June 7, 2012 (2012-06-07) – August 3, 2017 (2017-08-03)
Saving Hope is a Canadian supernaturalmedical drama television series set in Toronto in the fictional hospital Hope Zion. The series stars Erica Durance and Michael Shanks. The show's premise originated with Malcolm MacRury and Morwyn Brebner, who are both credited as creators and executive producers. Saving Hope aired on CTV for five seasons from June 7, 2012, to August 3, 2017, with the first season airing on NBC.
The protagonist of the show is Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance), a doctor whose fiancé, Dr. Charles Harris (Michael Shanks), is in a coma after a car accident while on his way to their wedding. The show follows the life of Charlie in his comatose state and Alex dealing with her patients, all the while hoping that he will survive. Dr. Reid is the Chief Surgical Resident while Dr. Harris was the Chief of Surgery until his accident. Dr. Harris recovers at the end of season 1, but in subsequent seasons he continues to be able to see the spirits of comatose and dead patients.
Julia Taylor Ross as Dr. Maggie Lin: A third year surgical resident on rotation in the hospital's General Surgery department and then in the OB-GYN department.[6][7]
Kristopher Turner as Dr. Gavin Murphy: A psychiatry resident and Maggie's former boyfriend (seasons 1–2; recurring season 3).[8]
Wendy Crewson as Dr. Dana Kinney: Chief of Plastic Surgery, who is appointed Interim Chief of Surgery following Charlie's coma (seasons 1 & 4; recurring seasons 2, 3 &5).
Glenda Braganza as Dr. Melanda Tolliver: A friend of Alex's and an ICU doctor (seasons 1–3).[10]
Salvatore Antonio as Victor Reis: An OR nurse and Shahir's former boyfriend (seasons 1 &2).[11]
K. C. Collins as Dr. Tom Reycraft: A fourth year surgical resident,[12] who is appointed Chief Surgical Resident in place of Alex (seasons 1 & 2; recurring season 3).
Joseph Pierre as Jackson Wade: An ICU nurse (seasons 2–5; recurring season 1).[13]
Stacey Farber as Dr. Sydney Katz: An OB/GYN and later Maggie's girlfriend (season 3; guest seasons 4 &5).[15]
Kim Shaw as Dr. Cassie Williams: A book smart intern learning to apply the applications of medication rather than just reading about them (seasons 4–5).[16]
The series premiered on June 7, 2012, on both CTV in Canada and NBC in the United States. On July 25, 2012, CTV ordered a second, 13-episode season for the summer of 2013.[20] NBC, however, pulled the show's final two episodes from its broadcast schedule and made them available on their official website. On November 16, 2012, CTV announced they had increased their episode order for season 2 to eighteen episodes. On November 7, 2013, CTV ordered a third season of Saving Hope that consisted of eighteen episodes and aired in 2014.[21] On November 10, 2014, CTV ordered a fourth season of Saving Hope that consisted of eighteen episodes,[22] and premiered on September 24. 2015.[23] On December 17, 2015, CTV ordered a fifth and final season of Saving Hope that consisted of 18 episodes.[24]
In 2014, Ion Television announced that they had secured the American broadcast rights to the show.[25]
Malcolm MacRury and Morwyn Brebner devised the concept of the series.[26][27] MacRury had previously co-created the comedy series Republic of Doyle for CBC, while Brebner had previously co-created television drama Rookie Blue for the Global Television Network.[26] Canadian broadcaster CTV had picked up the pilot episode in November 2011.[26][28]Executive producers of the show went to Los Angeles, California, to pitch the series to U.S. broadcasters.[26] Their efforts convinced NBC to pick up the series for airing in the United States.[29][30] CTV and NBC ordered 13 episodes for the first season.
In Canada, the premiere figures were the highest recorded for the summer season in 2012.[32] The American premiere attracted 3.1 million viewers on NBC, which some critics were unimpressed with.[33]
Saving Hope received mixed reviews on Metacritic with a score of 49 out of 100 based on 15 critics' reviews.[41] Verne Gay of Newsday stated the series "is modeled out of particularly sturdy, comfortable and reliable material." He added that it is "a sober, intelligent, placidly paced drama as only the Canadians can make."[42] The Chicago Sun-Times's Lori Rackl said the series "has some fun, clever and emotion-stirring moments, but they’re handicapped by cheesy montages and one too many scenarios designed to remind us of the importance of having hope."[43]Alan SepinwallofHitFix called Charlie Harris' "spirit walk" around the hospital "an interesting solution to the problem of telling stories we've seen a million times before. But doing it this way ultimately does more harm than good." He added: "It's not bad so much as tired."[44] The San Francisco Chronicle'sDavid Wiegand called the series "a lukewarm stew of ideas from other shows... and films... with stock characters and situations that occasionally jerk a demi-tear or two, but with absolutely no authenticity. The sloppy sentimentality is cheap and unearned."[45]
In September 2014, the U.S. television network Ion Television announced a partnership with eOne to have exclusive broadcast rights for current and future American television seasons.[46] In Australia, the series premiered on SoHo on February 6, 2015.[47] The series will began airing reruns on G4, which will relaunch in the summer of 2021.
