October Road (TV series)

October Road is an American drama television series. It premiered on ABC on March 15, 2007, following "Grey's Anatomy". It follows Nick Garrett (played by former "One Tree Hill" star Bryan Greenberg) who, after a decade, returns to his hometown, the fictional Knights Ridge, Massachusetts. The show takes place in the same world as the 1996 movie "Beautiful Girls"; both were written by Scott Rosenberg based on his life and friends.
The series is produced by ABC Studios and "GroupM Entertainment"; the latter is a partnership of media agencies within WPP Group that financed the series in exchange for ABC network-wide advertising time. The show was created by André Nemec, Scott Rosenberg and Josh Appelbaum, who also serve as the series' executive producers.
The second season of "October Road" premiered on Thursday, November 22, 2007 at 10:00PM Eastern/9:00PM Central.
"October Road" completed airing its second season on ABC, but was not renewed for a third season.
Upon hearing of the cancellation, the show's creators co-wrote a 10-minute series finale and filmed it with the cast; the finale was released on May 5, 2009, as a special feature on the season 2 DVD.
Plot.
Nick Garrett (Bryan Greenberg) left home ten years ago to go backpacking in Europe for a few weeks—and the brief trip ended up lasting for a decade. He left behind his girlfriend Hannah (Laura Prepon), best friend Eddie (Geoff Stults), and his family. Garrett is now a famous author and screenwriter living in New York City. Between the parties, social engagements, and living in a beautiful loft-style apartment, Garrett is suffering writer's block while working on his next story. His agent books him to do a one-day writing seminar at the local college in his picturesque hometown of Knights Ridge, Massachusetts. Nick is excited about coming home, but realizes the feeling isn't completely mutual although his family and most of his friends welcome him back effusively. Hannah has a son, Sam, 10, and due to his age Nick questions if the child might be his biological son. Eddie is upset with Nick for walking out on their business plans and for depicting him as a fool in his book. Others are also upset with things Nick wrote in his book about the town. Nick will soon learn that it will be quite a readjustment coming home and that nothing will ever be the same again.
When Nick learns that Sam has a nut allergy like all male members of his family he decides to stay in Knights Ridge and persistently tries to obtain a job at that local college ("The Doof") despite botching the one-day seminar with a bad case of nerves. He eventually wears down the college Dean by pleading for the job on her lawn late at night. She finally relents after he badly sings "Where is Love?" from the musical "Oliver!". Nick seeks out the boy, Sam, but backs off when Hannah reproaches him. Nick's father also becomes convinced of Sam's paternity when he sees the boy has similar eyes to those of the widower's late wife.
Nick eventually confronts Hannah with his belief about her boy's paternity. She disputes his view, pointing out how common peanut allergies are by asking patrons at the local bar for a show of hands of those with the allergy. Many people raise their hands. In the next few episodes. Nick and Hannah's feelings continue to develop. Hannah decides to break up with her boyfriend, prompting him to swear revenge on Nick. In the episodes to follow, Hannah's son, Sam, has an allergic reaction to a birthday cake made of nuts. In the tense episode that follows, Nick and Hannah are observed behaving like a couple in love. In the season finale, Nick rushes to her house to proclaim his love for her. They almost kiss, but are interrupted by Sam's supposed biological father.
Production.
Portions of the show were filmed at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, in Newnan, Georgia, in Madison, Georgia, and Grant Park, Atlanta.
Elements of Scott Rosenberg's 2001-2002 show "Going to California" were recycled; Evan Jones again played a character named "Ikey"; "Eddie Latekka" reappeared but played by a different actor; "Baggo" was referenced but unseen, while Brad William Henke and Sean Gunn played new characters. The boys' childhood friend Angela Ferilli moved to the town of Bishop Flats (where "Going to California" was set), which they then visited and which was said to be 'three towns over' from Knights Ridge.
Episodes and U.S. ratings.
The show debuted to strong initial ratings, but fell 16% in its second episode, though its ratings were still substantially higher than "Men in Trees", the show it replaced upon its first-season conclusion.
It lost some of its audience during the last episode from a 3.7 rating to a 3.3 rating.
ABC originally planned on airing only four episodes of the series, leaving two episodes to be part of a second season. The network revised these plans on April 2, 2007, and the last episode of season one aired on April 26, 2007.
"October Road" was renewed for a second season on May 11, 2007. The new season order was of 13 episodes, which could be extended to a full 22-episode season based on ratings. The new season saw Lindy Booth and Rebecca Field made cast members.
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of "October Road" on ABC:
The overall ratings for the first season—all episodes airing at 10:00 PM on Thursdays—were Rank #38, and 10.5 million viewers.
† Episode aired after a new "Grey's Anatomy", which on the night of "October Road's" pilot averaged 22.7 million viewers.
‡ Monday night episodes.