Forever (2014 TV series)

Did You Know?

• Henry's first death occurred in 1814 while trying to free slaves as a doctor aboard a ship in the African slave trade in the Caribbean.
• The series was released on DVD in the United States through Warner Archive Collection as a manufacture-on-demand title on January 19, 2016, and is scheduled for Blu-ray release on August 25, 2026.

Cast and characters

Ioan Gruffudd portrays Dr. Henry Morgan, a New York City medical examiner born in 1779. Henry became immortal in 1814 after being shot and thrown overboard while treating slaves aboard a ship in the African slave trade. Each time he dies, he disappears and reappears naked in a nearby body of water, retaining only a scar from his original gunshot wound. He has been married twice: first to Nora, who had him committed to an asylum, and later to Abigail, whom he met during World War II and who left him in 1984. Henry abandoned his medical career in 1956 after a shooting incident. He possesses broad knowledge but lacks familiarity with modern popular culture and dislikes cell phones. Alana de la Garza plays Detective Jo Martinez, a sharp and determined NYPD detective who relies on Henry's insights despite finding his behavior unusual. She is a recent widow, her husband having died of a heart attack a year before meeting Henry. Joel David Moore portrays Lucas Wahl, Henry's assistant in the Medical Examiner's office, who studied film in college and makes horror movies in his spare time, sometimes using the morgue as a set. Donnie Keshawarz plays Detective Mike Hanson.

Production

Series creator Matt Miller conceived Forever after a conversation with his five-year-old son about death, imagining an immortal character who views immortality as a curse due to the pain of outliving loved ones. Miller decided to make the protagonist a doctor-turned-medical examiner who uses his occupation to research his immortality, structuring the series as a procedural with the main story arc revolving around Henry's desire to end his condition. A secondary arc explored how others learn of Henry's immortality, including a second immortal character whose morals contrast with Henry's and serve as an antagonist. Miller introduced a family element with an immortal father and his mortal son in his 70s, a dynamic he believed had not been seen on television before. To demonstrate Henry's immortality, Miller decided that Henry would feel pain each time he died and that his body would disappear with anything on it, reappearing naked in water—a process intended to create comedic moments. The first actor cast was Judd Hirsch as Abe; Miller and casting director Barbara Fiorentino felt Hirsch was the best choice, and Hirsch accepted after liking the premise, historical aspect, and intelligence of the series.

Reception

Forever received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the show a 57% rating based on 44 reviews, with the consensus stating that Ioan Gruffudd's appeal could not overcome the gimmicky, unrealized premise. Metacritic assigned a score of 54 out of 100, indicating mixed or average reviews. TV Guide's Matt Roush felt the series could become a hit similar to Bones and Castle, while other critics identified issues. Zap2it's Sarah Huggins liked the concept and Gruffudd's performance but found the first two episodes inconsistent in tone and story. Variety's Brian Lowery and Adweek's Sam Thielman believed Forever could not last due to facing CBS's Person of Interest in the 10 p.m. timeslot and a declining lead-in from Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Lowery also thought the lack of answers about Henry's immortality could not sustain the series. The Hollywood Reporter's Tim Goodman agreed that this lack of answers could pose problems. Some critics deemed the series derivative; Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com compared it to Sherlock Holmes, while Entertainment Weekly's Hillary Busis called it derivative of other procedurals but found it breezy and entertaining due to the performances and Miller's conceptualization. Many critics noted similarities between Forever and the 2008 Fox series New Amsterdam, though USA Today's Robert Bianco thought Forever took a smarter, lighter approach.

Broadcast history

ABC picked up Forever for the 2014–2015 television season on May 8, 2014. The network announced a two-day premiere: the pilot aired on September 22, 2014, and the second episode debuted in the regular timeslot at 10 p.m. ET the next night. The pilot drew over 8.6 million live viewers and a 1.7 rating among adults 18–49, retaining a higher percentage of its lead-in audience than Castle's 2009 premiere. The second episode was ABC's top-rated in that timeslot since September 21, 2010, with 6.5 million live viewers, tying Person of Interest in adults 18–49 and beating it in adults 18–34 and women viewers. After the first two episodes, live ratings dropped to about 5 million viewers, but Live+7-Day ratings added 3 million viewers, bringing the weekly total to 8 million. This performance, along with better timeslot ratings than the previous season, led ABC to order additional episodes on November 7, 2014, giving the series a full-season order. Forever aired in Canada on CTV, in the UK and Ireland on Sky1, in Australia on Nine Network, and in New Zealand on TV One. On July 1, 2016, The CW announced the series was available to stream on CW Seed.