Rake

Rake is an American adaptation of an Australian series of the same name, both created by Peter Duncan, who also served as a producer on the American version.

Australian actor Richard Roxburgh, who starred in the original Australian version of Rake, also served as a producer on the American adaptation.

The original pilot episode was written by Peter Duncan and directed by Sam Raimi, but it was reworked because producer Peter Tolan felt it had 'an overload of not drama... but maybe a little sadness' that worked against the episode.

Because the pilot was reshaped, the early episodes ended up airing out of order, and the reworked pilot toned down the originally darker, unhealthy mental and physical state portrayed for lead character Keegan Deane.

Episode 13, 'Mammophile', was intended to be watched after episode 5, 'Bigamist', in order to maintain story continuity, despite airing later in the broadcast order.

The series moved time slots twice during its single season on Fox, airing first on Thursdays, then shifting to Fridays, and finally to Saturdays for its last two episodes.

Fox canceled Rake after just one season on May 7, 2014, but chose to air all the episodes that had already been produced.

The show drew comparisons to House and Mad Men's Don Draper in several reviews, with critics debating whether Rake had the courage to fully commit to portraying its protagonist as truly unlikeable.