After the show’s unsuccessful summer on NBC, fans of The Listener have been hoping that the drama would still return for a second season. Well, the show has been renewed but viewers here in the states may not be seeing the episodes.
The Listener follows a young paramedic named Toby Logan (Craig Olejnik) who has the mysterious ability to hear people’s thoughts. The series also features the talents of Lisa Marcos, Ennis Esmer, Mylene Robic, Arnold Pinnock, Anthony Lemke, Lara Jean Chorostecki, John Fleming, and Colm Feore.
The series is produced by Canada’s Shaftesbury Films, in conjunction with CTV, Space, and Fox Intl. Channels. In February 2008, during the 2007-08 writers strike, NBC decided to license the first season of 13 episodes.
The show began its run in the US some 16 month later, in early June 2009, but they were not a ratings success. The first two episodes attracted an average rating of 3.7 in the coveted 18-49 demographic but the numbers dropped to a low of 2.2 by week five.
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NBC decided to pull The Listener after eight episodes and released the remaining five installments for online viewing at Hulu.com.
The first season was a bigger success in Canada and other countries so a second season of 13 episodes has been commissioned. CTV and Space will air them in Canada and Fox Intl. Channels will continue to distribute the show to worldwide markets.
Christina Jennings, chairman of Shaftesbury Films, said, “The Listener is proof positive that Space and CTV are committed to creating and supporting successful and popular television. Their renewed commitment ensures the international partnership led by Fox International Channels for the next 13 episodes.”
The series is expected to go back into production sometime in 2010, some two years after the first season was made.
Unfortunately, The Listener’s fate is still up in the air here in the states. NBC has cancelled the series so you won’t see it returning to the peacock network. However, there’s still hope for US fans.
Jennings says that the lack of support from a US network wasn’t a factor in the renewal. “We don’t need a U.S. outlet right now… But once the story department starts up in the new years and we get some scripts under our belt, we’ll canvas the US outlets to see. Certainly The Listener had fans in the states.”
What do you think? Would you like to see The Listener come back to the US or should it stay in Canada? Where would you watch it — on cable, DVD, or does it not make a difference?
Image courtesy CTV.
I live in California and I loved the show. Its hard to find a well made unique drama on these days. I was very dissapointed tha NBC did not give it a chance to gain an audience. I happened upon it by accident as I rarely watched NBC, and found myself looking forward to the next episode every week as one of my favorite shows. I would watch this show on whatever station picked it up, but would be very pleased if someone like Syfy or USA would air it as they seem to be more inclined to support programming… Read more »
OMG I couldn
The listener is an awsome show. I was so dissappointed that it got pulled from NBC. Living in the U.S. I was hoping that it would return. I think that the reason it got cancelled here in the U.S. is because of the time slot that it was given on tv and the lack of advertisement. I stumbled on the show by accident flipping through channels and fell in love with it. All of the people that I talked to about it had never even heard of it. They asked me what time it was on and said that it… Read more »
I love the show.They should bring it back in the United States.Just look ate Degrassi:The Next Generation,it is imported from Canada and it has been running in the United States for nine seasons on Teennick.
I feel really bad for you Americans who may not get to see the second season of The Listener. I must admit, though, that I am thrilled it will be returning to the air! Yes – there is some predictable themes at times – but after all – how many new ideas can one come up with? Our generation(s) have been brought up in front of the TV, so we’re bound to find similarities. My main thought is that the characters are real. They have flaws and insecurities and make mistakes at times, but the show reminds me that there… Read more »
Love the show. I wasn’t around during the summer time but I just started watching it recently on an international site. It was slow at first but it gets very interesting with each episode. The show is refreshing and intelligent. I love how the writers build up each characters in the show. A very solid show and I see great potential for the future. I hope to see more of it, either in the US or overseas. Either way, I can get it!
The Listener is awesome. I live in the U.S. (Illinois) and I saw the first 8 episodes when they were on NBC this summer and I was confused and disappointed when I tuned in the next week and it wasn’t on. Later I found out it was canceled because of low ratings, and that they there were more episodes on nbc.com. I watched the last 5 episodes and they were great, even better than the first ones. NBC cancelled the show before it had a chance to build a big following. However, maybe it would do better on the CW,… Read more »
i love this show.. u really dont see many shows like this nowdays. i live in america and would love it if it were to come back onair.
I agree that you don’t see many shows like the Listener here in the US. Most of the shows now are reality shows and the other percent of shows revolve around one thing (mostly), sex. The Listener was good because it was captivating and it wasn’t something that had a lot of sexual content (or any). I also really hope that NBC gets their head out of their butts and learn that doing a new show in the summer when people are so busy during the summer traveling and things like that, that they don’t have time to get into… Read more »
The Listener is one of the more thoughtful dramas on television. It does not have a lot of flash or pizzazz and so my wife and I had to make a decision to stick with it a few episodes and give it a chance, and once we did we were drawn in by the intelligent writing and interesting main characters, especially Toby and the female detective, Charlie, who he works with on solving cases and with whom there is just the right amount of sexual tension. Watching their relationship develop is probably the most intriguing part of the show, and… Read more »
just because u live in america it’s hard to view such series ..
i hope any american station pick this series .. alot of pple told me it’s cool
I hope either it gets picked up on a US station, like USA perhaps, or just put online on hulu or somewhere we can find it. Just as long as I can see it, I don’t really care.
i love the show!!!! i want the second season and hope it start here in the U.S becuse i would love to see it. i missed the first season because i did not know about the show until know and i really like it.
You can watch the show on Hulu. But there really isn’t much time to watch them all because they are taking the first season off on the 31st of December. I wonder if you can watch Season 2 on Hulu in the US even if it doesn’t play here.
I hate the show but it would be REALLY great if those ol’ Canucks renewed The Outer Limits. THAT I would LOVE to see.
glad to hear about the listener’s return but since i live in the US im bummed i cant see it…i enjoyed it very much …lets hope some channel here in the US picks it up
I am glad this show is getting a second chance because the writing and performances kept getting better towards the end.
I hope Americans that liked the show do get a chance to watch this series, and it doesn’t end up like what happened to Due South in the US.
So far from what I have heard, the US isn’t getting a second season ;(
I agree with you that the writing started getting better towards the end. And NBC put the show up during the summer, which is pratically the worst thing to do. People are so busy during the summer traveling and things like that, that they don’t have time to get into a new show they haven’t heard of.
If anybody knows if the Listener is returning in the US, please let me know.