free temporary download on iTunes.

DVD release

DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date	Additional Information
Season One	7	March 6, 2007	Bonus features include a featurette which has interviews from the cast and crew.
Season Two	10	TBA

International airdates

Country	TV network(s)	Series premiere	Weekly schedule
Argentina	FX Network	March 2007	Mondays 8:00 p.m.
Australia	Seven Network	December 7, 2006	Fridays 12:00 a.m.
	The Comedy Channel	July 14, 2009	Tuesdays 9:00 p.m.
Brazil	FX Network	September 2007	Mondays 9:00 p.m.
Canada	CH	March 2006	Sundays 9:00 p.m. (2)
Croatia	RTL Televizija	March 2009	Sundays 9:00 a.m.
Finland	MTV3	January 13, 2010	Wednesdays at 2:15 p.m.
France	NRJ 12	August 25, 2008	Daily at 5:30 p.m.
Iceland	Stöð 2	2007
Ireland	RT"? Two	June 8, 2007	Fridays 9:00 p.m. Finished Now
Israel	yes Stars	February 7, 2007	Tuesdays & Wednesdays 9:05 p.m.
United Kingdom	Trouble	2006	Mondays 12:00 a.m.
	E4	July 30, 2009	Thursdays 10:30 p.m.
New Zealand	C4	May 19, 2008 (Season 1) September 6, 2009 (Season 2)	Mondays 9:30 p.m (first run) Sundays 8:00 p.m (second run)
Philippines	Jack TV	September 5, 2007	Wednesdays 9:00 p.m.
Russia	MTV Russia	December 2009	Weekdays
Ukraine	Novyi Kanal	June 2009	Weekdays
Thailand	True Series	December 19, 2006	Wednesdays 9:00 p.m.
Turkey	ComedyMax	January 27, 2008	Weekdays 7:00 p.m.
Slovenia	Kanal A		Mondays to Thursdays 10:35 p.m.
Middle East	Showtime Arabia (ShowComedy)	2007	Mondays 6:30 p.m.
Mexico	FX		Mondays 9:30 p.m.