Longmire Information

Longmire is a crime drama television series that premiered on June 3, 2012, on A&E. The series was developed by John Coveny and Hunt Baldwin and is based on the "Walt Longmire" series of mystery novels written by best-selling author Craig Johnson.

The show centers around Walt Longmire, a Wyoming county sheriff who returns to work after his wife's death. Assisted by his friends and his daughter, Longmire investigates major crimes within his jurisdiction, while campaigning for re-election.

The show's second season ended on August 26, 2013. After the finale, executive producer John Coveny announced via his Twitter account that "SEASON 3 for #Longmire is a GO!"; however, A&E producers declined to comment for the publication of The Hollywood Reporter's August 29 article announcing the renewal.

On November 25, 2013 A&E renewed Longmire for a third season to air in 2014.

Synopsis

The series follows Sheriff Walt Longmire, of Wyoming's fictional Absaroka County (pronounced ab-suh-ro-ka,) who returns to work following his wife's death. With the help of a variety of close characters, including his daughter, Cady Longmire, the newly hired Deputy, Victoria "Vic" Moretti, and trusted friend, Henry Standing Bear, Walt must investigate a series of major crimes in his jurisdiction while preparing to run for re-election against Branch Connally, a young deputy in the department who wants Walt's job.

Cast and characters

Main cast

• Robert Taylor as Walt Longmire, the long-term sheriff of Absaroka County. Laconic and introspective with a strong sense of duty and justice, his character is a throwback to the iconic lone hero of classical Westerns. As the stories build, we see that Walt has a knack for finding the truth behind the various crimes that have been committed. Walt's wife died a year before the series started. Almost everyone believes that her death was due to cancer; but a few people know the truth: she was the victim of a murder in Denver. Walt's grief for her loss fuels his isolation and self judgment.
• Katee Sackhoff as Victoria "Vic" Moretti, a sheriff's deputy who formerly worked as a homicide detective in the Philadelphia Police Department. She recently moved to Wyoming following her husband, who works as a natural gas company executive. She has four brothers.
• Lou Diamond Phillips as Henry Standing Bear, a Cheyenne who is Walt's best friend and confidant. We learn their friendship goes back to their early school days together. He is the proprietor of the Red Pony Cafe, a local tavern and restaurant, as well as an expert tracker.
• Cassidy Freeman as Cady Longmire, Walt's daughter and an attorney who works for a local law firm.
• Bailey Chase as Branch Connally, an ambitious deputy who comes from a wealthy local family, and who has aspirations to be sheriff himself one day.
• Adam Bartley as "The Ferg" Ferguson, an awkward but hard-working deputy hired by Walt as a favor to Ferg's father.

Recurring cast

• Louanne Stephens as Ruby, the dispatcher and manager of the sheriff's office.
• Zahn McClarnon as Chief Mathias, chief of the Cheyenne reservation's tribal police.
• Louis Herthum as Omar, a local resident with expertise in firearms whom Walt occasionally uses as a resource.
• Katherine LaNasa as Lizzie Ambrose, a wealthy local woman with whom Walt has a tentative romantic relationship.
• A Martinez as Jacob Nighthorse, a local businessman representing the interests of the Cheyenne.
• Charles S. Dutton as Detective Fales, a detective from Denver investigating a suspicious death connected to the death of Walt's wife.
• Gerald McRaney as Barlow Connally, a wealthy, powerful local real estate developer and deputy Branch Connally's father.
• Michael Mosley as Sean Moretti, Vic's husband.
• John Bishop as Bob Barnes, an often drunk local who runs the flower shop.
• Lee Tergesen as Ed Gorski, an ex-cop from Philadelphia who used to work with Vic.
• Peter Weller as Lucian Connally, Branch's uncle and Walt's predecessor.

Production

Longmire received a pilot order on December 14, 2010. The pilot was written by John Coveny and Hunt Baldwin and directed by Christopher Chulack. Coveny, Baldwin and Chulack serve as executive producers alongside Greer Shephard, Michael M. Robin and the production companies Warner Horizon Television and The Shephard/Robin Company. The series is an adaptation of the Longmire mystery novels written by best-selling author Craig Johnson. While the story is supposed to take place in northern Wyoming, the series is being filmed in Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Eagle Nest and Red River, New Mexico.

Casting announcements began in February 2011, with Robert Taylor first cast in the lead role of Walt Longmire, the sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming. Recently widowed, Longmire buries his pain behind his brave face and dry wit. Katee Sackhoff, Bailey Chase, Cassidy Freeman and Lou Diamond Phillips followed, with Sackhoff cast in the role of Victoria "Vic" Moretti, one of Walt's deputies and a former detective from Philadelphia; Chase cast as Branch Connally, Walt's other deputy who wants to run against him in the next election; Freeman cast as Cady Longmire, Walt's daughter who works as a lawyer, and Phillips cast as Henry Standing Bear, Walt's best friend.

On August 26, 2011, A&E Network picked up Longmire for a 10 episode first season. Following early success as the highest rated summer scripted drama debut, and as A&E's highest rated scripted drama, A&E renewed Longmire for a second season on June 29, 2012.

In 2013, massive wildfires scorched the Valles Caldera National Preserve, which impacted the series production. In three weeks' time, three fires had begun, some at the same time. The Prescott Fire Department's Granite Mountain Hotshots assisted in preventing the fiery destruction of the area around where Walt's house is filmed. Nineteen of the Hotshots's 20 members later died battling an Arizona wildfire. The second season's finale honored the firefighters in the closing credits.

Broadcast and release

Episodes

See List of Longmire episodes for more information As of August 26, 2013, 23 episodes of Longmire have aired, ending the second season. On August 29, 2013, John Coveny announced on Twitter that the show would have a third season. However, neither A&E nor Warner BrosTV has confirmed this yet.

U.S. television ratings

Longmire debuted as A&E's #1 original-series premiere of all time with 4.1 million total viewers.

Season	Timeslot (ET)	# Ep.	Premiered		Ended
			Date	Premiere Viewers (in millions)	Date	Finale Viewers (in millions)
1	Sunday 10:00pm	10	June 3, 2012	4.15	August 12, 2012	4.34
2	Monday 10:00pm	13	May 27, 2013	4.31	August 26, 2013	4.42

International broadcasts

Longmire began airing in Great Britain on TCM on March 17, 2013, at 9:00pm, in Australia on GEM on May 15, 2013, at 9:30pm. Season Two began airing in Australia on July 31, 2013, and in Italy on Rete 4 on July 4, 2013, at 9:00pm. In Ireland the series is shown on RT Two.

Home media release

The first season of Longmire was released on May 28, 2013. It featured a documentary about filming in New Mexico, when the setting is in Wyoming, a gallery of photographic stills, and some unaired scenes.

Reception

Critical reception

Reception has generally been positive: Nancy DeWolf Smith of The Wall Street Journal called the series "the best of two worlds: a modern crime drama with dry wit and sometimes heart-wrenching emotion that's also got a glorious setting under the big sky of Wyoming." She added: "If it weren't for a few modern conveniences, like cellphones and trucks, it might as well be 1875, so rugged and unspoiled does the scenery look." Newsdays Verne Gay stated: "Longmire arrives as silently as a dust devil kicked up by a high wind on the Wyoming plains. With little in the way of fanfare and a lead actor unacquainted with household name status, it must instead rely on a quiet fortitude, much like its namesake." He added: "Unassuming Longmire doesn't shout 'LOVE ME!' but instead works its charms subtly, quietly. There's promise here." Alan Sepinwall of HitFix stated "there's a sense of place to the show that makes it feel unlike every other cop show on television" and that he would "like to see the mysteries grow more engaging as the series moves along, but Longmire at least starts with a good foundation in Walt, his sidekicks, and the wide, open spaces they travel." On the other hand, the San Francisco Chronicles David Wiegand wrote that the series "has the look and feel of a show cooked up by a bunch of bored TV industry types while they were waiting for the valet to bring their car to them at the Beverly Hills Chuck E. Cheese." He added: "There's very little drama, and the pilot episode lumbers along like an overfed elk." In the aggregate, however, Longmire has received favorable reviews, e.g., receiving a score of 67 out of 100 in 17 media reviews on Metacritic.

Awards and nominations

In 2013, the pilot episode of Longmire, teleplay by Hunt Baldwin and John Coveny, was nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America.