Pasadena is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 primetime soap opera

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 originally broadcast in the U.S. from September to November 2001 on 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...

.

Summary

The series starred Alison Lohman

Alison Lohman

Alison Marion Lohman is an American actress. She has had lead roles in the films White Oleander, Where the Truth Lies, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Flicka and Drag Me to Hell as well as smaller parts in Matchstick Men, Big Fish, Gamer, and Beowulf...

 as Lily McAllister, an initially naïve young woman who witnesses a stranger's suicide and begins to investigate the secrets being hidden by her own very wealthy California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 family, the Greeleys. Other cast members included Dana Delany

Dana Delany

Dana Welles Delany is an American film, stage, and television actress, producer, host and health activist.After various roles in the early career, Delany garnered her first leading role in 1987 in the short-lived NBC sitcom Sweet Surrender and achieved wider fame in 1988–1991 as Colleen McMurphy...

 and Martin Donovan

Martin Donovan

Martin Donovan is an American stage and film actor. He has had a long collaboration with the director Hal Hartley, appearing in many of his films, including Trust , Surviving Desire , Simple Men , Flirt , Amateur , and The Book of Life...

 as Lily's parents, Will and Catherine McAllister, and Chris Marquette as Lily's brother Mason. Mark Valley

Mark Valley

Mark Thomas Valley is an American film and television actor, known for his role as Brad Chase on the TV drama Boston Legal and Christopher Chance in Fox's action/drama Human Target.-Personal life:...

, Balthazar Getty

Balthazar Getty

Balthazar Getty is an American film actor and member of the band Ringside. He is known for the roles of Thomas Grace on the American action drama Alias and Tommy Walker on the ABC drama Brothers & Sisters.-Early life:...

, and Natasha Gregson Wagner

Natasha Gregson Wagner

Natasha Gregson Wagner is an American actress.Gregson Wagner was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Richard Gregson, a film producer, and the late actress Natalie Wood...

 portrayed Catherine's siblings Robert, Nate, and Beth Greeley, while Philip Baker Hall

Philip Baker Hall

-Early life:Hall was born in Toledo, Ohio, the son of a factory worker father who was from Montgomery, Alabama. He attended the University of Toledo. As a younger man, Hall served in the military, started a family, and became a high school English teacher. In 1961, he decided to become an actor...

 and Barbara Babcock

Barbara Babcock

Barbara Babcock is an American character actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Grace Gardner on Hill Street Blues for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress—Drama Series in 1981 and her role as Dorothy Jennings on Dr...

 played Greeley patriarch and matriarch George and Lillian. Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson (actor)

Alan Simpson, born October 2, 1983, is an actor who appeared in the TV series Pasadena as Henry Bellow, Gilmore Girls as Keebler, This Is How the World Ends as Casper Van Dyke, and Freaks and Geeks as Tom.-External links:...

 was cast as Lily's love interest Henry Bellow, with Derek Cecil

Derek Cecil

Derek Cecil is an American actor who was the star of the now defunct TV series Push, Nevada. Cecil was born in Amarillo, Texas and graduated from the University of Houston...

 as Henry's brother Tom.

Pasadena was created by Mike White, who attended elementary and high school in Pasadena

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. Actor/director Diane Keaton

Diane Keaton

Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...

 was among the show's executive producers, and other producers included Mark Perry, Dana Baratta, Robert W. Goodwin, and Bill Robinson. The pilot was edited by Tatiana S. Riegel

Tatiana S. Riegel

Tatiana S. Riegel A.C.E., is an American film editor known for independent films such as Lars and the Real Girl and The Million Dollar Hotel...

.

Initial cancellation

The show was critically acclaimed but ignored by audiences upon its debut. The general speculation at the time being was that with the series airing two weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks

September 11, 2001 attacks

The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

, U.S. audiences were not willing to watch a show like Pasadena, with its dark atmosphere and cynical storylines.

Syndication and international airings

Only four episodes were originally aired in the U.S. in 2001, though thirteen were filmed, with the last episode seemingly resolving the primary mystery plotline of the series. In 2003 and 2004, all thirteen episodes were aired in various countries such as Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 (by the public television TVR 2

TVR 2

TVR2, Televiziunea Română 2 , is the second channel of the public broadcaster TVR.The channel was created in 1968, but it was suspended from 1985 until after the fall of the Communist regime in 1989...

), Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

 (BTV Channel), Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

, México

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

, Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 (on the pay channel M-Net

M-Net

M-Net is a subscription-funded television channel in South Africa, established in 1986 by Naspers....

) and China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

.

In late 2005, the series was shown in its entirety for the first time in the U.S. on the cable channel SOAPnet

SOAPnet

SOAPnet is an American cable television channel that broadcasts current and past soap operas and primetime dramas, along with some original programming. The channel launched on January 20, 2000, and is owned by Disney-ABC Television Group, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...

. It began airing in Belgium on June 27, 2010 on Club RTL

Club RTL

-Programs:* Hannah Montana* The Simpsons* Handy Manny* Heroes* Phineas and Ferb...

.