Developer: | Will Beall |
Composer: | Jeff Cardoni |
Country: | United States |
Language: | English |
Num Seasons: | 1 |
Num Episodes: | 13 |
Runtime: | 42 minutes |
Network: | CBS |
Training Day is an American crime-thriller television series that aired on CBS from February 2 to May 20, 2017.[1] The series serves as a follow-up to the 2001 film of the same name. It stars Bill Paxton and Justin Cornwell, and is known for being one of Paxton's final performances prior to his death in February 2017.
Fifteen years after the events of the film, the series follows Officer Kyle Craig (Justin Cornwell) as he infiltrates the LAPD Special Investigation Section (SIS) by becoming a partner with the morally ambiguous Detective Frank Roarke (Bill Paxton), whose off-the-books record has attracted the attention of the LAPD.
On August 7, 2015, it was announced that Antoine Fuqua had decided to develop a television series based on a movie, and had teamed with Jerry Bruckheimer to develop the concept. Warner Bros. Television was shopping the show to the American broadcast networks. Will Beall would write the series, while Fuqua would serve as executive producer, and would direct the potential pilot.[2] CBS ordered a pilot on August 14, 2015. In addition to Fuqua, Bruckheimer, Beall, and Jonathan Littman will serve as executive producers for the series, which is set 15 years after the original film.[3] On February 19, 2016, it was announced that Danny Cannon would direct the pilot instead of Fuqua.
On February 26, 2016, it was announced that Bill Paxton had joined the production as Frank Rourke, an older, veteran police officer similar to Denzel Washington's character Alonzo Harris in the original movie.[4] [5] Several additional cast members were announced in March 2016. Katrina Law plays Detective Rebecca Lee, an officer with the LAPD's Special Investigation Section (S.I.S.), a unit that goes after the worst of the worst.[6] Drew Van Acker is Tommy Campbell, another S.I.S. officer who is a former pro surfer.[7] Lex Scott Davis is Alyse Arrendondo, a history teacher who is Kyle Craig's wife.[8] Julie Benz is Holly Butler, a Hollywood madam who has a tacit understanding with Frank.[9] Finally, Justin Cornwell was cast as Kyle Craig, Frank's young partner and an analog of Ethan Hawke's character, Jake Hoyt, in the original movie.[10]
On February 25, 2017, lead actor Bill Paxton died of a stroke at age 61 due to complications from heart surgery. A day later, CBS stated that all 13 commissioned episodes had already been filmed before his death, as shooting already wrapped up in December 2016.[11] On May 17, 2017, CBS announced it would not be commissioning any further episodes of Training Day in light of Paxton's death.[12]
Training Day received generally negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 24% based on 33 reviews, with an average rating of 4.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Training Day falls short of recapturing the excellence of the film in its television incarnation -- and fails to distinguish itself from the current squad of tired police procedurals."[13] On Metacritic, the season has a score of 38 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[14]