Cold Feet (American TV series)

Cold Feet is an American comedy-drama television series produced by Kerry Ehrin Productions and Granada Entertainment USA for NBC. Based on the British TV series of the same name, the series follows three Seattle couples, each at different stages of their romantic relationships. It premiered on September 24, 1999 to mixed reviews and was canceled on October 29, 1999, one month later because of falling ratings. Eight episodes were produced, of which four aired.

Cold Feet
GenreComedy drama
Based onCold Feet
by Mike Bullen
Developed byKerry Ehrin
Starring
ComposerDavid Schwartz
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes8 (4 unaired)
Production
Executive producers
  • Kerry Ehrin
  • Scott Siegler
  • Rob Thompson
ProducerMark A. Burley
Production locationsVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Running time60 minutes
Production companies
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 24 (1999-09-24) –
October 29, 1999 (1999-10-29)

Production

The British production of Cold Feet first aired as a one-off television pilot in 1997. Despite low ratings and few critical reviews, it won the prestigious Rose d'Or at that year's Montreux Television Festival, and British broadcaster ITV commissioned a six-episode series of the show. Granada Entertainment USA, the American arm of the series producer Granada, tendered the series to U.S. networks and cable channels from late 1997, with the format eventually being sold to NBC, which commissioned thirteen 60-minute episodes in May 1999 for the Fall season.[1][2] The series was broadcast at 10 p.m. on Friday nights, in the timeslot occupied by Homicide: Life on the Street in previous seasons. Most episodes were written by Kerry Ehrin, who strived to make the series similar to the original. The series was shot at NBC's studios in Vancouver, British Columbia.[3]

Characters

Episodes
No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code
1"Pilot"Nicole HolofcenerKerry EhrinSeptember 24, 1999 (1999-09-24)63551
2"A Thong, a Potty and a Napoleon"Nick MarckKerry EhrinOctober 1, 1999 (1999-10-01)63552
3"How Much is that Sex Act in the Window"Rob ThompsonKerry EhrinOctober 22, 1999 (1999-10-22)63553
4"The Strange Loves of Shelley Bumstead"Joe NapolitanoKerry Ehrin & Craig MunsonOctober 29, 1999 (1999-10-29)63554
5"An Affair to Dismember"TBDTBDUnaired63555
6"I've Got a Crush on You, Frigidaire"TBDTBDUnaired63556
7"Trying to Do the Right Thing"TBDTBDUnaired63557
8"Girls' Night Out, Boys' Night In"TBDTBDUnaired63558

Reception

Critics

Writing in Variety, Ray Richmond described the pilot as "more or less a primer on selfishness" and "breezy and entertaining", predicting the series would retain viewers in the following weeks.[3] Entertainment Weekly called the scene in which Adam stands with a rose clenched in his buttocks the peak of the episode, but was not impressed by the series replacing Homicide.[4] Humor website TeeVee.org echoed this sentiment, but the rose scene had the opposite effect on the reviewer, who described it as giving her "mental hypothermia".[5] Fay Ripley, who played Jenny Gifford in the original British series, did not enjoy it, calling it "utterly shit" and criticizing the characterization of her character's American counterpart.[6] Months after the cancellation, David Bondelvitch was nominated for a Golden Reel Award at the MPSE awards for his music from the pilot.[7]

Ratings

The ratings for the first four episodes are:

# Episode Airdate Rating Share 18–49 Viewers Rank
1 "Pilot"[8] 01September 24, 1999 – – – 8.8 68
2 "A Thong, a Potty and a Napoleon" 02October 1, 1999 – – – – –
3 "How Much is that Sex Act in the Window"[9] 03October 22, 1999 2.5 8 – 5.69 –
4 "The Strange Loves of Shelley Bumstead"[10] 04October 29, 1999 3.4 6 – – –

The series averaged 4.9/9 for the four weeks it was on air, with "How Much is that Sex Act in the Window" bringing NBC its worst-ever homes rating for an original Friday night show.[10][11] Following the broadcast of "The Strange Loves of Shelley Bumstead", NBC announced the series was cancelled.[10] Granada cited the two-week hiatus between episodes two and three as the main reason for the loss of viewers.[12]

References
  1. Dawtrey, Adam (1997-11-18). "Granada in green". Variety. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  2. Staff writer (1999-05-21). "NBC gets Cold Feet from Granada USA". Broadcast.
  3. Richmond, Ray (1999-09-24). "Cold Feet". Variety. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  4. Staff writer (1999-09-10). "New Shows". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  5. Schmeiser, Lisa (1999-10-03). "Fall '99: "Cold Feet"". TeeVee.org. Archived from the original on 2005-12-15. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  6. Mackay, Neil (2001-09-09). "The talented; Miss Ripley". The Sunday Herald (at Find Articles). Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  7. Ault, Susanne (2000-02-17). "Sound editors mix in TV noms". Variety. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  8. Staff writer (1999-10-08). "Dramatic Improvement". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  9. Bierbaum, Tom (1999-10-25). "Thursday, Friday rookies fail to make Nielsen cut". Variety. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  10. Adalian, Josef (1999-11-02). "NBC ices 'Cold Feet'". Variety. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  11. Bierbaum, Tom (1999-10-27). "'Ally' gives Fox hope". Variety. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  12. Gibson, Janine (1999-11-03). "US network gets cold feet over British import". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-07-22.

Further reading
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