City on a Hill (TV series)

City on a Hill is an American crime drama series created by Charlie MacLean, based on an original idea by Ben Affleck and MacLean. The series stars Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge, Amanda Clayton, Cathy Moriarty, Kevin Dunn, and Jill Hennessy.[1][2] The series premiered on June 7, 2019 (online) and June 16, 2019 (Showtime). On August 2, 2019, Showtime renewed the series for a second season, which is slated to premiere on March 28, 2021.[3]

City on a Hill
Genre	Crime drama
Created by	Chuck MacLean
Starring	Kevin Bacon Aldis Hodge Jonathan Tucker Mark O'Brien Lauren E. Banks Amanda Clayton Jere Shea Kevin Chapman Jill Hennessy
Composer	Kevin Kiner
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Chuck MacLean Tom Fontana Ben Affleck Matt Damon Jennifer Todd James Mangold Barry Levinson Michael Cuesta
Production locations	New York City, New York Boston, Massachusetts Los Angeles, California (season 1 pilot)
Running time	55–58 minutes
Production companies	Pearl Street Films The Levinson/Fontana Company Little Mountain Films
Release
Original network	Showtime
Original release	June 16, 2019 – present
External links
Website

Plot

The series is set in Boston in the early 1990s when the city was rife with violent criminals, emboldened by local law enforcement agencies in which corruption, tribalism, and "taking it to the street" were the norm—until it all suddenly changed. This is a fictional account of what was called the "Boston Miracle". The change agent is District Attorney Decourcy Ward (Aldis Hodge), who comes from Brooklyn and forms an unlikely alliance with Jackie Rohr (Kevin Bacon), a corrupt yet venerated FBI veteran who is deeply invested in maintaining the status quo. Together they take on a family of armored car robbers from Charlestown (Jonathan Tucker, Mark O'Brien, and Jimmy Cummings) in a case that grows to encompass Boston's citywide criminal justice system.

Cast

Main

• Kevin Bacon as John "Jackie" Rohr[4]
• Aldis Hodge as DeCourcy Ward[4]
• Jonathan Tucker as Francis "Frankie" Ryan[5]
• Mark O'Brien as James "Jimmy" Ryan[6]
• Lauren E. Banks as Siobhan Quay[4]
• Amanda Clayton as Cathy Ryan[4]
• Jere Shea as Henry "Hank" Signa[4]
• Kevin Chapman as Dickie Minogue[4]
• Jill Hennessy as Jennifer "Jenny" Rohr[7]

Recurring

• Cathy Moriarty as Ma Ryan
• Rory Culkin as Clay Roach
• Kevin Dunn as Nathan Rey[5]
• Vincent Elbaz as Officer Hugo Rey
• Zoe Margaret Colletti as Benedetta Rohr
• Mark Ryder as Father Doyle
• Michaela McManus as FBI Agent Sarah Rhodes
• Sarah Shahi as Rachel Benham[8]
• Jimmy Cummings as Tommy Hayes
• Georgina Reilly as Corie Struthers[9]
• James Remar as Richy Ryan[10]
• Gloria Reuben as Eloise Hastings[10]

Episodes

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired
	1	10		June 7, 2019 (online) June 16, 2019 (Showtime)	August 18, 2019
	2	8		March 28, 2021	TBA

Season 1 (2019)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	1	"The Night Flynn Sent the Cops on the Ice"	Michael Cuesta	Chuck MacLean	June 7, 2019 (online) June 16, 2019 (Showtime)	0.532[11]
2	2	"What They Saw in Southie High"	Ed Bianchi	Chuck MacLean	June 23, 2019	0.446[12]
3	3	"If Only the Fool Would Persist in His Folly"	Christoph Schrewe	Emily Ragsdale	June 30, 2019	0.409[13]
4	4	"The Wickedness of the Wicked Shall Be Upon Himself"	Hagar Ben-Asher	J.M. Holmes	July 7, 2019	0.411[14]
5	5	"From Injustice Came the Way to Describe Justice"	Alex Zakrzewski	Michele McPhee	July 14, 2019	0.459[15]
6	6	"It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City"	Metin Hüseyin	Jorge Zamacona	July 21, 2019	0.406[16]
7	7	"There Are No Fucking Sides"	Kyra Sedgwick	Emily Ragsdale & J.M. Holmes	July 28, 2019	0.534[17]
8	8	"High on the Looming Gallows Tree"	Clark Johnson	Stephen Day	August 4, 2019	0.601[18]
9	9	"The Deaf Sage of Pompeii"	Adam Bernstein	Matthew Nemeth	August 11, 2019	0.555[19]
10	10	"Mayor Curley and the Last Hurrah"	Christoph Schrewe	Chuck MacLean	August 18, 2019	0.569[20]

Season 2

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date [21]	U.S. viewers (millions)
11	1	"Bill Russell's Bedsheets"	TBA	TBA	March 28, 2021	TBD

Development

The show was picked up by Showtime in May 2018.[22]

Release

The series premiered on June 16, 2019.[23]

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 73% approval rating with an average score of 6.8/10, based on 30 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though City on a Hill's meandering story can't quite match its ambitions, it's entertaining—and even occasionally riveting—to watch Kevin Bacon and company take on bureaucracy."[24] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[25]

Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of City on a Hill

No.	Title	Air date	Rating (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total viewers (millions)
1	"The Night Flynn Sent the Cops on the Ice"	June 16, 2019	0.07	0.532[11]	N/A	N/A
2	"What They Saw in Southie High"	June 23, 2019	0.06	0.446[12]	0.584	1.030[26]
3	"If Only the Fool Would Persist in His Folly"	June 30, 2019	0.04	0.409[13]	0.571	0.980[27]
4	"The Wickedness of the Wicked Shall Be Upon Himself"	July 7, 2019	0.06	0.411[14]	0.574	0.985[28]
5	"From Injustice Came the Way to Describe Justice"	July 14, 2019	0.06	0.459[15]	N/A	N/A
6	"It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City"	July 21, 2019	0.04	0.406[16]	N/A	N/A
7	"There Are No Fucking Sides"	July 28, 2019	0.06	0.534[17]	N/A	N/A
8	"High on the Looming Gallows Tree"	August 4, 2019	0.08	0.601[18]	0.573	1.174[29]
9	"The Deaf Sage of Pompeii"	August 11, 2019	0.06	0.555[19]	N/A	N/A
10	"Mayor Curley and the Last Hurrah"	August 18, 2019	0.06	0.569[20]	N/A	N/A

References

1. Otterson, Joe (November 13, 2017). "Kevin Bacon, Aldis Hodge to Star in Showtime Drama Pilot 'City on a Hill'". Variety. Archived from the original on November 13, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
2. Andreeva, Nellie (November 13, 2017). "'City on a Hill': Kevin Bacon & Aldis Hodge To Star In Ben Affleck & Matt Damon's Showtime Drama Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 13, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
3. Ausiello, Michael (August 2, 2019). "City on a Hill Renewed for Season 2". TVLine. Archived from the original on August 2, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
4. Petski, Denise (December 12, 2017). "'City on a Hill': Jill Hennessy Among Four Regulars Cast In Ben Affleck & Matt Damon's Showtime Drama Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 14, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
5. Pedersen, Erik (December 6, 2017). "'City on a Hill': Jonathan Tucker & Kevin Dunn Cast In Ben Affleck & Matt Damon's Showtime Drama Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 7, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
6. Petski, Denise (November 21, 2017). "'City on a Hill': Mark O'Brien Cast As Series Regular In Showtime Drama Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 24, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
7. Elise Sandberg, Bryn (December 12, 2017). "Jill Hennessy Cast in Showtime Pilot 'City on a Hill'". Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
8. Denise Petski & Nellie Andreeva (January 14, 2019). "'City On A Hill': Sarah Shahi To Recur On Showtime Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
9. Petski, Denise (March 4, 2019). "'You' Casts Marielle Scott; Georgina Reilly Joins 'City On A Hill'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 5, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
10. Hipes, Patrick (February 26, 2019). "'City On A Hill': James Remar & Gloria Reuben To Recur On Showtime Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 27, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
11. Metcalf, Mitch (June 18, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.16.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on June 27, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
12. Metcalf, Mitch (June 25, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.23.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
13. Metcalf, Mitch (July 2, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.30.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on July 2, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
14. Metcalf, Mitch (July 10, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.7.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
15. Metcalf, Mitch (July 16, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.14.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on July 17, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
16. Metcalf, Mitch (July 23, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.21.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
17. Metcalf, Mitch (July 30, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 7.28.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on July 30, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
18. Metcalf, Mitch (August 6, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.4.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
19. Metcalf, Mitch (August 13, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.11.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on August 13, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
20. Metcalf, Mitch (August 20, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.18.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
21. "City on a Hill – Listings". The Futon Critic. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
22. Denise Petski & Nellie Andreeva (May 17, 2018). "'City On A Hill': Showtime Picks Up Drama From Ben Affleck & Matt Damon To Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 9, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
23. Lawrence, Derek (January 31, 2019). "Kevin Bacon's corrupt FBI agent takes on Boston crime in Showtime's City on a Hill trailer". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 1, 2019. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
24. "City on a Hill: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes (Fandango Media). Archived from the original on July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
25. "City on a Hill Reviews". Metacritic (CBS Interactive). Archived from the original on July 15, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
26. Welch, Alex (July 9, 2019). "'Yellowstone' premiere doubles in cable Live +7 ratings for June 17–23". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
27. Welch, Alex (July 16, 2019). "'Yellowstone' easily leads the cable Live +7 ratings for June 24–30". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
28. Welch, Alex (August 2, 2019). "'Big Little Lies' tops viewer gains in cable Live +7 ratings for July 1–7". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on August 2, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
29. Welch, Alex (August 19, 2019). "'Descendants 3' scores big gains in cable Live +7 ratings for July 29 – August 4". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.

External links

• City on a Hill at IMDb