Set in Boston, a tight-knit circle of friends is shocked after a member of the group dies from suicide unexpectedly. The friends realize that they need to finally start living life as they cope with their loss. The title is a reference to the saying "Friendship isn't a big thing – it's a million little things."
Cast and characters
Main
David Giuntoli as Eddie Saville, a musician, music teacher and stay-at-home dad who is a recovering alcoholic having marital problems with Katherine.
Romany Malco as Rome Howard, an aspiring filmmaker who yearns to accomplish something more meaningful with his life.
Allison Miller as Maggie Bloom, a therapist and Gary's girlfriend who also survived breast cancer.
Christina Moses as Regina Howard, a chef who wants to open her own restaurant.
Christina Ochoa as Ashley Morales, Jon's assistant.
Grace Park as Katherine Kim, who used to be the fun one of the group, but now juggles her career as a lawyer with parenting her son, while trying to repair her marriage.
James Roday as Gary Mendez, a friend of Eddie, Jon, and Rome, and a survivor of breast cancer.
Stéphanie Szostak as Delilah Dixon, Jon's widow and mother of Sophie, Danny and Charlie.
Tristan Byon as Theo Saville, Eddie and Katherine's son.
Lizzy Greene as Sophie Dixon, Jon and Delilah's moody 16-year-old daughter.
Ron Livingston as Jon Dixon, a successful businessman who unexpectedly takes his own life.
Constance Zimmer as Jeri Huntington, a councilwoman
Henderson Wade as Hunter, Katherine's co-worker.
James Tupper as Andrew Pollock, Regina and Delilah's financial partner in the restaurant.
Drea de Matteo as Barbara Nelson, a mysterious woman from Jon's past.
Chandler Riggs as PJ Nelson, a young man who befriends Rome, later revealed to be Barbara Morgan's son.
Melora Hardin as Patricia Bloom, Maggie's mother.
Jason Ritter as Eric, a man who claimed to have Maggie's deceased brother's heart. He reveals that the heart actually went to his fiancée, who was killed in a car crash that Eric caused.
Ebboney Wilson as Eve, a young pregnant woman who is planning on giving up her baby for Rome and Regina to adopt.
On August 18, 2017, ABC landed a series titled A Million Little Things with a put pilot commitment, to be written by DJ Nash, who would serve as executive producer alongside Aaron Kaplan and Dana Honor. The series was described as "being in the tone of The Big Chill," with the title stemming from the popular adage, "Friendship isn't a big thing – it's a million little things." Nash came up with the idea for the series following his single-camera comedy pilot Losing It. He said that "Sometimes in comedy, you have to apologize for adding drama, which is why I was so thrilled to see ABC's passion for a drama that has comedy". ABC officially ordered the series to pilot in January 2018, and the show was officially picked up to series on May 9, 2018. The series is produced by ABC Studios and Kapital Entertainment. On February 5, 2019, during the TCA press tour, A Million Little Things was renewed for a second season. On August 8, 2019, it was announced that ABC had ordered a full season for the second season. On May 21, 2020, ABC renewed the series for a third season.
Casting
On February 6, 2018, David Giuntoli was cast as Eddie. A week later, Romany Malco was cast as Rome. By the end of the month, Christina Ochoa had joined the cast as Ashley, along with Anne Son as Katherine, Christina Moses as Regina Howard, and James Roday as Gary. In early March 2018, Stéphanie Szostak was cast as Delilah, while Lizzy Greene was cast as Sophie Dixon. That month, it was also revealed that Ron Livingston had joined the series in an unspecified role, which was revealed with the series order in May to be the character Jon. On June 27, 2018, Grace Park was cast as Katherine, replacing Anne Son who was in the original pilot.
Filming
Production on the pilot took place from March 12 to 29, 2018, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Principal photography for the first season began on July 24, 2018, and concluded on February 4, 2019. Filming for the second season began on June 19, 2019 and ended on February 19, 2020. Filming for the third season is scheduled to begin on August 25, 2020 and end on May 12, 2021.
Music
The soundtrack for the first season was released digitally on March 1, 2019, by Hollywood Records.
Release
The series premiered on September 26, 2018 on ABC in the United States. In Turkey, the series broadcast through pay broadcaster Digiturk. The second season is set to premiere on September 26, 2019.
Reception
Critical response
On review aggregation Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 53% with an average rating of 6.34/10, based on 32 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Despite a decent ensemble and a few intriguing elements, A MillIon Little Things breaks under the weight of its own emotionally lofty ambitions." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 51 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."
