# The Old Man (TV series)

The Old Man is an American drama thriller television series based on the 2017 novel The Old Man by Thomas Perry. It was developed by Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine and premiered on FX on June 16, 2022. The first season consisted of seven episodes. Following its premiere, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on September 12, 2024. In December 2024, the series was canceled after two seasons.

## Premise

Dan Chase is a former CIA operative and Vietnam veteran, who 30 years ago was in Afghanistan. After killing an intruder who breaks into his home, Chase goes into hiding. He rents a room from Zoe McDonald, who becomes his forced partner while on the run.
FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Harold Harper is called to apprehend Chase because of his complicated past during the Soviet–Afghan War. Working alongside Harper are his protégé, FBI agent Angela Adams, CIA officer Raymond Waters, and Julian Carson, a hit-man hired by Harper to kill Chase.

## Cast and characters
### Main

* Jeff Bridges as Dan Chase / Henry Dixon / Johnny Kohler / Peter Caldwell / Lou Barlow
* John Lithgow as Harold Harper
* E. J. Bonilla as Raymond Waters (season 1)
* Bill Heck as young Johnny Kohler / Dan Chase (season 1; guest season 2)
* Leem Lubany as young Belour Hamzad (née Daadfar) (season 1; guest season 2)
* Alia Shawkat as Angela Adams / Emily Chase / Parwana Hamzad
* Gbenga Akinnagbe as Julian Carson
* Amy Brenneman as Zoe McDonald / Marcia Dixon
* Navid Negahban as Faraz Hamzad (season 2; guest season 1)
* Jacqueline Antaramian as Khadija (season 2; guest season 1)

### Recurring

* Hiam Abbass as Belour Hamzad (née Daadfar) / Abbey Chase (season 1)
* Jessica Harper as Cheryl Harper (season 1; guest season 2)
* Joel Grey as Morgan Bote (season 1; guest season 2)
* Kenneth Mitchell as Joe (season 1)
* Pej Vahdat as young Faraz Hamzad (season 1; guest season 2)
* Noor Razooky as young Khadija (season 1)
* Echo Kellum as Mike (season 1)
* Rade Serbedzija as Suleyman Pavlovic (season 2; guest season 1)
* Janet McTeer as Marion (season 2)
* Artur Zai Barrera as Omar (season 2)
* Sara Seyed as Faruza (season 2)
* Amir Malaklou as Tarik (season 2)

### Guest

* Nelson Franklin as Dr. Howard (season 1)
* Christopher Redman as young Harold Harper (season 1)
* Jessica Parker Kennedy as Woman at Bus Stop
* Rowena King as Nina Kruger
* Jordan Bridges as Zachary (season 1)
* Faran Tahir as Abdellaatif Rahmani (season 1)
* Brad Beyer as Chip Harper (season 2)
* Ana Mulvoy-Ten as Anna Rollins (season 2)
* Nikolai Nikolaeff as Fedotov (season 2)
* John Ales as Ben (season 2)
* Nick Boraine as Pete (season 2)
* Daniyar as Pavel (season 2)

## Episodes

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released |
| 1 | 7 | 7 | June 16, 2022 (2022-06-16) | July 21, 2022 (2022-07-21) |
| 2 | 8 | 8 | September 12, 2024 (2024-09-12) | October 24, 2024 (2024-10-24) |

### Season 1 (2022)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 1 | 1 | "I" | Jon Watts | Teleplay by : Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine | June 16, 2022 (2022-06-16) | 1CLE01 | 0.975 |
| 2 | 2 | "II" | Jon Watts | Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine | June 16, 2022 (2022-06-16) | 1CLE02 | 0.643 |
| 3 | 3 | "III" | Greg Yaitanes | Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine | June 23, 2022 (2022-06-23) | 1CLE03 | 0.821 |
| 4 | 4 | "IV" | Greg Yaitanes | Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine | June 30, 2022 (2022-06-30) | 1CLE04 | 0.904 |
| 5 | 5 | "V" | Zetna Fuentes | Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine | July 7, 2022 (2022-07-07) | 1CLE05 | 1.076 |
| 6 | 6 | "VI" | Jet Wilkinson | Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine | July 14, 2022 (2022-07-14) | 1CLE06 | 0.769 |
| 7 | 7 | "VII" | Jet Wilkinson | Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine | July 21, 2022 (2022-07-21) | 1CLE07 | 0.773 |

### Season 2 (2024)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 8 | 1 | "VIII" | Steve Boyum | Jonathan E. Steinberg | September 12, 2024 (2024-09-12) | 2CLE01 | 0.503 |
| 9 | 2 | "IX" | Jet Wilkinson | Jonathan E. Steinberg | September 12, 2024 (2024-09-12) | 2CLE02 | 0.503 |
| 10 | 3 | "X" | Steve Boyum | Story by : Jonathan E. Steinberg & Hennah Sekander Teleplay by : Jonathan E. Steinberg | September 19, 2024 (2024-09-19) | 2CLE03 | 0.483 |
| 11 | 4 | "XI" | Uta Briesewitz | Story by : Jonathan E. Steinberg & Craig Silverstein Teleplay by : Jonathan E. Steinberg | September 26, 2024 (2024-09-26) | 2CLE04 | N/A |
| 12 | 5 | "XII" | Ben Semanoff | Story by : Jonathan E. Steinberg & Elwood Reid Teleplay by : Jonathan E. Steinberg | October 3, 2024 (2024-10-03) | 2CLE05 | 0.351 |
| 13 | 6 | "XIII" | Uta Briesewitz | Story by : Jonathan E. Steinberg & Elwood Reid Teleplay by : Jonathan E. Steinberg | October 10, 2024 (2024-10-10) | 2CLE06 | N/A |
| 14 | 7 | "XIV" | Jason Ensler | Story by : Jonathan E. Steinberg & Daphne Olive Teleplay by : Jonathan E. Steinberg | October 17, 2024 (2024-10-17) | 2CLE07 | 0.242 |
| 15 | 8 | "XV" | Lukas Ettlin | Jonathan E. Steinberg | October 24, 2024 (2024-10-24) | 2CLE08 | 0.322 |

## Production

The series was announced in July 2019, with FX ordering a pilot with Jeff Bridges cast to star. In September, Jon Watts was set to direct the pilot and be an executive producer, with John Lithgow and Amy Brenneman added to the cast. Alia Shawkat joined in October. In November, Bob Iger announced that the show would air on FX on Hulu, and Austin Stowell was added to play a younger version of Chase. In February 2020, Kenneth Mitchell disclosed he had a role in the series. Stowell would be recast in March 2020 with Bill Heck, and Gbenga Akinnagbe, Leem Lubany, and E. J. Bonilla cast in main roles. Navid Negahban and Pej Vahdat were cast in recurring roles in December 2020.
Shooting the series was two-thirds complete when production shut down in mid-March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production resumed in late 2020 with three episodes remaining to film, but was soon halted when Bridges was diagnosed with lymphoma in October 2020 and departed for cancer treatment. The show stayed in production for a short period after his diagnosis to shoot scenes from the remaining episodes that do not feature his character. In September 2021, he announced his cancer was in remission. Production ultimately resumed in February 2022.
The first season consisted of seven episodes. The series was scored by T Bone Burnett and Patrick Warren, with incidental music included Elvis Costello, Charlie Parker, Robert Plant, and others.
On June 27, 2022, the series was renewed for a second season. In May 2023, it was reported that filming of the second season was suspended due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. On December 17, 2024, the series was canceled after two seasons.

## Release

The series premiered on June 16, 2022, on FX in the United States and Canada. It also premiered on Disney+ (Star) on July 13, 2022, in Australia and New Zealand, Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ Hotstar in India. The second season premiered on September 12, 2024, on FX.

## Reception
### Critical response

For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 97% approval rating with an average rating of 7.4/10, based on 61 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Old Man is just as intrepid and spiky—and derivative—as younger action heroes, with Jeff Bridges lending invaluable gravitas to this bone-crunching thriller." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
For the second season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 64% approval rating with an average rating of 6.5/10, based on 14 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus states, "Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow remain a compulsively watchable pair, but there's a nagging sense that The Old Man has lost a step in this overextended sophomore season." Metacritic assigned a score of 66 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

### Ratings

The premiere of The Old Man on June 16, with its first two episodes, became the most-watched cable series premiere since January 2021, surpassing 60 other cable dramas, comedies, and limited series. It also marked the most-watched FX series debut on Hulu for its opening weekend.

### Accolades

| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
| 2022 | Australian Cinematographers Society Awards | Telefeatures, TV Dramas & Mini Series | Jules O'Loughlin | Won |
| 2023 | Golden Globes Awards | Best Actor in a Drama Series | Jeff Bridges | Nominated |
| 2023 | Golden Globes Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Musical/Comedy or Drama Series | John Lithgow | Nominated |
| 2023 | Critics Choice Awards | Best Actor in a Drama Series | Jeff Bridges | Nominated |
| 2023 | Critics Choice Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | John Lithgow | Nominated |
| 2023 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series | Jeff Bridges | Nominated |
| 2023 | Satellite Awards | Best Actor in a Miniseries, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television | Jeff Bridges | Nominated |
| 2023 | Satellite Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television | John Lithgow | Won |
| 2023 | Satellite Awards | Best Miniseries and Limited Series | The Old Man | Nominated |
| 2023 | AARP Movies for Grownups Awards | Best Actor - Television | Jeff Bridges | Won |
| 2023 | AARP Movies for Grownups Awards | Best Television Series | The Old Man | Won |
| 2023 | American Society of Cinematographers Awards | Episode of a One-Hour Television Series – Commercial | Jules O'Loughlin | Won |
| 2023 | Visual Effects Society Awards | Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode | Erik Henry, Matt Robken, Jamie Klein, Sylvain Theroux, J.D. Streett | Nominated |
| 2023 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series | Jeff Bridges | Nominated |
| 2023 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Cinematography for a Series (One Hour) | Sean Porter (for "I") | Nominated |
| 2025 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series | Jeff Bridges | Pending |

## Footnotes

* ↑ Touchstone Television is credited as copyright holder for season 1 as it was originally developed at Fox21 Television Studios, later rebranded to Touchstone Television in 2020 before being shut down and folding into 20th Television.