A Gifted Man

A Gifted Man
Genre	Medical drama Supernatural drama
Created by	Susannah Grant
Starring	Patrick Wilson Jennifer Ehle Margo Martindale Liam Aiken Julie Benz Pablo Schreiber Rachelle Lefevre Afton Williamson
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	16 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jonathan Demme Susannah Grant Sarah Timberman Carl Beverly Neal Baer
Camera setup	Arri Alexa; Single-camera
Running time	44 minutes
Production company(s)	Baer Bones CBS Television Studios Timberman-Beverly Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV)
Original run	September 23, 2011 (2011-09-23) – March 2, 2012 (2012-03-02)

A Gifted Man is an American television series, which premiered on CBS on September 23, 2011.^[1] The series is about a talented but self-absorbed surgeon (Patrick Wilson) who starts questioning his purpose in life when he is visited by the spirit of his deceased ex-wife (Jennifer Ehle). The pilot episode was directed by Jonathan Demme, who also serves as an executive producer on the show along with writer Susannah Grant. The first thirteen episodes were aired in the Friday 8:00 pm timeslot (September 23, 2011 – February 10, 2012), while the final three episodes of the 16 episode season order were aired in the Friday 9:00 pm timeslot (February 17, 2012 – March 2, 2012).

On May 10, 2012, A Gifted Man was canceled by CBS.^[2]

Synopsis

Michael Holt (Patrick Wilson) is a talented but self-absorbed surgeon at an upscale New York City clinic. He lives a comfortable and materialistic life due to the wealthy clients he treats, but is nevertheless discontented with his life and acts coldly to those around him. His life is thrown into disarray, however, when he is visited by the ghost of his ex-wife Anna Paul (Jennifer Ehle), who was recently killed in a car accident. Anna asks Michael to help keep running the free clinic she previously directed, which leads Michael to be exposed to poorer patients in need who are far different from his usual clientele. Michael's sister Christina (Julie Benz), a single mother struggling to care for her troubled teenage son Milo (Liam Aiken), believes in the supernatural and is thrilled with the idea that Anna is back in Michael's life, as she insists he was a better person when she was around.^[3][4]

Cast

• Patrick Wilson as Dr. Michael Holt^[3]
• Jennifer Ehle as Anna Paul, Michael's ex-wife, who has come back as a spirit attached to Michael^[4]
• Margo Martindale as Rita Perkins-Hall, Michael's assistant^[4]
• Julie Benz as Christina Holt, Michael's sister^[4]
• Liam Aiken as Milo, Michael's nephew^[4]
• Pablo Schreiber as Anton Little Creek, a shaman and spiritual healer who helps Michael understand his otherworldly experiences.^[5]
• Rhys Coiro as Dr. Zeke Barnes, a doctor working at Anna's clinic
• Rachelle Lefevre as Dr. Kate Sykora, a doctor who takes over as director at Anna's clinic^[6]
• Afton Williamson as Autumn, a volunteer working at Anna's clinic^[4]
• Eriq La Salle as Edward "E-Mo" Morris, a psychiatrist-neurologist at Michael's clinic
• Mike Doyle as Victor Lantz, the anesthesiologist at Michael's clinic

Production

Academy Award–winning director Jonathan Demme is one of the series' executive producers.

A Gifted Man is produced by CBS Television Studios and Timberman-Beverly Productions. Jonathan Demme, Susannah Grant, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly and Neal Baer are executive producers. Demme directed and Loucas George produced the pilot episode.^[4]

On November 14, 2011, CBS ordered three additional episodes of the series, bringing the total to 16 for the season.^[7]

Ratings

Reception

During an early review of the pilot episode, HitFix writer Daniel Fienberg praised the cast as well as Demme's direction, although he questioned whether the show would be as good without Demme and feared the premise could become predictable.^[3]

The show was given a 65 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating generally favorable reviews.^[9] David Hinckley of the New York Daily News gave the show three stars out of five, saying "The cast here nails their roles, from Wilson down to support players like Emmy winner Margo Martindale as his loyal assistant, Rita. Ehle has a much trickier role and handles it well. It’s a show that wants to say something. Now it needs viewers who want to listen."^[10] Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times said "with just a few tiny modifications, A Gifted Man could be a smart satiric comedy, but I don’t think that is what Grant is shooting for," poking fun at Julie Benz's character's cosmic beliefs and dysfunctional family.^[11] Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe compared the show to Grey's Anatomy, saying "[the show] needs to transcend that limited and overused construct, and set the characters free from endless debate over whether Anna is real or not. Let the actors find drama in more earthly concerns. I think they’re up to it."^[12] Robert Bianco of USA Today says "Wilson has the magnetism and acting chops to lead a network series. [Gifted Man] could not have been given better actors. It needs to give them better in return."^[13] Phil Dyess-Nugent and Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club gave the pilot a B rating.^[14]

References

External links

• Official website
• A Gifted Man at the Internet Movie Database
• A Gifted Man at TV.com