The series premiered on January 17, , on Showtime , and its seventh and final season premiered on August 13, Set primarily in New York and Connecticut , the series depicts hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod Damian Lewis as he accumulates wealth and power in the world of high finance. Rhoades is based on Preet Bharara , the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan from to , and the series was inspired by real-life federal prosecutions of financial crime.
Cohen of S. Capital Advisors loosely influenced the first season, while Salomon Brothers ' manipulation of U. Treasury bonds inspired the second. A collision course, with each using all of their considerable smarts and influence to outmaneuver the other, looms. The series was ordered by Showtime in March , [ 22 ] and the first season premiered January 17, Preet Bharara , the inspiration for U. Attorney Chuck Rhodes who was portrayed by Paul Giamatti , was somewhat critical of Giamatti's casting β jokingly referring to the Italian American actor as "noted Indian American actor Paul Giamatti".
On May 8, , the series was renewed for a fifth season by Showtime, [ 27 ] which premiered on May 3, In February , Showtime announced that several spinoffs of the series were in development, including series set in London and Miami, and a series with the working title "Millions" featuring "diverse, thirty-something financial mogul wannabes" in Manhattan.
The first episode was made available on January 1, , via video on demand services in the U. In addition, season 4 of the show depicts the character of Chuck Rhoades coming out as a practitioner of BDSM in a public political speech. The show's producers retained the services of noted BDSM lifestyle expert Olivia Troy as a consultant to help ensure the activities are portrayed both accurately and safely. On Metacritic , the show has an overall score of The first season has a weighted average score of 69 out of , based on reviews from 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews", [ 41 ] while the second season has a score of 67 out of , based on reviews from 6 critics, also indicating "generally favorable reviews".
In , after introducing Taylor Mason played by Asia Kate Dillon in season 2, [ 55 ] Billions became the first American TV series to have a non-binary character and actor. The first, brought by Denise Shull and the ReThink group in Shull v Sorkin , alleged among other things that Billions ripped off Shull's book and based character "Wendy Rhoades" on her likeness. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court's decision to dismiss the suit, saying that Shull's book and the show are not substantially similar.
