Sean Saves the World
television series

Sean Saves the World is an American sitcom television series created by Victor Fresco and starring Sean Hayes that aired on NBC from October 3, 2013, to March 24, 2014, as part of the 2013–14 American television season. It was announced on January 28, 2014, that Sean Saves the World had been cancelled after 13 episodes had aired. Of the 18 ordered, only 15 were filmed.
Plot
Sean is a divorced gay father with a successful, yet demanding, career. When his 14-year-old daughter moves in with him full-time, he is forced to juggle his work life, his mom, and fatherhood. Determined not to give life a half-hearted attempt, he reads up on parenting and about keeping a vibrant family alongside a thriving career. However, sudden work pressures dampen his grand family plans and skew his work/life balance.
Cast and characters
Main
Sean Hayes as Sean Harrison
Linda Lavin as Lorna Harrison, Sean's mother
Samantha Isler as Ellie Harrison, Sean's street-smart teenage daughter
Thomas Lennon as Max Thompson, Sean's temperamental new boss
Megan Hilty as Liz, Sean's best friend and co-worker
Echo Kellum as Hunter, Sean's co-worker and friend
Recurring
Stacy Keach as Lee Thompson, Max's arrogant, lustful father
Parvesh Cheena as Jerry, Max's loyal assistant
Notable guest stars
Craig Ferguson as Andrew Summer, Sean's ex-boss who he had a one night stand with
Portia de Rossi as Jill, Sean's ex-wife and Ellie's mom
Guy Pearce as Liam Stone, Max's fencing instructor who dates Sean
Hayes' Will & Grace co-star Megan Mullally was set to guest star in the seventeenth episode as Sean's sister; however, the episode was not produced due to the series' cancellation.
Development and production
The series first appeared as part of the NBC development slate in December 2012, with Sean Hayes attached to star. On January 22, 2013, NBC placed a pilot order under the title Happiness.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Sean Saves the World” is television series. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Sean, Saves and World, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “television series” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q13218438. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2013, 2014 and 2012.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Sean Saves the World”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Sean Saves the World primary sources, Sean Saves the World archive and Sean research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Sean Saves the World”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Sean Saves the World” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.