City on Fire (TV series)

City on Fire is an American crime drama television series created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, based on the novel of the same name by Garth Risk Hallberg. It aired on Apple TV+ from May 12 to June 16, 2023.^[1] In August 2023, the series was canceled after one season.^[2]

City on Fire
Genre	Crime drama
Created by	Josh Schwartz Stephanie Savage
Based on	City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg
Starring	Wyatt Oleff Chase Sui Wonders Jemima Kirke Nico Tortorella Ashley Zukerman Xavier Clyde Max Milner Alexandra Doke Omid Abtahi Kathleen Munroe John Cameron Mitchell Alexander Pineiro Michael Tow
Composer	Jason Hill
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producers	Josh Schwartz Stephanie Savage Lis Rowinski Jesse Peretz
Running time	46–57 minutes
Production companies	Fake Empire Apple Studios
Original release
Network	Apple TV+
Release	May 12 (2023-05-12) – June 16, 2023 (2023-06-16)

Plot

After Samantha Yeung was shot in Central Park, New York City on July 4, 2003, the investigation into her shooting reveals the crucial connection between a series of mysterious city-wide fires, the downtown music scene, and a wealthy uptown real estate family fraying under the strain of the many secrets they keep.

Cast

• Wyatt Oleff as Charlie
• Chase Sui Wonders as Samantha Yeung
• Jemima Kirke as Regan Hamilton Sweeney
• Nico Tortorella as William Hamilton Sweeney
• Ashley Zukerman as Keith
• Xavier Clyde as Mercer
• Max Milner as Nicky Chaos
• Alexandra Doke as Sewer Girl
• Omid Abtahi as Detective Ali Parsa
• Kathleen Munroe as Detective PJ McFadden
• John Cameron Mitchell as Amory Gould
• Michael Tow as Joe Yeung
• Alexander Pineiro as Sol
• Amel Khalil as Sherry Parsa
• Beth Malone as Felicia Gould
• Shawnee Smith as Ramona
• Geoff Pierson as Bill Sr

Production

Development

On June 30, 2021, Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage were set to write and serve as showrunners for an 8-episode TV series adaptation of Garth Risk Hallberg's novel City on Fire, with Schwartz, Savage and Lis Rowinski producing the series through Fake Empire. Apple TV+ was set to distribute the series.^[3] On October 29, 2021, Jesse Peretz was set to direct the first 2 episodes and to also produce the series.^[4] City on Fire aired from May 12 to June 16, 2023 on Apple TV+.^[1] On August 3, 2023, Apple TV+ canceled the series after one season.^[2]

Casting

On October 29, 2021, Wyatt Oleff was cast.^[4] On January 19, 2022, Chase Sui Wonders joined the cast.^[5] Additional casting was announced in March 2022.^[6]

Filming

Filming for the series began by April 2022 under the working title Brass Tactics.^[7]

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by [8]	Teleplay by [9]	Original release date [10]
1	"We Have Met the Enemy, and He Is Us"	Jesse Peretz	Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage	May 12, 2023 (2023-05-12)
2	"Scenes from Private Life"	Jesse Peretz	Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage	May 12, 2023 (2023-05-12)
3	"The Family Business"	Haifaa al-Mansour	Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage	May 12, 2023 (2023-05-12)
4	"Land of a Thousand Dances"	Haifaa al-Mansour	Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage	May 19, 2023 (2023-05-19)
5	"Brass Tactics"	Liz Garbus	Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage	May 26, 2023 (2023-05-26)
6	"Annus Horriblis"	Liz Garbus	Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage	May 31, 2023 (2023-05-31)
7	"The Demon Brother"	Jesse Peretz	Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage	June 9, 2023 (2023-06-09)
8	"In the Dark"	Jesse Peretz	Josh Schwartz & Stephanie Savage	June 16, 2023 (2023-06-16)

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 39% approval rating with an average rating of 5.0/10, based on 23 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Spread thinly across run-of-the-mill characters in an unconvincing setting, City on Fire is akin to getting doused with a cold bucket of water."^[11] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 45 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[12]