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Project Blue Book (TV series)

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This article is about the History series. For the NBC anthology series, see Project U.F.O.
Project Blue Book
Genre
Starring
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes10 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Production locationVancouver, British Columbia
Running time42–44 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkHistory
ReleaseJanuary 8, 2019 –
present

Project Blue Book is an American historical drama television series that premiered on History on January 8, 2019.[1] The main role of Dr. J. Allen Hynek is played by Aidan Gillen, and the first season consisted of ten episodes.[2][3] The series is based on the real-life Project Blue Book, a series of studies on unidentified flying objects. On February 10, 2019, History renewed the series for a 10-episode second season.[4]

Premise

The series revolves around secret U.S. Air Force investigations into supposed UFO encounters and unexplained phenomena, undertaken by astrophysics professor—and eventual ufologist—Dr. J. Allen Hynek in the 1950s and 1960s.[2][3] As he and his partner, Air Force Captain Michael Quinn, investigate sightings across the U.S., Dr. Hynek discovers that not everything can be explained by science.

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

  • Robert John Burke as William Fairchild, Secretary of Defense[9]
  • Ian Tracey as "The Fixer", a mysterious man Allen Hynek meets
  • Matt O'Leary as Lieutenant Henry Fuller, a pilot whom Hynek and Quinn meet on their first case. Commits suicide at the end of Season 1 Episode 5.
  • Nicholas Holmes as Joel Hynek, Mimi and Allen's son
  • Currie Graham as Susie Miller's husband. Revealed to be a KGB agent. Shot by Susie Miller at the end of Season 1 Episode 9
  • Jill Morrison as Faye, Captain Quinn's secretary at Project Blue Book

Historical figures depicted in the series

  • Adam Greydon Reid as Donald Keyhoe, an American writer and UFO researcher. Appears in Season 1 Episode 3.
  • Thomas Kretschmann as Wernher Von Braun, a German-American aerospace engineer. Appears in Season 1 Episode 4.
  • Bob Gunton as President Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States. Appears in Season 1 Episode 10.

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release dateU.S. viewers
(millions)
1"The Fuller Dogfight"Robert StrombergDavid O'LearyJanuary 8, 2019 (2019-01-08)2.27[10]
In 1952, Dr J. Allen Hynek joins Project Blue Book, an investigation into UFOs conducted by the US Air Force, working with Captain Michael Quinn to investigate what happened after a pilot, Henry Fuller, claims to have gotten into a dogfight with an alien craft in Fargo. The two travel to Fargo to talk to Fuller and to look at Fuller's plane. Meanwhile, Allen's wife, Mimi, makes a new friend while out shopping, Susie Miller. The two initially conclude that Fuller saw a weather balloon, though Hynek begins to doubt the veracity of this solution. Quinn takes Hynek up to prove him wrong and to recreate Fuller's flight, which ends in the two of them crashing in a field, where Hynek sees a mysterious figure who disappears. Hynek has a troubling conversation with Fuller in the hospital. Later, while heading home, he's followed by a mysterious black car, which he then follows to an abandoned fairground, which appears to be hiding some sort of secret facility. Susie appears to be following the Hyneks, while Fuller is forcibly taken from the hospital.
2"The Flatwoods Monster"Robert StrombergSean JablonskiJanuary 15, 2019 (2019-01-15)1.88[11]
3"The Lubbock Lights"Pete TravisHarley PeytonJanuary 22, 2019 (2019-01-22)1.95[12]
4"Operation Paperclip"Pete TravisDavid O'Leary & Thania St. JohnJanuary 29, 2019 (2019-01-29)1.71[13]
5"Foo Fighters"Norma BaileyDavid O'Leary & Emily BrochinFebruary 5, 2019 (2019-02-05)1.39[14]
6"The Green Fireballs"Norma BaileyHarley PeytonFebruary 12, 2019 (2019-02-12)1.66[15]
7"The Scoutmaster"Thomas CarterAaron Rapke & Stewart KayeFebruary 19, 2019 (2019-02-19)1.31[16]
8"War Games"Thomas CarterThania St. JohnFebruary 26, 2019 (2019-02-26)1.45[17]
9"Abduction"Alex GravesSean JablonskiMarch 5, 2019 (2019-03-05)1.51[18]
10"The Washington Merry-Go Round"Alex GravesDavid O'LearyMarch 12, 2019 (2019-03-12)1.55[19]

Production

The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was co-produced by the History Channel and A&E Studios.[20]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 65% based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 6.65/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Project Blue Book will likely intrigue fans of the paranormal with its loose adaptation of historically unexplained phenomena, but this buttoned-down series lacks the narrative verve to appeal beyond the true believers."[21] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 56 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[22]

Robert Sheaffer, reviewing the first four episodes, points out numerous historical inaccuracies and "falsehoods," some of which he characterizes as "absurd." Concerned over misguiding viewers, he concludes that "...this program references real people by their real names, a real government program, and real incidents. It then mixes in absurd and invented details, while claiming that the show is based on real events."[23]

Ratings

Viewership and ratings per episode of Project Blue Book
No. Title Air date Rating
(18–49)		 Viewers
(millions)		 DVR
(18–49)		 DVR viewers
(millions)		 Total
(18–49)		 Total viewers
(millions)
1 "The Fuller Dogfight" January 8, 2019 0.4 2.27[10] 0.4 1.61 0.8 3.88[24]
2 "The Flatwoods Monster" January 15, 2019 0.3 1.88[11] 0.4 1.82 0.7 3.70[25]
3 "The Lubbock Lights" January 22, 2019 0.4 1.95[12] 0.4 1.85 0.8 3.79[26]
4 "Operation Paperclip" January 29, 2019 0.3 1.71[13] 0.4 1.77 0.7 3.48[27]
5 "Foo Fighters" February 5, 2019 0.3 1.39[14] — — — —
6 "The Green Fireballs" February 12, 2019 0.3 1.66[15] 0.4 1.55 0.7 3.21[28]
7 "The Scoutmaster" February 19, 2019 0.3 1.31[16] 0.3 1.54 0.6 2.84[29]
8 "War Games" February 26, 2019 0.3 1.45[17] 0.3 1.39 0.6 2.84[30]
9 "Abduction" March 5, 2019 0.3 1.51[18] 0.3 1.27 0.6 2.78[31]
10 "The Washington Merry-Go Round" March 12, 2019 0.3 1.55[19] 0.3 1.32 0.6 2.87[32]

References

  1. ^ Pedersen, Erik (October 5, 2018). "'Project Blue Book': History Reveals Premiere Date & Trailer For Robert Zemeckis' UFO Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Aidan Gillen to Star in Robert Zemeckis UFO Series Blue Book". Den of Geek!. October 26, 2017. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Deerwester, Jayme (May 25, 2017). "'Blue Book' value: History picks up UFO drama from Robert Zemeckis". USA Today. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  4. ^ Schwartz, Ryan (February 10, 2019). "History Renews Project Blue Book, Sets Knightfall Season 2 Premiere Date". TVLine. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  5. ^ Petski, Denise (December 8, 2017). "'Blue Book': Michael Malarkey Joins Robert Zemeckis-Produced UFO Series At History". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 8, 2017.
  6. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (November 8, 2017). "'Blue Book': Laura Mennell To Star In UFO Series At History". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  7. ^ a b Petski, Denise (November 21, 2017). "'Blue Book': Michael Harney & Ksenia Solo Join Robert Zemeckis-Produced UFO Series At History". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  8. ^ Agard, Chancellor (October 5, 2018). "Exclusive: History reveals "Project Blue Book" series premiere date". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  9. ^ Agard, Chancellor (January 8, 2019). "Project Blue Book confronts Hollywood's alien obsession in exclusive clip". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  10. ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (January 9, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 1.8.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  11. ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (January 16, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 1.15.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  12. ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (January 24, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 1.22.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  13. ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (January 30, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 1.29.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  14. ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (February 6, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 2.5.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  15. ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (February 13, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 2.12.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  16. ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (February 21, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 2.19.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  17. ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (February 27, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 2.26.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  18. ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (March 6, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.5.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  19. ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (March 13, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.12.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  20. ^ Leighton, Susan (September 25, 2018). "Project Blue Book invades History Channel in the winter". 1428elm.com. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  21. ^ "Project Blue Book: Season 1 (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  22. ^ "Project Blue Book: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  23. ^ Sheaffer, Robert (2019). "The History Channel Mangles Project Blue Book, Mixing Fact and Fiction". Skeptical Inquirer. 43 (3): 5–6.
  24. ^ Welch, Alex (January 28, 2019). "'Dirty John' finale and 'Project Blue Book' premiere score big viewer gains in cable Live +7 ratings for Jan. 7-13, 2019". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
  25. ^ Welch, Alex (February 4, 2019). "'Project Blue Book' lands high again, 'Teen Mom 2' wins 18-49 in cable Live +7 ratings for Jan. 14-20, 2019". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  26. ^ Welch, Alex (February 8, 2019). "'Teen Mom II' leads, 'Suits' returns with solid gains in cable Live +7 ratings for Jan. 21-27". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  27. ^ Welch, Alex (February 21, 2019). "'Teen Mom II,' 'Project Blue Book' stay on top in the cable Live +7 ratings for Jan. 28 – Feb. 3". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  28. ^ Welch, Alex (February 28, 2019). "'Deadly Class' leads percentage gains in the cable Live +7 ratings for Feb. 11-17". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  29. ^ Welch, Alex (March 7, 2019). "'The Walking Dead,' 'Project Blue Book' lead viewer gains in the cable Live +7 ratings for Feb. 18-24". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  30. ^ Welch, Alex (March 14, 2019). "'Deadly Class,' 'Suits' score biggest percentage gains in the cable Live +7 ratings for Feb. 25 – March 3". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  31. ^ Welch, Alex (March 22, 2019). "'The Walking Dead' earns biggest 18-49 and viewer gains in cable Live +7 ratings for March 4–10". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  32. ^ Welch, Alex (April 1, 2019). "'Deadly Class' earns biggest 18-49 percentage gain in cable Live +7 ratings for March 11–17". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
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