Felicity (TV series)

Felicity

Title screen used for the first two seasons
Genre College drama
Created by J. J. Abrams
Matt Reeves
Starring Keri Russell
Scott Speedman
Amy Jo Johnson
Tangi Miller
Scott Foley
Greg Grunberg
Amanda Foreman
Ian Gomez
Narrated by Janeane Garofalo
Keri Russell
Theme music composer Judith Owen
J. J. Abrams
Andrew Jarecki
Opening theme "Felicity Theme" (seasons 1-2)
"New Version of You" (seasons 3-4)
Composer(s) W. G. Snuffy Walden
Joseph Williams
Danny Pelfrey
Jon Huck
John Zuker
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 84 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) J. J. Abrams
Brian Grazer
Tony Krantz
Matt Reeves
Jennifer Levin
Ron Howard
John Eisendrath
Laurie McCarthy
Location(s) New York City
Los Angeles
University of Southern California
Cinematography Robert Primes
Michael Bonvillain
Marshall Adams
Camera setup Single-camera setup
Running time 42–45 minutes
Production company(s) Touchstone Television
Imagine Television
Distributor Buena Vista Television
Release
Original network The WB
Picture format NTSC (480i)
Audio format Stereophonic
First shown in United States
Original release September 29, 1998 (1998-09-29) – May 22, 2002 (2002-05-22)

Felicity is an American drama television series created by J. J. Abrams and Matt Reeves and produced by Touchstone Television and Imagine Television for The WB. Brian Grazer and Ron Howard were executive producers through Imagine Entertainment.

The series revolves around the fictional college experiences of the title character, Felicity Porter (portrayed by Keri Russell), as she attends the "University of New York" (based on New York University), across the country from her home in Palo Alto, California. The show ran for four seasons from September 29, 1998 and ended on May 22, 2002, with each season corresponding to the traditional American university divisions of freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years.

In 2007, Felicity was one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-Time."[1] AOL TV named Felicity one of the "Best School Shows of All Time."[2] In June 2010, Entertainment Weekly named Felicity Porter one of the "100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years".[3]

Plot

The series opens at Felicity's high school graduation, where she asks Ben Covington, a classmate on whom she has a crush to sign her yearbook. Moved by his comment that she wished they had gotten to know each other further; she changes her education plans completely, deciding to follow Ben to New York rather than attend Stanford University as a pre-med student. Felicity's overbearing parents, concerned about Felicity's seemingly rash decision, come to New York to try to persuade her to return home and "get back on track". Felicity has second thoughts about her decision, but soon realizes that she came not only to follow Ben, but to discover her true inner self.

While Felicity works to sort out her emotions, she continues the basic motions of student life and moves into her dorm. There, she meets the resident advisor Noel Crane. Eventually, romance ensues, and the relationships among Felicity, Ben, and Noel form the basic dramatic conflicts in the show throughout the series.

A number of other characters appear and play large roles in Felicity's life. Her roommate for the first two years is Meghan Rotundi, a goth Wiccan who occasionally "casts spells" on Felicity and others. Julie Emrick is one of Felicity's best friends, as is Elena Tyler, who often takes classes with Felicity. Felicity also has male friends, including Sean Blumberg, who is always trying to produce new off-kilter inventions, and Javier Clemente Quintata, who manages the coffee house Dean & DeLuca, where Felicity works for most of her college career.

A recurring episode opener of the show is a stark camera shot of Felicity sitting in a dormitory room or apartment holding a tape recorder, recalling events in order to make a cassette tape to send to an old friend named Sally Reardon (voiced by Janeane Garofalo). This occasionally provides a method for Felicity to narrate an entire episode. At the end of episodes like this, Felicity is often shown to be listening to a tape that Sally has sent in reply.

Cast and characters

Characters are listed in title credit order and by appearance on the show.

Character Portrayed by Season
1st: Freshman Year 2nd: Sophomore Year 3rd: Junior Year 4th: Senior Year
Felicity Porter Keri Russell Main
Ben Covington Scott Speedman Main
Julie Emrick Amy Jo Johnson Main Special Guest
Elena Tyler Tangi Miller Main
Noel Crane Scott Foley Main
Sean Blumberg Greg Grunberg Recurring Main
Meghan Rotundi Amanda Foreman Recurring Main
Javier Clemente Quintata Ian Gomez Recurring Main

Production

Setting

Felicity was filmed in part in New York City, and is set at the fictional University of New York (UNY), based on New York University (NYU). Like NYU, UNY is located in Greenwich Village near Washington Square Park, and the school is an important part of the show. Although like other universities, NYU normally welcomes being mentioned in film or on television as free product placement, the university refused permission for the show to use its name, stating that "[t]he negatives kind of outweighed the positives."[4]

Writer's age

In 1999, a publicly hyped young writer for the show, Riley Weston, was disclosed as a fraud for claiming to be much younger than she truly was. At the age of 32, she began marketing herself to television studios as a recent high school graduate, passing off her husband as her older brother. She was soon hired by the WB Network as a writer for Felicity.[5] Hailed as a child prodigy and "wunderkind",[6] she was featured on Entertainment Weekly's October 1998 list of the "100 Most Creative People in Entertainment", which described her as an up-and-coming 19-year-old. Shortly thereafter, she was offered a six-figure screenwriting deal with Disney.[7] Her real identity and age were exposed after a Felicity producer checked her social security number. Soon afterward, her contract with WB expired and was not renewed, and her deal with Disney fell through.

Time-slot and hairstyle changes

In the summer of 1999, after filming the first season,[8] Felicity star Russellknown for what The New York Times described as "[t]hat glorious head of voluminous golden backlit hair"[9]sent the show's producers a photo wearing a short-haired wig. They panicked before learning that it was a joke but then suggested to the actress that a new hairstyle would be appropriate.[8] After being shifted from Tuesday nights at 9:00 PM Eastern to Sunday nights at 8:00 PM Eastern (WB's weakest night) for the 1999–2000 season, the ratings for Felicity declined immediately. This decline was before the hair-style change, but the later hair-style change became conflated by some of the public and by some of the popular press[9] and network executives with this earlier event and thus incorrectly blamed the earlier ratings drop partly on the later new hairstyle. After the negative reaction Russell rejected wearing extensions or a wig while her hair grew back. Although storytelling and time-slot changes had already created a ratings decline, a network executive said WB actors' future hair changes would "be given more thought at the network than it previously would have".[8] In 2010, TV Guide Network listed the hairstyle change at No. 19 on their list of "25 Biggest TV Blunders," with several commentators arguing that it was the reason that the ratings of the show dropped.[10]

The haircut incident went on to become a popular culture reference within other television shows, both comedic and dramatic. In the 30 Rock episode "The Bubble," Jenna discusses how to get her hair cut and says, "But if I make the wrong choice, I could end up like Keri Russell, Felicity, season 2." When a girl cuts off her hair due to supernatural forces in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Where the Wild Things Are", the character Xander remarks, "People are going all Felicity with their hair", while in the One Tree Hill episode "The Desperate Kingdom of Love", when Lucas walks up to Keith at the beach, his uncle says, "Nice job, Felicity", referring to his new shorter haircut. Teen-aged Claire of the drama series Six Feet Under tells her mother that she wants to cut off all her hair like Felicity, to which her mother replies, "Do I know her?"—Claire replies sarcastically, "Yeah, she came over for dinner once." In the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode "Making the Grade", animosity over an exposé she had written prompts Sabrina to ask, "[W]hy is everyone looking at me like I'm the girl who told Felicity to cut her hair?" In the Gilmore Girls episode "Here Comes the Son", the character Paris, debating whether to follow her boyfriend to Princeton instead of going to Harvard, says, "Suddenly, I'm Felicity without the hair issues." In the Happy Endings episode "The Code War", Max perms Dave's hair while the latter is sleeping. Upon seeing his new do, Penny quips, "You look like Keri Russell after she ruined Felicity."[11] In the Family Guy episode "Friends Without Benefits", Chris declares he went through a rough time when Felicity cut her hair, as he used to have that same brown and curly haircut.

Despite the controversy, Felicity survived for two more seasons.

Ratings

The series debut garnered 7.1 million viewers.[12]

Season Episodes Original airing Rank Viewers
(in millions)
Season premiere Season finale TV season
1st 22 September 29, 1998 May 25, 1999 1998–1999 #124[13] 4.4[14]
2nd 23 September 26, 1999 May 24, 2000 1999–2000 #135[15] 2.2[15]
3rd 17 October 4, 2000 May 23, 2001 2000–2001 #123[16] 2.8[16]
4th 22 October 10, 2001 May 22, 2002 2001–2002 #129[17] 3.2[18]

Accolades

Felicity was nominated for 38 awards during its run from 1998 to 2002 and won several, including an Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Series for Robert Primes and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama for Keri Russell.[19]

Year Group Category Recipient(s) and nominees(s) Result
1999 People's Choice Awards Favorite TV Drama Felicity Won
Favorite TV Drama Actress Keri Russell Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Actress – Drama Series Keri Russell Won
Best Series – Drama Felicity Nominated
OFTA Television Awards Best Actress in a New Drama Series Keri Russell Won
Best Actress in a Drama Series Keri Russell Nominated
Best New Drama Series Felicity Nominated
Best Direction in a Drama Series Felicity Nominated
Best Music in a Series Felicity Nominated
Best New Theme Song in a Series W.G. Snuffy Walden Nominated
Best New Titles Sequence in a Series Felicity Nominated
Eddie Awards Best Edited Series for Television Stan Salfas
Warren Bowman
Nominated
Artios Awards Best Casting for TV, Dramatic Pilot Marcia Shulman Won
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Cinematography for a Series Robert Primes Won
Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Breakout Performance Keri Russell Won
Scott Speedman Nominated
Scott Foley Nominated
Choice TV: Actor Scott Foley Nominated
Choice TV: Actress Amy Jo Johnson Nominated
Choice TV: Drama Series Felicity Nominated
Television Critics Association Awards Outstanding New Program Felicity Nominated
2000 American Society of Cinematographers Awards Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Regular Series Robert Primes Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Music Composition for a Series Danny Pelfrey
W.G. Snuffy Walden
Nominated
ALMA Awards Special Achievement Award Ian Gomez Won
Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Actor Scott Speedman Nominated
Scott Foley Nominated
Choice TV Actress Keri Russell Nominated
Choice TV Show: Drama Felicity Nominated
Choice TV: Sidekick Amy Jo Johnson Nominated
Ian Gomez Nominated
GLAAD Media Awards Outstanding TV Drama Series Felicity Nominated
2001 Felicity Nominated
Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Actress Keri Russell Nominated
Choice TV Show: Drama Felicity Nominated
2002 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV Actor: Drama Scott Speedman Nominated
Scott Foley Nominated
Choice TV Actress: Drama Keri Russell Nominated
Choice TV: Action/Drama Felicity Nominated
NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series Tangi Miller Nominated

Home media

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the DVDs over a period of four years. Because of high music licensing costs, many of the songs from the original broadcast episodes were replaced in the DVD releases, some of them with songs by artists from the independent label Rescue Records. Blaire Reinhard ("Over and Over" and "Can't Let Go"), Mike Schmidt ("Just Wave Goodbye"), and Beth Thornley ("Mr. Lovely") are some of the artists whose music was used for the DVDs but not the original broadcasts.

In a commentary track on the final episode of Disney/Buena Vista's original Freshman Year Collection DVD release ("Felicity Was Here"), co-creator Matt Reeves said the pilot and season finale contained the same music as when the show originally aired, but some other episodes contained changes. "One of the sad things about going into syndication is that certain rights that we were able to get in the first year we weren't able to get," Reeves said. "In the pilot and in this episode we have all the original music as it appeared on the series."

Some episodes did not have proper telecine encoding and when viewed on an HDTV some interlacing artifacts are visible. All four seasons were re-released on DVD by ABC Studios on April 7, 2009 in "slimmer" packaging.[20][21][22][23] These region 1 releases have been discontinued and are now out of print.

On February 9, 2012, it was announced that Lionsgate Home Entertainment had acquired the rights to the series and planned on re-releasing it. Seasons 1 and 2 were re-released on May 1, 2012 and do not contain any extras, subtitles, or other languages besides English.[24][25][26] Seasons 3 and 4 were re-released on May 7, 2013.[27]

Title Release Details Special features
Felicity: Freshman Year Collection
  • November 5, 2002
    (United States)
  • November 4, 2003 (Australia)
  • 22 episodes
  • 6-disc set
  • 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
  • Subtitles: English
  • Languages:
    • English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
  • Audio commentary on "Pilot"
    • J. J. Abrams and Matt Reeves (Co-creators and executive producers)
  • Audio commentary on "Felicity Was Here"
    • J. J. Abrams and Matt Reeves (Co-creators and executive producers)
Felicity: Sophomore Year Collection
  • July 22, 2003
    (United States)
  • 23 episodes
  • 6-disc set
  • 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
  • Subtitles: English
  • Languages:
    • English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
    • Spanish
  • 5 audio commentaries
  • Never-before-seen Network Pilot episode
  • Keri Russell's audition
  • Felicity "Emmy Parody" spoof (Produced for the Emmy broadcast)[28]
Felicity: Junior Year Collection
  • September 21, 2004 (United States)
  • 17 episodes
  • 5-disc set
  • 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
  • Subtitles: English
  • Languages:
    • English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
    • Spanish
  • Audio commentaries
  • "Docuventary: A Look Back at Season 3 with Greg Grunberg"
  • Mad TV Parody[29]
Felicity: Senior Year Collection
  • March 8, 2005
    (United States)
  • 22 episodes
  • 6-disc set
  • 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
  • Subtitles: English
  • Languages:
    • English (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround)
    • Spanish
  • Audio commentaries
  • "The Lost Elena Scenes" – This exclusive, never-before-seen footage provides the long-awaited answer to Felicity fans' Biggest Question!
  • "Fade Out" – Behind-the-scenes reflections with Keri Russell and the show's creators
  • Creating characters – Q&A with J. J. Abrams, Keri Russell, Matt Reeves, and Jennifer Garner[30]

International distribution

Although Felicity was filmed and aired in the United States, it was shown worldwide.

References

  1. Poniewozik, James (September 6, 2007). "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-Time". Time. Time Inc. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  2. "Best School Shows of All Time". AOL TV. Aol, Inc. August 26, 2008. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  3. Adam B. Vary (June 1, 2010). "The 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years: Here's our full list!". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
  4. Gates, Anita (September 2, 1998). "N.Y.U. Says, 'No, Thanks' To Star Role In a Sitcom". NYTimes.com. Retrieved April 27, 2012.
  5. Bernard Weinraub (1998-10-17). "TV Writer, 32, Passed for 19; Bloom Is Off Her Contract". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  6. Elber, Lynn (October 15, 1998). "Teen Wunderkind TV Writer Unmasked". Associated Press. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  7. Jenny Hontz (1998-10-15). "Old enough to know better". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  8. 1 2 3 Owen, Rob (January 21, 2000). "On the Tube: The ratings dropped with her golden locks – WB says grow it back". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved November 15, 2007.
  9. 1 2 Gates, Anita (2000-01-21). "Entering the Lovelorn Zone: Felicity's Fifth Dimension". The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  10. "Breaking News – TV Guide Network's "25 Biggest TV Blunders" Special Delivers 3.3 Million Viewers". The Futon Critic. March 2, 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
  11. Howland, Kara. "Happy Endings' Moment of Goodness: Dave's Tight Curl Perm "The Code War"". Retrieved December 3, 2011.
  12. de Moraes, Lisa (September 11, 2008). "Why Did 'Fringe' Unravel? Blame It on the TV God". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 11, 2008.
  13. "Final ratings for the 1998–1999 TV season". OoCities.org. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
  14. "Final ratings for the 1998–1999 TV season". GeoCities. Archived from the original on October 29, 2009. Retrieved April 11, 2008.
  15. 1 2 "TV Ratings 1999–2000". Chez.com. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
  16. 1 2 "TV Ratings 2000–2001". Chez.com. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
  17. "TV Ratings 2001–2002". Chez.com. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
  18. "How did your favorite show rate?". USA Today. Nielsen Media Research. May 28, 2002. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  19. "Awards for 'Felicity'". IMDb. Amazon.com. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
  20. "Felicity: The Complete First Season". Amazon.com. Retrieved March 14, 2009.
  21. "Felicity: Season Two". Amazon.com. Retrieved June 23, 2010.
  22. "Felicity: Season Three". Amazon.com. Retrieved June 23, 2010.
  23. "Felicity: Season Four". Amazon.com. Retrieved June 23, 2010.
  24. "'Felicity' – Lionsgate Picks Up Rights, Schedules Re-Issues for Felicity, Samantha Who? and Dirty Sexy Money". TV Shows on TV. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
  25. "Felicity – Season 1". LionsGateShop.com. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
  26. "Felicity – Season 2". LionsGateShop.com. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
  27. "Felicity DVD news: Box Art for Felicity - Season 3 and Felicity - Season 4 - TVShowsOnDVD.com". tvshowsondvd.com.
  28. "Felicity: The Complete Second Season". Video.com. Retrieved June 23, 2010.
  29. "Felicity: The Complete Third Season". Video.com. Retrieved June 23, 2010.
  30. "Felicity: The Complete Fourth Season". Video.com. Retrieved June 23, 2010.
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