New Amsterdam (2018 TV series)


New Amsterdam is an American medical drama television series, based on the book Twelve Patients: Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital by Eric Manheimer, that premiered on September 25, 2018 on NBC. The series was created by David Schulner and stars Ryan Eggold, Freema Agyeman, Janet Montgomery, Jocko Sims, Anupam Kher, and Tyler Labine. In February 2019, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a second season, which premiered on September 24, 2019. In January 2020, NBC renewed the series for three additional seasons.

Premise

New Amsterdam follows Dr. Max Goodwin as he becomes the medical director of one of the United States' oldest public hospitals, aiming to reform the neglected facility by tearing up its bureaucracy in order to provide exceptional care to patients.

Cast and characters

Main

Series overview

Season 1 (2018–19)

Season 2 (2019–20)

Production

Development

On September 25, 2017, NBC announced that it had given the production, then titled Bellevue, a put pilot commitment. The pilot was written by David Schulner, who was also set to executive produce alongside Peter Horton. Eric Manheimer, the former medical director at New York City's Bellevue Hospital, was expected to serve as a producer. Universal Television was the production company involved with the pilot.
On January 12, 2018, it was reported that NBC had given the production an official pilot order. It was further reported that Horton was expected to direct the pilot episode. On May 4, 2018, it was announced that NBC had given the production a series order. It was also reported that Pico Creek Productions and Mount Moriah Productions would serve as additional production companies. On October 10, 2018, it was announced that NBC had ordered an additional nine episodes of the series, bringing the first season total up to twenty-two episodes. On February 4, 2019, it was announced during the Television Critics Association's annual winter press tour that the series had been renewed for a second season. In January 2020, NBC renewed New Amsterdam for a third, fourth, and fifth season.

Casting

In February 2018, it was announced that Freema Agyeman, Anupam Kher, Janet Montgomery, and Tyler Labine had been cast in lead roles in the pilot. In March 2018, it was reported that Ryan Eggold and Jocko Sims had also joined the main cast. On September 26, 2018, it was announced that Margot Bingham had joined the cast in a recurring role. On November 6, 2018, it was reported that Sendhil Ramamurthy had been cast in a recurring role.

Filming

Filming for the series takes place at New York City area hospitals including Bellevue Hospital and its surrounding area, Metropolitan Hospital Center, Woodhull Hospital, and Kings County Hospital Center. By October 2018, Universal Television had paid NYC Health + Hospitals, the corporation that oversees New York City's public hospitals, to film in the hospitals. Robert de Luna, a spokesman for Health + Hospitals, said certain areas that are "unoccupied and unstaffed... presents a great opportunity for a production company and a welcome source of revenue for our health system."
On March 12, 2020, production of New Amsterdam and other Universal Television series was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A supply of personal protective equipment used by the series was donated to the New York State Department of Health.

Release

New Amsterdam premiered on NBC on September 25, 2018 at 10 p.m. The second season premiered on September 24, 2019.
The second season's eighteenth episode, "Our Doors Are Always Open", that was scheduled to air on April 7, 2020, was postponed by NBC, as its subject matter was considered sensitive due to the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York state. Schulner felt that "the world needs a lot less fiction right now, and a lot more facts". The final episode completed before the suspension of production would be designated as the season finale, and aired on April 14.

Marketing

On May 13, 2018, NBC released the first official trailer for the series. On June 22, 2018, a screening of the series was held during Seriesfest, an annual international television festival, at the Denver Art Museum's Lewis I. Sharp Auditorium in Denver, Colorado. The screening was followed by a question-and-answer session with series lead Ryan Eggold and executive producers David Schulner and Peter Horton. It was moderated by Vanity Fairs executive West Coast editor, Krista Smith. On September 10, 2018, the series took part in the 12th Annual PaleyFest Fall Television Previews which featured a preview screening of the series.

Distribution

In the United Kingdom, the series premiered its first half of Season 1 on Amazon Video on February 8, 2019. Amazon Video releases the series in binge-ready batches, with further episodes released in May 2019 and November 2019.

Reception

Critical response

The series has been met with a mixed to negative response from critics upon its premiere. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 31% approval rating with an average rating of 5.74 out of 10 based on 29 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Overcrowded, overwrought, and overly familiar, New Amsterdam plays more like an exquisite corpse of pre-existing shows than a breakthrough for the genre – though that may be enough for medical drama devotees." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 47 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Ratings

Note

Season 1

Season 2

Home media

The first season will be released in Region 1, via Amazon's Manufacture on Demand service, on August 13, 2019.
DVD NameEp #Release Date
New Amsterdam: Season One22August 13, 2019

The first season titled "New Amsterdam: Season One" was released in Australia on 14 August 2019. Region 2 was released on 19 November 2019. The region 2 released is a 5-Disc Set and the Region 4 release is a 6-Disc Set.

Potential spin-off

In January 2020, NBC Entertainment chairman Paul Telegdy said, "There is a potential for a spinoff. I can imagine a whole world around New Amsterdam." At that time, Nellie Andreeva of Deadline Hollywood added that no conversations were happening, but members of the production were open to the possibility because of the depth of New Amsterdam characters and stories that could be explored with a spin-off.