Second Chance: Fox's short-lived Frankenstein-inspired sci-fi run

Movieweb notes that Fox's 2016 series Second Chance, a modern adaptation of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, debuted ten years ago today, on January 13, 2016, and lasted a single season.

Second Chance follows Jimmy Pritchard (Robert Kazinsky), a corrupt 75-year-old former King County sheriff who is murdered during a robbery at his son’s home and resurrected in the body of a younger man by tech-billionaire twins Mary and Otto Goodwin (Dilshad Vadsaria and Adhir Kalyan) using advanced biotechnology. Rebuilt with heightened abilities and senses, Jimmy becomes an unofficial protector and fixer for the Goodwins while his son, FBI agent Duval Pritchard (Tim DeKay), and his granddaughter Gracie Pritchard (Ciara Bravo) investigate the tech company Lookinglass.

The show was an ambitious, often genre-blending mix of drama, sci‑fi and thriller that some viewers found exciting and others saw as tonally inconsistent; critics pointed to structural flaws, a lack of direction and argued the series' larger moral questions were undercut by a case-of-the-week format. It ran for eleven episodes, did not receive a second season, could not find ratings through word of mouth alone, and has since retained a cult following among some fans.

Key Topics

Culture, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Robert Kazinsky, Tim Dekay, Lookinglass