| Being Human | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Created by | Toby Whithouse |
| Developed by |
|
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United States Canada |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Montreal |
| Running time | 43 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Muse |
| Distributor | Zodiak Media Group[2] |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Syfy (U.S.) Space (Canada) |
| Original run | January 17, 2011 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Being Human (UK) |
| External links | |
| Website | |
| Production website | |
Being Human is a supernatural drama television series broadcast on Syfy in the United States and on Space in Canada. It is being produced by Muse in Montreal and is based on the BBC show of the same name.[3]
Contents |
The series revolves around three roommates living in Boston who appear to be in their twenties. The trio try to live a normal life despite being a ghost, a vampire, and a werewolf.[4]
On June 28 2010, Entertainment Weekly reported that actor Sam Witwer had signed on to play the vampire in the remake, and Meaghan Rath had signed to play the ghost with Sam Huntington close to a deal to play the werewolf.[5] On July 7 2010, it was announced that Lost and Supernatural alumnus Mark Pellegrino would be joining the cast as "Aidan's charismatic but menacing mentor Bishop".[6]
On March 17, 2011, SyFy announced that they would be ordering a second season of its new drama series.[7] It was also reported that since its inception there had been an average of 1.8 million viewers per premiere episode, a first for the network since 2005. Also, the show's audience is predominately female, a first for SyFy.[8] SyFy has announced that Season 2 will begin airing on January 16, 2012.
On June 29 2011, Variety reported that actress Dichen Lachman had signed on as a regular to play a reclusive vampire in season two.[9]
Husband-and-wife team Jeremy Carver and Anna Fricke were tasked with adapting the British series for North American television.[1] Carver said that he and Fricke hoped "to use elements of the original series while reimagining a series all of our own. I think that starts with many of the new characters and storylines that we created. I think you're going to see a show that gives a very nice nod to the original version."[10] Carver and Fricke said they intended to retain the original program's dark and morally ambiguous qualities.[11]
At the beginning of the first 13-episode season, the program roughly follows the narrative arc of the first season of the British original.[11][12] Since that season was only six episodes long, the North American program developed new stories and arcs.[11][12] Some similar elements were also developed in a different manner; Carver said, "We explore these moments and what the characters experienced in the British version and say to the writers, 'What if we do this differently?[12] However, elements of the directorial style of the first two episodes followed the original pilot and first regular episode of the UK series, in some cases shot-for-shot.[13]
One explicit tribute to the British series is the name of the vampire, Aidan; the character is named after Irish actor Aidan Turner, who played the vampire Mitchell in the original series.[14] The other main characters in the North American version at first appear to correspond to their British counterparts (werewolves Josh and George, ghosts Sally and Annie, vampire leaders Bishop and Herrick),[13] but actor Sam Witwer was keen to stress the differences between the characters in the two programs: "These are not the same characters.... There are a lot of similarities, but for example, Bishop is not Herrick. Not in the slightest. He's not the same guy.[14]
As of January 2011[update], the North American series' writers have avoided watching the second series when it aired on BBC America.[12] Similarly, the North American actors have seen little of the British series; Witwer told an interviewer that he had watched only the first episode, and avoided watching any more in order to avoid subconsciously mimicking Aidan Turner's performance.[14]
According to The New York Times, "You know you're in trouble right from the start when the premiere episode begins with a Grey's Anatomy-style voice-over narration by the brooding vampire Aidan (Sam Witwer). It’s the first sign of rampant Americanization: the underlining of every theme and emotion, the explanation of every plot point, the thorough predigestion before the gruel is spooned into our mouths....By its second episode it has settled into a CW groove—pretty people, sad songs, ambient ennui—but without the soap-opera chops that make The Vampire Diaries addictive.[15]
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release dates | Additional features | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |||
| Being Human: Season One | 13 | November 15, 2011[16] | TBA | October 6, 2011[17] | Making-Of Featurette, Interviews and recording of the Comic Con 2011 Panel. |
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