# American Rust (TV series)
**American Rust** is an American crime and family drama television series created by [Dan Futterman](https://www.edgepedia.org/dan-futterman), adapted from Philipp Meyer's 2009 novel of the same name and starring [Jeff Daniels](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeff-daniels) as police chief Del Harris. Set in the fictional [Rust Belt](https://www.edgepedia.org/rust-belt) town of Buell, Pennsylvania, it follows Harris as he becomes compromised when the son of the woman he loves is accused of murder.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/restless-rust-belt) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/1128486/american-rust-season-1-recap-refresh/) Its nine-episode first season aired on Showtime in 2021; the series was canceled, revived by Amazon for a second season titled *American Rust: Broken Justice* on Prime Video in 2024, and then canceled again.[3](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/american-rust-canceled-amazon-streamer-212210104.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Basis | Adaptation of Philipp Meyer's debut novel *American Rust* (2009)[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/restless-rust-belt) |
| Creator | Dan Futterman, also showrunner and executive producer; Jeff Daniels also executive produced[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/restless-rust-belt) |
| Setting | Buell, a fictional small town in the Pennsylvania Rust Belt[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/1128486/american-rust-season-1-recap-refresh/) |
| Season 1 | 9 episodes, Showtime, September 2021[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/restless-rust-belt) |
| Season 2 | *American Rust: Broken Justice*, 10 episodes, Prime Video, March 28, 2024[3](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/american-rust-canceled-amazon-streamer-212210104.html) |
| Main cast | Jeff Daniels (Del Harris), Maura Tierney (Grace Poe), Alex Neustaedter (Billy Poe), David Alvarez (Isaac English), Bill Camp, Mark Pellegrino (Virgil Poe), Julia Mayorga (Lee English)[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/american-rust/) |
| Reception | Season 1 Metascore 48 (24 critic reviews); Rotten Tomatoes 28% for season 1 and 80% for season 2[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/american-rust/) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/american_rust/s01) |
## Premise and characters
The story is a portrait of a small town told, in creator Dan Futterman's words, "through the prism of a violent crime," asking how a murder ripples through each character's life.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/restless-rust-belt) Buell is a declining former steel town where the mills have closed and the people who stayed are "tough or out of choices or both."[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/restless-rust-belt)
Jeff Daniels plays Del Harris, Buell's police chief, who is in love with [Grace Poe](https://www.edgepedia.org/grace-poe), played by [Maura Tierney](https://www.edgepedia.org/maura-tierney).[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/restless-rust-belt) Harris is a former [Pittsburgh](https://www.edgepedia.org/pittsburgh) police detective and war veteran who moved to Buell.[6](https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2021/9/10/22664775/american-rust-review-showtime-jeff-daniels-series-maura-tierney-pennsylvania) Around them stand the two families that dominate the story apart from his character: the Poes, including Grace's husband Virgil (Mark Pellegrino) and son Billy (Alex Neustaedter), a locally renowned athlete emerging from probation, and the Englishes, including Isaac (David Alvarez) and his sister Lee (Julia Mayorga); Bill Camp plays Henry English.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-09-09/american-rust-showtime-jeff-daniels-maura-tierney-review) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/american-rust/) The cast also included Rob Yang as officer Steve Park, Luna Lauren Velez as Detective Angela Burgos, and Christopher Denham as Russell Wolfe.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/american-rust/) • [8](https://www.tvline.com/news/american-rust-cancelled-showtime-season-2-1234782408/)
## Season 1
Season 1 begins with a murder in an abandoned steel mill. Billy Poe provokes a fight with Pete Novick, an ex-cop who had previously arrested him, and the killing is ultimately revealed to have been committed by Billy's best friend Isaac, who struck Novick over the head with a wrench. Del Harris, the first officer at the scene, covers Billy's tracks to protect the son of Grace, his on-again, off-again girlfriend, but an associate of Novick escapes and names Billy as a suspect.[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/1128486/american-rust-season-1-recap-refresh/)
The season drew heavily on the source novel: according to showrunner [Adam Rapp](https://www.edgepedia.org/adam-rapp), season one "got through just about the entirety of Meyer's novel," leaving season two in territory the book never covered.[9](https://www.unionprogress.com/2022/11/13/american-rust-showrunner-talks-season-2-filming-and-keeping-freevee-drama-a-pittsburgh-specific-show/) The adaptation had also shifted the material, taking the novel's basic structure and plot and repurposing it for television.[10](https://www.tvinsider.com/1129235/american-rust-season-2-book-inspiration-philipp-meyer/)
## Season 2: Broken Justice
Showtime canceled the series in January 2022, three months after the season one finale.[8](https://www.tvline.com/news/american-rust-cancelled-showtime-season-2-1234782408/) In June 2022 Amazon's Freevee picked it up for a second season; production began in Western Pennsylvania in late November 2022, with Rapp stepping up from co-showrunner to showrunner while Futterman remained an executive producer.[9](https://www.unionprogress.com/2022/11/13/american-rust-showrunner-talks-season-2-filming-and-keeping-freevee-drama-a-pittsburgh-specific-show/) The season ultimately premiered not on Freevee but on Prime Video, with all 10 episodes of *American Rust: Broken Justice* dropping on March 28, 2024.[3](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/american-rust-canceled-amazon-streamer-212210104.html)
Broken Justice is an original story rather than an adaptation. Del Harris leaves his role as Buell's chief to join the Pittsburgh Police Department, where he works to infiltrate a circle of dirty cops and investigates a series of potentially connected murders alongside Detective Angela Burgos.[10](https://www.tvinsider.com/1129235/american-rust-season-2-book-inspiration-philipp-meyer/) • [11](https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/tv-radio/2024/03/28/tv-review-american-rust-broken-justice-prime-video/stories/202403280013) Rapp said the season aimed for a tighter pace than the first and took tonal cues from the film *No Country for Old Men*, and that its narrative would touch on fracking in Western Pennsylvania from multiple sides of the debate.[9](https://www.unionprogress.com/2022/11/13/american-rust-showrunner-talks-season-2-filming-and-keeping-freevee-drama-a-pittsburgh-specific-show/) In July 2024, Prime Video opted not to move forward with a third season, ending the series after two seasons and three platforms.[3](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/american-rust-canceled-amazon-streamer-212210104.html)
## Development and production
The road to the screen was long. In November 2017, [USA Network](https://www.edgepedia.org/usa-network) gave the project a straight-to-series order from Universal Cable Productions and Platform One Media, with [Michael De Luca](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-de-luca) executive producing and [David Gordon Green](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-gordon-green) attached to direct the pilot; a few months later the network opted not to move forward, and sources said the order had been contingent on landing a major star for the lead.[12](https://www.screendaily.com/news/usa-network-orders-american-rust-from-michael-de-luca-straight-to-series/5124223.article) • [13](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3935293/news/) Jeff Daniels encountered the book at a 2009 reading in downtown Manhattan, where Meyer read passages from his debut novel; Daniels and his agent tracked the rights, and after *The Newsroom* Daniels brought the book to Futterman, with whom he had worked on *The Looming Tower*.[14](https://www.indulgexpress.com/entertainment/tv/2021/sep/10/jeff-daniels-and-maura-tierney-talk-about-their-new-show-american-rust-a-suspense-drama-set-in-the-35527.html) • [15](https://washington-mail.com/in-american-rust-buildings-crumble-passions-burn/) Writer-producer Adam Rapp joined as an executive producer alongside them.[15](https://washington-mail.com/in-american-rust-buildings-crumble-passions-burn/)
Filming of the first season was delayed by about a year by COVID-19 before it landed on Showtime in September 2021.[9](https://www.unionprogress.com/2022/11/13/american-rust-showrunner-talks-season-2-filming-and-keeping-freevee-drama-a-pittsburgh-specific-show/) The series was shot on location in southwestern [Pennsylvania](https://www.edgepedia.org/pennsylvania) out of Pittsburgh, and Buell itself was assembled from shoots in Braddock, Donora, Rankin, McKeesport, Ambridge, and Clairton, with Rapp emphasizing a commitment to keeping the show "Pittsburgh-specific."[16](https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/rob-yang-jeff-daniels-american-rust-tv-show/) • [9](https://www.unionprogress.com/2022/11/13/american-rust-showrunner-talks-season-2-filming-and-keeping-freevee-drama-a-pittsburgh-specific-show/) John Dahl, the neo-noir director of *[Red Rock West](https://www.edgepedia.org/red-rock-west)* and *[The Last Seduction](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-last-seduction)*, was the season's primary director, helming the opening episode and four others.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-09-09/american-rust-showtime-jeff-daniels-maura-tierney-review) • [17](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/nov/28/american-rust-review-jeff-daniels-is-stuck-in-an-opioid-groundhog-day)
## Reception
The first season met a largely mixed critical response. Its Metascore stood at 48 out of 100 from 24 critic reviews, categorized as mixed or average, while audiences rated it more favorably at 6.5.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/american-rust/) On Rotten Tomatoes the season held a 28% Tomatometer from 32 reviews, with a critics consensus saying the show's tale of "America lost" lacked "the narrative clarity or heft necessary to do its subject matter justice," though the audience score was 77%.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/american_rust/s01) Reviewers repeatedly compared it to HBO's *Mare of Easttown*, another Pennsylvania-set small-town crime drama that had aired earlier in 2021; the Los Angeles Times called it "Mare of Easttown minus the sense of humor," and other critics found the pace slow, with the plot taking nearly three hours to engage.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-09-09/american-rust-showtime-jeff-daniels-maura-tierney-review) • [18](https://abcnews.com/culture/story/american-rust-review-praise-jeff-daniels-tone/?id=79903021) Praise centered on Daniels's performance and the series' sense of place; ABC's review gave him credit for getting "the tone just right."
The second season fared better with critics. Rotten Tomatoes recorded an 80% Tomatometer for *Broken Justice*, with reviewers noting a more confident, faster-paced run; the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called it "a wild and highly bingeable Pittsburgh crime saga," and the [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review](https://www.edgepedia.org/pittsburgh-tribune-review) wrote that the returning characters' adjustments lifted the show's mood.[19](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/american_rust/s02) • [11](https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/tv-radio/2024/03/28/tv-review-american-rust-broken-justice-prime-video/stories/202403280013) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/american-rust/)
## The source novel
Philipp Meyer's *American Rust*, his debut novel, was published in 2009 and follows two young men bound to a depressed Pennsylvania steel town who dream of a life beyond its factories and abandoned homes.[20](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/113805/american-rust-by-philipp-meyer/) The book won the 2010 Art Seidenbaum Award and the 2009 Economist Book of the Year, and was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.[20](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/113805/american-rust-by-philipp-meyer/) Meyer, who grew up in Baltimore and worked as a derivatives trader before becoming a writer, chose western Pennsylvania for the story after visiting Pittsburgh; his second novel, *The Son*, was a [Pulitzer Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulitzer-prize) finalist and was itself adapted as a 2017 television series.[20](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/113805/american-rust-by-philipp-meyer/) • [7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-09-09/american-rust-showtime-jeff-daniels-maura-tierney-review)
## References
1. [Restless in the Rust Belt, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/restless-rust-belt)
2. ['American Rust': What You Need to Remember About Season 1, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/1128486/american-rust-season-1-recap-refresh/)
3. ['American Rust' Canceled at Amazon After Streamer Rescued Show for Season 2, Variety via Yahoo Entertainment](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/american-rust-canceled-amazon-streamer-212210104.html)
4. [American Rust Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/american-rust/)
5. [American Rust: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/american_rust/s01)
6. ['American Rust' review, Chicago Sun-Times](https://chicago.suntimes.com/movies-and-tv/2021/9/10/22664775/american-rust-review-showtime-jeff-daniels-series-maura-tierney-pennsylvania)
7. [Showtime's 'American Rust' is 'Mare of Easttown' minus humor, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-09-09/american-rust-showtime-jeff-daniels-maura-tierney-review)
8. ['American Rust' Cancelled: No Season 2 For Showtime Drama Series, TVLine](https://www.tvline.com/news/american-rust-cancelled-showtime-season-2-1234782408/)
9. ['American Rust' showrunner talks season 2 filming, Pittsburgh Union Progress](https://www.unionprogress.com/2022/11/13/american-rust-showrunner-talks-season-2-filming-and-keeping-freevee-drama-a-pittsburgh-specific-show/)
10. ['American Rust': Is Season 2 Based on a Book?, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/1129235/american-rust-season-2-book-inspiration-philipp-meyer/)
11. [Review: 'American Rust: Broken Justice', Pittsburgh Post-Gazette](https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/tv-radio/2024/03/28/tv-review-american-rust-broken-justice-prime-video/stories/202403280013)
12. [USA Network orders 'American Rust' straight-to-series, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/news/usa-network-orders-american-rust-from-michael-de-luca-straight-to-series/5124223.article)
13. [Sara Lindsey News, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3935293/news/)
14. [Jeff Daniels and Maura Tierney talk about their new show American Rust, Indulge Express](https://www.indulgexpress.com/entertainment/tv/2021/sep/10/jeff-daniels-and-maura-tierney-talk-about-their-new-show-american-rust-a-suspense-drama-set-in-the-35527.html)
15. [In 'American Rust,' Buildings Crumble, Passions Burn, The Washington Mail](https://washington-mail.com/in-american-rust-buildings-crumble-passions-burn/)
16. [Rob Yang on Showtime's 'American Rust', CBS Pittsburgh](https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/rob-yang-jeff-daniels-american-rust-tv-show/)
17. [American Rust review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/nov/28/american-rust-review-jeff-daniels-is-stuck-in-an-opioid-groundhog-day)
18. ['American Rust' review, ABC News](https://abcnews.com/culture/story/american-rust-review-praise-jeff-daniels-tone/?id=79903021)
19. [American Rust: Broken Justice, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/american_rust/s02)
20. [American Rust by Philipp Meyer, Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/113805/american-rust-by-philipp-meyer/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Crime and thriller series › Police and detective procedurals*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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