iZombie (TV series)
| iZombie | |
|---|---|
.png) | |
| Genre | |
| Based on |
iZOMBIE by Chris Roberson Michael Allred |
| Developed by | |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Rose McIver (as Liv Moore) |
| Opening theme |
"Stop, I'm Already Dead" by Deadboy & the Elephantmen |
| Composer(s) | Josh Kramon |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 32 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Location(s) | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 42 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
|
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | The CW |
| Original release | March 17, 2015 – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| Production website | |
iZombie (stylized as iZOMBiE) is an American television series developed by Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright for The CW. It is a loose adaptation of the comic book series of the same name created by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred, and published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint.
The series was officially picked up on May 8, 2014, for the 2014–15 season and premiered on March 17, 2015 with an order of 13 episodes.[1][2] The series was renewed for a second season, which premiered October 6, 2015 and ran for 19 episodes.[3][4][5] On March 11, 2016, The CW renewed the series for a third season of 13 episodes, which is set to premiere on April 4, 2017.[6][7][8]
Premise
Seattle medical resident Olivia "Liv" Moore is turned into a zombie while attending a boat party. To cope with her new appetite for brains, Liv takes a job at the King County morgue. In order for Liv to survive, she eats the brains of murder victims whose bodies are delivered to the morgue. Her secret is guessed by her boss, Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti. Gradually, Ravi becomes Liv's friend and confidant, and as a scientist, he is intrigued with Liv's condition. Whenever she eats a victim's brain, Liv temporarily inherits some of their personality traits. She also experiences flashbacks which often give her clues about the murder. Those visions can be generally triggered by sights (events or objects) or sounds (repeated sentences). Liv uses this new ability to help the Seattle Police Department solve crimes, passing herself off as a psychic consultant, while Ravi works to develop a cure for Liv's affliction in hopes that one day she will resume her former life.
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 13 | March 17, 2015 | June 9, 2015 | ||
| 2 | 19 | October 6, 2015 | April 12, 2016 | ||
Cast and characters
Main
- Rose McIver as Olivia "Liv" Moore:
- A former medical resident who became a zombie when she attended a boat party that was attacked by people who had just taken a new designer drug called "Utopium". She now works as a coroner's assistant for the King County Medical Examiner's Office to have access to the human brains she must frequently consume to maintain her humanity and suppress her hunger.[9] Without feeding, she becomes increasingly less intelligent. She experiences flashes of memories from the brains she eats, and temporarily takes on random quirks from her subjects—ranging from a fear of pigeons to a sudden appreciation for art to martial arts skills—and has demonstrated the ability to take a bullet to the chest with little damage. She graduated from the University of Washington. When Liv enters so-called "Full-on Zombie Mode" her eyes turn red and her strength is vastly increased. The change is triggered by intense stress (or hunger), and the zombie has very little control over the trigger.
- Malcolm Goodwin as Clive Babineaux:
- A Seattle PD detective, newly transferred from vice to homicide when the series starts, who gets Liv's help to solve crimes. Liv and Ravi claim that she is "psychic-ish" to account for her knowledge of victims. Eventually Liv tells him she is a zombie and that her "psychic skills" are actually a side effect from eating the brains of the victims. She does this to get Major out of jail.[10]
- Rahul Kohli as Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti:
- A medical examiner and Liv's boss. He knows Liv's secret and assists her whenever he can to protect as well as study her, expressing an interest in finding a cure for her condition. He used to work for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but was fired for his obsession with preparing for an attack with biological weapons.[10]
- Robert Buckley as Major Lilywhite:
- Liv's ex-fiancé; she ended the relationship to prevent him from becoming "infected" by her condition.[9] Like Liv, he is a University of Washington alumnus, and he worked as a social worker at the local teen center in season one. After temporarily being a zombie, he becomes a covert zombie hunter in season two, freezing his targets so they can be cured in the future. He eventually returned to zombie form, after learning the cure was only temporary.
- David Anders as Blaine "DeBeers" McDonough:
- A drug dealer-turned-zombie whose experimental drug, Utopium, caused the zombie outbreak.[9] His rich father considers him "a disappointment" after giving him money for failed businesses.[11] He claimed to Liv that he resorts to grave-robbing to access brains, but in reality he has set up a new "drug ring" whose customers are other zombies and product is the brains of murdered local homeless teens. His base of operations in season one is a local butcher shop from which he runs a home delivery service of gourmet prepared brain meals for wealthy zombie customers. In season two, after being cured, he moves his brains business to a funeral home. In keeping with his drug-dealer approach, he has been shown attacking his former criminal associates and rivals, and creating new zombies to drive up demand. He eventually reverts back to a zombie state before injecting himself with another attempt at a cure; after which he becomes an amnesiac. The character has often been compared to Spike from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer mythos.[12][13][14][15] Coincidentally, Anders consulted Spike's portrayer, James Marsters, prior to bleaching his hair for the role.[16]
Recurring
- Aly Michalka as Peyton Charles: Liv's best friend and roommate, who expresses concern about Liv's declining interest in life after the boat party. She works as an assistant district attorney for the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Peyton learns of Liv's secret at the end of season 1, prompting her to leave. Peyton returns in season 2, in charge of the task force against Utopium. Peyton also carries an on and off again relationship with Ravi. Since season 2 episode 3, Peyton has reconciled with Liv. While making a case against crime lord Stacey Boss, she grew close to Blaine and slept with him before learning that he turned Liv into a zombie.[17] (recurring seasons 1–2, main season 3)
- Molly Hagan as Eva Moore: Liv's mother, who often attempts to encourage Liv to get over what Eva thinks is "PTSD" from the boat party.[18] Eva works as a hospital administrator. (season 1; guest appearance in season 2)
- Nick Purcha as Evan Moore: Liv's brother. (season 1; guest appearance in season 2)[19]
- Aleks Paunovic as Julien Dupont (also called the Candyman), a zombie thug who works for Blaine. (season 1)[20][21]
- Bradley James as Lowell Tracy, a musician and fellow zombie who is romantically interested in Liv. (season 1)[22]
- Hiro Kanagawa as Lieutenant Suzuki, Babineaux's senior officer who is secretly a zombie in Blaine's employ. When kids' abductions get too much attention, he starts to worry about being discovered. (season 1)[23]
- Steven Weber as Vaughn Du Clark, the scheming and power-crazed CEO of Max Rager, an energy drink company that is under investigation. Killed by a horde of zombies which include his daughter Rita in the season 2 finale.[24]
- Leanne Lapp as Rita, Vaughn's equally manipulative and scheming daughter and personal assistant who is tasked with spying on Liv while posing as her roommate 'Gilda'. Killed by Major in the season 2 finale after she becomes a zombie.[25]
- Jessica Harmon as Dale Bozzio, an FBI agent who begins a relationship with Clive after being assigned to the 'Chaos Killer' case. She eventually leaves him after he drops murder charges against Major after Clive finds out he's a zombie and he's unable to give an explanation.[26]
- Eddie Jemison as Stacey Boss, Seattle's most ruthless and dangerous crime lord who controls the majority of the city's organised crime.[27]
- Greg Finley as Drake Holloway,[28] one of Blaine's dealers who is turned into a zombie and befriends Liv. It is revealed that he is an undercover Seattle police officer who infiltrated Mr. Boss' organization. (season 2)
- Robert Knepper as Angus McDonough, Blaine's estranged father whom he turned into a zombie. (season 2)
- Andre Tricoteux as Chief, a mute zombie in Blaine's employ. (season 2)
- Bryce Hodgson as Donald "Don E." Everhart, an associate of Blaine's who voluntarily becomes a zombie and takes over Blaine's business once he becomes an amnesiac. Hodgson also portrayed the character's late twin brother Scott E. in the first season.
Production
Thomas was approached by Warner Brothers to develop the show while he was editing the film version of Veronica Mars. At first he refused, but Warner Brothers was insistent, and he eventually took the job.[29] Prior to iZombie, Thomas was attempting to pitch his own zombie television series; when AMC picked up The Walking Dead, it was "so similar to what we were doing, it just killed that project," according to Thomas.[29]
Alexandra Krosney originally played the part of Peyton Charles.[30] After the show was ordered to series, she was replaced by Aly Michalka, and the role was changed from regular cast to recurring.[31] Michalka was later promoted to series regular for the show's third season.[32] Nora Dunn was initially attached to play Liv's mother; this was changed when it was realized that her character was going to play a smaller role than initially envisioned. She was replaced by Molly Hagan.[33] Thomas has stated that this move was a financial decision.[33]
The opening credits for the series are drawn by Michael Allred, the main artist of the original comic book.[34] The show's theme tune is "Stop, I'm Already Dead" by Deadboy & the Elephantmen.[35]
On October 5, 2015, The CW ordered five additional scripts for the second season,[36] and on November 23, 2015, the network ordered six additional episodes into production, bringing the season order to 19 episodes.[5]
On May 22, 2016, it was announced that Aly Michalka was promoted to series regular for season three.[37]
Reception
Ratings
| Season | Timeslot (ET) | Episodes | First aired | Last aired | TV season | Rank | Avg. viewers (millions) | 18–49 rating (average) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Viewers (millions) |
Date | Viewers (millions) | |||||||
| 1 | Tuesday 9:00 pm | 13 | March 17, 2015 | 2.29[38] | June 9, 2015 | 1.45[39] | 2014–15 | 154 | 2.51 | 1.0[40] |
| 2 | 19 | October 6, 2015 | 1.53[41] | April 12, 2016 | 1.22[42] | 2015–16 | 174 | 1.68 | 0.7[43] | |
| 3 | 13 | April 4, 2017[44] | TBD | TBA | TBD | 2016–17 | TBD | TBD | TBD | |
Viewer ratings
| Season | Ep. 1 | Ep. 2 | Ep. 3 | Ep. 4 | Ep. 5 | Ep. 6 | Ep. 7 | Ep. 8 | Ep. 9 | Ep. 10 | Ep. 11 | Ep. 12 | Ep. 13 | Ep. 14 | Ep. 15 | Ep. 16 | Ep. 17 | Ep. 18 | Ep. 19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 2.29 | 1.99 | 1.81 | 1.77 | 1.85 | 1.80 | 1.69 | 1.62 | 1.70 | 1.50 | 1.56 | 1.80 | 1.45 | N/A | |||||
| Season 2 | 1.53 | 1.22 | 1.29 | 1.47 | 1.43 | 1.40 | 1.17 | 1.55 | 1.37 | 1.17 | 1.43 | 1.43 | 1.25 | 1.45 | 1.21 | 1.25 | 1.07 | 1.36 | 1.22 |
| Season 3 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | N/A | |||||
Critical response
The first season received positive reviews.[45] Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the series a 92% approval rating, with an average rating of 7.7/10 based on 49 reviews. The site's critical consensus states: "An amusing variation on the zombie trend, iZombie is refreshingly different, if perhaps too youth-oriented to resonate with adult audiences."[46] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 74 out of 100 based on reviews from 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[47]
Amy Ratcliffe of IGN rated the pilot episode 8.4/10, praising the show's "casual take on zombies" and Rose McIver's performance as Liv.[48] LaToya Ferguson of The Onion's The A.V. Club graded the series a A- and stated the show is better for diverging from its comic book origins. She praised the show for having same quick-witted banter as Veronica Mars and observed it measures up well against Pushing Daisies, noting: "Television can only be better for having the voices of Thomas and Ruggiero-Wright back on a weekly basis".[49] Inkoo Kang of the Dallas Observer called the show, "dazzlingly, tirelessly witty" with an "acute attention to human relationships", and praised it as "the summer's most underrated series".[45]
The second season has been met with positive reviews. It holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 12 reviews with an average score of 8.3 out of 10. The website's consensus states: "iZombie smoothly shifts gears in its second season, moving between comedy and dramatic procedural while skillfully satirizing modern society along the way."[50]
Awards and nominations
| Year | Association | Category | Recipients | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | SXSW Film Festival[51] | Episodic | Diane Ruggiero and Rob Thomas | Nominated |
| mtvU Fandom Awards[52] | Best New Fandom of the Year | iZombie | Won | |
| Teen Choice Awards[53] | Choice TV: Breakout Show | iZombie | Nominated | |
| 2016 | Leo Awards[54] | Best Cinematography in a Dramatic Series | Michael Wale for "Zombie Bro" | Nominated |
| Best Make-Up in a Dramatic Series | Amber Trudeau, Malin Sjostrom, Cory Roberts and Rebekah Bak for Method Head | Won | ||
| Teen Choice Awards[55] | Choice TV Show: Sci-Fi/Fantasy | iZombie | Nominated | |
References
- ↑ Ausiello, Michael (May 8, 2014). "The CW New Series For Fall 2014 – 'The Flash' and 'iZombie'". TVLine. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
- ↑ Goldman, Eric (January 11, 2015). "iZombie Premiering March 17th; Supernatural Moving Back to Wednesdays". IGN. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
- ↑ Kondolojy, Amanda (May 6, 2015). "'iZombie' Renewed by The CW for Second Season". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
- ↑ Abrams, Natalie (June 24, 2015). "'CW announces fall premiere dates for Flash, Vampire Diaries and more". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
- 1 2 Petski, Dennis (November 23, 2015). "CW's 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' & 'iZombie' Get Additional Episodes". Deadline.com. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
- ↑ Abrams, Natalie (March 11, 2016). "'The Flash,' 'Vampire Diaries,' 'Supernatural,' and 8 more renewed at CW". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
- ↑ Mitovitch, Matt Webb (August 11, 2016). "CW Boss on Fifth Superhero Night, Supergirl Predictions, Episode Counts, Little Women Status and More". TV Line. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
- ↑ Abrams, Natalie (November 16, 2016). "CW sets Riverdale premiere date; Supernatural, Legends of Tomorrow moving timeslots". EW. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
- 1 2 3 "Shows A-Z - iZombie, on The CW". The Futon Critic. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
- 1 2 Moore, Debi (January 11, 2015). "TCA Winter 2015: The CW Announces Early Renewals; Reveals iZombie and The Messengers Premiere Dates; Moves Supernatural Again but Spinoff Still in Play". Dread Central. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
- ↑ Abrams, Natalie (August 5, 2015). "iZombie casts Robert Knepper as Blaine's father". ew.com. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
- ↑ http://www.ew.com/article/2015/03/16/izombie-review
- ↑ https://www.accesshollywood.com/articles/izombie-qa-david-anders-on-blaine-liv-eating-fake-brains-160691/
- ↑ http://www.ibtimes.com/izombie-season-1-spoilers-6-things-we-learned-about-new-cw-show-sxsw-1848946
- ↑ http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/herocomplex/la-et-hc-izombie-finale-david-anders-20150604-story.html
- ↑ http://www.ew.com/article/2015/03/17/david-anders-izombie
- ↑ "Aly Michalka Joins The CW's 'iZombie'; Michael Beach In ABC's 'Secrets & Lies'". Deadline.com. August 6, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ↑ Abrams, Natalie (August 20, 2014). "'iZombie' recasts mom, adds 'Devious Maids' star". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ↑ Ferguson, LaToya (March 17, 2015). "iZombie feeds the craving for quick wit left by Veronica Mars (and then some)". A.V. Club. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
- ↑ "Simon Kassianides Joins TNT Pilot 'Lumen'; Aleks Paunovic In The CW's 'iZombie'". Deadline Hollywood. December 12, 2014. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
- ↑ Morrell, McKenzie (May 11, 2015). "'iZombie' star Aleks Paunovic talks the Candyman, and NUMB, his new film co-starring The 100's Marie Avgeropoulos". nowhitenoise. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
- ↑ "iZombie Writers Room on Twitter: "@VMarsConfession It's Tracy."". Retrieved May 12, 2015.
- ↑ ChinLin Pan (April 15, 2015). "TV Recap: iZombie, 1.5, "Flight of the Living Dead"". The Horn. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
- ↑ Abrams,Natalie (December 2, 2014). "Steven Weber heads to CW's 'iZombie'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ↑ "Vaughn's Assistant Gilda 'Puts A Lot Of The Other Characters In Compromising Situations' According To Her Portrayer Leanne Lapp". enstarz. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
- ↑ Stanley, T.L. (November 4, 2015). "'iZombie' recap: Pep talks, cold showers in 'Love & Basketball'". LA Times. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
- ↑ Abrams, Natalie (October 5, 2015). "iZombie taps Eddie Jemison as new villain". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
- ↑ Wagmeister, Elizabeth (November 2, 2015). "TV News Roundup: 'The Flash' Alum Joins 'iZombie,' Trevor Noah Special Set for Nov.". Variety. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
- 1 2 Woerner, Meredith. "Rob Thomas Explains Why iZombie Is More Like Buffy Than Veronica Mars". io9. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (May 20, 2014). "NBC's 'Bad Judge' & CW's 'iZombie' Recast Roles". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
- ↑ Mitovich, Matt Webb (August 6, 2014). "iZombie Recasts BFF With Aly Michalka". TVLine. Retrieved March 17, 2015.
- ↑ Abrams, Natalie (May 23, 2016). "iZombie promotes Aly Michalka to series regular". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
- 1 2 Friedlander, Whitney. "Q&A: Rob Thomas on Giving Life to 'iZombie'". Variety. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
- ↑ Armitage, Hugh (March 13, 2015). "iZombie opening credits reveal Michael Allred art". Digital Spy. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
- ↑ iZombie Writers Room [iZombieWriters] (March 18, 2015). "The #iZombie theme song that's stuck in your brain is "Stop I'm Already Dead" by Deadboy and the Elephantmen." (Tweet). Retrieved March 26, 2015 – via Twitter.
- ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (October 5, 2015). "CW's 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' & 'iZombie' Get Backup Script Orders Ahead Of Premieres". Deadline.com. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
- ↑ Iannucci, Rebecca (May 22, 2016). "TVLine Items: iZombie Ups 'Peyton,' Mad Men Anniversary Auction and More". TV Line. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
- ↑ Bibel, Sara (March 17, 2015). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Flash' & 'The Voice' Adjusted Up; 'iZombie' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
- ↑ Bibel, Sara (June 1, 2015). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'Hell's Kitchen' Adjusted Up & Final NBA Finals Numbers". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
- ↑ Lisa de Moraes. "2014–15 Full TV Season Ratings: Rankings For All Shows – Deadline". Deadline. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
- ↑ Porter, Rick (October 7, 2015). "Tuesday final ratings: 'The Muppets,' 'NCIS' and 'Scream Queens' adjusted up, 'Flash' and 'iZombie' hold". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
- ↑ Porter, Rick (April 13, 2016). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice' adjusts up, 'Game of Silence' and 'Beyond the Tank' adjust down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
- ↑ de Moraes, Lisa (May 26, 2016). "Full 2015–16 TV Season Series Rankings: 'Blindspot', 'Life In Pieces' & 'Quantico' Lead Newcomers". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
- ↑ Abrams, Natalie (November 16, 2016). "CW sets Riverdale premiere date; Supernatural, Legends of Tomorrow moving timeslots". EW. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
- 1 2 Kang, Inkoo (June 3, 2015). "Five Reasons iZombie is Summer's Most Underrated Show". Dallas Observer. Dallas, TX. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ↑ "iZombie: Season 1 (2015)". Flixster/Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
- ↑ "iZombie: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
- ↑ Ratcliffe, Amy (March 12, 2015). "iZombie: "Pilot" Review". IGN. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
- ↑ Ferguson, LaToya (March 17, 2015). "iZombie feeds the craving for quick wit left by Veronica Mars (and then some)". Archived from the original on April 1, 2015.
- ↑ "iZombie: Season 2 (2015-2016)". rottentomatoes. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
- ↑ "SXSW Film Festival 2015 Lineup". SXSW Film Festival. Retrieved March 2015. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "best new fandom of the year". mtv.com. MTV. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ↑ "2015 Teen Choice Award Winners – Full List". Variety. August 16, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ↑ "Arrow, The Flash, & iZombie Score Leo Award Nominations". ComicBook. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
- ↑ Vulpo, Mike (May 24, 2016). "Teen Choice Awards 2016 Nominations Announced: See the "First Wave" of Potential Winners". E! Online. NBC Universal. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
