Hell on Wheels (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Hell on Wheels is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Joe and Tony Gayton
. Set in 1865, the series centers on the settlement that accompanied the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, referred to as "Hell on Wheels" by the company men, surveyors, support workers, laborers, prostitutes, mercenaries and others who make the mobile encampment their home. It stars Anson Mount
as Cullen Bohannon, a former Confederate soldier
who works as a foreman on the railroad as he tries to track down the Union soldiers
who murdered his wife.
The series is broadcast in the United States and Canada on the cable channel AMC and premiered on November 6, 2011. It was developed by Endemol USA, under the stewardship of senior vice-president of scripted programming Jeremy Gold, and is produced by Entertainment One
and Nomadic Pictures.
) journeys to the Union Pacific Railroad's westward construction of the first transcontinental railroad to seek work and vengeance on the Union soldiers that have killed his wife. Cullen gets hired by the railroad and supervises an all-black "cut crew," one of which is Elam (Common
), to prepare the terrain for track laying. Through conversation, Cullen learns more about his wife's death, including hints to the name of her murderer. But tragedy strikes before this name is given. Thomas "Doc" Durant (Colm Meaney
) begins his "mad, noble quest" to expand his Union Pacific Railroad westward in order complete the transcontinental railroad. Lily Bell (Dominique McElligott
), accompanies her ailing husband Robert (Robert Moloney) as he surveys the landscape for the Union Pacific. Reverend Nathaniel Cole (Tom Noonan
) baptizes Joseph Black Moon (Eddie Spears
), a Cheyenne, then takes him under his tutelage.
wrote the pilot, David Von Ancken was attached to the project as director, with Jeremy Gold, Joe Gayton and Tony Gayton serving as executive producers. On July 6, 2010, Endemol USA announced that they had entered into a partnership with Entertainment One
, who would serve as the production studio on the project. Part of the deal between the two companies included provisions of international distribution, with Endemol retaining rights to the series across Europe
, while Entertainment One
acquired rights to Hell on Wheels in all remaining territories. As a result of the deal, Entertainment One also holds global rights for DVD and Blu-ray sales, as well as video-on-demand and other digital distribution services. The Canadian production company Nomadic Pictures was brought onto the project to serve as co-producers alongside Entertainment One
. The pilot was delivered to AMC executives in November 2010. On November 12, 2010 it was reported by Deadline
that the executives at AMC were impressed with the pilot which, coupled with the fact that the network had recently cancelled their drama series Rubicon
, meant that the network was likely to order Hell on Wheels to series.
On December 15, 2010, AMC green-lighted the series with an order of 10 episodes. Along with the series pickup AMC announced that Nomadic Pictures would again co-produce the series as they had done for the pilot, with Mike Frislev and Chad Oakes joining the series as producers while John Shiban and David Von Ancken joined the series as executive producers, Von Ancken had previously served as director on the pilot. The network also announced that John Morayniss and Michael Rosenberg would oversee production for Entertainment One
, while Joel Stillerman and Susie Fitzgerald would oversee production for AMC.
On July 28, 2011, AMC announced that Hell on Wheels would premiere on November 6, 2011. The series is produced by Entertainment One
and Nomadic Pictures.
and Dominique McElligott
, with Mount playing Cullen Bohannon, "a former soldier hell bent on avenging his wife’s death", and McElligott playing Lily Bell, "a newly widowed woman trying to survive in a man’s world." Colm Meaney
was next to be cast as Thomas "Doc" Durant, " greedy entrepreneur taking full advantage of the changing times." Ben Esler
, Phil Burke
and Eddie Spears
were the last actors to be cast, with Esler playing Sean McGinnes and Phil Burke playing Mickey McGinnes, "two young brothers looking to find their fortune in the new West", Spears was cast as Joseph Black Moon, "a Native American man torn between his culture and the changing world around him." It was later announced that Jesse Lipscombe, Gerald Auger, Robert Moloney and Ted Levine
had joined the series as recurring guest stars.
Common spoke about the challenges of playing a former slave: "Very challenging. And that's why I took it on. It's a lot of responsibility because what black people went through in slavery, within that system of slavery, was really treacherous. And for me, I felt like I owed it to the people that lived during that time to bring something truthful to the character. And even just revisiting some of the experiences of it, [there] was just a lot of emotion and a lot of pain. At the same time, a lot of strength came from it. What I enjoy most about the character is the fact that he was written so strong, not as just a person that was oppressed and kept his head down."
Irish-born Dominique McElligott
never expected to be cast in a period American role: "I was hanging out in London, having drinks with friends who are all flight attendants, and they said that they would get me over to America for free, and I could stay and do some meetings and auditions. Hell on Wheels was the first one. I arrived on the 5th of July, and the Hell on Wheels audition was on the 6th or the 7th. It was crazy! They didn’t know me, at all. Obviously, I loved the pilot and I loved the character, but I didn’t anticipate ever actually getting the chance to do it. When you go up for these brilliant parts, you just figure, 'Okay, well, they’re going to pick some American actress, and that will be that.' But, the opportunity was there, and I really enjoyed the audition. It was fun."
Canadian actor Christopher Heyerdahl
talks about how he got his role and the rarity of a Scandinavian character: "Well, luck and providence, I suppose. They say, 'What’s luck? Preparation and opportunity.' So, I guess the opportunity came, in the form of an audition. I put myself on tape, and they responded to it. I went in and did a call-back audition, and they felt that we were on the same track. My idea of who The Swede was, was the same as theirs, and vice versa. This kind of character is very rare, with the fact that it fit so well with my background and my understanding of a Norwegian man. It all just fell into place. I still get a little choked up thinking about how often a character like this comes along. For the viewer, it’s quite interesting. It’s not a character that we see very often, and certainly not in this form. As an actor, it seemed to be tailor-made for me. It’s quite wonderful."
as well as in central and southern Alberta
.
Filming of the remaining nine episodes took place between May 2011 and September 2011 on locations in and around Calgary. The first few weeks of production were plagued by bad weather. Series producer Chad Oakes told the Calgary Herald
, "The first few weeks here in Alberta . . . we had epic rainstorms, flooding and hail". Anson Mount also told the newspaper, "The elements will throw at you what they throw at you. And you have a choice: you can work around that or you dance with it. This crew and the creative team has done an amazing job of choosing to dance with it".
The T'suu T'ina Native Indian Reservation, an Indian reserve
in southern Alberta, was the location for most of the exteriors. The entire production team was mandated to preserve the environment in its wild state. "Much like each and every film we produce, it is imperative that when we shoot on a pristine, untouched tract of land, that we leave it in better shape than when we found it before we set foot on that land. For example, the site chosen on T'suu T'ina Native Indian Reservation for the actual tent town site of 'Hell on Wheels' was put back (seeded) into prairie grass, to ensure we left no scarred earth, tire marks or foot print behind." said producer Chad Oakes. They were also doing their part to protect the environment. "We were one of the first Canadian production companies to use the new Scenecronize System, which digitally distributes scripts and all production paperwork to the crew, network, studio and talent, cutting our photocopy usage down by 500,000 copies on the first season alone," Oakes pointed out, adding that, after realizing that the crew consumed more than 25,000 bottles of water in the first half of the season, "We implemented water coolers and 'bring your own bottle to set' policy to cut down on our plastic bottle consumption."
based on 27 reviews, indicating mixed reviews.
The Washington Post's Hank Stuever rated the show highly, commenting, "Hands down, the most intriguing show on the fall slate. Though imbued with epic sweep, 'Hell on Wheels' is a western at heart, even if that heart is cold. Plenty of guns, knives, arrows, scalpings – mixed with the incendiary socio-psychological wounds left in the Civil War’s wake."
Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times
says the show "takes its cues more from the movies than from life. Never, in the episodes I watched, did I feel as if I were actually seeing how a railroad got built, and sometimes it took a bit of squinting not to see the characters as actors in a field, reading lines. Still, for all the unlikely things [the creators] make happen in order to get their characters into place, and the dogged refusal of a couple of those characters to become interesting at all, the show gathers steam as it goes on."
The Wall Street Journal's Nancy Dewolf Smith considers the episode "like a bag of unpolished stones… 'Hell on Wheels' finds enough beauty, danger and emotion to make some part of every episode seem fresh and worth waiting for. Not that new is always a good thing. Despite striking performances even in many of the smaller roles, the actors sometimes are made to symbolize very modern obsessions, e.g. with race and gender. The sight of modern sensibilities lurking behind the curtains can break ye olde spell."
Brian Lowry of Variety
thinks "while the diverse mix of characters could work to the program's advantage over the long haul, jumping to and fro among them creates a diluted, herky-jerky ride in the early going."
. Among key demographics, the pilot episode delivered 2.4 million viewers in adults 18–49. Among adults 25–54, it delivered 2.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen. The total viewership bested network slot rivals CSI: Miami
or Pan Am
.
The second and third episodes dropped in viewership, to 3.84 and 3.52 million viewers, respectively.
Tony Gayton
Tony Gayton is an American movie producer and screenwriter.-Early life:Graduated from Merritt Island High School in 1977. Merritt Island, Florida....
. Set in 1865, the series centers on the settlement that accompanied the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, referred to as "Hell on Wheels" by the company men, surveyors, support workers, laborers, prostitutes, mercenaries and others who make the mobile encampment their home. It stars Anson Mount
Anson Mount
Anson Adams Mount IV is an American actor who has appeared in both movies and television shows. Mount has also played Jim Steele on the short-lived NBC series Conviction and appeared in the independent movie Tully with Julianne Nicholson, as the title character Tully Coates, a playboy whose ways...
as Cullen Bohannon, a former Confederate soldier
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
who works as a foreman on the railroad as he tries to track down the Union soldiers
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
who murdered his wife.
The series is broadcast in the United States and Canada on the cable channel AMC and premiered on November 6, 2011. It was developed by Endemol USA, under the stewardship of senior vice-president of scripted programming Jeremy Gold, and is produced by Entertainment One
Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd is a leading international entertainment business operating in the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand...
and Nomadic Pictures.
Main
- Anson MountAnson MountAnson Adams Mount IV is an American actor who has appeared in both movies and television shows. Mount has also played Jim Steele on the short-lived NBC series Conviction and appeared in the independent movie Tully with Julianne Nicholson, as the title character Tully Coates, a playboy whose ways...
as Cullen Bohannon, a former Confederate soldier who is determined to avenge the death of his wife. - Common as Elam Ferguson, a recently freed slave who is trying to find his place in the world.
- Dominique McElligottDominique McElligottDominique McElligott is an Irish television and film actress, appearing primarily in independent films. She starred in Moon alongside Sam Rockwell as well as the RTÉ series Raw before leaving to film Leap Year...
as Lily Bell, a recent widow; her husband was a surveyor working on the transcontinental rail project. - Colm MeaneyColm MeaneyColm J. Meaney is an Irish actor widely known for playing Miles O'Brien in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is second only to Michael Dorn in most appearances in Star Trek episodes. He has guest-starred on many TV shows from Law & Order to The Simpsons...
as Thomas "Doc" DurantThomas C. DurantThomas Clark Durant, was an American financier and railroad promoter. He was vice-president of the Union Pacific in 1869 when it met with the Central Pacific railroad at Promontory Summit in Utah Territory...
, a businessman and investor in the transcontintental railroad, where he hopes to make his fortune. - Ben EslerBen EslerBen Esler is an Australian actor.He was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, the son of Rosemary and Murray Esler. Esler is a graduate of the University of Melbourne, and while there competed at the University's highest level of amateur disc golf, earning himself the sobriquet 'Frolf Harris'.He...
as Sean McGinnes, a young Irish man looking to make his fortune in the west. - Phil BurkePhil BurkePhil Burke is an Canadian film, television and stage actor. He is currently starring as Mickey McGinnes, one of two Irish brothers, in the 2011 AMC television series, Hell on Wheels....
as Mickey McGinnes, Sean's brother, who, like his brother, is looking to make money in the west. - Eddie SpearsEddie SpearsEddie Spears is an American actor. He is a member of the Kul Wicasa Oyate Lakota Lower Brulé Tribe of South Dakota.He has 5 brothers and 1 sister. His older brother Michael is also an actor....
as Joseph Black Moon, a Native AmericanIndigenous peoples of the AmericasThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
who must choose between the new world and the traditions of his ancestors. - Tom NoonanTom NoonanTom Noonan is an American actor and film writer-director.-Early life:Noonan was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the son of Rosaleen and Tom Noonan, who worked as a dentist and jazz musician respectively...
as Reverend Cole, a minister for the Union Army in the Civil War, who is sick of the slaughter and wants to help the whites and Indians avoid another war.
Recurring
- Robin McLeavyRobin McLeavyRobin McLeavy is an actress from Sydney, Australia and NIDA graduate.- Career :Robin graduated from NIDA in 2004. Robin starred as Lola Stone in the critically acclaimed Australian horror The Loved Ones, directed by Sean Byrne...
as Eva. - April TelekApril Telek-Early life and career:Telek was born and raised on the North Shore of Vancouver, British Columbia. In Japan she pursued her modeling career and won a Shiseido Cosmetics contract for Asia from 1989-1990. In April 1994 she won the title of Miss Canada and represented Canada in several International...
as Nell. - Christopher HeyerdahlChristopher HeyerdahlChristopher Heyerdahl is a Canadian actor who has had roles in many prominent television shows and movies. He is tall.-Biography:Heyerdahl was born in the mountains of British Columbia and is of Norwegian and Scottish descent...
as The Swede.
Plot
In 1865, a former Confederate soldier, Cullen Bohannon (Anson MountAnson Mount
Anson Adams Mount IV is an American actor who has appeared in both movies and television shows. Mount has also played Jim Steele on the short-lived NBC series Conviction and appeared in the independent movie Tully with Julianne Nicholson, as the title character Tully Coates, a playboy whose ways...
) journeys to the Union Pacific Railroad's westward construction of the first transcontinental railroad to seek work and vengeance on the Union soldiers that have killed his wife. Cullen gets hired by the railroad and supervises an all-black "cut crew," one of which is Elam (Common
Common
Common may refer to:* COMMON, the largest association of users of mid-range IBM computers* Common , a British Thoroughbred racehorse* Common , a part of certain Christian liturgy* Commoner, someone does not hold a title of peerage...
), to prepare the terrain for track laying. Through conversation, Cullen learns more about his wife's death, including hints to the name of her murderer. But tragedy strikes before this name is given. Thomas "Doc" Durant (Colm Meaney
Colm Meaney
Colm J. Meaney is an Irish actor widely known for playing Miles O'Brien in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is second only to Michael Dorn in most appearances in Star Trek episodes. He has guest-starred on many TV shows from Law & Order to The Simpsons...
) begins his "mad, noble quest" to expand his Union Pacific Railroad westward in order complete the transcontinental railroad. Lily Bell (Dominique McElligott
Dominique McElligott
Dominique McElligott is an Irish television and film actress, appearing primarily in independent films. She starred in Moon alongside Sam Rockwell as well as the RTÉ series Raw before leaving to film Leap Year...
), accompanies her ailing husband Robert (Robert Moloney) as he surveys the landscape for the Union Pacific. Reverend Nathaniel Cole (Tom Noonan
Tom Noonan
Tom Noonan is an American actor and film writer-director.-Early life:Noonan was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the son of Rosaleen and Tom Noonan, who worked as a dentist and jazz musician respectively...
) baptizes Joseph Black Moon (Eddie Spears
Eddie Spears
Eddie Spears is an American actor. He is a member of the Kul Wicasa Oyate Lakota Lower Brulé Tribe of South Dakota.He has 5 brothers and 1 sister. His older brother Michael is also an actor....
), a Cheyenne, then takes him under his tutelage.
Development history
Hell on Wheels was created by Joe and Tony Gayton in late 2008, at which point Endemol USA came onboard to develop the series for AMC. The series was developed by Endemol USA's scripted television division, headed by senior vice president of original programming Jeremy Gold. On May 18, 2010, after having been in development at Endemol USA for almost two years, AMC placed a pilot order for Hell on Wheels. Joe and Tony GaytonTony Gayton
Tony Gayton is an American movie producer and screenwriter.-Early life:Graduated from Merritt Island High School in 1977. Merritt Island, Florida....
wrote the pilot, David Von Ancken was attached to the project as director, with Jeremy Gold, Joe Gayton and Tony Gayton serving as executive producers. On July 6, 2010, Endemol USA announced that they had entered into a partnership with Entertainment One
Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd is a leading international entertainment business operating in the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand...
, who would serve as the production studio on the project. Part of the deal between the two companies included provisions of international distribution, with Endemol retaining rights to the series across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, while Entertainment One
Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd is a leading international entertainment business operating in the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand...
acquired rights to Hell on Wheels in all remaining territories. As a result of the deal, Entertainment One also holds global rights for DVD and Blu-ray sales, as well as video-on-demand and other digital distribution services. The Canadian production company Nomadic Pictures was brought onto the project to serve as co-producers alongside Entertainment One
Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd is a leading international entertainment business operating in the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand...
. The pilot was delivered to AMC executives in November 2010. On November 12, 2010 it was reported by Deadline
Deadline.com
Deadline.com, part of Jay Penske's PMC, is an online magazine, founded and edited by Nikki Finke.-Publication:The site is updated several times a day, with the infotainment industry as its focus.-History:...
that the executives at AMC were impressed with the pilot which, coupled with the fact that the network had recently cancelled their drama series Rubicon
Rubicon (tv series)
Rubicon is an American television series created by Jason Horwitch and produced by Henry Bromell that was broadcast on the AMC television network...
, meant that the network was likely to order Hell on Wheels to series.
On December 15, 2010, AMC green-lighted the series with an order of 10 episodes. Along with the series pickup AMC announced that Nomadic Pictures would again co-produce the series as they had done for the pilot, with Mike Frislev and Chad Oakes joining the series as producers while John Shiban and David Von Ancken joined the series as executive producers, Von Ancken had previously served as director on the pilot. The network also announced that John Morayniss and Michael Rosenberg would oversee production for Entertainment One
Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd is a leading international entertainment business operating in the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand...
, while Joel Stillerman and Susie Fitzgerald would oversee production for AMC.
On July 28, 2011, AMC announced that Hell on Wheels would premiere on November 6, 2011. The series is produced by Entertainment One
Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd is a leading international entertainment business operating in the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand...
and Nomadic Pictures.
Casting
Casting announcements began in July 2010, with Common first to be cast, Common portrays Elam Ferguson, "an emancipated slave who is working to achieve true freedom in a world entrenched in prejudice". Next to join the series was Anson MountAnson Mount
Anson Adams Mount IV is an American actor who has appeared in both movies and television shows. Mount has also played Jim Steele on the short-lived NBC series Conviction and appeared in the independent movie Tully with Julianne Nicholson, as the title character Tully Coates, a playboy whose ways...
and Dominique McElligott
Dominique McElligott
Dominique McElligott is an Irish television and film actress, appearing primarily in independent films. She starred in Moon alongside Sam Rockwell as well as the RTÉ series Raw before leaving to film Leap Year...
, with Mount playing Cullen Bohannon, "a former soldier hell bent on avenging his wife’s death", and McElligott playing Lily Bell, "a newly widowed woman trying to survive in a man’s world." Colm Meaney
Colm Meaney
Colm J. Meaney is an Irish actor widely known for playing Miles O'Brien in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is second only to Michael Dorn in most appearances in Star Trek episodes. He has guest-starred on many TV shows from Law & Order to The Simpsons...
was next to be cast as Thomas "Doc" Durant, " greedy entrepreneur taking full advantage of the changing times." Ben Esler
Ben Esler
Ben Esler is an Australian actor.He was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, the son of Rosemary and Murray Esler. Esler is a graduate of the University of Melbourne, and while there competed at the University's highest level of amateur disc golf, earning himself the sobriquet 'Frolf Harris'.He...
, Phil Burke
Phil Burke
Phil Burke is an Canadian film, television and stage actor. He is currently starring as Mickey McGinnes, one of two Irish brothers, in the 2011 AMC television series, Hell on Wheels....
and Eddie Spears
Eddie Spears
Eddie Spears is an American actor. He is a member of the Kul Wicasa Oyate Lakota Lower Brulé Tribe of South Dakota.He has 5 brothers and 1 sister. His older brother Michael is also an actor....
were the last actors to be cast, with Esler playing Sean McGinnes and Phil Burke playing Mickey McGinnes, "two young brothers looking to find their fortune in the new West", Spears was cast as Joseph Black Moon, "a Native American man torn between his culture and the changing world around him." It was later announced that Jesse Lipscombe, Gerald Auger, Robert Moloney and Ted Levine
Ted Levine
Frank Theodore "Ted" Levine is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs and Captain Leland Stottlemeyer in the television series Monk.-Early life and career:...
had joined the series as recurring guest stars.
Cast Quotes
Irish-born Dominique McElligott
Dominique McElligott
Dominique McElligott is an Irish television and film actress, appearing primarily in independent films. She starred in Moon alongside Sam Rockwell as well as the RTÉ series Raw before leaving to film Leap Year...
never expected to be cast in a period American role: "I was hanging out in London, having drinks with friends who are all flight attendants, and they said that they would get me over to America for free, and I could stay and do some meetings and auditions. Hell on Wheels was the first one. I arrived on the 5th of July, and the Hell on Wheels audition was on the 6th or the 7th. It was crazy! They didn’t know me, at all. Obviously, I loved the pilot and I loved the character, but I didn’t anticipate ever actually getting the chance to do it. When you go up for these brilliant parts, you just figure, 'Okay, well, they’re going to pick some American actress, and that will be that.' But, the opportunity was there, and I really enjoyed the audition. It was fun."
Canadian actor Christopher Heyerdahl
Christopher Heyerdahl
Christopher Heyerdahl is a Canadian actor who has had roles in many prominent television shows and movies. He is tall.-Biography:Heyerdahl was born in the mountains of British Columbia and is of Norwegian and Scottish descent...
talks about how he got his role and the rarity of a Scandinavian character: "Well, luck and providence, I suppose. They say, 'What’s luck? Preparation and opportunity.' So, I guess the opportunity came, in the form of an audition. I put myself on tape, and they responded to it. I went in and did a call-back audition, and they felt that we were on the same track. My idea of who The Swede was, was the same as theirs, and vice versa. This kind of character is very rare, with the fact that it fit so well with my background and my understanding of a Norwegian man. It all just fell into place. I still get a little choked up thinking about how often a character like this comes along. For the viewer, it’s quite interesting. It’s not a character that we see very often, and certainly not in this form. As an actor, it seemed to be tailor-made for me. It’s quite wonderful."
Filming
Filming of the pilot took place between August 2010 and September 2010 on location in CalgaryCalgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
as well as in central and southern Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
.
Filming of the remaining nine episodes took place between May 2011 and September 2011 on locations in and around Calgary. The first few weeks of production were plagued by bad weather. Series producer Chad Oakes told the Calgary Herald
Calgary Herald
The Calgary Herald is a daily newspaper published in the Canadian city of Calgary, Alberta.- History :The paper was first published on August 31, 1883 by Andrew Armour and Thomas Braden as The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate and General Advertiser. It started as a weekly paper with only...
, "The first few weeks here in Alberta . . . we had epic rainstorms, flooding and hail". Anson Mount also told the newspaper, "The elements will throw at you what they throw at you. And you have a choice: you can work around that or you dance with it. This crew and the creative team has done an amazing job of choosing to dance with it".
Environmentalism
Indian reserve
In Canada, an Indian reserve is specified by the Indian Act as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." The Act also specifies that land reserved for the use and benefit of a band which is not...
in southern Alberta, was the location for most of the exteriors. The entire production team was mandated to preserve the environment in its wild state. "Much like each and every film we produce, it is imperative that when we shoot on a pristine, untouched tract of land, that we leave it in better shape than when we found it before we set foot on that land. For example, the site chosen on T'suu T'ina Native Indian Reservation for the actual tent town site of 'Hell on Wheels' was put back (seeded) into prairie grass, to ensure we left no scarred earth, tire marks or foot print behind." said producer Chad Oakes. They were also doing their part to protect the environment. "We were one of the first Canadian production companies to use the new Scenecronize System, which digitally distributes scripts and all production paperwork to the crew, network, studio and talent, cutting our photocopy usage down by 500,000 copies on the first season alone," Oakes pointed out, adding that, after realizing that the crew consumed more than 25,000 bottles of water in the first half of the season, "We implemented water coolers and 'bring your own bottle to set' policy to cut down on our plastic bottle consumption."
Critical reception
The show was given a 63 out of 100 on MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
based on 27 reviews, indicating mixed reviews.
The Washington Post's Hank Stuever rated the show highly, commenting, "Hands down, the most intriguing show on the fall slate. Though imbued with epic sweep, 'Hell on Wheels' is a western at heart, even if that heart is cold. Plenty of guns, knives, arrows, scalpings – mixed with the incendiary socio-psychological wounds left in the Civil War’s wake."
Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
says the show "takes its cues more from the movies than from life. Never, in the episodes I watched, did I feel as if I were actually seeing how a railroad got built, and sometimes it took a bit of squinting not to see the characters as actors in a field, reading lines. Still, for all the unlikely things [the creators] make happen in order to get their characters into place, and the dogged refusal of a couple of those characters to become interesting at all, the show gathers steam as it goes on."
The Wall Street Journal's Nancy Dewolf Smith considers the episode "like a bag of unpolished stones… 'Hell on Wheels' finds enough beauty, danger and emotion to make some part of every episode seem fresh and worth waiting for. Not that new is always a good thing. Despite striking performances even in many of the smaller roles, the actors sometimes are made to symbolize very modern obsessions, e.g. with race and gender. The sight of modern sensibilities lurking behind the curtains can break ye olde spell."
Brian Lowry of Variety
Variety
- Mathematics :* Abelian variety, a complex torus that can be embedded into projective space* Abstract variety, an intrinsically defined variety* Algebraic variety, the basic object of study in algebraic geometry** Affine variety, a subset of algebraic varieties...
thinks "while the diverse mix of characters could work to the program's advantage over the long haul, jumping to and fro among them creates a diluted, herky-jerky ride in the early going."
Popular reception
The pilot premiered on November 6. 2011. It was watched by 4.4 million viewers – AMC’s second-highest series premiere in history, following The Walking DeadThe Walking Dead (TV series)
The Walking Dead is an American post-apocalyptic horror television series developed for television by Frank Darabont and based on the ongoing comic book series, The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard...
. Among key demographics, the pilot episode delivered 2.4 million viewers in adults 18–49. Among adults 25–54, it delivered 2.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen. The total viewership bested network slot rivals CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....
or Pan Am
Pan Am (TV series)
Pan Am is an American period drama television series created by writer Jack Orman. Named for the iconic Pan American World Airways, the series focuses on the pilots and stewardesses of the airline as it operated in the early 1960s at the beginning of the commercial jet age.Sony licensed the rights...
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The second and third episodes dropped in viewership, to 3.84 and 3.52 million viewers, respectively.
International distribution
| Country | Channel | Premiere date |
|---|---|---|
| Africa | Fox Fox Broadcasting Company Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the... |
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| Asia | Sundace Channel | |
| ABC2 ABC2 ABC2 is a national public television channel in Australia. Launched on 7 March 2005, it is the responsibility of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television division, and is available nationally to digital television viewers in Australia... , Fox Fox Broadcasting Company Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the... |
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| yes | ||
| Latin America | HBO | |
| Sky SKY Network Television Sky Network Television Limited , , is a New Zealand pay television service. On 30 June 2011, Sky had 829,421 subscribers, which comprises:*808,617 digital subscribers*20,840 other subscribers... |
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| TCM | 2012 |