Manhunt (2017 TV series)

Manhunt is an American drama anthology television series created by Andrew Sodroski, Jim Clemente, and Tony Gittelson, initially commissioned as a television miniseries starring Sam Worthington and Paul Bettany. It depicted a fictionalized account of the FBI's hunt for the Unabomber and premiered on Discovery Channel on August 1, 2017.[1][2] On July 17, 2018, Charter Communications was in advanced negotiations with the series' producers to pick up the series for two additional seasons to be aired on their Spectrum cable service. The show's second season followed the hunt for Eric Rudolph, who was the perpetrator of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing.[3] On January 18, 2020, it was announced that the second season Manhunt: Deadly Games would premiere on February 3, 2020.[4]

This article is about the American series. For the thematically-similar British miniseries, see Manhunt (2019 TV series).

Manhunt
Television release poster for first season
Genre
Created byAndrew Sodroski
Jim Clemente
Tony Gittelson
Starring
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes18
Production
Executive producersDana Brunetti
John Goldwyn
Troy Searer
Andrew Sodroski
Kevin Spacey (season 1)
Greg Yaitanes
ProducerDavid A. Rosemont
Production companiesDiscovery Communications
Trigger Street Productions
Release
Original network
Original releaseAugust 1, 2017 (2017-08-01) –
present

Cast

Main

Recurring

Main

Recurring

Episodes
SeasonSubtitleEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast airedNetwork
1Unabomber8August 1, 2017 (2017-08-01)September 12, 2017 (2017-09-12)Discovery Channel
2Deadly Games10February 3, 2020 (2020-02-03)Spectrum

Season 1: Unabomber (2017)
No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateU.S. viewers
(millions)
11"UNABOM"Greg YaitanesAndrew SodroskiAugust 1, 2017 (2017-08-01)1.250[5]
22"Pure Wudder"Greg YaitanesStory by : Jim Clemente & Tony Gittelson
Teleplay by : Andrew Sodroski		August 1, 2017 (2017-08-01)1.250[5]
33"Fruit of the Poisonous Tree"Greg YaitanesMax HurwitzAugust 8, 2017 (2017-08-08)0.904[6]
44"Publish or Perish"Greg YaitanesNick TowneAugust 15, 2017 (2017-08-15)0.940[7]
55"Abri"Greg YaitanesStory by : Jim Clemente & Tony Gittelson
Teleplay by : Steven Katz		August 22, 2017 (2017-08-22)0.928[8]
66"Ted"Greg YaitanesAndrew SodroskiAugust 29, 2017 (2017-08-29)1.114[9]
77"Lincoln"Greg YaitanesStory by : Nick Schenk, Jim Clemente & Tony Gittelson
Teleplay by : Nick Schenk		September 5, 2017 (2017-09-05)1.022[10]
88"USA vs. Theodore J. Kaczynski"Greg YaitanesAndrew SodroskiSeptember 12, 2017 (2017-09-12)0.930[11]

Season 2: Deadly Games (2020)
No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
91"CentBom"Michael DinnerAndrew SodroskiFebruary 3, 2020 (2020-02-03)
102"Unabubba"Michael DinnerAndrew SodroskiFebruary 3, 2020 (2020-02-03)
113"Bombingham"Jon AvnetDenise HarkavyFebruary 3, 2020 (2020-02-03)
124"Run Rudolph Run"Jon AvnetNick TowneFebruary 3, 2020 (2020-02-03)
135"Land of the Noonday Sun"Janice CookeAllison MooreFebruary 3, 2020 (2020-02-03)
146"Army of God"Janice CookeNick SchenkFebruary 3, 2020 (2020-02-03)
157"Eric"Ali SelimAndrew SodroskiFebruary 3, 2020 (2020-02-03)
168"Join or Die"Ali SelimNick TowneFebruary 3, 2020 (2020-02-03)
179"Don't Tread On Me"Michael DinnerNick SchenkFebruary 3, 2020 (2020-02-03)
1810"Open Season"Michael DinnerAllison MooreFebruary 3, 2020 (2020-02-03)

Production

The working title for the series was Manifesto, and the series order was announced in March 2016 at a presentation by Discovery Communications president Rich Ross.[12] On May 15, 2016, Entertainment Weekly released several promotional photos, showing a first look at Paul Bettany's portrayal of Ted Kaczynski.[13]

Release

Lionsgate Home Entertainment released the entire miniseries on Blu-ray and DVD on December 26, 2017.[14]

Netflix secured the rights to the series in November 2017. It premiered on the site on December 12, 2017, in various territories.[15][16][17]

CBS acquired the broadcast rights to Deadly Games in August 2020, where it premiered on September 21, 2020.[18]

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 93% approval rating and an average rating of 7.67/10, based on 29 reviews. The site's critics consensus reads: "Engrossing and affecting, Manhunt: Unabomber uses a taut, meticulously constructed narrative to uncover the facts behind the oft-exaggerated true story."[19] On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[20]

Historical accuracy

Former FBI agent Greg Stejskal was involved in the UNABOM investigation, and he criticized the writers of the show in TheWrap, accusing them of making "a minor member" of the FBI investigative team "into the star player who won the game," referring to the show's portrayal of Jim Fitzgerald. He said that Fitzgerald never met Kaczynski, was not in Lincoln, Montana, during the time of Kaczynski's arrest (although the show does not place Fitzgerald in Lincoln at the time of Kaczynski’s arrest), had no part in the search of Kaczynski's cabin, and never interviewed him.[21][22][23]

Fitzgerald told Bustle Magazine in August 2017 that the show is in the "high 80 percentile" of accuracy, though "the Fitz character is a composite." He also stated that he had not interviewed Kaczynski, although he said that he was on his way to do so in 2007 when Kaczynski changed his mind.[24]

References
  1. Hipes, Patrick (March 28, 2017). "'Manhunt: Unabomber' Premiere Date Set On Discovery Channel". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 29, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  2. Pedersen, Erik (June 5, 2017). "'Manhunt: Unabomber' Trailer: FBI Profiler Hunts Unusual Serial Killer". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 5, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  3. Andreeva, Nellie (July 17, 2018). "'Manhunt' Anthology Series Nears 2-Season Pickup At Charter From Lionsgate With Eric Rudolph As Next Subject". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 17, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  4. "Spectrum Originals Anthology Series "Manhunt: Deadly Games" Produced by Lionsgate Television to Debut February 3". The Futon Critic. January 18, 2020. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  5. Welch, Alex (August 2, 2017). "Tuesday cable ratings: 'Manhunt: Unabomber' premieres, 'WWE Smackdown' holds steady". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  6. Welch, Alex (August 9, 2017). "Tuesday cable ratings: 'WWE Smackdown' holds steady, 'Manhunt: Unabomber' dips". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  7. "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.15.2017". Showbuzz Daily. August 16, 2017. Archived from the original on August 17, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  8. "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.22.2017". Showbuzz Daily. August 23, 2017. Archived from the original on August 24, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  9. "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.29.2017". Showbuzz Daily. August 29, 2017. Archived from the original on August 31, 2017. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
  10. "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.5.2017". Showbuzz Daily. September 7, 2017. Archived from the original on September 7, 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
  11. Porter, Rick (September 14, 2017). "Tuesday cable ratings: 'American Horror Story' takes a hit in week 2". Tvbythenumbers. Archived from the original on September 15, 2017. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  12. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (March 31, 2016). "Kevin Spacey, Dana Brunetti FBI drama 'Manifesto' lands series order at Discovery Channel". Variety. Archived from the original on October 29, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  13. Snierson, Dan (May 15, 2016). "See Paul Bettany as the Unabomber in new Discovery series". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 19, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  14. "Manhunt: Unabomber (mini-series) – Lionsgate's Press Brief Reveals Bonus Material for the DVDs and Blu-rays". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on October 28, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  15. "Netflix UK Acquires True Crime Anthology Series 'Manhunt', Discovery UK Retains Linear Rights". Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  16. "'Manhunt: Unabomber' es la serie que debes ver antes de que termine 2017". Archived from the original on July 9, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  17. "Zum Start: Netflix zeigt "Manhunt: Unabomber" als Deutschlandpremiere". Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  18. Thorne, Will (August 26, 2020). "'Star Trek: Discovery,' 'One Day at a Time' to Air on CBS This Fall, As Network Pushes Originals". Variety. Archived from the original on August 27, 2020. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  19. "Manhunt: Unabomber (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on November 28, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  20. "Manhunt (2017) Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on August 22, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  21. "An FBI Veteran on What Discovery's 'Manhunter: Unabomber' Gets Wrong (Guest Blog)". TheWrap. August 15, 2017. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  22. Stejskal, Greg (August 15, 2017). "An FBI Veteran on What Discovery's 'Manhunter: Unabomber' Gets Wrong (Guest Blog)". Houston Chronicle.
  23. "Ex-FBI Agent: 'Manhunt Unabomber' Series Disrespects Heroes". www.deadlinedetroit.com. Archived from the original on August 15, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  24. Urquhart-White, Alaina. "How Accurate Is Fitz In 'Manhunt: Unabomber'? Here's What The Real James Fitzgerald Thinks Of His Fictionalized Self". Bustle. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
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