Everwood follows Dr. Andrew “Andy” Brown, a widowed neurosurgeon who relocates from New York City to the small town of Everwood, Colorado, with his two children, Ephram and Delia, after the death of his wife. The move forces the family to confront their grief while adjusting to small-town life. Andy’s arrival disrupts the local medical community, particularly his relationship with longtime town doctor Harold Abbott, though their professional rivalry gradually develops into mutual respect and friendship.
Much of the series centres on Ephram’s difficult adolescence, his strained relationship with his father, and his long-standing feelings for Amy Abbott, Harold’s daughter. Early storylines focus on Andy’s decision to return temporarily to neurosurgery in an attempt to save Amy’s boyfriend, Colin Hart, who has been in a coma following a car accident. Although the operation initially appears successful, Colin later dies from complications, a decision that leaves Andy ostracised by the town and deeply affects Amy, who struggles with grief and depression.
As the series progresses, the characters face personal and ethical challenges involving illness, addiction, loss, and forgiveness. Ephram pursues his talent as a pianist while navigating romantic relationships and resentment toward his father. Ephram's relationship with Madison, Delia's 20-year-old babysitter, and her eventual pregnancy further strains his relationship with Andy but serves as a catalyst for Ephram’s emotional growth and reconciliation.
The ensemble cast is further developed through subplots involving Harold and his wife Rose, whose marriage is tested by political pressures and Rose’s battle with cancer; Bright Abbott’s gradual maturation after years of recklessness; and Nina Feeney, Andy’s neighbour, whose on-again, off-again relationship with Andy is complicated by her own romantic entanglements and responsibilities as a single mother.
In the final season, the characters confront adulthood and long-term commitments. Ephram rediscovers his passion for music through teaching and chooses a future in music education, while Amy struggles to define her identity outside of her relationship with him. Following personal losses, including the death of Edna Harper’s husband Irv, and the collapse of Nina’s engagement to another man, Andy and Nina finally acknowledge their feelings for each other and become engaged.
The series concludes with Ephram and Amy reuniting in a more mature relationship, Andy finding personal happiness and stability in Everwood, and the town’s residents moving forward after years of shared hardship and growth.
Series finale
Everwood's series finale, which aired on Monday, June 5, 2006, was seen by 4.07 million viewers.
The final episode, "Foreverwood", was written as both a season and a series finale. Because of the impending WB/UPN merger into the CW Television Network, the future of the series was uncertain, and the producers wrote two endings. Originally, the producers had scripted a montage for the "series-finale cut" that went forty years into the future to show a majority of the regular characters at Andy's funeral, showing the series coming full circle; this was never filmed due to budgetary reasons as well as the producers' hopes that they would receive a fifth season.
Everwood was canceled in favor of a new show, Runaway, which Dawn Ostroff then canceled after only three episodes had been shown, and for a new season of 7th Heaven, which had just had its series finale.[5] The finale of 7th Heaven had 7 million viewers. Everwood had an average of 4 million viewers (which, if it was sustained, would have put it in the top 5 CW ratings for the following year).[6]
Cast
Main
Treat Williams as Andy Brown: A widowed neurosurgeon who moves his family to Everwood
Gregory Smith as Ephram Brown: Andy's son, a talented pianist
Tom Amandes as Harold Abbott: Everwood's established physician and Amy and Bright's father
Stephanie Niznik as Nina Feeney (main seasons 2–4; recurring season 1): Andy's neighbor
Merrilyn Gann as Rose Abbott (main seasons 3–4; recurring seasons 1–2): Everwood's mayor and Harold's wife
Recurring
Nora Zehetner as Laynie Hart (seasons 1–2): A friend of Amy and Ephram
Marcia Cross as Linda Abbott (season 2): A doctor and Harold's sister
Sarah Lancaster as Madison Kellner (seasons 2–3): Delia's babysitter and Ephram's older girlfriend
Scott Wolf as Jake Hartman (seasons 3–4): A doctor who competes with Andy and Harold
Sarah Drew as Hannah Rogers (seasons 3–4): Amy's friend and Bright's eventual girlfriend
Anne Heche as Amanda Hayes (season 3): A town resident who becomes involved with Andy
Justin Baldoni as Reid Bardem (season 4): A medical student involved with Amy
Home media
Warner Home Video has released all four seasons of Everwood on DVD in Region 1. While the entire series was shot in 16:9 widescreen, the first season DVD is presented in a cropped 4:3 aspect ratio. The final three season releases retain the original 16:9 aspect ratio; they also feature extensive music substitutions.[7] In Region 2, Warner Home Video has also released all four seasons on DVD in Germany and in the Netherlands, and the first two seasons in Hungary. In Region 4, Warner Home Video has released the first season on DVD in Australia.[8]
Robert Bianco for USA Today was not enthusiastic about the show's premiere and gave it a two-star rating out of four. He found that Everwood's main problem was that it "never knows when the corn syrup is thick enough" due to its clichés. On the more positive side, he wrote, "Clearly, WB's goal here is to find an acceptable time-period companion for 7th Heaven, and it's entirely possible the network has. The scenery is pretty, Smith has the earmarks of a star in the making, and Williams actually is quite appealing—when the script isn't forcing him to behave as if he were insane."[20]TV Guide was critical of the pilot episode and accused it of being a "bit excessive and sentimental" and self-consciously quirky, but that "it's beautifully acted, crisply written and has first-rate production values."[21]
Advocacy group the Parents Television Council ranked Everwood as the group's No. 1 "worst network TV show for family viewing" on their list of the 2003–04 season.[22] The PTC criticized "the careless and irresponsible treatment of sexual issues—especially when the teenaged characters are involved" and stated "Everwood's reckless messages about sex without consequences are expressly targeted to impressionable teens."[22]Entertainment Weekly reviewed positively the show's third season in 2005 giving it an A− and commented, "Everwood's soap tropes—unexpected pregnancy, adultery—handles these stories artfully."[23]
In 2003, TV Guide named Everwood one of "The Best Shows You May Not Be Watching".[24]
Ratings
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Everwood on the WB.[25]
