The Philanthropist (2009)

Action · Adventure · Drama

The title character, Teddy Rist (portrayed by James Purefoy), is a billionaire playboy haunted by the death of his only child. His life changes when he rescues a young boy during a hurricane in Nigeria. As a result, Rist begins using his fortune to personally change the lives of others.[4] The Philanthropist is based loosely on the life of Bobby Sager.[5] The Philanthropist is an American action drama series that premiered on NBC on Wednesday, June 24, 2009. The program was a limited summer series, principally filmed in South Africa. It opened to strong ratings, but saw a drop in viewers in subsequent weeks. The Philanthropist is a Carnival Films production in association with The Levinson/Fontana Company and Original Media. Tom Fontana, Barry Levinson, Peter Horton, Charlie Corwin, Gareth Neame, and Teri Weinberg served as executive producers.

IMDb rating: 7.3 (1,585 votes)
Seasons: 1
Language: EN
Type: TV series

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Ratings refreshed Jul 3, 2026 · 1 season indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (2009)

7.60 avg 8 episodes 7.7 → 7.8 44 min avg

Season 1 episodes — IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Pilot	7.7	101
2	Myanmar	7.8	72
3	Paris	8.0	62
4	Nigeria Part II	7.5	54
5	Kosovo	7.3	56
6	San Diego	7.5	56
7	Kashmir	7.2	60
8	Haiti	7.8	52