The Librarians

For the group, see The Librarian.

The Librarians is an American fantasy-drama television series developed by John Rogers and broadcast on TNT which was premiered on December 7, 2014 and concluded on February 7, 2018 for a total of four seasons and 42 episodes. It is a spin-off from the direct-to-TV movies starring Noah Wyle.

On March 8, 2018, the series was cancelled by TNT after four seasons. On June 6th, Dean Devlin announced on Twitter that efforts to get the show picked up by another network had not been successful.

Synopsis

The drama focuses on four ordinary people with extraordinary talents who discover that they have been selected by The Library to work for an ancient fellowship of knowledge and heroism. The quartet travels the world investigating strange occurrences, battling ancient conspiracies and protecting the innocent from the dangerous, secret world of magic.

Cast

• Rebecca Romijn as Eve Baird: Until the Library recruited her, Baird was the leader of a counter-terrorism squad for NATO. She’s a tough-as-nails soldier and a brilliant tactical mind. Now, she must put her military background to use as the Library’s Guardian – charged with protecting Flynn and his new recruits as they set out on their harrowing adventures. The world of magic is new to Baird and she often finds herself incredulous of the mysteries that her team uncovers. She also finds herself awestruck by Flynn’s brilliance and struggles to keep her relationship with him strictly professional.
• Christian Kane as Jacob Stone: Born and raised in Oklahoma, Jacob Stone has spent his entire life trying to fit in with the cowboys he works alongside over at the oil pipeline. But the truth is, Stone is a genius when it comes to art, architecture and history. After being targeted for assassination by Dulaque and the Serpent Brotherhood, Stone is recruited by Flynn and Baird to help defeat them and save the Library. He is the perfect mix of brains and brawn and is equally skilled at analyzing a Bernini as he is at cracking heads in a bar-brawl.
• Lindy Booth as Cassandra Cillian: As far back as Cassandra can remember, she’s always been smart. But ever since a life-threatening tumor (affectionately referred to as her “brain grape”) began metastasizing inside her head, Cassandra has been given the gift of synesthesia – the ability to link all five senses to her memory. For Cassandra, numbers appear as colors, science as musical notes, and when she does math she smells things… mostly breakfast. It goes without saying that her unique skills are an invaluable asset to the Librarians.
• John Kim as Ezekiel Jones: Easily the most morally corrupted of the Library’s new recruits, Ezekiel Jones is a world-class thief who looks out for one person and one person alone… Ezekiel Jones. He often comes in handy when the Librarians need to get into an impossibly secure area or out of a tight jam. Ezekiel loves the thrill of adventure and is always up for a good challenge but still has to prove to his team that he can be trusted.
• John Larroquette as Jenkins: Jenkins is the reclusive caretaker of the Library’s sleepy little Annex in Portland, Oregon. He’s a bit of a hermit by nature and would be more than happy to spend his days holed up in his Magic Lab tinkering away on gadgets. Suffice it to say, Jenkins is not pleased when Flynn, Baird and the rest of the Librarians show up at his doorstep looking to set their new base of operations in his once quiet sanctuary.
• Noah Wyle as Flynn Carsen: Both quick-witted and fast on his feet, it’s no surprise that perpetual scholar Flynn Carsen was destined to become The Librarian. With over twenty degrees under his belt, Flynn must use his extensive knowledge to investigate magical occurrences across the globe, acquire mysterious and mythological artifacts for the Library’s collection, and thwart the advances of the evil Serpent Brotherhood. When it comes to interpersonal skills, Flynn is charming but slightly awkward. He’s a bit of a loner, and has trouble accepting the help of the Library’s new recruits – especially that of his beautiful Guardian and companion, Eve Baird.

Production

After the rights were obtained to adapt the Librarian movies into a TV series in the summer of 2014, John Rogers was called to help develop it. There was a short amount of before Noah Wyle would have to return for the final season of Falling Skies. Since there are legal issues with an actor being the lead on two shows simultaneously, the decision was made to take Flynn Carsen's fields of expertise and divide them up between new characters. Flynn would not be replaced in the new series since Wyle "was looking at busting his ass to shoot as many episodes as he could". Instead, the movies would become a direct part of the continuity of the series, showing that Flynn had become very good at his job, but did so at a price.

The amount of time between getting the greenlight to filming was an incredibly short five weeks instead of the normal three or four months for other series. Writers were hired after the first week, but some of the actors weren't confirmed in their roles until the week of shooting. Filming was rearranged to account for only the first script having been completed and to give the production team time to construct the sets.

Due to the short time period to get the show running is the fact that several of the writers John Rogers had worked with before on Leverage were hired. As a result, there are several notes in the writers room reminding them not to structure episodes of The Librarians the same was as was done on Leverage.

As part of building the series, John Rogers used a feature from the FATE CORE role playing game system called "Aspects".