| Creator: | Jon Harmon Feldman |
| Theme Music Composer: | We 3 Kings |
| Opentheme: | "Somebody Help Me" by Full Blown Rose |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 26 |
| Producer: | Robert Doherty |
| Location: | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Runtime: | 43 minutes |
| Network: | Fox (episodes 1–25) Syfy (episode 26) |
Tru Calling is an American supernatural drama television series which aired on Fox. Original episodes aired between October 30, 2003, and April 21, 2005; however, the final episode was shown in other territories before it was aired in the United States due to lower-than-anticipated ratings.[1] [2]
The show starred Eliza Dushku as Tru Davies, a twenty-two-year-old medical school student who takes a job at the city morgue when her internship falls through. When the corpse of a deceased woman seems to awaken and asks for her help, Tru discovers that she has the incredible power to relive that day in order to try to prevent that death. Over the course of the series, Tru struggles to keep her secret, juggle her responsibilities with her complicated personal life, and learn to control her power.
Created by Jon Harmon Feldman, the show was produced by Original Film, Oh That Gus!, Inc., and 20th Century Fox Television.[3]
Tru is aided by her boss, Davis (Zach Galifianakis), who acts as a sort of guide and mentor, who is later revealed to have known about Tru's mother (who was, apparently, the last person to receive the "calling" before her daughter), her best friend Lindsey (A.J. Cook), who doesn't know Tru's secret, and her impulsive, good-natured and bumbling younger brother Harrison (Shawn Reaves). Tru keeps her secret from her boyfriends, as well as her sister Meredith (Jessica Collins), who has a drug problem.
Halfway through the first season, Tru's life gets much more complicated when she meets Jack Harper (Jason Priestley), a man who shares Tru's abilities but who works to preserve what he sees as the hand of Fate by ensuring that the people Tru tries to help stay dead, though the series was canceled before the conclusion of their struggle was written. In the first-season finale, it is revealed that Tru's father knows Jack Harper and that he had played a similarly antagonistic role versus Tru's mother, terminating her by hiring a hitman to kill her, though neither Harrison nor Tru found out.
The second season does not feature Tru's best friend Lindsey nor her sister Meredith, whose characters are not mentioned. This season has Tru juggling medical school and her live-saving ability, while Jack aims to foil her attempts at every turn.
The series was canceled in 2005 due to low ratings. The final episode aired in many other territories before it screened in the US. The cancellation ended the series with multiple unresolved cliffhangers:
The series has been adapted in Russia using the title Я отменяю смерть, pronounced as "Ja otmenjaju smertj'", and translated to I Revoke the Death, premiering in the country on TV-3 on October 9, 2012.[4]
The series completed airing in its entirety in New Zealand first. The second season began airing in the country on TV3 on February 4, 2005, with the final episode shown on March 11, 2005. After nearly a year-long hiatus in the U.S., new episodes began on Fox on March 31, 2005. However, the series was pulled again in favour of Fox's new show Point Pleasant and the final episode was screened in many other territories before it finally aired in the U.S. on January 21, 2008 on Syfy.
The complete series also aired in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia and the United Kingdom.
It was first aired in Spain in 2005 in the FOX cable channel. In summer 2006 Tru Calling made its public debut in Antena 3 and was later moved to its secondary channel, Neox, where the show had several reruns during the following years.
| The Complete First Season | ||||||
| Set details | Special features | |||||
| ||||||
| U.S. / Canada | ||||||
| Episodes | 20 | 20 | ||||
| Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | 1.78:1 | ||||
| Running Time | 880 minutes | 880 minutes | ||||
| Audio | English (Dolby Digital Surround) | English (Dolby Digital Surround) | ||||
| Subtitles | English, Spanish, French | None | ||||
| No. of Discs | 6 | 6 | ||||
| Region(s) | 1 (NTSC) | 2, 4 (PAL) | ||||
| Rating | Not Rated | M | ||||
| Release dates | November 30, 2004 | August 9, 2005 | ||||
| The Complete Second Season | ||||||
| Set details | Special features | |||||
| ||||||
| Canada / United States | ||||||
| Episodes | 6 | 6 | ||||
| Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | 1.78:1 | ||||
| Running Time | 264 minutes | 264 minutes | ||||
| Audio | English (Dolby Digital Surround) | English (Dolby Digital Surround) | ||||
| Subtitles | English, French, Spanish | None | ||||
| No. of Discs | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Region(s) | 1 (NTSC) | 2, 4 (PAL) | ||||
| Rating | Not Rated | M | ||||
| Release dates | November 15, 2005[6] | August 9, 2005 | ||||
| The Complete Series | ||||||
| Set details | Special features | |||||
| ||||||
| Canada / U.S. | ||||||
| Episodes | 26 | 26 | 26 | |||
| Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | 1.78:1 | 1.78:1 | |||
| Running Time | 1094 Minutes | 1094 Minutes | 1094 Minutes | |||
| Audio | English (Dolby Digital Surround) | English (Dolby Digital Surround) | English (Dolby Digital Surround) | |||
| Subtitles | English, French, Spanish | English, Swedish | None | |||
| No. of Discs | 8 | 8 | 8 | |||
| Region(s) | 1 (NTSC) | 2, 4 (PAL) | 4 (PAL) | |||
| Rating | Not Rated | 15 | M | |||
| Release dates | August 12, 2008[7] | June 27, 2005[8] | October 24, 2006 | |||
| Season | Timeslot | TV season | U.S. season premiere | U.S. season finale | Season rank | Viewers (in millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thursdays at 8 p.m. | 2003–2004 | October 30, 2003 | April 29, 2004 |
| 4.50 | ||
| align=center | 2 | Thursdays at 9 p.m. | 2005 | March 31, 2005 | April 21, 2005 |
| 4.89 |
Notes
Each U.S. network television season begins in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.
| Year | Award | Category | Recipients | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Choice Breakout TV Show | Tru Calling | ||
| Choice Breakout TV Star – Female | Eliza Dushku | |||
| 30th Saturn Awards | Best Actress in a Television Series | Eliza Dushku |