Network: ABC
Episodes: 15, but one didn’t air (hour)
Seasons: One
TV show dates: September 26, 1998 — February 11, 1999
Series status: Cancelled/ended
Performers include: Jeremy Piven, Paula Marshall, Jeffrey D. Sams, Paul Adelstein, Daniel Bryant, Jeffrey Vincent Parise, Noelle Bou-Sliman, and Melanie Deanne Moore.
TV show description:
Jeremy Piven stars as Trevor Hale, a man who believes that he is the mythological Cupid. As punishment for his arrogance, he’s supposedly been sent to Earth by Zeus to connect 100 couples without using his powers.
Not surprisingly, he finds himself in an institution and is eventually put under the care of Chicago psychologist Dr. Claire Allen (Paula Marshall). The state mental health board agrees to Trevor’s release providing that Claire continue to monitor his progress, a professional situation made all the more difficult when the two begin to fall for one another.
Trevor’s roommate is struggling actor Albert “Champ” Terrace (Jeffrey D. Sams).
Episode 15 – Botched Makeover
While visiting the set Sunset and Vaughn, Champ’s latest TV-show job, Trevor meets an intelligent but modest female assistant. Her name is Kristy Holbrook (guest Laura Leighton) who doesn’t get much respect from her colleagues.
Trevor invites her to join one of Claire’s sessions. Through the group, she meets womanizer Tom Caighne (guest Dan Gauthier) who asks her out as part of a bet that he can sleep with three women in one week.
While the group is taking part in dance lessons, Trevor decides that Kristy needs a makeover and she becomes a beauty before her date with Tom. He honestly falls for Kristy but she learns of the bet and now has the confidence to dump him.
Trevor and Claire argue over which one of them is the better dancer but end up becoming partners and winning a dancing contest when their partners become unavailable.
The episode did not air on ABC.
In October 2007, ABC asked series creator Rob Thomas to work on reviving the series, albeit with a new cast. The new version debuted in March 2009 but was cancelled after one short season.
Behind the Scenes
• | The series was cancelled by ABC due to low ratings and the final episode was never aired. |
• | In an issue of Entertainment Weekly, creator Rob Thomas gave some clues about how the series would have concluded. Claire and Trevor finally getting together would be his lucky 100th match, with Trevor believing that he’d giving up his immortality to be with her. Eventually, she loses her practice because of the affair, and as the series ends, we’re left to decide for ourselves whether Trevor was actually Cupid. Thomas said, “I would have never disproved it, but I always wrote it as though he weren’t.” |
• | On the day that Cupid was cancelled, Thomas says he was going to offer a guest spot to Ray Davies, as a musician who had spent five years searching for a woman he’d seen board a plane going from London to Chicago. Thomas says, “I’m a huge Kinks fan. That killed me. Killed me.” |
• | Cupid stars Marshall and Sams had recurring roles on Thomas’ Veronica Mars series. If the the opportunity arose, it’s believed that Thomas wanted to write an episode that included both of their characters, as well as Piven as a guest star. |
• | One Veronica Mars episode included a brief shot of a website on high school basketball statistics. One of the schools was named “Trevor Hale.” |
I cannot believe you ended this show – it was great!
They should re-air Cupid (with Jeremy Piven). Love the writing and the actors! What’s the matter with this network?
Do not cancel the show cupid, is my favorite show and I will be very disappointed with the network if they do not bring it back.
why do you want to cancel a tv show that is very good, funny, romantic, with drama sometimes, I enjoy watching it, Please do not cancel the show. Thanks