Emergence (TV series)
Emergence is an American mystery-themed thriller television series created by Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas for ABC Studios. Originally intended to be produced as a potential series prospect for NBC after it had ordered a pilot, the hour-long program was picked up by ABC, which added it to its 2019–20 television schedule lineup, where it debuted on September 24, 2019, as a Tuesday night entry. In May 2020, the series was canceled after one season. Premise. A police chief in Southold on Long Island's Peconic Bay takes in a young child whom she finds  near the site of a mysterious accident, but soon discovers that the girl has no memory of what has happened or who she is. The child's mystery becomes more intense than expected when the chief starts investigating the history that led up to the accident and the questions of how and why it happened, dating back 15 years. A series of bizarre electronic disruptions, unexplained forces and a strange cryptic symbol are also at play, all of which are related to the young girl. Production. Development. On January 11, 2019, it was announced that NBC had given "Emergence" a  pilot order. The pilot was written by Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas, who executive produced alongside Paul McGuigan and Robert Atwood. Production companies involved with the pilot included Fazekas & Butters and ABC Studios. After the pilot was completed, NBC declined to pick up the project; however, ABC ordered it to series on May 11, 2019. A day after that, it was announced that the series would premiere in the fall of 2019 and air on Tuesdays at 10:00 P.M. The series debuted on September 24, 2019. On May 21, 2020, ABC canceled the series after one season. Casting. In February  2019, it was announced that Allison Tolman and Alexa Skye Swinton had been cast in the pilot's lead roles. Alongside the pilot's order announcement, in March 2019 it was reported that Owain Yeoman, Donald Faison, and Zabryna Guevara had joined the cast. On August 19, 2019, it was announced that Terry O'Quinn would join the cast in a recurring role as Richard Kindred, starting with the third episode. Release. On May 14, 2019, ABC released the first official trailer for the series. It featured the song "Hush (feat. Garrison Starr)" by Seibold. On August 27, 2019, a 10 -minute preview was made available for viewing on its official website, YouTube, and Facebook accounts. The preview also gave viewers keys to a series of clues leading up to the storyline, as reflected in the names of the episode titles. Reception. Critical response. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 94% approval rating with an average rating of 7.2/10, based on 34 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Led by an outstanding Allison Tolman, "Emergence" avoids becoming just another mystery-box mess with strongly-written characters that will keep viewers caring no matter the resolution." Metacritic, which uses  a weighted average, assigned a score of 69 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". "Los Angeles Times" reviewer Robert Lloyd notes the "not unfamiliar" premise comparisons to other media, such as series "Believe", "Stranger Things" and the films "Firestarter" and even "E.T." What makes "Emergence" different, notes Lloyd, is Allison Tolman's ability to "fill the screen with thought" and almost single-handedly transform "Emergence" "from a decent genre show into something richer." Subsequently, Lloyd picked the program as one of the best new shows on television in his 2019 year-end review. Emergence (TV