Raising Hope

Raising Hope
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Greg Garcia
Starring	Lucas Neff Martha Plimpton Garret Dillahunt Shannon Woodward Gregg Binkley Cloris Leachman Baylie and Rylie Cregut
Narrated by	Lucas Neff Martha Plimpton
Opening theme	"Daddy-O" by The Freelance Economy
Composer(s)	Danny Lux Matt Mariano
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	88 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Gregory Thomas Garcia Mike Mariano Joey Gutierrez Mark Stegemann Michael Fresco (pilot only)
Producer(s)	Henry J. Lange Jr. Kim Hamberg Elijah Aron Jordan Young Audra Sielaff Becky Mann Dave Holstein
Cinematography	Walt Fraser Sharon Meir
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	20th Century Fox Television Amigos de Garcia Productions Slowly I Turned Productions
Distributor	20th Television
Release
Original network	Fox
Picture format	SDTV 480i HDTV 720p
Original release	September 21, 2010 (2010-09-21) – April 4, 2014 (2014-04-04)

Raising Hope is an American sitcom that aired from September 21, 2010, to April 4, 2014, on Fox.^[1]

Following its first season, the show received two nominations at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards. Martha Plimpton was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and Cloris Leachman was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. Plimpton also won the 2011 Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.

The fourth season premiered Friday, November 15, 2013, at 9:00 pm Eastern/8:00 pm Central with back-to-back episodes.^[2] On March 10, 2014, Fox canceled Raising Hope, and the series finale aired April 4, 2014.^[3]

Premise

James "Jimmy" Chance is a 21-year-old, living in the surreal fictional town of Natesville, who impregnates a serial killer during a one-night stand. Earning custody of his daughter after the mother is sentenced to death, Jimmy relies on his oddball but well-intentioned family for support in raising the child.

Cast and characters

• Lucas Neff as James "Jimmy" Bon Jovi Chance, Hope's father. A good-natured, wide-eyed 21-year-old who is clueless about raising a child and everything else. He met and had a one-night stand with Lucy Carlyle, resulting in her pregnancy and the birth of Hope. He did not know about Hope until seven months later when Lucy contacted him. He also did not know that Lucy was a serial killer until the morning after their one-night stand. Jimmy is harmless and kindhearted. When he was a teenager, he went through a phase where he dressed like a goth. In Season 2 Episode 1, it was revealed that he used to have musical talent when he was young. (Teen singer, Greyson Chance played 13-year old Jimmy in the episode "Prodigy") In Season 3, he marries Sabrina.
• Martha Plimpton as Virginia Slims Chance. Hope's grandmother, Jimmy's mother, and Burt's wife. Virginia conceived Jimmy when she was fifteen (he was born on prom night). Her mother wanted to be a swinger and left her when she was two years old, leaving her to be raised by her grandmother, Maw Maw, who told Virginia that her mother had died when she'd fallen and hit her head on a duck lawn ornament. Virginia works as a housecleaner.
• Garret Dillahunt as "Burt" Jebbidiah Chance. Hope's grandfather, Jimmy's father, and Virginia's husband. Burt conceived Jimmy with Virginia when he was seventeen. His parents were third-cousins. He has a lawn care/pool cleaning business with Jimmy as his assistant.
• Shannon Woodward as Sabrina Collins. She works at the nearby grocery market despite coming from a rich family. She spends most of her time drawing on cantaloupes and mixing up the cereals and soup cans. In Season 1, she immediately catches Jimmy's attention, but she has a boyfriend who is studying Finance in New York. In Season 2, she and Jimmy grow from close friends to a relationship. In Season 3, she and Jimmy get married. She is extremely nearsighted but usually wears contact lenses.
• Baylie and Rylie Cregut as Hope Chance (born Princess Beyonce Carlyle), Jimmy and Lucy's daughter, Virginia and Burt's granddaughter and Maw Maw's great-great-granddaughter. Hope was conceived in Jimmy's van when he went out to get bubblegum ice cream and met a distressed Lucy Carlyle with whom he had a one-night stand. Hope is shown to be very intelligent, which she gets from her mother, as she was able to do the shape-sorter when she was two (Jimmy wasn't able to do it even when he was four) and pass a GED test by randomly filling in the dots. At one point, she scared her family by showing violent tendencies that made them think she was going to become a serial killer like Lucy; but they realized Lucy was a serial killer because she suppressed her anger and let it out drastically by killing and, if they let Hope release her anger normally, she'd be just fine.
• Gregg Binkley as Barney Hughes (Recurring Season 1, starring Season 2-4), Manager of the store where Jimmy and Sabrina work. He used to be overweight but had gastric bypass surgery. Barney has a large collection of dolls.
• Cloris Leachman as Barbara June "Maw Maw" Thompson (Recurring Season 1, starring Season 2-4), Virginia's 84-year-old grandmother, Jimmy's great-grandmother, and Hope's great-great-grandmother, who owns the American Craftsman house at 3300 Bradley Avenue where the Chances all live. Maw Maw appears to have dementia and has only short-lived moments of lucidity in which she can be very helpful or very angry about the entire family living in her house. Her moments of lucidity are random, and each member of the household has revolving "dibs" on a task they would like her to accomplish during these times. A "Special Guest Star" in Season 1, in subsequent seasons her billing read, "And Introducing Cloris Leachman as Maw Maw," joking about Leachman's decades-long career in comedy. Leachman also played the character of Norma June, Maw Maw's long-estranged, presumed deceased 104-year-old mother, in the Season 3 finale, "Mother's Day", in which both women argue, then reconcile, after which Norma June passes away peacefully in the bathroom.

Development and production

In June 2009, Fox announced it had booked a put pilot commitment with show creator Greg Garcia.^[4]

Actress Olesya Rulin was originally cast as Sabrina, the love interest for Jimmy, and Kate Micucci was added to the cast as Jimmy's cousin. The pilot was filmed in December 2009.^[5][6] In March 2010, Fox decided to recast two roles from the pilot. Shannon Woodward replaced Rulin as Sabrina, Jimmy's love interest.^[7] Also recast was the role of Jimmy's cousin, changing from Micucci to male actor Skyler Stone as Mike.^[6] With this, Micucci's role changed from Jimmy's cousin to become Shelley, the cousin of his love interest Sabrina.^[8]

Fox green-lit the pilot to series with an order in mid-May 2010 for a fall premiere in its 2010–11 television schedule.^[9][10]

On January 10, 2011, Fox renewed Raising Hope for a second season.^[11] On April 9, 2012, Raising Hope was renewed for a third season.^[12] On March 4, 2013, Raising Hope was renewed for a fourth season.^[13] On March 10, 2014, Fox announced the cancellation of the show after four seasons.

Reception

Critical reception

Raising Hope has received positive reviews from critics. The show's first season received an average score of 75 out of 100 on Metacritic, meaning it received "generally favorable reviews."^[14] Metacritic also reports that 78% of its users gave the show's first season favorable reviews as well.^[14]

Tom Gilatto of [monkeys] called the show the best new sitcom of the season, favorably comparing it to Malcolm in the Middle. Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times was lukewarm towards the show, stating that "Raising Hope is funny, sweet, occasionally provocative, and occasionally over-the-top in a regrettable way." James Poniewozik of Time Magazine was upbeat, stating that "Neff is amiably charming, Dillahunt and Plimpton give their characters a realism that belies the pilot's often-contemptuous jokes, and maybe 20% of the first episode shows a sweet-heartedness that rises above the easy white-trash humor." While not all of the reviews were positive, they were mostly positive by the end of the first season. Much of the show's praise went to the performances of Martha Plimpton and Garret Dillahunt.^[15]

The second season of Raising Hope premiered on September 20, 2011 on Fox, moving to 9:30 pm from its original 8:00 pm time slot, due to the acquisition of New Girl. The second season received similar positive reviews to the first, with Matt Roush of TV Guide calling it "A treat for anyone who loves a good call-back to classic sitcoms."^[16]

Ratings

Awards and nominations

International broadcasts

In the United Kingdom, Sky1 picked up the broadcast rights and added the show to its 2010–2011 UK & Ireland autumn schedule, beginning November 2010.^[28]

In Portugal, the series premiered on January 29, 2011 on Fox Life. The English title is Raising Hope.^[29]

In Italy, the series premiered on February 3, 2011 on Fox. The Italian title is Aiutami Hope!.^[30]

In the Czech Republic, the series broadcasts on HBO. This show premiered on February 1, 2011. The Czech title is Vychovávat Hope.^[31]

In Latin America, the series broadcasts on I.Sat. The show premiered on March 2011.^[32]

In Canada, the first season aired on the Global Television Network^[33] at the same time as Fox in the United States. In 2011, City bought rights from the Global Television Network, and began broadcasting the show.^[34] On the morning show that City airs, Breakfast Television, they announced on May 29, 2011 that the series will start airing at 8:00 pm on Tuesdays instead of 9:30 pm on Tuesdays due to other Fox series Glee moving to Thursdays at 9:00pm. This started on September 18, 2012.

In Finland, the first season aired on Sub on January 10, 2013. The Finnish title is Isän Tyttö.^[35]

In Germany, the series broadcasts on RTL Nitro. This started on September 10, 2012. The English title is Raising Hope.^[36]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Raising Hope

• Raising Hope at the Internet Movie Database
• Raising Hope at TV.com