The Big C (TV series)
| The Big C | |
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The Big C intertitle
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| Genre | Comedy-drama |
| Created by | Darlene Hunt |
| Starring |
Laura Linney Oliver Platt John Benjamin Hickey Gabriel Basso Gabourey Sidibe Phyllis Somerville |
| Opening theme | "Game Called Life" by Leftover Cuties |
| Composer(s) |
Marcelo Zarvos Jesse Voccia |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 40 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Darlene Hunt Laura Linney Jenny Bicks Neal H. Moritz Vivian Cannon Mark J. Kunerth Michael Engler |
| Producer(s) | Cara DiPaolo Lou Fusaro (pilot only) Melanie Marnich |
| Location(s) |
Minneapolis, Minnesota (setting) Stamford, Connecticut (actual filming location) |
| Running time |
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| Production company(s) | Perkins Street Productions Farm Kid Films Original Film Sony Pictures Television Showtime Networks |
| Distributor | Sony Pictures Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | Showtime |
| Original release | August 16, 2010 – May 20, 2013 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The Big C is an American television series which premiered on August 16, 2010 on Showtime. It drew the largest audience for a Showtime original series premiere. Season 2 premiered on June 27, 2011. Season 3 premiered on April 8, 2012. On July 31, 2012, The Big C was renewed for a fourth and final season, named "Hereafter", which premiered on Monday, April 29, 2013 and concluded on May 20, 2013.
The show follows, in Minneapolis, Westhill High School teacher Cathy Jamison – a reserved, suburban wife and mother – who is diagnosed with melanoma. The realization of this forces her to really begin to live for the first time in her adult life. At first she chooses to keep her diagnosis from her family, behaving in ways they find puzzling and increasingly bizarre. She finds new freedom to express herself. As the show progresses, Cathy allows her family and some new friends to support her as she copes with her terminal prognosis, and finds both humor and pathos in the many idiosyncratic relationships in her life.
The Big C's pilot episode was received positively by critics, while subsequent episodes received mixed reviews. Season One received an overall score of 66 on Metacritic. Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times wrote: "The Big C works because most of the writing is strong and believable, and so is Ms. Linney, who rarely sounds a false note and here has perfect pitch... the series is at its best when sardonic and subdued."Washington Post critic Hank Stuever said: "Buoyed by scalpel-sharp writing and even keener performances, The Big C …walks a fine line of having it both ways. It's for people who are repelled by the warm-fuzzy, disease-o'-the-week dramas of cable television," while EW.com's Ken Tucker quibbled with its major plot point: "My big problem with The Big C concerns a crucial decision the show made for the early episodes: Cathy declines to tell those closest to her that she has cancer. While this is one of the many different reactions people have to such a diagnosis in real life, in a comedy-drama like this, it makes everyone around her seem a bit dim."
The second season received similar reviews to the first, receiving a score of 64 on Metacritic. Maureen Ryan of AOL TV stated that "Having a character and her family deal with a potentially fatal illness is such a rich arena for both drama and black comedy, but so far, The Big C hasn't been able to mine that topic with consistent freshness and depth." Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly was critical towards the show, but commended the acting, stating that "Much of The Big C's unoriginal dramatization of cancer concerns is mitigated by the fresh, dynamic performances of Laura Linney and Oliver Platt."
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