8 /10 1 Votes
4/5 Amazon Composer(s) Mychael Danna Original language(s) English Final episode date 14 April 2008 | 7.5/10 IMDb 8.5/10 TV Country of origin United States First episode date 4 March 2008 Network FOX | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Genre Drama, Fantasy, Police procedural Created by Allan Loeb
Christian Taylor Starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Alexie Gilmore
Stephen Henderson
Zuleikha Robinson
Susan Misner Program creators Allan Loeb, Christian Taylor Cast Nikolaj Coster‑Waldau, Zuleikha Robinson, Alexie Gil, Stephen Henderson Similar Forever, Law & Order: Special V, Law & Order: Criminal I, Law & Order, Tru Calling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
New Amsterdam is an American television drama which aired for eight episodes in 2008 on Fox. The series starred Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as "John Amsterdam" (real name Johann van der Zee), an immortal Dutch man born in 1607, who has lived in New York City on and off since he was 14 years old, and who is a homicide detective in the present day. The series was nominated for an Emmy for Main Title Design.
Contents
New amsterdam preview
Premise and plot
John Amsterdam (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is an NYPD homicide detective who is 400 years old, but has the appearance of a 35-year-old. He was a Dutch soldier in Manhattan in the year 1642 when he stepped in front of a sword to save the life of a Native American girl during a massacre of her tribe. The girl in turn rescued Amsterdam by weaving a spell that conferred immortality upon him. It was also prophesied that he would not age until he finds his one true love, and only then will he become whole and ready for mortality. Flashbacks in different episodes of the show reveal Amsterdam's centuries of life since, using many names, though usually retaining "John", marked by loss as his friends, lovers, children (63), and dogs gradually grow old and die. Amsterdam is a recovering alcoholic who regularly attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, having remained sober since 1965. In his lifetime he has joined the Army three times, in addition to the Coast Guard, Marines, and Navy. He stated that he never joined the Air Force because he "doesn't like heights". He has taught history at a university, served as a physician during the American Civil War, was a furniture maker at the turn of the 20th century, a portrait painter just before the outbreak of World War I, and by 1941 an attorney. At some point he attended Columbia University and served in the CIA. (See below for a detailed timeline.)
Amsterdam's quest to find his "true love" drives the series. But in each episode as a policeman he has crimes to solve, which he does using his deep and often personal knowledge of history, depicted as flashbacks. Though estranged from and unknown to most of his many descendants, except his 65-year-old son Omar, he tries to keep track of them and aids them when possible.
The title sequence is a time lapse series of images of the place where Amsterdam received his "gift", from the forests and Native American camps of the 17th century which evolves into modern Times Square in the city of New York.
Cast and characters
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Production
New Amsterdam was created by Allan Loeb and Christian Taylor, who also served as executive producers alongside David Manson, Leslie Holleran, Steven Pearl and Lasse Hallström. The latter also directed the pilot. Produced by Laha Films, Regency Television, Sarabande Productions and Scarlet Fire Entertainment, the series was greenlit and given a thirteen-episode order on May 11, 2007. The series was scheduled to premiere in the fall of 2007, consequently airing on Tuesday nights at 8:00/7:00c on Fox, but it was held as a mid-season replacement and began airing in March 2008.
On Tuesday, October 16, 2007, an article in The Hollywood Reporter stated that production on New Amsterdam had been stopped for an indefinite period, with "seven episodes of the series in the can". The article also mentioned that Fox decided to review the series and then decide whether or not to order new episodes, something that the article writer asserted was considered to be unlikely. A pre-air version of the Pilot episode was leaked onto internet file-sharing services on December 2, 2007.
On January 23, 2008, Fox resumed airing commercials for the show stated "coming soon". Following the premiere another preview episode aired on March 6, 2008 (at 9:00 PM/8:00 PM Central), before the series moved to its regular timeslot on March 10, 2008. The series also aired on Global in Canada. Global ran the first episode one hour before the U.S. broadcast, and the second episode one day before the U.S. broadcast.
On May 11, 2008, it was announced that Fox had decided to cancel New Amsterdam. The show was nominated for a 2008 Emmy Award for Main Title Design, but lost out to Mad Men.