The series follows the residents of Arcadia, Missouri, whose lives are upended when their loved ones return from the dead, unaged since their deaths. Among the returned is Jacob Langston, an eight-year-old boy who drowned in 1982. Having been found alive in China, Jacob is brought back to the United States by an immigration agent named J. Martin Bellamy, who defies orders and returns Jacob to his parents, Henry and Lucille. Jacob's surprise return inspires his uncle, Arcadia Sheriff Fred Langston, and Fred's daughter Dr. Maggie Langston, whose wife/mother drowned while allegedly trying to rescue the boy, to learn more about this mystery. Caleb Richards, the father of Maggie's best friend Elaine Richards, becomes the second Arcadia resident to return, and he warns that there are many more to follow.
In January 2013, ABC ordered the project to pilot status and in March brought in Charles McDougall as director as part of a two-year deal he signed with ABC Studios. On March 7, 2013, ABC released its list of potential hour-long pilot pick-ups, with the title changed to Forever. The title changed again after ABC ordered it to series in May 2013. On May 7, 2015, ABC announced that it had cancelled Resurrection after two seasons. The network cited low ratings as the reason for its cancellation. It was high-rated in its first season, but saw a big drop in ratings in its second season. Resurrection produced by ABC Studios was one of the biggest cancellations for ABC along with two other shows Cristela and the Ioan Gruffudd drama Forever.
Reception
Critical response
Resurrection scored 60 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 29 reviews, indicating a "mixed or average" response. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 52% rating with an average rating of 5.7 out of 10, based on 33 reviews.
Ratings
Overall
Season 1
Season 2
Broadcast
In Australia, the series premiered on March 25, 2014 on Seven Network. Its debut episode was the highest rating series premiere for two years in Australia, attracting an audience of 1.9 million mainland capital city viewers and 2.82 million viewers nationally. It also topped all three key advertising demographics. The second season premiered on February 22, 2015, at the new time of 10:30 p.m. every Sunday. The second season premiered to 112,000 in a new time slot and consequently was the lowest ratings for the series. In New Zealand, it premiered on July 16, 2014 on TV2. In Canada, the series was simsubbed on Citytv for the first season and CTV for subsequent seasons. In Ireland, the series debuted in summer 2014 on RTÉ Two. In the United Kingdom, the show began airing on pay-TV channel, Watch on August 18, 2014. The second season premiered on March 19, 2015.
ABC and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment scheduled the release of the first season of Resurrection in DVD format for June 10, 2014. The two-disc set features all eight episodes and bonus features, such as "On Location in Georgia", "Resurrection: Building a Mystery", bloopers, and deleted scenes.
