New Amsterdam (2008 TV series)

Did You Know?

• John Amsterdam has had 609 girlfriends, a few wives, and 63 children as of the pilot.
• His current dog is named Thirty-six.
• Amsterdam has a rare Native American blood type (RR) with lethal levels of lead (120 μg/dL).

Premise and plot

John Amsterdam, a New York homicide detective, appears 35 years old but was born in 1607 in Holland. In 1642, as a Dutch soldier in Manhattan, he saved a Native American girl during a massacre; she granted him immortality through a spell. A prophecy stated he would not age until he found his true love, at which point he would become mortal. Flashbacks reveal his centuries of life under many aliases, marked by the deaths of friends, lovers, 63 children, and dogs. He is a recovering alcoholic who has been sober since 1965. Amsterdam has served in the Army three times, the Coast Guard, Marines, and Navy, but never the Air Force because he dislikes heights. He has worked as a history professor, Civil War physician, furniture maker, portrait painter, attorney, and CIA officer. Each episode pairs his police work with historical flashbacks that aid his investigations. He keeps track of his descendants, including his 65-year-old son Omar, though most do not know him.

Cast and characters

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau portrays John Amsterdam, badge number 9298, who has a rare Native American blood type (RR) and lethal lead levels. His blood clots quickly despite low factor VIII. Zuleikha Robinson plays Eva Marquez, Amsterdam's partner; her father is police Chief Eddie Marquez and her mother teaches history at Queens College. Alexie Gilmore plays Dr. Sara Millay Dillane, an emergency physician at St. Francis Hospital who pronounces Amsterdam dead after a heart attack. She is separated from her husband Robert Camp. Stephen Henderson plays Omar York, Amsterdam's 65-year-old son with Lily Rae Brown, an African American schoolteacher; Omar owns a jazz club named Omar's: Bar–Grill.

Production

Allan Loeb and Christian Taylor created New Amsterdam and served as executive producers with David Manson, Leslie Holleran, Steven Pearl, and Lasse Hallström, who also directed the pilot. Produced by Laha Films, Regency Television, Sarabande Productions, and Scarlet Fire Entertainment, the series received a thirteen-episode order on May 11, 2007. Originally scheduled for fall 2007 on Tuesday nights at 8:00/7:00c, it was held as a mid-season replacement and began airing in March 2008. Production stopped indefinitely in October 2007 with seven episodes completed. A pre-air pilot leaked online in December 2007. Fox resumed commercials in January 2008, and the series aired on Global in Canada. Fox canceled the show on May 11, 2008.

Works with a similar premise

Author Pete Hamill alleged similarities between New Amsterdam and his 2003 novel Forever, though producer David Manson stated he was unaware of the book until after filming. Other productions with comparable foundations include the 2007 film The Man from Earth, the Highlander franchise (1986), the Canadian show Forever Knight (1992), and the U.S. series Forever (2014). The premise appeared as early as 1969 in the Star Trek episode Requiem for Methuselah. An unrelated 2007 book also titled New Amsterdam by Elizabeth Bear features an immortal vampire detective. Robert A. Heinlein's Lazarus Long series addresses similar themes of immortality and loss.