Alaska Daily

***Alaska Daily*** (formerly known as ***Alaska Daily News***; ***Alaska***) is an American drama created by Tom McCarthy for ABC. It is produced by Slow Pony Productions, Co-lab21 and 20th Television, being distributed by Disney Platform Distribution. It stars Hilary Swank as a Eileen Fitzgerald, who is seeking a fresh start as a journalist in Anchorage, Alaska, following a mishap. Additional stars are Jeff Perry, Grace Dove, Meredith Holzman, Matt Malloy, Pablo Castelblanco, Ami Park and Craig Frank. It premiered on October 6, 2022 on ABC and concluded on March 30, 2023.

On May 13, 2022, it was announced that ABC had picked the series for a run.

On June 17, 2022, along with the premiere date announcement, the name of the show changed once more from "**Alaska**" to "**Alaska Daily**."

On September 14, 2022, at 8:30 p.m., ABC will premiere a sneak peek at the fall primetime lineup. The network will invite viewers to enjoy an early look at “Alaska Daily,” among many other Emmy-nominated shows.

On May 12, 2023, ABC cancelled the series after one season.

## Premise

From the mind of Tom McCarthy (“Spotlight”), “Alaska Daily” stars Hilary Swank as Eileen Fitzgerald, a fiercely talented and award-winning investigative journalist who leaves her high-profile New York life behind after a fall from grace to join a daily metro newspaper in Anchorage on a journey to find both personal and professional redemption.

## Content

### Seasons

 A journalist moves to Alaska for a fresh start after a career-killing misstep, and finds redemption personally and professionally joining a daily metro newspaper in Anchorage.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Hilary Swank as Eileen Fitzgerald, a recently disgraced reporter who leaves her high-profile New York life behind to join a daily metro newspaper in Anchorage on a journey to find both personal and professional redemption.
* Jeff Perry as Stanley Kornik, is the editor in Anchorage who offers Eileen the job, having worked with her 20 years ago at a metro daily in the lower 48.
* Grace Dove as Rosalind “Roz” Friendly, a native Alaskan and star reporter for the Daily Alaskan who Stanley assigns to write with Eileen on her investigation. Having a family member who was a victim of an unsolved crime, Roz has a personal connection to the story and that drives her to keep searching for the truth.
* Meredith Holzman as Claire Muncy, veteran Daily Alaskan reporter who helps Eileen and Roz with the investigation. She deals with a personal struggle to find the balance between work and home life as a mother of two.
* Matt Malloy as Bob Young, Daily Alaskan senior reporter and acting news editor.
* Pablo Castelblanco as Gabriel Tovar, a chatty Daily Alaskan employee.
* Ami Park as Yuna Park, a Daily Alaskan cub reporter who quickly learns that reporting the truth isn’t always easy.
* Craig Frank as Austin Teague, a Daily Alaskan reporter who isn’t afraid to challenge his colleagues and represent the community.

## Production notes

### Development

On September 13, 2021, it was announced that Hilary Swank was to star in and executive produce a drama pilot for ABC that came from *Spotlight* and *Stillwater* director Tom McCarthy. Swank will play a star journalist who moves to Alaska for a fresh start after a career-killing misstep, and finds redemption personally and professionally joining a daily metro newspaper in Anchorage. The pilot will be written, directed and executive produced by McCarthy through his Slow Pony production company. Slow Pony’s Melissa Wells will executive produce alongside *Anchorage Daily News* President and CEO Ryan Binkley and reporter Kyle Hopkins. Former Fox 21 Television Studios boss Bert Salke, will executive produce through this Co-lab21 banner. 20th Television is the production studio. On May 31, 2022, it was announced that Peter Elkoff had joined the series as executive producer and showrunner. It was also announced that Rae Baron was a co-producer. On June 17, 2022, the show was renamed **Alaska Daily**. On May 12, 2023, ABC cancelled *Alaska Daily* after one season due to the freshman series not being able to establish itself and find a sizable following.

### Series Credits

The series' credits indicate the program was inspired by the 2019 *Anchorage Daily News* and ProPublica article series *Lawless: Sexual Violence in Alaska*, as well as subsequent related reporting by the project's lead reporter Kyle Hopkins. The *Daily News* agreed to work with the show's producers, resulting in Hopkins as well as *ADN* president Ryan Binkley being credited as executive producers on the TV series; however, *Alaska Daily* is not a dramatization of the specific events documented in the *Lawless* project.

### Filming

Filming for the pilot took place between October and November 2021 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Preparations for filming began on August 3, 2022 in Cloverdale, British Columbia, with the rest of the season filmed from August 8, 2022 until January 13, 2023 in Vancouver, British Columbia and surrounding areas. In the week of August 8, the cast and crew were seen filming at a location called "Rita's Diner" in Cloverdale with the building even being seen caught on fire. From August 14 until the 16, the cast and crew will film on the Steveston Harbour Authority docks. Filming then took place in New Westminster between August 30 and September 6, 2022. The cast and crew periodically filmed until January 2023 at 612 Columbia St in Burnaby, BC. On December 8, 2022, Ami Park posted to her Instagram story stating that they were currently filming episode 10 but episode 11 would be filming soon, being the last episode for Season 1. On December 14, 2022, Grace Dove posted an Instagram story with the caption "That's a wrap on episode 10. Finale starts tomorrow!!!" And later on December 15, Vera Starbard posted a TikTok of the finale script. A day later, Meredith Holzman posted an Instagram story with the caption "First day of the last episode for this season of @alaskadailyabc. It's a good one!"

Filming on Season 1 officially concluded on January 6, 2023.

### Casting

On September 13, 2021, alongside the announcement of the pilot order, it was announced that Hilary Swank was to star in the pilot. On October 7, 2021, it was announced that Jeff Perry would star opposite Swank as Stanley Kornik (formerly Cornik). On May 13, 2022, it was announced that Matt Malloy, Meredith Holzman, Grace Dove, Pablo Castelblanco, Ami Park and Craig Frank had joined the cast, set in series regular roles as Bob Young, Claire Muncy, Rosalind “Roz” Friendly, Gabriel Tovar (formerly Martin), Yuna Park (formerly Jieun Park) and Austin Teague (formerly Greene), respectively.

## Broadcast

On September 14, 2022, ABC premiered an early look at “Alaska Daily,” among many other Emmy-nominated shows. *Alaska Daily* premiered on Thursday, October 6, 2022 on ABC. It is also set to premiere on Disney+ Internationally. The final episode premiered on March 30, 2023, closing the first season and the series overall.

## Reception

### Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 67% approval rating with an average rating of 6.3/10, based on 12 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "*Alaska Daily* awkwardly straddles the sensibilities of network TV and edgier streaming fare, but the core message about the importance of local journalism is fit to print." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 67 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

## Trivia

* The series was announced on September 13, 2021.
	+ But it was picked up for a series run on May 13, 2022.
* The plot of missing Indigenous women is based on the actual fact that Alaska has one of the highest rates of Indigenous women who are disappearing and being murdered daily.
	+ The plot of the series is also inspired by the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica Series "*LAWLESS: SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN ALASKA*," and additional, related reported by Kyle Hopkins.
* The series has had two name changed since announcement: the original name of the show was "**Alaska Daily News**", then just "**Alaska**" and it currently its at "**Alaska Daily**".
* On September 5, 2022, at 9:30 a.m., the ABC mobile application released a notification saying that episodes of Season 1 were now streaming on the app, but this was proven to just be an accidental release.
* The first full trailer was released on September 14, 2022.
* On December 11, 2022, Hilary Swank was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series for the 2023 Golden Globes.
* Eileen's actress Hilary Swank was pregnant with twins through the course of filming for the first season.

## Gallery

### Images

* Posters
* Promotional

### Videos

Alaska Daily - Coming Soon to ABCA Deeper Look at "Alaska Daily" - Starring Hillary Swank"Alaska Daily" Full Trailer - Series Premiere THURS OCT 6 on ABC - Stream on HuluAlaska Daily at PaleyFest Fall TV Previews 2022Inside ABC's New Drama "Alaska Daily"ABC's "Alaska Daily" Tackles the MMIW Crisis in America
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 ABC 2022 Fall Schedule Has ‘Bachelor In Paradise’, ‘Abbott’ & ‘Big Sky’ Move, ‘AMLT’ & ‘Wonder Years’ Held
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 ALASKA DAILY
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 ‘Alaska Daily’ Canceled After One Season At ABC
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Hilary Swank To Star In & EP Alaska-Set Drama Pilot For ABC From ‘Stillwater’ Director Tom McCarthy
5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 Hilary Swank’s ‘Alaska’, ‘The Rookie’ Spinoff & Comedy ‘Not Dead Yet’ Picked Up To Series At ABC
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 ABC Offers Captivating Sneak Peek at Fall Primetime Lineup With ‘ABC Fall Preview Special,’ Wednesday, Sept. 14
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Jeff Perry To Join Hilary Swank In Alaska-Set Drama Pilot For ABC
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 ALASKA DAILY - BIOS
9. ↑ Peter Elkoff Set As Showrunner Of New ABC Series ‘Alaska’ Starring Hilary Swank, Leaves ‘The Resident’
10. ↑ ‘Alaska Daily’: What this new TV series is — and isn’t — and how ADN is involved
11. ↑ Untitled Alaska Project (Pilot)
12. ↑ Untitled Alaska Project, with Hilary Swank currently filming at The Hudson
13. ↑ UNTITLED ALASKA PILOT With Hilary Swank Filming at The Fortress in Vancouver. 8th & Pine.
14. ↑ @Paradeguy: Anchoragedale
15. ↑ In Production List
16. ↑ DGC BC Production List
17. ↑ Notice of Filming: "Alaska Daily" - Aug 14-16 on Steveston Harbour Authority docks.
18. ↑ @WhatsFilming: Alaska Daily prepping for multiple days of filming.
19. ↑ ABC’s ALASKA DAILY With Pregnant Hilary Swank Wraps Filming Season One in Vancouver
20. ↑ ALASKA DAILY (2022 - PRESENT)
21. ↑ ALASKA DAILY: SEASON 1
22. ↑ MMIW Resources
23. ↑ ‘Alaska Daily’: Hilary Swank Tackles Cold Case In First Trailer For ABC Series