Citizen Baines
| Citizen Baines | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | Lydia Woodward |
| Written by |
Patty Lin Will Scheffer P.K. Simonds Karyn Usher John Wells Lydia Woodward |
| Directed by |
Christopher Chulack Lesli Linka Glatter Charles Haid Dwight Little |
| Starring |
James Cromwell Embeth Davidtz Jane Adams Jacinda Barrett Arye Gross Scotty Leavenworth Matt McCoy |
| Composer(s) | Marty Davich |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 9 (3 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Christopher Chulack John Wells Lydia Woodward |
| Producer(s) | Lesli Linka Glatter David J. Latt |
| Cinematography | Ernest Holzman |
| Editor(s) | Kevin Casey Susanne Stinson Malles Suzanne Michaels Frederick Peterson |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | John Wells Productions Lydia Woodward Productions Thinkfilm Warner Bros. Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Original release | September 29 – November 3, 2001 |
Citizen Baines is an American drama series that starred James Cromwell. The series premiered September 29, 2001 on CBS and was created by Emmy Award-winning producer Lydia Woodward.
Cromwell starred as Elliot Baines, a former three-term U.S. Senator who loses a re-election for the senate and goes back home to Seattle to re-establish his relationships with his three grown daughters Ellen (Embeth Davidtz), Reeva (Jane Adams), and Dori (Jacinda Barrett).
Scheduled on Saturdays following Touched by an Angel., the series ranked #90 (the lowest rank for a regularly scheduled series on one of the Big Four networks), and averaged 8.2 million viewers. Due to the low ratings, CBS canceled the series in October 2001 after six of the nine episodes produced were aired.
PopMatters: Citizen Baines showed genuine signs of bucking the CBS feel-good Saturday night orthodoxy, by assuming the complex task of creating family-friendly entertainment without soaking in sentiment the raw textures of domestic life. In theory, there's no reason at all why the elimination of "adult" elements (explicit sex, strong language, violent storylines) should limit the emotional and intellectual range of a TV drama and the sophisticated satisfactions it might offer its audiences. But Citizen Baines symbolizes the lack of imagination driving so much of prime-time, whether drama or sitcom, cable or network. With honorable exceptions, like the underrated Third Watch, TV life between 8 and 11pm is either R-rated racy or Disney-utopian, where, no matter the problem, no more than 50 minutes will solve it. And always, always, check your intelligence at the door.
USA Today's Robert Bianco gave it a negative one and a half star review and stated "After all, the only interesting thing about Elliott Baines is his job as a U.S. senator — and he loses that at the end of Saturday's premiere. Don't worry: I'm not revealing anything that the "citizen" in the title didn't already tell you."
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Wikipedia