The Big C: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

The Big C follows Minneapolis Westhill High School teacher Cathy Jamison – a reserved, suburban wife and mother – who is diagnosed with melanoma. The realization of this forces her to really begin to live for the first time in her adult life. At first she chooses to keep her diagnosis from her family, behaving in ways they find puzzling and increasingly bizarre. She finds new freedom to express herself. As the show progresses, Cathy allows her family and some new friends to support her as she copes with her terminal prognosis, and finds both humor and pathos in the many idiosyncratic relationships in her life.

Series details

• Title: The Big C
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama, Comedy
• Premiere date: 2010-08-16
• Final broadcast date listed: 2013-05-20
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: Paramount+ with Showtime
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 7.4/10
• TVMaze ID: 762

Cast and credited roles

• Laura Linney — Catherine 'Cathy' Jamison
• Oliver Platt — Paul Jamison
• Gabriel Basso — Adam Jamison
• John Benjamin Hickey — Sean Tolke
• Phyllis Somerville — Marlene
• Gabourey Sidibe — Andrea Jackson

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2010-08-16; final listed air date 2010-11-15; episode order: 13.
• Season 2: premiered 2011-06-27; final listed air date 2011-09-26; episode order: 13.
• Season 3: premiered 2012-04-08; final listed air date 2012-06-17; episode order: 10.
• Season 4: premiered 2013-04-29; final listed air date 2013-05-20; episode order: 4.

Source and licence

Adapted from The Big C on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.