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Cupid (2009 TV series)
Encyclopedia
Cupid is a television series that premiered on ABC
on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 10:02 PM Eastern
/9:02 PM Central. The series is a revival
of sorts of the network's 1998 series of the same name, changing its primary setting from Chicago to New York City
.
The series was canceled on May 19, 2009.
; character was originally Trevor Hale, played by Jeremy Piven
) is under the care of psychiatrist and self-help author Dr. Claire McCrae (Sarah Paulson
; character was originally Claire Allen, played by Paula Marshall
), whose own work is often based in romantic relationships. Claire's philosophy on true love is that it's the result of building friendship and compatibility. Trevor, by contrast, views it as heat and passion conquering all.
, as part of a one-year development deal between ABC Studios and series creator Rob Thomas
. A follow-up report published in The Hollywood Reporter
in March 2008 noted that the network had received initial scripts for the series and approved production for episodes to broadcast as a mid-season replacement for 2008 or 2009.
As production further developed, the series' primary setting was shifted to New York City
. Filming for the new series took place in locations including Albemarle Rd in Kensington, Brooklyn
, 232 E. 3rd St., Brooklyn, NY 11218, and 47th Avenue between 41st and 43rd Street in Sunnyside, Queens
.
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
on Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 10:02 PM Eastern
North American Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
/9:02 PM Central. The series is a revival
Revival (television)
A television revival is an attempt to revive a defunct series by producing new episodes created for broadcast. Network executives may decide to attempt to revive a television program when they feel that a market once again exists for it....
of sorts of the network's 1998 series of the same name, changing its primary setting from Chicago to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
The series was canceled on May 19, 2009.
Premise
Like the 1998 series from which it draws inspiration, this series is about a larger-than-life character who may or may not be the Roman god of love — Cupid — sent to earth to bring one hundred couples together before he is allowed to return to Mt. Olympus. Whether by fate or other circumstances, Trevor Pierce (Bobby CannavaleBobby Cannavale
Robert M. "Bobby" Cannavale is an American actor known for his leading role as Bobby Caffey in the first two seasons of the television series Third Watch. He also had a recurring role as Officer Vince D'Angelo on the comedy series Will & Grace.-Early life:Cannavale grew up in Union City, New...
; character was originally Trevor Hale, played by Jeremy Piven
Jeremy Piven
Jeremy Samuel Piven is an American film producer and actor best known for his role as Ari Gold in the television series Entourage for which he has won three Emmy Awards as well as several other nominations for Best Supporting Actor....
) is under the care of psychiatrist and self-help author Dr. Claire McCrae (Sarah Paulson
Sarah Paulson
-Career:She was a series regular on the cult television show American Gothic and the WB series Jack & Jill , playing the character "Elisa Cronkite"...
; character was originally Claire Allen, played by Paula Marshall
Paula Marshall
Paula Marshall is an American actress.-Career:In 1992, Marshall had a three-episode guest role on The Wonder Years and later guest-starred on shows such as Seinfeld, Nash Bridges, Grapevine and Diagnosis: Murder. In 1994, she got her first sitcom role on Wild Oats...
), whose own work is often based in romantic relationships. Claire's philosophy on true love is that it's the result of building friendship and compatibility. Trevor, by contrast, views it as heat and passion conquering all.
Characters
- Cupid / Eros (Bobby CannavaleBobby CannavaleRobert M. "Bobby" Cannavale is an American actor known for his leading role as Bobby Caffey in the first two seasons of the television series Third Watch. He also had a recurring role as Officer Vince D'Angelo on the comedy series Will & Grace.-Early life:Cannavale grew up in Union City, New...
), a New York bartenderBartenderA bartender is a person who serves beverages behind a counter in a bar, pub, tavern, or similar establishment. A bartender, in short, "tends the bar". The term barkeeper may carry a connotation of being the bar's owner...
of unknown origin on a mission to unite one hundred couples in true, lasting love. Though his apartment is leased under the name "Ed Ross" (based on his Greek title, ErosErosEros , in Greek mythology, was the Greek god of love. His Roman counterpart was Cupid . Some myths make him a primordial god, while in other myths, he is the son of Aphrodite....
), he is known officially by the hospital and to most others as "Trevor Pierce" (a name taken from the marble inscription "…the world felt the tremor, and the darkness was pierced," on the hospital wall). According to Trevor, the gods of Olympus banished him to earth with the task of uniting one hundred permanent couples without the aid of divine omniscience or his bow and arrows as punishment for his poor performance as god of love. A string of hardwood beads hung in his apartment (and seemingly controlled by supernatural forces) tallies the couples he has effectively united (one). Though Trevor's claims of divinity lack sufficient proof, he displays an uncanny knowledge of Mediterranean culture, excels in archery, and is well versed in all Greco-Roman myths except the story of Cupid and PsycheCupid and PsycheCupid and Psyche , is a legend that first appeared as a digressionary story told by an old woman in Lucius Apuleius' novel, The Golden Ass, written in the 2nd century CE. Apuleius likely used an earlier tale as the basis for his story, modifying it to suit the thematic needs of his novel.It has...
(either indicating that he has forgotten this occurrence, that it has yet to happen, or that he is lying). But in the episode, 'My Fair Masseuse', as Claire is trying to dig out the truth of Trevor's identity, he tells a story of a professor who falls in love with one of his colleagues. A previous lover of his is jealous and tries to ruin it by making the man out to be a monster, and not being able to take it, the woman takes tons of pills and places herself in a deep sleep. (According to the legend of Cupid and Psyche, Psyche had jealous sisters who filled her head with lies about Cupid, which led her to open a box from the Underworld that she thought was filled with beauty, but was actually filled with an infernal sleep.) Which means he is really Cupid, but places a humorous spin on the legend to get Claire off his tracks, which works.
- Dr. Claire McCrae (Sarah PaulsonSarah Paulson-Career:She was a series regular on the cult television show American Gothic and the WB series Jack & Jill , playing the character "Elisa Cronkite"...
), a New York psychiatristPsychiatristA psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
who leads a support group for singles seeking lasting, meaningful romantic relationships based on shared interests and friendship. She has been assigned the task of supervising and studying Trevor Pierce (whose name she knows is an alias), and readmitting him to a mental institution if he poses any significant danger to the public. In her case study ("Cupid: A Case Study") she expresses the belief that Trevor's delusion is in response to the repressed memory of a former lover (explaining his lack of knowledge about Cupid's mythical wife, PsycheCupid and PsycheCupid and Psyche , is a legend that first appeared as a digressionary story told by an old woman in Lucius Apuleius' novel, The Golden Ass, written in the 2nd century CE. Apuleius likely used an earlier tale as the basis for his story, modifying it to suit the thematic needs of his novel.It has...
). However, there is some indication (if Trevor is, indeed, Cupid) that she herself may be Psyche: GreekGreek languageGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
psūkhē (psyche) means "soul - spirit", and she is a psychiatrist; furthermore, in the myth Psyche is a mortal who falls in love with Cupid but believes he is a monster, not a god (whereas McCrae, who has expressed an attraction to Trevor, believes he is mentally unstable, not a god).
- Félix Arroyo (Rick GomezRick GomezRichard Harper "Rick" Gomez is an American actor. He is known for portraying T-4. George Luz, in the HBO television miniseries Band of Brothers, and as "Endless Mike" Hellstrom in the cult hit Nickelodeon TV series The Adventures of Pete and Pete.-Movies:*Love Ranch - Tom Macy*Another Cinderella...
), Trevor's landlord and employer.
- Lita Arroyo (Camille GuatyCamille GuatyCamille Guaty is an American film and television actress. She is known for her role as Daisy on Gotta Kick It Up!.-Early life:Guaty was born in California of Cuban and Puerto Rican descent...
), Félix's sister and Trevor's coworker.
Episodes
| Episode | Overall | Title | Directed by | Written by |
|---|
US Nielsen ratings
| Episode Number | Episode | Rating | Share | Rating/Share Nielsen Ratings Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States... (18-49) |
Viewers (millions) |
Rank (Timeslot) |
Rank (Overall) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | 4.8 | 8 | 2.3/6 | 7.56 | TBA | #35 |
| 2 | "Live and Let Spy" | 3.8 | 6 | 1.8/5 | 6.22 | 3 | 47 |
| 3 | "The Great Right Hope" | 4.1 | 7 | 1.8/5 | 6.59 | 3 | 45 |
| 4 | "The Tommy Brown Affair" | 3.8 | 6 | 1.8/5 | 6.16 | 3 | 45 |
| 5 | "Shipping Out" | 3.5 | 6 | 1.7/5 | 5.14 | TBA | 59 |
| 6 | "Left of the Dial" | 3.6 | 6 | 1.4/4 | 5.50 | 4 | 54 |
| 7 | "My Fair Masseuse" | 1.5 | 3 | 1.5/3 | 2.31 | 4 | 23 |
Production history
Daily Variety had reported as early as October 2007 that ABC had approved a new version of the series, to be set in Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, as part of a one-year development deal between ABC Studios and series creator Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas (writer)
Rob Thomas is an American author, producer, and screenwriter, best known as the author of the 1996 novel Rats Saw God and creator of the critically acclaimed television programs Veronica Mars and Party Down.-Education and early career:Thomas graduated from San Marcos High School in 1983 and went...
. A follow-up report published in The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
in March 2008 noted that the network had received initial scripts for the series and approved production for episodes to broadcast as a mid-season replacement for 2008 or 2009.
As production further developed, the series' primary setting was shifted to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Filming for the new series took place in locations including Albemarle Rd in Kensington, Brooklyn
Kensington, Brooklyn
Kensington is a neighborhood in the center of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the area south of Prospect Park and the Green-Wood Cemetery. It is bordered by Coney Island Avenue to the east, Fort Hamilton Parkway and Caton Avenue to the north, McDonald Avenue and 37th Street to the...
, 232 E. 3rd St., Brooklyn, NY 11218, and 47th Avenue between 41st and 43rd Street in Sunnyside, Queens
Sunnyside, Queens
Sunnyside is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens, in New York state, in the United States. It shares borders with Hunters Point and Long Island City to the west, Astoria to the north, Woodside to the east and Maspeth to the south...
.