Nip/Tuck

Nip/Tuck

Company type	Television series
Industry	Entertainment
Founded	July 22, 2003 (2003-07-22)
Founder	Ryan Murphy
Defunct	March 3, 2010 (2010-03-03)
Headquarters	United States
Products	Medical drama television series
Website	www.fxnetworks.com/shows/nip-tuck

Nip/Tuck is a U.S. medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on the FX network over six seasons from 2003 until 2010. The show combines aspects of crime, black comedy, family drama, satire, and psychological thriller, revolving around "McNamara/Troy," a state-of-the-art and often controversial plastic surgery clinic. It chronicles both the personal and professional experiences of its founders, Dr. Sean McNamara and Dr. Christian Troy, played by Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon, respectively.

Episodes regularly showcase explicit plastic surgery procedures alongside developments in the doctors' lives, including anesthesiologist Dr. Liz Cruz, Christian’s numerous romantic relationships, and Sean’s family dynamics. Apart from the pilot, each episode title corresponds to a patient scheduled for surgery.

Differing from conventional medical dramas, Nip/Tuck utilizes serialized storytelling with storylines extending across multiple seasons. Notably, seasons two and three focus on a serial rapist known as The Carver, whose victims require reconstructive surgery provided by McNamara/Troy on a pro bono basis.

The series debuted on July 22, 2003, concluding with its 100th episode on March 3, 2010. Initially set in Miami, the narrative shifted to Los Angeles following season four, with several characters relocating as well. Throughout its run, the show garnered 45 award nominations and earned one Golden Globe and one Emmy Award. Creator Ryan Murphy affirmed that the medical cases depicted are "100 percent based on fact."

Overview

Set within the plastic surgery practice McNamara/Troy, the drama centers on its two proprietors. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) contends with marital struggles amid daily temptations, with his storyline emphasizing efforts to preserve his family despite personal shortcomings. His partner Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) uses his charisma to attract female clients and engage in high-risk business ventures, often leading to complicated personal situations. Sean typically adopts a more professional approach and frequently resolves issues arising from Christian’s missteps.

Production

Ryan Murphy has cited makeover segments from daytime talk shows such as The Jenny Jones Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show as inspirations for the series.

During its first season, Nip/Tuck was the highest-rated new show on American basic cable and set demographic records among viewers aged 18–49 and 25–54.

The fifth season premiered on October 30, 2007; however, production was disrupted by the 2007 Writers Strike. The latter portion resumed airing on January 6, 2009. FX renewed the series for an additional 19 episodes beginning October 14, 2009, culminating in the finale on March 3, 2010, marking the show’s 100th episode.

Filming for the final episode wrapped on June 12, 2009, in the absence of creator Ryan Murphy, who was scouting locations in India for his film adaptation of Eat, Pray, Love.

The series also served as an inspiration for the development of the plastic surgery reality show Dr. 90210.

Principal cast

Performer	Role	Seasons
		1	2	3	4	5	6
Dylan Walsh	Sean McNamara	colspan="6" Template:CMain
Julian McMahon	Christian Troy	colspan="6" Template:CMain
John Hensley	Matt McNamara	colspan="6" Template:CMain
Joely Richardson	Julia McNamara	colspan="6" Template:CMain
Valerie Cruz	Grace Santiago	Template:CMain
Roma Maffia	Liz Cruz	Template:CRecurring	colspan="5" Template:CMain
Kelly Carlson	Kimber Henry	colspan="2" Template:CRecurring	colspan="4" Template:CMain
Jessalyn Gilsig	Gina Russo	colspan="2" Template:CRecurring	Template:CMain	colspan="2" Template:CGuest
Bruno Campos	Quentin Costa		Template:CGuest	Template:CMain

Supporting cast

... [remaining recurring cast truncated for brevity] ... }

Awards and nominations

Performer	Role	Seasons
		1	2	3	4	5	6
Kelsey Batelaan	Annie McNamara	colspan="6"
Linda Klein	Nurse Linda	colspan="6"
Robert LaSardo	Escobar Gallardo

... [Content continues with similar structure for subsequent years and awards] ...

Year	Award Title	Ceremony Date	Category	Nominees	Outcome	Template:Refh
2004	Golden Globe Awards	25 January 2004	"Best Television Series – Drama"	'Nip/Tuck'	Template:Nom
			"Best Actress – Television Series Drama"	Joely Richardson	Template:Nom
	Satellite Awards	21 February 2004	"Best Television Series – Drama"	'Nip/Tuck'	Template:Nom
			"Best Actor – Television Series Drama"	Julian McMahon	Template:Nom
			"Best Actress – Television Series Drama"	Joely Richardson	Template:Nom
	"GLAAD Media Awards"	12 April 2004	"Outstanding Drama Series"	'Nip/Tuck'	Template:Nom
	Primetime Emmy Awards	19 September 2004	"Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series"	Ryan Murphy (for "Pilot")	Template:Nom
			"Outstanding Main Title Design"	Eric Anderson, Vince Haycock, Paul Matthaeus and Paul Schneider	Template:Nom
			"Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music"	Jeffrey Cain, Cedric Lemoyne and Gregory Slay	Template:Nom
			"Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup"	Thomas R. Burman, Bari Dreiband-Burman and James MacKinnon (for "Pilot")	Template:Won
			"Outstanding Makeup for a Series (Non-Prosthetic)"	Eryn Krueger Mekash, Stephanie A. Fowler, Thomas R. Burman, Bari Dreiband-Burman (for "Adelle Coffin")	Template:Nom

U.S. television ratings

Average viewership figures per episode of Nip/Tuck on FX.

Season	Broadcast time	Premiere episode			Finale episode			Average Viewers (millions)	Viewers Age 18–49 (millions)
		Date	Total viewers (millions)	Viewers 18–49 (millions)	Date	Total viewers (millions)	Viewers 18–49 (millions)
Season 1	Tuesday 10:00 pm	July 22, 2003	3.7	2.0	October 21, 2003	2.99	2.1	3.25	2.2
Season 2		June 22, 2004	3.8	2.7	October 5, 2004	5.2	3.6	3.8	2.6
Season 3		September 20, 2005	5.3	3.7	December 20, 2005	5.7	3.9	3.9	2.7
Season 4		September 5, 2006	4.8	3.4	December 12, 2006	3.38	2.38	3.9	2.75
Season 5 – Part I		October 30, 2007	4.3	3.5	February 19, 2008	N/A	2.41	N/A	N/A
Season 5 – Part II		January 6, 2009	3.1	2.4	March 3, 2009	3.8	2.4	N/A	N/A
Season 6	Wednesday 10:00 pm	October 14, 2009	2.9	1.9	March 3, 2010	1.8

Nip/Tuck emerged as a cable success immediately following its debut in 2003.

When FX shifted the show’s third season to the fall lineup in 2005—a strategic and considerable gamble to face off against major network content—the series gained significant traction. The narrative centered around The Carver notably increased audience engagement, peaking with the two-hour finale "Cherry Peck / Quentin Costa" on December 20, which set a record as FX's highest-rated scripted broadcast at that time.

Among FX’s most-watched scripted broadcasts are the second-season finale "Joan Rivers" with an audience of 5.2 million, the third-season opener "Momma Boone" attracting roughly 5.3 million viewers, and the record-breaking third-season finale drawing in a total of 5.7 million viewers including an impressive core demographic of 3.9 million aged between eighteen and forty-nine—the highest cable series figure for that year.

The premiere of season four on September 5, 2006, achieved an average of 4.8 million viewers overall and led all basic cable premieres in the adults aged eighteen to forty-nine category with a rating of approximately 3.4 million—marking over a twenty-five percent increase compared to season three’s average ratings.

Broadcast

In Australia, Nip/Tuck was broadcast on Showcase and Nine Network; in Canada, it aired via CTV and Series+; in France, the series was shown on M6; and in New Zealand, it appeared on TV One, TV2, as well as Canterbury Television. The show debuted in Ireland on TG4 starting 2 June 2004.

The UK saw Sky One secure the series prior to its US premiere, launching it on 13 January 2004 during a prime-time 10:00pm slot. Later in August 2004, free-to-air rights were acquired by Channel 4, which aired only the initial two seasons before discontinuing the program. By 2007, Nip/Tuck transitioned to the British iteration of its original network, FX, and was also broadcast on Sky Living.

In South Africa, the series premiered on M-Net in January 2004, eventually moving to DStv's M-Net Series channel for the fifth season, and was also shown on SABC 3 in 2007.

Home media

Every season of Nip/Tuck, totaling six, has been released on DVD. In the United States (Region 1), Warner Bros. Home Entertainment distributed all seasons between 2004 and 2010. Notably, season five was divided into two separate releases due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild strike—initially the first 14 episodes were issued independently from the remaining eight; a complete fifth season collection was never made available in the US. Conversely, full season five sets were released in both the UK (Region 2) and Australia/New Zealand (Region 4).

Season four received a Blu-ray and HD DVD release in the US on September 4, 2007, marking it as the only season offered in these high-definition formats.

DVD release overview

Season	Release date			Additional features
	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
The Complete First Season	June 15, 2004	September 9, 2004	October 20, 2004
The Complete Second Season	August 30, 2005	May 30, 2005	July 13, 2005
The Complete Third Season	August 29, 2006	May 8, 2006	May 2, 2007
The Complete Fourth Season	September 4, 2007	August 13, 2007	July 2, 2008
Season Five, Part One	December 30, 2008	—	—
Season Five, Part Two	October 6, 2009	—	—
The Complete Fifth Season	—	January 18, 2010	October 28, 2009
The Complete Sixth and Final Season	June 8,2010	September6,2010	February2,2011
"The Complete Series"	"November2,2010"	"September5,2016"	TBA"

International versions

In 2013, the Colombian broadcaster Caracol Televisión developed a Spanish-language remake called Mentiras perfectas (translated as Perfect Lies).

External links

• Nip/Tuck on TV Guide