Man! Like their hero Detective Brett Hopper, Day Break fans have been through the wringer. The Taye Diggs midseason replacement series was supposed to air for 13 straight weeks while ABC’s Lost was on a scheduled hiatus. Day Break under-performed ABC’s expectations and the network pulled it after only six episodes — right in the middle of the cliffhanger storyline — on December 15, 2006.
Though it wouldn’t help those without high-speed Internet access or living outside the U.S., the network said that it would release a new episode online every week. That didn’t happen and fans were left hanging for weeks and weeks. The word was that there were “unforeseen music clearance issues” that were preventing the seventh episode from being posted.
On January 14th, ABC Entertainment chief Stephen McPherson announced that the series would finally be posted online. In addition to the six previously aired episodes, four new episodes were made available on January 29th. The 11th and 12th episodes were posted in the following two weeks. The 13th and final episode should have been posted on February 19th. But that didn’t happen. Once again, fans were left hanging. With deja vu like this, many like they were stuck inside the Day Break storyline!
Well, after being delayed multiple times, the final episode entitled “What If It’s Him?” is finally available on ABC.com (click the “launch” button). It’s being reported that the holdup was once again due to music copyright issues. After all this, most people would have gladly watched the show without any music whatsoever.
As regular visitors of this site know, we’ve been hosting a petition to request that the series be released on DVD (so that everyone can see it) and to hopefully persuade execs to greenlight future Day Break projects. Though the printed petition has been sent, newcomers can still sign the petition. The package included the URL and encouraged the execs to see the impressive and continued interest. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear anything new.
For now, it seems Hopper’s story is over. Was it worth it? Talk about a long day! Stay tuned! 
I’d say this show’s been redone–as NBC’s *Journeyman*, only without the *Groundhog Day* influences. *Journeyman* is a *Quantum Leap*-*Early Edition* hybrid. I thought *Day Break* was a cross between *Groundhog Day* and *The Fugitive*.
Great, great show. This show would have been a rock star on the sci-fi channel. A scifi-channel-specific spinoff would work well. Encountering more people who are also experiencing the same day would be neat. Entire episodes could be shown from person 2’s point of view, with cameos by person 1 before they realize they’re both experiencing the same day. Person 2 could screw up 1’s day by changing something unexpectedly–1 figures it out later on and says “quit doing that”. (It seemed like Jared kept doing the same thing on his days, unlike Hopper, who usually tried things differently.) I… Read more »
Wow! I just finished the last episode of Day Break. I was SO BUMMED when ABC canceled this well written and suspenseful show in the fall. What a fantastic concept. There are so many ways that this show could continue with other repeats of the same day as suggested in some of the other posts – Jared looking for his brother, Hopper getting killed by the Ghost Dominguez, Detective Choi, Baxter, the mystery man in the last episode. Hmmm this series seems almost made for the SciFi Channel with eerie repeating of days. I also agree with a post by… Read more »
omg i am so angry they cancelled “Day Break”. i remember it being on awhile ago but never watched it until last month and it was such a great show. what a story line and such great acting and action.. i guess some people just dont know what great tv is.. =/
Is there a way for us in Canada to watch Daybreak online? ABC has blocked it if you don’t live in the USA. It was a great show & I would love to watch how it ends rather than read about it. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
As someone else posted, I think having another character experience the repeating day thing is a great idea, and I think Choi would be the best character to have that happen to. The actor, Ian Anthony Dale, is an up-and-coming actor who was also on 24 for a few episodes this year. I could see the day beginning with Hopper being gunned down and Choi investigating, and then Colburn and Chad Shelten end up executing their plan. Then after Choi begins to experience the day loop he eventually learns that Hopper did as well by talking to Jared (the only… Read more »
I started watching this from day one and loved it. I cannot believe they canceled it and aren’t going to produce anymore. What’s funny is they’re testing it out in other countries. It just started July 7th in India.
I just hope they’ll produce more, I think it will gain public interest.
~Luke
San Antonio, TX
B-Man, the song you are talking about is “The Other Side” by David Gray. It’s a great song about loss, but putting in the context of Hopper watching Rita, who has already died twice? Magic!
hey i need help. i watched the first 11 episodes but for some reason my screen is wacked out and i cant get to episodes 12 and 13…its like the screen ends at 11 but i can tell things are off centered. is there anyway i can re adjust my screen so i can reach them?
I finally finished this series tonight…wonderful! I was especially moved by episode 8 when Hopper shows up in the hospital, looking for his sister, only to have Rita tell him she didn’t make it. The music and the montage are powerful there. Alot of stuff didn’t make any sense as some others pointed out (a wanted man, able to move in and out so easily…maybe that IS the reality of crime alerts), plus it feels like there are loose ends. Jared beaming from afar at Hopper is one of those things, but maybe we’re just reading into it too much.… Read more »
Does anyone know the name of the song and artist played between episodes one and two of Daybreak (which aired together). I like that song alot and need to know ?
I am absolutely devastated. They just finished airing the show here in the UK and I was so impressed. Please let there be a new series.
I just finished the finale. I know I am way behind the times, but I kept trying to wait for my wife to watch it online with me so I finished the last six episodes in the last four days. However, I have some of the comments and questions as the Daybreak fan rep from Texas: — Why was the day repeating? He took a hard blow to the head from Ortiz, but he had taken shots to the dome before? So it’s not like something jarred inside him to move forward (kind of like a track on a cd… Read more »
Ok, seriously, after what I have been through with this show, I am about to pull my hair out… Obviously I was bummed to have to wait while LOST took a vacation, but was SO jacked about Day Break…what a GREAT show…then they cancel it on us (just like ABC did with another great series I was into: “Invasion”)… ANYWAY, I was slightly relieved that I could at least watch the remining episodes online, which I have done…Now people are talking about seeing the last episode!??!? I have watched up to the 2/12/07 episode online and cannot see/access anything after… Read more »
I finally finished the last episode. Definitely satisfying. Thanks for clearing up the Jared thing – forgot about him. This show should come out on DVD with extra scenes and writers’ comments so we can fill in the missing pieces. All in all, a very good series which ABC quit on way too easily. This show wasn’t so much about the repeating day and solving the crime as it was showing how the little things we do can affect others’ lives. We see that in the people around Hopper who are subtlely different because of something he did the day… Read more »