Being Human (North American TV series)
Being Human is a supernatural horror comedy-drama television series, based on the BBC series of the same name. It followed the same premise as the original, and starred Sam Huntington, Sam Witwer and Meaghan Rath as a werewolf, a vampire, and a ghost, respectively, who live together as roommates. The show aired its first episode on January 17, 2011. It came to a close on April 7, 2014. Plot. Three roommates seemingly in their twenties each try to keep a secret from the rest of the world. Aidan (Sam Witwer) is a 200 -year-old vampire, Josh (Sam Huntington) is a werewolf, and Sally (Meaghan Rath) is a ghost. The three try to help one another navigate the complexities of living double lives while trying to figure out their own at the same time. Series summary. Season 1. In this season, the first episode opens up with Josh and Aidan moving into an old modern style home which they eventually find out is haunted by a ghost named Sally. They soon become close friends and learn the extremity of their living situation as well as life. By the end of the season the  viewers find out just exactly how Aidan came to be a vampire and the background story of Sally's death. While also getting a glimpse into Josh's life, as he meets a woman named Nora, who he eventually grows a romantic attachment to. Season 2. After Bishop's death, Aidan has the responsibility of handling all the orphan vampires and running Boston. While also realizing his feelings for his old found love interest. During this period of chaos he is faced with trivial decisions that he must answer for, before it is too late. In the meantime, Josh and  Nora meet fellow werewolves and go on a dangerous mission to kill Ray (Josh's creator), while Sally fights her inner self, and meets her mother again for the first time since she died. Season 3. Aidan resurfaces after being buried alive in a coffin and realizes everyone from his vampire family has been swept away. After figuring this out he too comes face to face with death and has to figure out how to stop it. Nora and Josh meet a young girl and debate how to handle the situation she brings while Liam tries to turn them against  Aidan. While Sally, accidentally runs into someone from her past and has to meet with a witch to try and fix it. Season 4. Aidan and Nora make their new home for the moment in a trailer while trying to figure out how to turn Josh back normal. Aidan learns of a new vampire boss who he would not expect and tries to convince him otherwise, while pursuing his new-found love interest Kat. Nearing the end of the series, Sally comes to terms with her emotions and finally tells a special someone how she truly feels. Production and development . On June 28, 2010, "Entertainment Weekly" reported that actor Sam Witwer had signed on to play the vampire in the remake, and Meaghan Rath had signed to play the ghost with Sam Huntington close to a deal to play the werewolf. On July 7, 2010, it was announced that "Lost" and "Supernatural" alumnus Mark Pellegrino would be joining the cast as "Aidan's charismatic but menacing mentor Bishop". On March 17, 2011, Syfy announced that they would be ordering a second season of its new drama series, slated to begin airing January 16, 2012. On June 29, 2011, "Variety" reported  that actress Dichen Lachman had signed on as a regular to play a reclusive vampire in season two. Husband-and-wife team Jeremy Carver and Anna Fricke were tasked with adapting the British series for North American television. Carver said that he and Fricke hoped "to use elements of the original series while reimagining a series all of our own. I think that starts with many of the new characters and storylines that we created. I think you're going to see a show that gives a very nice nod to the original version." Carver and Fricke said they intended  to retain the original program's dark and morally ambiguous qualities. The first 13-episode season roughly follows the narrative arc of season one of the British original; however, the British version was only six episodes, so the North American program developed new stories and arcs to fill out the story line enough for 13 episodes. Some similar elements were also developed in a different manner; Carver said, "We explore these moments and what the characters experienced in the British version and say to the writers, 'What if we do this differently?" However, elements of the directorial style of the  first two episodes followed the original pilot and first regular episode of the UK series, in some cases shot-for-shot. One explicit tribute to the British series is the name of the vampire, Aidan; the character is named after Irish actor Aidan Turner, who played the vampire Mitchell in the original series. The other main characters in the North American version at first appear to correspond to their British counterparts (werewolves Josh and George, ghosts Sally and Annie, vampire leaders Bishop and Herrick), but actor Sam Witwer was keen to stress the differences between the characters in the two  programs: "These are not the same characters... There are a lot of similarities, but for example, Bishop is not Herrick. Not in the slightest. He's not the same guy." The North American series' writers, and actors, had avoided watching the British second series when it aired on BBC America until after they had finished filming their (North American) first season. Witwer told an interviewer that he had watched only the first episode, and avoided watching any more in order to avoid subconsciously mimicking Irish actor Aidan Turner's performance. At San Diego Comic Con 2011's Being Human panel , the actors confirmed that since finishing filming the first season they had finally caught up with watching the British series, but that the writers would deliberately maintain their policy of not watching anything beyond the first series of the British "Being Human", in order to ensure the North American series developed down different paths as they moved into the second season. On February 8, 2012, Syfy announced that they would be ordering a third season of the drama series. set to premiere on January 14, 2013. On April 10, 2013, Syfy announced that they were renewing Being Human for a  fourth, with 13 episodes set to air. Reception. According to Bill Gorman from the website "TV by the Numbers", season one's premiere episodes of "Being Human" averaged 1.8 million viewers, making it Syfy's most successful winter season scripted series launch since 2005. "Through its first nine weeks on Syfy, and including repeat broadcasts, "Being Human" [was] seen by 19.1 million total unique viewers." Notably, the show's audience was as high as 52% female during the second season, a first for the SyFy network.