Gotham (TV series)

Updated on Dec 31, 2023

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Gotham trailer

Gotham is an American crime drama television series developed by Bruno Heller, based on characters published by DC Comics and appearing in the Batman franchise, primarily those of James Gordon and Bruce Wayne. The series stars Ben McKenzie as the young Gordon, while Heller executive-produces, along with Danny Cannon, who also directed the pilot.

Originally the series would have related only Gordon's early days on the Gotham City Police Department, but the series subsequently included the Wayne character and the origin stories of several Batman villains, including the Penguin, the Riddler, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, the Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, and Hugo Strange.

Gotham premiered on Fox on September 22, 2014. In March 2016, the series was renewed for a third season which premiered on September 19, 2016.

Gotham season 3 official trailer 2016 comic con sdcc

Synopsis

In the first season, a new recruit in the Gotham City Police Department named James Gordon is paired with veteran detective Harvey Bullock to solve one of Gotham City's highest-profile cases: the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne. During his investigation, Gordon meets the Waynes' son Bruce who is now in the care of his butler Alfred Pennyworth. Meeting the younger Wayne further compels Gordon to catch the mysterious killer. Other characters encountered early on include low-level gang member Oswald Cobblepot, forensics worker Edward Nygma, street orphans Selina Kyle and Ivy "Pamela" Pepper, assistant district attorney Harvey Dent, and medical doctor Leslie Thompkins. Gordon becomes involved with Gotham's crime families and associates including gangster Fish Mooney, Don Carmine Falcone, and Don Salvatore Maroni. Eventually, Gordon forms an unlikely friendship with Bruce, one that will help shape the boy's future in becoming Batman.

In the second season taking place one month later, Gordon deals with a series of events that are being secretly orchestrated by Theo Galavan and his sister Tabitha as part of an elaborate plan to take over Gotham as the new Mayor of Gotham City, which involved Mayor Aubrey James' abduction and exacting revenge against the Wayne Family with help from the Order of St. Dumas. After Galavan is subsequently murdered in his run for mayor, the Gotham City Police Department deals with the actions of Victor Fries. At the same time, the enigmatic Hugo Strange and his assistant Ethel Peabody conduct a series of bizarre experiments underneath Arkham Asylum in the underground Indian Hill facility that is secretly owned by Wayne Enterprises and overseen by the Court.

In the third season taking place six months later, Gordon has become a bounty hunter as he works to track down Indian Hill experiments that escaped six months earlier as well as a revived Fish Mooney who has recruited some of the Indian Hill experiments to form another version of her gang. While planning to get Leslie Thompkins back, he also encounters Carmine Falcone's son Mario Calvi. Gordon also has to tangle with hypnotist Jervis Tetch who arrives in Gotham City to look for his lost sister Alice Tetch. Meanwhile, Oswald Cobblepot runs against Aubrey James for Mayor of Gotham City after some elected Gotham City officials ran it following Theo Galavan's death. Cobblepot wins in a landslide. While Jim rejoins the GCPD, the city plunges into a state of corruption: Alice Tetch's poisonous blood drives many crazy, including Captain Nathaniel Barnes and Mario Calvi. The deceased Jerome Valeska's followers led by Dwight Pollard revive him back to life and later attempts to continue his previous vendetta against the city and Bruce until he is defeated by Bruce and Gordon.

Cast and characters

Ben McKenzie as James Gordon – In September 2013, it was reported that Fox was developing a TV series centred on James Gordon's early days as a police detective and the origin stories of various Batman villains. In February 2014, McKenzie was cast as the lead character. When describing his character in an interview, McKenzie stated that Gordon "is a truly honest man. The last honest man in a city full of crooked people. He's not an anti-hero, he’s a true hero – but he will have to compromise."

Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock – In early 2014, it was announced that Logue was cast as Harvey Bullock, a character who serves as James Gordon's ethically conflicted and compromised partner in the GCPD.

David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne – In March 2014, Mazouz was cast as Bruce Wayne. When discussing his character, Mazouz stated that "you never got to explore what Bruce Wayne was going through or his grieving process or what his anger makes him do. At this point in his life, he’s angry, he's scared, he’s compulsive, and he's lonely. He's looking for any meaning to his parents’ death. You'll see the things that he'll do to himself and to other people while he's grieving, and you'll see how he becomes a regular kid again."

Zabryna Guevara as Sarah Essen – In February 2014, Guevara was confirmed for the series. Descriptions revealed her character to be a police captain at the GCPD and James Gordon's direct superior.

Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth – In February 2014, Pertwee was cast as Alfred Pennyworth in the series. Pertwee's character would take inspiration from the Earth One iteration of Alfred Pennyworth.

Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin – In February 2014, Taylor was cast as Oswald Cobblepot, an intelligent low-level thug who used to work for Fish Mooney.

Erin Richards as Barbara Kean – In February 2014, Richards was confirmed to have been cast in the show. Richards portrays James Gordon's fiancee, Barbara Kean, though their relationship deteriorates over the course of the season. She renews a past romantic relationship with Renee Montoya.

Camren Bicondova as Selina "Cat" Kyle – In March 2014, Bicondova was confirmed to have joined the show's cast. According to Bicondova, "The main word that I can think of to characterize Selina is that she's just surviving. She's very mischievous and very challenging to play at times, because she feels emotions but she hides them. I realized that she isn't just a street thief and a survivor; she's actually a normal girl."

Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma – Smith joined the cast in April 2014. In May 2014, Smith was promoted to a series regular. "What I love about the character's history is how diverse it is", says Smith. "When I was auditioning for Gotham, I got a handful of comics from different decades, so I had a perspective — it's been around for 75 years, which is a long time. I wanted to see an evolution of the comics — and of the character. Going from this quite innocent, well-intentioned, joyful person to starting to find this other part of him that he didn't know he had. He's a person who's constantly abused, and it's out of anger and exhaustion, and then realizing that when you start taking control of situations like that, you can gain power that way — it'll be something that he can start to enjoy."

Victoria Cartagena as Renee Montoya – Cartagena joined the series in May 2014, but she was not a regular in season 2.

Andrew Stewart-Jones as Crispus Allen – Stewart-Jones joined the series in May 2014, but he was not a regular in season 2.

John Doman as Carmine Falcone – Doman first appeared in the series pilot as Carmine Falcone, a mob boss with ties to James Gordon's father. Doman continued to appear throughout the season.

Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney – Smith was cast as Fish Mooney in February 2014. She appeared throughout the season until her character was seemingly killed in the show's Season 1 finale after being dropped off the side of a tall building by Penguin. When asked if her character will return in future seasons, Smith replied, "If she survives the fall. I signed for a year. I don't think any of us really thought that Fish would have the life that she's had or be one of the favorite characters on the show. She was there to service a purpose, as far as helping to tell Penguin's story. I'm a smart girl. I understood I was there to service Penguin. If she survives, I would definitely be willing to do whatever was necessary to continue servicing the story of Gotham." In January 2016 it was announced that Smith would be reprising the role for the second half of season 2.

Morena Baccarin as Leslie Thompkins – Morena Baccarin was cast in October 2014. Baccarin was promoted to a series regular for the second season, after recurring in the first season.

James Frain as Theo Galavan / Azrael – In June 2015, Frain was announced as a series regular for season two.

Jessica Lucas as Tabitha Galavan – In June 2015, Lucas was announced as series regular for season two.

Chris Chalk as Lucius Fox – In March 2015, Chalk was announced as Lucius Fox, and was promoted to a series regular for the second season.

Drew Powell as Butch Gilzean – Fish Mooney's right-hand man and mob enforcer. Victor Zsasz later "worked on" Butch, causing him to obey Oswald Cobblepot's every command, although this was later undone by Tabitha Galavan. Powell was promoted to a series regular for the second season.

Nicholas D'Agosto as Harvey Dent – In July 2014, it was announced that Harvey Dent would appear in the show. D'Agosto was revealed to portray Harvey Dent in October 2014, and was promoted to a series regular for the second season.

Michael Chiklis as Nathaniel Barnes / The Executioner – In July 2015, Chiklis was announced as a series regular for season two as Captain Nathaniel Barnes.

Maggie Geha as Ivy "Pamela" Pepper – The character was portrayed by Clare Foley as a recurring character but starting with the second episode of season three, she was promoted to series regular with the role recast.

Benedict Samuel as Jervis Tetch – In August 2016, Samuel was announced as a series regular for season 3. He is described as a psychotic hypnotist with a steadfast desire to find his missing sister Alice.

Development

Initially, Heller said he was hesitant about doing a series about superheroes, telling website Digital Spy that "I don't really know how to write about people with super powers". Further elaborating to Entertainment Weekly that "I don't think Batman works very well on TV", adding that "Frankly, all those superhero stories I've seen, I always love them until they get into the costume", noting that at that point "they've stopped becoming humans." It was Heller's son who suggested that the focus of the series be Commissioner Gordon from which Heller then further developed into the idea of Gordon being the investigator who investigated Bruce Wayne's parents' murder an idea he says that "gave us a starting point and allowed us to tell the saga from a much earlier point than before".

On September 24, 2013, Fox announced that it had bypassed the traditional pilot phase and placed a straight-to-series order for Gotham, to be written and executive produced by Heller. Gotham received a series order from Fox on May 5, 2014, with the first season reported to consist of 16 episodes, rather than the standard 13 or 22. On January 17, 2015, the series was renewed for a second season.

Fox's Chairman of Entertainment Kevin Reilly stated, "We were only contractually obligated to order 13, and we ordered 16, because we think that's the way that show, at least in its first iteration, will be very strong to arc to. Could we do more next season? We certainly could, but that’s where we're starting with that one. That show is going to have a very strong, serialized element." On October 13, Fox ordered an additional six episodes for the show, bringing the first season order to a full 22 episodes.

Speaking of the project at the 2014 winter TCA press tour, Reilly described the series as "this operatic soap that has a slightly larger-than-life quality. This is not some adjunct companion series. This is the Batman franchise, just backing it up [in chronology]." He later added that the series is separate from any DC film universe.

Casting

In January 2014, rumors arose that Donal Logue would portray Gordon in the series. Logue denied these rumors via Twitter. Logue was eventually cast as Harvey Bullock.

In February 2014, Ben McKenzie was cast as James Gordon. McKenzie had shot a previous pilot with Heller for CBS, which led to Heller writing his characterization of Gordon with Mckenzie in mind. Casting Bruce Wayne was challenging in part because, as Heller put it "It's such an important casting and it would've been very dangerous to cast the wrong person" adding that the casting process for Wayne "took a lot of negotiation, a lot of back and forth so that everyone was happy and comfortable." In early March 2014, David Mazouz was cast as Bruce Wayne while Camren Bicondova was cast as Selina Kyle. At the 2014 Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, DC's Jim Cunningham said that Renee Montoya would be a character on the show.

Filming

In February 2014, it was reported that production would begin in New York City in March. Filming for the first season finished on March 24, 2015.

Music

In July 2014, it was announced that Graeme Revell would be the composer for the series.

Broadcast

The series premiered on Nine Network in Australia on October 12. In Canada, it is shown in simulcast on CTV and reran on M3. In New Zealand, it premiered on TV2 on September 28. In the United Kingdom, it premiered on Channel 5 on October 13. In Ireland, it premiered on RTÉ2 on 26 January 2015.

Marketing

The pilot was screened at the Warner Bros. Television and DC Entertainment panel at San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2014.

Home media

In September 2014, Warner Bros. sold the series' worldwide video on demand rights to Netflix. The first season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 8, 2015.

Reception

In early October 2014, market research firm Survata polled more than 1,400 viewers to determine that Gotham was the major TV premiere, out of 24, that viewers were most interested to watch that year.

Ratings

In Australia, the first and second episodes received 1.24 million and 896,000 viewers, respectively. The timeshifted broadcasts were watched by 1.43 and 1.03 million, respectively. The Canadian debut got 3.38 million viewers, making it the second most-watched telecast of the night and week. The UK premiere was watched by 3.20 million viewers. The airings on the 1-hour and 24-hour timeshift channels were watched by 597,000 and 142,000 viewers, respectively. In New Zealand, it was the most-watched program on the network, with 278,540 viewers. The time shifted version was watched by 39,580 viewers.

Season 1

Season 1 of Gotham received generally positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the season a rating of 80%, based on 86 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The site's consensus states, "High production values, a talented cast, and an appealingly stylized approach to the Batman mythos help Gotham overcome its occasionally familiar themes." Metacritic gives the season a score of 71 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

David Hinckley of the New York Daily News praised the first episode for playing "like a 45-minute movie, with stunning visuals that never feel like a shrunken TV version of the Batman films against which it will inevitably be measured" and lauded Logue's Harvey Bullock as a scene-stealer. The San Jose Mercury News' Chuck Barney called the pilot "a fun, dark, moody and well-paced first hour" and McKenzie's James Gordon a commanding lead, while saying Jada Pinkett Smith is "an absolute blast to watch." Matt Brennan of Indiewire said that Gotham was "the perfect antidote to superhero fatigue", praising the "bright, pop-inflected aesthetic, with urban backdrops that appear as though cut out from the panels of a comic book."

Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly criticized the first half of season one along with the mid-season premiere. He found the personalities of the most characters "already nearly fully formed; all they can become is more or less than what they already are". Jensen added that Gordon not being Gotham's redeemer hurt the premise of the show and heavily criticized what he saw as the under-use of Jada Pinkett Smith's character. In the end, he does not see Gotham "as a show for comic book fanboys" but rather as "a post-fanboy, or fanboy-irrelevant." Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club lamented that "there have been dozens of interpretations of Batman and his city in the 75 years since their creation, and Gotham has trouble finding the right balance of influences".

Season 2

The second season of Gotham has received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the season has a rating of 81%, based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "While still tonally uneven in season two, Gotham is back with a renewed focus, moving away from disjointed case-of-the-week plots into a darker, more stable serialized story." Metacritic gives the season a score of 62 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Other media

On February 1, 2016, Fox began airing episodes of a motion comic titled Gotham Stories, meant to tie into the series' second season.

References

Gotham (TV series) Wikipedia

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