Persons Unknown
Encyclopedia
Persons Unknown is an American mystery drama television mini-series that revolves around strangers who are imprisoned inside a small ghost town. The thirteen-episode summer series premiered on June 7, 2010 at 10:00 p.m. on NBC
. On June 30, NBC moved the show to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday from its Monday time slot. It completed its run on August 28, 2010.
Executive producer Remi Aubuchon
promised that the show would “provide all the answers to the questions that we set up”. The series finale was criticized for not following through on this statement.
), Joe Tucker (Jason Wiles
), Moira Doherty (Tina Holmes
), Sergeant Graham McNair (Chadwick Boseman
), Tori Fairchild (Kate Lang Johnson
), Bill Blackham (Sean O'Bryan
), and Charlie Morse (Alan Ruck
) awaken in a hotel, with little to no knowledge of how they got there or where they are. The hotel and small 1950's-era town nearby are completely filled with cameras and microphones. Over the course of the following weeks, they are subjected to significant psychological and physical stress. Joe is eventually revealed to be a member of "The Program." Who or what the program is, what their motives, resources, or support are, is unclear. The only indication is that the Program is manipulating them, attempting to influence their behavior, thought patterns, and beliefs.
At the end of the show, despite staging a mass breakout by faking the deaths of everyone in the town except for Joe, all the participants are recaptured, and awaken in an identical hotel, built into the hull of a tanker ship, where the original night manager welcomes them to "Level 2." Joe and Mark Renbe are seen waking in a second hotel, in which Tori Fairchild serves as the hotel manager. Kat Damatto and Ambassador Fairchild are last seen in cages at an undisclosed location.
† These episodes of the series did not air on some NBC-TV service providers, namely New York City, Detroit and Seattle, due to local NFL Preseason games that were scheduled to air in those cities in late August before NBC moved the show from Monday to Saturday nights.
‡ The episode "Seven Sacrifices" did not air on NBC at all, due to the network making the decision to air a NFL on NBC
broadcast. Instead the episode was posted on NBC.com.
through its international model, where series are produced for the US market with the help of international financing. Filming occurs in foreign locations where production costs are lower, and the series is "pre-sold" to international broadcasters. The completed series is then pitched for sale to US networks for pick up.
Persons Unknown was created by Christopher McQuarrie
. In September 2008, Fox announced that it was beginning production of the series, which was co-financed by Televisa
in Mexico and Italy's RAI
. Filming began in late October 2008 in Mexico City, soon after announcement that Michael Rymer
was hired to direct the first episode. Thirteen episodes were produced.
In March 2009, Variety reported that Fox was looking for a network to purchase the series. NBC announced it had acquired the broadcast rights to the series in July 2009.
said the "...pilot efficiently lays out its premise and ratchets up the pressure on the characters, who are only types so far, but it doesn't matter because the plot's the thing here." Overall the show received mixed or average reviews according to Metacritic where it received a score of 50 points out of 100.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. On June 30, NBC moved the show to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday from its Monday time slot. It completed its run on August 28, 2010.
Premise
Diverse strangers find themselves stranded in a deserted town with no idea of how they got there. Security cameras are watching their every move, defeating their attempts to leave. Faced with physical, emotional and psychological challenges, the hostages must rely on each other to survive as their abductors sow mistrust and pit them against each other. Meanwhile, an investigative reporter begins to look into the disappearances of the missing people despite intimidation by those who apparently know their every move.Executive producer Remi Aubuchon
Remi Aubuchon
Remi Aubuchon is an American screenwriter. He is a respected theater director who trained under an American Film Institute Directors Fellowship, but found himself in demand as a screenwriter. He wrote segments for HBO's miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, in which he appeared playing a small...
promised that the show would “provide all the answers to the questions that we set up”. The series finale was criticized for not following through on this statement.
Summary
Seven strangers, Janet Cooper (Daisy BettsDaisy Betts
Daisy Betts is an Australian actress, who starred in Out of the Blue and Persons Unknown. She will be in the upcoming movie Caught Inside, directed by Adam Blaiklock and starring Ben Oxenbould, Sam Lyndon, Simon Lyndon, Leeanna Walsman, Harry Cook, and Peter Phelps....
), Joe Tucker (Jason Wiles
Jason Wiles
Jason Austin Wiles is an American actor known for his role in the TV series Third Watch.Wiles was born in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S., and raised in Lenexa, Kansas, where he attended Holy Trinity Catholic School...
), Moira Doherty (Tina Holmes
Tina Holmes
Tina Holmes is an American television and film actress.- Early years and education :Holmes grew up in New York City and Connecticut. An Ivy Leaguer, she attended Yale University for two years followed by a move to Paris, France studying French Literature at the Sorbonne...
), Sergeant Graham McNair (Chadwick Boseman
Chadwick Boseman
Chadwick Boseman, sometimes credited as Chad Boseman, is an African American actor and screenwriter. He is perhaps best known for his role on Lincoln Heights as Nathaniel 'Nate' Ray and his role as Sergeant McNair in the NBC television series, Persons Unknown.-Biography:He is a playwright and...
), Tori Fairchild (Kate Lang Johnson
Kate Lang Johnson
Kate Lang Johnson is an American actress and model. She has acted in the feature films Fired Up and Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon and she has guest starred on television shows such as Life and ER...
), Bill Blackham (Sean O'Bryan
Sean O'Bryan
Sean O'Bryan is an American film and television actor.-Career:O'Bryan has guest-starred on such television series as MacGyver, Cold Case, Quantum Leap, Murder, She Wrote, Chicago Hope, Roseanne, Six Feet Under, Criminal Minds, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Dexter, Bones, and the middle. He...
), and Charlie Morse (Alan Ruck
Alan Ruck
Alan Ruck is an American film, stage and television actor, perhaps best known for his roles as Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Stuart Bondek on Spin City.-Early life:...
) awaken in a hotel, with little to no knowledge of how they got there or where they are. The hotel and small 1950's-era town nearby are completely filled with cameras and microphones. Over the course of the following weeks, they are subjected to significant psychological and physical stress. Joe is eventually revealed to be a member of "The Program." Who or what the program is, what their motives, resources, or support are, is unclear. The only indication is that the Program is manipulating them, attempting to influence their behavior, thought patterns, and beliefs.
At the end of the show, despite staging a mass breakout by faking the deaths of everyone in the town except for Joe, all the participants are recaptured, and awaken in an identical hotel, built into the hull of a tanker ship, where the original night manager welcomes them to "Level 2." Joe and Mark Renbe are seen waking in a second hotel, in which Tori Fairchild serves as the hotel manager. Kat Damatto and Ambassador Fairchild are last seen in cages at an undisclosed location.
Abductees
- Joe Tucker (Jason WilesJason WilesJason Austin Wiles is an American actor known for his role in the TV series Third Watch.Wiles was born in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S., and raised in Lenexa, Kansas, where he attended Holy Trinity Catholic School...
), according to NBC.com, is the official leader of the group and is forceful and direct. He also knows military hand signals. Although he prefers to keep his personal life to himself, and never reveals what his occupation is or why he might have been taken, he claimed that he was in New York when he was abducted. He claims to be deathly allergic to bee stings.
- Janet Cooper (Daisy BettsDaisy BettsDaisy Betts is an Australian actress, who starred in Out of the Blue and Persons Unknown. She will be in the upcoming movie Caught Inside, directed by Adam Blaiklock and starring Ben Oxenbould, Sam Lyndon, Simon Lyndon, Leeanna Walsman, Harry Cook, and Peter Phelps....
) is a day-care owner from San Francisco. She is a single mother to a six-year-old girl, Megan Cooper. She was once married, however her husband left in the middle of the night, abandoning his daughter and wife. Janet has a strained relationship with her mother whom she claims was abusive. Janet has hired investigators to find her husband.
- Sergeant Graham McNair (Chadwick BosemanChadwick BosemanChadwick Boseman, sometimes credited as Chad Boseman, is an African American actor and screenwriter. He is perhaps best known for his role on Lincoln Heights as Nathaniel 'Nate' Ray and his role as Sergeant McNair in the NBC television series, Persons Unknown.-Biography:He is a playwright and...
) is a level-headed MarineUnited States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. He is a devout MuslimMuslimA Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
at the beginning of the series, stating that he became devout due to the treatment of prisoners at a government facility that housed alleged terrorists. He also worked as a mercenary at one time, with tragic results.
- Moira Doherty (Tina HolmesTina HolmesTina Holmes is an American television and film actress.- Early years and education :Holmes grew up in New York City and Connecticut. An Ivy Leaguer, she attended Yale University for two years followed by a move to Paris, France studying French Literature at the Sorbonne...
), was a mental patient at St. Mary's Hospital in Sandusky, OhioSandusky, OhioSandusky is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Erie County. It is located in northern Ohio and is situated on the shores of Lake Erie, almost exactly half-way between Toledo to the west and Cleveland to the east....
. Moira is the most peaceful and kindly of the abducted people, but has a darker past. It is implied that she is a habitual liar. She serves as the doctor of the group.
- Tori Fairchild (Kate Lang JohnsonKate Lang JohnsonKate Lang Johnson is an American actress and model. She has acted in the feature films Fired Up and Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon and she has guest starred on television shows such as Life and ER...
) is the daughter of the American ambassador to Italy and former head of the CIA. The NBC website described her as "privileged, pragmatic, and manipulative". She woke up in the hotel having no knowledge of where she was because she thought she "partied too much". She blames her father for her abduction.
- Erika Taylor (Kandyse McClureKandyse McClureKandyse McClure is an actress, best known for playing Anastasia Dualla on the Sci Fi Channel's television program Battlestar Galactica.- Biography :...
), according to NBC.com, is a tough as nails ex-con who sees everyone as her enemy, even her fellow abductees. Erika has an eleven year-old son named Anton and reveals that before arriving she was executed at the prison in which she was confined.
- Bill Blackham (Sean O'BryanSean O'BryanSean O'Bryan is an American film and television actor.-Career:O'Bryan has guest-starred on such television series as MacGyver, Cold Case, Quantum Leap, Murder, She Wrote, Chicago Hope, Roseanne, Six Feet Under, Criminal Minds, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Dexter, Bones, and the middle. He...
), according to NBC.com, is a slick opportunist whose first priority is himself. Blackham describes himself as a used-car salesman, and stated that the last thing he remembers before finding himself in the hotel was being pulled over by the police in a traffic stop. He is very mistrustful of those around him, but the other abductees are dismissive of him.
- Charlie Morse (Alan RuckAlan RuckAlan Ruck is an American film, stage and television actor, perhaps best known for his roles as Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Stuart Bondek on Spin City.-Early life:...
) is the CEO of a very successful investment firm. He is married, and states that his wife is mentally unstable and emotionally, if not physically, dependent on him. According to NBC.com, he is "a fierce fighter who doesn't take kindly to being intimidated or threatened."
Other characters
- Mark Renbe (Gerald KydGerald KydGerald Kyd is a half-Greek, half-Scottish actor.-Films:-Television:-Theatre Credits:* The Seagull - Boris Trigorin Royal Shakespeare Company...
) is a journalist in San Francisco who is always on the lookout for scandal. He investigates the bizarre disappearance of his ex-wife Janet Cooper, despite his boss believing that there is no story there.
- Kat Damatto (Lola GlaudiniLola GlaudiniLola Glaudini is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Elle Greenaway on the hit CBS series Criminal Minds, and for her role as Agent Deborah Ciccerone on the award winning HBO series The Sopranos....
) is "a smart, sexy and hard-nosed editor at a muck-raking tabloid" in San Francisco. She is Mark Renbe's boss and lover. She is also fluent in ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
.
- The Night Manager (Andy Greenfield) is the sole employee of the hotel in which the abductees awake. He first appears in their first evening in town. He represents himself as another pawn in the abductions.
- Sam Edick (Michael Harney) is introduced as a private detective Janet Cooper hired to find her missing husband.
- Tom X (Reggie LeeReggie Lee (actor)Reggie Lee is an American actor who played William Kim on the show Prison Break and also appeared as Tai Huang in two Pirates of the Caribbean films, as well as The Fast and the Furious...
) is introduced as the head of the staff at the Chinese restaurant in the town.
- Liam Ulrich (Alan Smyth) is the second-in command of "The Program". He first appears in Episode 8, "Saved".
- Ambassador Franklin Fairchild (James ReadJames ReadJames Christopher Read is an American actor, best known for his role of George Hazard in the North and South television miniseries.-Early life:...
) has been a member of the program for 30 years. He is Tori Fairchild's father. Tori believes he is guilty of her mother's death. He appeared in six episodes.
- Ellen (Joanna Lipari) has been the director of the program for 25 years. She has a twin sister, the deranged, Angela Barragan, that is visited by Kat and Mark to learn more information about the program
Episodes
| # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Production code |
U.S. Viewers (in millions) |
|---|
† These episodes of the series did not air on some NBC-TV service providers, namely New York City, Detroit and Seattle, due to local NFL Preseason games that were scheduled to air in those cities in late August before NBC moved the show from Monday to Saturday nights.
‡ The episode "Seven Sacrifices" did not air on NBC at all, due to the network making the decision to air a NFL on NBC
NFL on NBC
NFL on NBC is the brand given to NBC Sports coverage of National Football League games until 1998, when NBC lost the NFL American Football Conference rights to CBS...
broadcast. Instead the episode was posted on NBC.com.
Production
Persons Unknown was produced by Fox Television StudiosFox Television Studios
Fox Television Studios, Inc. is the TV production arm of the News Corporation's Fox Entertainment Group, as well as being the production arm of Fox and a production arm of 20th Century Fox Television, Inc., itself a division of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation...
through its international model, where series are produced for the US market with the help of international financing. Filming occurs in foreign locations where production costs are lower, and the series is "pre-sold" to international broadcasters. The completed series is then pitched for sale to US networks for pick up.
Persons Unknown was created by Christopher McQuarrie
Christopher McQuarrie
Christopher McQuarrie is an American screenwriter, producer and director. His screenplays include The Usual Suspects, for which he won the 1996 Academy Award, The Way of the Gun and Valkyrie....
. In September 2008, Fox announced that it was beginning production of the series, which was co-financed by Televisa
Televisa
Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...
in Mexico and Italy's RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
. Filming began in late October 2008 in Mexico City, soon after announcement that Michael Rymer
Michael Rymer
Michael Rymer is a television and film director, best known for his work on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica TV series, for which he directed the pilot miniseries and several episodes of the series...
was hired to direct the first episode. Thirteen episodes were produced.
In March 2009, Variety reported that Fox was looking for a network to purchase the series. NBC announced it had acquired the broadcast rights to the series in July 2009.
Reception
Randee Dawn from the Hollywood Reporter wrote that its "clever setup and moody atmosphere make this place worth checking into." Maureen Ryan of the Chicago TribuneChicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
said the "...pilot efficiently lays out its premise and ratchets up the pressure on the characters, who are only types so far, but it doesn't matter because the plot's the thing here." Overall the show received mixed or average reviews according to Metacritic where it received a score of 50 points out of 100.
US Ratings
| Season | Episodes | Original airing | Viewers (in millions) |
Network | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere | Season finale | TV Season | ||||
| 1 | 13 | 2009–2010 2009–2010 United States network television schedule The following is the 2009–2010 network television schedule for the five major English-language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 2009 through May 2010. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new... |
2.7 | NBC NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago... |
||
International Distribution
| Country | Channel | Premiere date |
|---|---|---|
| Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... |
TV2 Zulu | |
| Greece Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe.... |
FX FX (Greece) FX Greece is a television network, launched by the Fox International Channels, which launched on 31 December 2009 and is currently available to the subscribers of Conn-x TV and NOVA Greece.... |
|
| Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... |
Rai 2 | |
| Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... |
FOX Crime Fox Crime Fox Crime is a television network, launched by the Fox International Channels, which airs across several countries of Europe and Asia, such as Italy, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia and Bulgaria... |
|
| Lithuania Lithuania Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark... |
TV3 Lithuania TV3 Lithuania TV3 is a television channel owned by Modern Times Group and targeted at a Lithuanian-speaking audience. It was founded on May 7, 1992 and launched on April 11, 1993 as "Tele-3" before being renamed "TV3" in 1996.... |
4 October 2011 |
| Middle East and North Africa | OSN | |
| Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... |
RTL5 | |
| Norway Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million... |
TV2 TV 2 (Norway) TV 2 is the largest commercial television station in Norway. Over 30% of the time Norwegians spend watching TV is spent watching TV 2. The station has 65% of the market for TV commercials in Norway.... |
|
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
Syfy | 31 October 2011 |