Roots returns modern audiences and Emmy voters to the powerful Alex Haley saga
Airing over four nights on various cable networks (History, A&E, and Lifetime), the modern remake of the seminal 1977 miniseries Roots has an uphill climb ahead of it in terms of Emmy glory. Granted, the producers of the updated version most likely don’t care about Emmy awards. The 2016 limited series has deep and important cultural resonance today, particularly so close to the Black Lives Matter movement. Modern audience could stand a history lesson.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what modern audiences are likely to consider when approached with the material. That’s a shame too because Roots is far from high school morality. From what I’ve seen of it thus far, Roots is a complex and intriguing tale of one man, Kunta Kinte (Malachi Kirby), and his journey into American slavery. It doesn’t pull punches. It’s intense. It’s graphic. It’s everything we needed it to be. I’m just not sure right now how many people are willing to sit through what is likely to be an extremely punishing 8-plus hours. Especially so soon after the thematically similar Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave.
Also going against it is the specter of the original 1977 version, which just happened to receive a record 37 Emmy nominations. It won 9 Emmys, and it still holds the third highest Nielsen rating for any television show for the finale. Clearly, the original vision will weigh heavily on modern audiences, so, in order to really excel in the 2016 Emmy race, it’s going to have to overcome an unfortunate sense of “been there done that” and it’s going to have to be better than the original. Early reviews have been very, very strong, but no one is speaking that kind of language around the remake.
It’s exceedingly likely that 2016 Roots won’t match that kind of Emmy impact. And, honestly, it absolutely doesn’t matter. This story is an important story that deserves to be revisited. The lessons of the past must influence the present and the future.
So, what can we reasonably expect from the new limited series?
The 1977 version saw a crazy number of acting nominations, 11 nominations in both lead and supporting categories. Surprisingly, it won only one – Louis Gossett, Jr., for Best Actor. Common thought around the reboot sees Malachi Kirby, Anika Noni Rose, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Anna Paquin, Mekhi Phifer, and Forest Whitaker as the most likely names worthy of recognition. These categories, however, are insanely crowded with a widely diverse body of actors, mostly stemming from Fargo, American Horror Story: Hotel, and The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. The Roots cast will have to overcome significant odds to make anywhere as big of a showing as the 1977 version. Rose, Corinealdi, and Paquin seem locked at this point. Other prognosticators are big on Phifer and Whitaker in the Supporting Actor category, but that category is massively full. I could see one getting in (Whitaker, most likely), but not two. It’s just too big of a year.
Technical nominations, however, are guaranteed. The cinematography and costumes are all top notch as would be expected for such a prestigious presentation. Limited Series, writing, and direction also seem as locked as anything at this point, although anything is possible. It is a very powerful and tough year for Limited Series.
But, again, no one really should ultimately care how many Emmy nominations Roots will receive. The merit and worth of the 2016 Roots will not be measured in Emmy awards. It will be measured in the words and thoughts of those who are again faced the memory of how this country was founded and how we continue to struggle with that legacy today.
Guaranteed Nominations
Limited Series
Direction
Anika Noni Rose, Lead Actress
Emayatzy Corinealdi, Supporting Actress
Casting
Probable Nominations
Forest Whitaker, Supporting Actor
Cinematography
Editing
Costumes
Make-up
Music
Sound Editing
Sound Mixing
Possible Nominations
Anna Paquin, Supporting Actress
Malachi Kirby, Lead Actor
Mekhi Phifer, Supporting Actor
Hairstyling
Two of Britain’s great Sirs – Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen – remind us all how its done in The Dresser
At its most basic level, Ronald Harwood’s (Oscar-winner for writing The Pianist) 1980 play The Dresser has two lead roles that, if performed properly, are instant awards bait. They’re the kinds of roles into which actors sink their teeth with reckless abandon. The roles have previously received Tony, Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe attention. Now, BBC Two and, here in America, Starz gives us two of Britain’s greatest actors – Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Anthony Hopkins – in a television adaptation of The Dresser. As if the competition weren’t stiff enough, these two acting giants give outstanding, monumental performances. They give the kind of performances that send critics scrambling for their thesauruses to redefine great acting. And, as an added bonus, the film itself is also quite good.
Not quite a two hander, The Dresser takes place in a London theater during the World War II bombing. “Sir” (Hopkins) is a legendary Shakespearean actor. The kind of been-around-the-bend actor who tallies each performance in chalk on his dressing room mirror. McKellen is his put-upon dresser, tasked with keeping “Sir” in place when his mental faculties are failing him. In the first 30 minutes, this seems an impossible task, but “Sir” rises to the occasion and shakes the rafters with a full-on performance of King Lear. Life after the performance is another story.
To say that McKellen and Hopkins work brilliantly together is to say the sky is blue. Of course they work well together. They are consummate actors, and these are parts based on the kind of actors and theater folks they’ve no doubt personally known. McKellen gives an uncharacteristically nutty performance, playing the dresser as something of a rambling, neurotic mess whose dedication (and perhaps love) for “Sir” demands every aspect of his life. The key to this performance, though, is to look beyond the neuroses and read through to the subtext. McKellen brilliantly conveys an exasperated sense of both longing and duty as the titular dresser.
As great as McKellen is, though, Hopkins thunders through his role as “Sir.” The role actually plays to Hopkins’ strengths (or penchant) as an actor because he’s both a raging inferno and a blubbering mess. If McKellen was subtext, then Hopkins is all TEXT. Of course it’s not an entirely subtle performance, but Hopkins is as staggeringly great in the contemplative moments that bookend his remarkable interpretation of Shakespearean acting. Both men are astounding. I perhaps prefer Hopkins slightly more because of that bombast of his I enjoy so much. It’s entirely a personal preference of course. Emily Watson also registers strongly in an underrated performance as “Her Ladyship,” or “Pussy” as “Sir” calls her.
The play itself is well rendered here, not having to concern itself with claustrophobia as it busies itself with backstage life. It’s very theme heavy with strands of aging, love, solitude, dedication, and of course the theater all resonating. However, since I have never seen the 1983 cinematic version of the material, it could serve as a law of diminish returns for others. Yet, to these uninitiated eyes, The Dresser is a classic television film, one that deserves heavy accolades in what’s proving to be a ridiculously great year for television.
Episode 78: It’s big, it’s long, and it’s all about the Emmy Limited Series hotness.
This week at the Water Cooler, we’re settling in for the long haul as we take our time with the Emmy Limited Series / TV Movie categories. Normally, these categories are strictly bathroom break fodder. However, with the advent of the anthology series plus an influx of top Hollywood talent, the Emmy Limited Series categories are literally where it’s at for hot Emmy action. On this Memorial Day, join us as we review which series and actors are in the lead, which ones are on the bubble, and which ones are likely to be left out nomination morning.
As always, we close with our TV Flash Forward. In two weeks, we’ll be offering up our personal nominations for the 2016 Emmy Awards in all major categories. On June 27, we’ll be covering this year’s crop of Amazon television pilots, which drop on June 17. Make sure you clear your calendar to join in the discussion as we slice and dice our way through them.
Until then, ENJOY!
3:30 – Emmy Limited Series / TV Movie Overview
1:27:08 – Flash Forward
ADTV’s Jalal Haddad asks the Television Academy to strongly consider Playing House in all categories.
Female comedy duos are incredibly popular on television right now. Broad City. Grace & Frankie. Garfunkel & Oates. Even Girls. Given that, why is no one, especially Emmy voters, paying attention to Playing House? The show stars Lennon Parham as Maggie and Jessica St. Clair as Emma. They are lifelong best friends who move in together after a pregnant Maggie leaves her cheating and useless husband. Together they raise Maggie’s baby in the small Connecticut town they grew up in.
As best friends they seamlessly weave in and out of broad comedy and endearing sentimentality in moments where they pretend to be lesbian partners to befriend Maggie’s cool new doctor to the birth of baby Charlotte. They support each other no matter what, and the writers never rely on creating catty drama between the lifelong best friends to add conflict. Emma supports Maggie through her divorce and Emma supports Maggie while she fights with her mom “Nell Carter” who is writing an autobiographical play “Cashmere Burka.”
Parham and St. Clair’s flawless chemistry is undeniable. The duo is able to riff off of each other in a variety of scenarios from making Tinder profiles to brainstorming how to sneak into a Kenny Loggins concert. Their chemistry comes as no surprise since they have been collaborating creatively for years. They’ve performed together everywhere from the Upright Citizens Brigade to NBC’s Best Friends Forever and Comedy Bang Bang. They’ve both also had individual significant guest roles on Emmy favorite Veep. This chemistry allows them to create probably the most honest portrayal of best friendship (and in a way soul mates) on television. They’re able to easily switch from a scene where they are breaking into Bird Bones’ house to save a puppet to a scene where they are both crying as Emma promises to help Maggie raise her baby as she achieves her dream of becoming a nurse.
Parham and St. Claire clearly have a passion for home improvement/self-help TV shows and it is apparent in the entire aesthetic of Playing House. Every sterile, pastel painted room looks like its straight out of HGTV and while at first I couldn’t relate to the aesthetic references I embraced them fully when the writers started to utilize it. Characters will randomly reference Say Yes to The Dress and even storylines regarding The Property Brothers. In one scene Maggie describes her dream about the brothers: “They took off my tarp and there was no carpet, even though there is carpet in real life!” The Scott brothers even showed up for a cameo later in the episode. Any show that embraces The Property Brothers is perfect in my book (and Margo Martindale’s too!).
The supporting cast is also filled with countless Emmy favorites. Keegan-Michael Key (Emmy nominee for Key and Peele) plays a local cop and Emma’s high school boyfriend. He also received a Critics Choice nomination for his performance on Playing House last winter. Jane Kaczamerek (Emmy nominee for Malcolm in the Middle) has a reoccurring role as Emma’s estranged mother who writes slam poetry under the pseudonym Phylicia Rashad. Zach Woods (from Emmy nominated shows The Office, Silicon Valley, and Veep) is the standout of the supporting cast as Maggie’s younger brother/doula. How many critically acclaimed shows does oods need to be a scene stealer on before he is finally recognized by the Emmys?
So Emmy voters, I beg of you, please remember St. Clair, Parham, and Playing House as a whole when you fill out your ballots next month. Take a break from all of the male driven comedies that you usually devote time to and watch “Hello, Old Friend” (Ep. 1), “Sleepless in Pinebrook” (Ep. 2), and “Celebrate Me Scones” (Ep. 8). You won’t be disappointed.
Bates Motel‘s Kerry Ehrin talks about the passion and talent behind A&E’s critically acclaimed series
A&E’s Bates Motel wrapped up its fourth season a few weeks ago by finally committing that most dreaded/anticipated act. It’s the story catalyst at the heart of Bates Motel‘s source material, Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1960 film Psycho. It’s a moment that seemed to register a 9.5 on the social media Richter scale. No matter how aware modern audiences were aware of ***SPOILER*** the death of Norma Bates (Vera Farmiga), it still felt like a massive surprise when it finally happened. Looking back on the season, the signs were all there, but still audiences were riveted as son Norman (Freddie Highmore) peacefully gassed his mother. That’s the beauty of Kerry Ehrin and the Bates Motel team’s writing. You don’t see the act coming even though you know its around the corner.
Kerry Ehrin’s writing and producing credits read like a list of great and eclectic American television. The Wonder Years. Newhart. Boston Public. Friday Night Lights. Moonlighting (pause to imagine what a remake with Nestor Carbonell and Vera Farmiga would look like…). Parenthood. And now Bates Motel. What threads those series together is Kerry Ehrin’s love for rich characters and stories that resonate. Don’t try to paint her into a horror corner – Bates Motel is more about mothers and sons than slashers and shower deaths – because Kerry Ehrin appreciates all types of genres and approaches them the same way. Characters first.
I spoke with Ehrin about That Moment and what drew her to the Bates Motel. What I discovered is Kerry Ehrin’s passion and deep connection to her material. It’s a connection that is reciprocated by her many fans and Bates Motel devotees on social media.
Now, why can’t the Television Academy feel that same connection?
AwardsDaily TV: Kerry Ehrin, you worked on [NBC’s] Friday Night Lights through its entire run. How does one make the shift mentally and creatively from a show that celebrates Americana… to a series [Bates Motel] that sort of takes everything Americana and just kind of stabs it in the back a few times?
Kerry Ehrin: Well, you know, it’s funny because I’ve written a lot of different genres, and people have asked me this before about how do you go from this to this to this. My answer is that I just write everything the same… To me, personally what grabbed me about the story [of Bates Motel] was the human character story in it. If you took out the serial killer aspect, Norma and Norman could be characters in Friday Night Lights. We always approached the story telling and characters to try and make them grounded and real with real problems so that the serial killer aspect of it didn’t really take the lead… We tried to make it a story about a woman – a single mother – trying to care for a son who had a problem. That could be a story, depending on what the problem is, on Friday Night Lights or Parenthood. So that’s my take on it. You take your sensibility with you no matter where you go. You just put it in different luggage. [Laughs]
ADTV: It’s certainly evident because Bates Motel spends a great deal of time with Norman interacting in a high school setting that is, in a way, similar to that of Friday Night Lights.
KE: Yeah, and if you’re telling the story of someone who is introverted and has a bad home life and has seen a lot of dysfunction… those things are super relatable… You’d be hard-pressed to do 50 hours of Psycho because what you’re seeing in Psycho is so much of what [Alfred Hitchcock] wants you to see at every step. You’re not seeing the reality of what Norman’s life is like when he wakes up in the morning and thinks he’s living with his mom when he isn’t. You’re seeing it all from the outside, and you’re being maneuvered around that story in a really fabulous way but that would be very hard to sustain for five years and keep people engaged. [Laughs] In a TV show, I think people show up because they want to experience the world that you’re providing. Our instinct was to make that world have some grounded reality to it that was also relatable. That people who were not serial killers could also relate to! [Laughs]
ADTV: So is that what drew you to the material at first. The chance to make Psycho relatable in a way?
KE: No, I wouldn’t say that I wanted to make it relatable. What drew me to it was telling a story about a dysfunctional mother and son where the dysfunction had bad things to it but also had a sort of larger than life bond that came out of the co-dependence. Some of that bond was beautiful even if it was a bad thing. I think initially that roped me in, and also one of my first novels that I loved was Wuthering Heights which was also very much about a bond between two people that was larger than both of them that they couldn’t quite figure out how to let go of it, and at the same time they couldn’t quite figure out how to live without it. How to let go or how to live with it. I think that sort of Gothic Romance of that book was appealing to me too in thinking about a co-dependent relationship between Norma and her son.
ADTV: That Gothic element is certainly there in all four seasons of Bates Motel.
KE: It’s a way to take a dark subject and infuse it with a little of a more Romantic quality. When I first heard about the project, I knew I couldn’t just live in a world that was relentlessly dark creatively. It’s too punishing. To do the story, I had to find something that was weirdly life-affirming to hang on to. And we did a lot of that on Friday Night Lights too. That show was full of people whose dreams were not going to come true, but the desire and the hope that it might come true was so poignant and relatable and engaging. It’s just really a part of life. To me, there’s a humanity in that which really appeals to me.
ADTV: One of the things I love most about the series and of Vera’s performance is the exploration of the role of the mother, particularly last season’s “Norma Louise” episode which you wrote. Where does that drive to explore motherhood come from?
KE: Well, we do have a writer’s room, and we break all the stories together just to be totally honest. Yes, I did write that episode, but we all talked through the episodes and arcs and break down that beat together. A lot of that aspect of Norma certainly comes from my own history, and my own feelings about relationships and children and having a job when you have children and the guilt you feel when you’re not present and when you are present it isn’t always what you want it to be. It’s such a loaded subject. Plus, just the magic of Vera who from day one has brought such an amazing illumination to the character, and the way that she can just turn on a dime. She’s filled with contradictions. She can be going down one road emotionally and then just turn on a dime and be this other thing. That’s because, in the character, there’s all of these unfinished businesses that lives inside of her, dysfunctional relationships she’s never dealt with. So, in a way, [Norma’s] at the mercy of her own psychology all the time, and she doesn’t know how to reign it in so she acts impulsively. That was something that I’ve always had a little bit of, obviously I control it better. But, if you’re an emotional person, that can run your life a little bit.
ADTV: Absolutely. So, one of the things that people on Twitter and other social media love about the show is how tight-knit the cast and creative team appear to be. Tell me a little about what it’s like working with the creative team and working with these actors.
KE: Well, Carlton Cuse [producer/writer] and I from the very first lunch we had together just… we have a very special creative chemistry even though we come from a very different place in what we like to write but it still fits together very well and they compliment each other. So, working with Carlton has been really great and super fun. Then, also, we have such a wonderful production. The crew we have is amazing. Our line producer is amazing. The artistic team we have – Mark Freeborn [set design] and Monique Prudhomme [costume designer] and the people in Canada that are designing the sets and costumes. It really is the best of the best. Not only are they incredibly talented, but they’re all nice people… fun people. And the you add into this Vera and Freddie and Max and Nestor who are just so professional, so talented, so passionate about the work… They’re just really wonderful role models… It’s really about getting the work done so that it’s the best it can be. Everybody has so much respect and really just reveres the cast and Vera… Everybody there just wants to facilitate excellence, and that’s created just this amazing environment. It’s like a bullshit free environment of really cool, creative people!
ADTV: Which is rare, I hear…
KE: I don’t know. I can only speak for this. But I do feel when I’m on the set that it’s special.
A lot of that aspect of Norma certainly comes from my own history, and my own feelings about relationships and children and having a job when you have children and the guilt you feel when you’re not present and when you are present it isn’t always what you want it to be. It’s such a loaded subject.
ADTV: That’s fantastic. So, now that the season finale has ended, how has the Twitter/fan reaction to [Norma’s death] been?
KE: Well, obviously, there’s a lot of people who were really shocked. There’s some people who were really sad and upset about losing Norma as I was. And then there’s other people who are more of a pure Hitchcock’s Psycho person who find that turn exciting for the storytelling. I feel like critically we’ve gotten great press, people really understand the choice, and people are really on board with it.
ADTV: Yes, definitely. I think it took people a while to come down from it because there was such a strong tie to the character of Norma. When you and other writers were creating those two episodes – “Forever” and “Norman” – what was it like in the writer’s room. What was the process of finally putting that to paper?
KE: I think everyone always felt it when we talked about Norma dying. I mean, everyone always felt that it was incredibly sad, and none of us actually wanted to do it but it was the story we were telling and we had to do it. And then I think the way we did it was a really specific choice to not be a violent death, which I think a lot of people were expecting, but to have it come out of this warped version of him trying to take care of her and to be able to stay together with her forever and try to shut the world out to stop it from hurting them. That made it more bearable, I think, to us.
ADTV: For this viewer as well. I have to tell you that I was so relieved [Norman] didn’t shoot her or stab her. I didn’t want to see him stab her in the chest.
KE: Well, he wouldn’t do that because he loves her. That’s the thing. Yes, he’s insane. Yes, he’s dangerous, but he’s never wished her harm. That would have been a betrayal of her character if he’d said “I’m jealous, and I’m going to stab you.” And it would have been horrible for the character for that to be the last thing she saw in her life was the son who she loved more than anything killing her. It became important, too, because… I do love Norma so much.. that it’s almost like he wanted to put her down as peacefully as possible so that the last thing she remembered was something happy and that she could go to sleep with some hope. The thing about the Oahu scene [where Norma and Norman fantasize about escaping White Pine Bay and moving to Hawaii] is that I don’t think she for a second actually thought they were moving to Oahu. They both know they’re in a lot of pain, and they both know they’re kind of playing at that in the moment to try and lighten themselves up a bit. The acting in that scene is so moving because that’s so clear that they’re both so broken underneath, but, on the top, they still can make each other feel better. That seems such a moving thing to play right before the end.
ADTV: Yes, and then having him sing her to sleep was poignant as well. The one thing that I also loved about season four was giving Norma the opportunity to be happy during the scene with Romeo.
KE: Yes, that’s another thing, Norma’s life on the show has been about her growth. When she first came out of this bad marriage that was scary to her in season one, she was very guarded. Then, over the course of the seasons by having to interact with people and having to deal with all these problems and constantly muster up her own intelligence and handle this shit, whether or not she chose the right way to handle it in any given instance, she just kept trying. That helped her grow a lot, and also slowly facing the truth about things that were in her past helped her grow a lot. We wanted to give her, before she left the world, real happiness and let her know what it was like to have a real and true interconnected relationship that was actually healthy as opposed to a codependent one or an abusive one – a good solid loving relationship which she achieved in the end. That’s why the sixth episode of the season was one of my favorites because that was really the point where Norma kind of grew up where she chose to tell Romero about her past even though it could make him not see her in sort of this idealistic way anymore. It could have cost her his love, but she did it anyway. That was such a big moment.
ADTV: Oh, it was a surprise for me, almost as much a surprise as her death, because she was open and honest when her modus operandi has always been to bury everything and cover it all up as much as possible.
KE: And to hide. It was as if she chose not to hide for the first time. And also Vera just completely nailed that scene. She was so good! And Nestor too. He’s been amazing this season.
ADTV: Yes, he’s kind of the unsung hero of the show. He’s the third part of that triangle between Vera and Freddie [Highmore].
KE: Yes, they’re great together, and they really enjoy working together too. You can tell that.
ADTV: You absolutely can. The chemistry between the three of them really works. You guys hit gold with this cast, I have to say. So, to me, Bates Motel was never a sprint. It’s always been a marathon of a show. As such, the critical reaction and fandom has dramatically increased year over year – season four is the most critically acclaimed season yet, which is rare for aging series. Why do you think then that they Emmys can’t seem to recognize that?
KE: I honestly don’t know. I’ve worked in this business a long, long time. I’ve written many things, and I’ve worked with a lot of great writers in television. I know this show is good. I know Vera and Freddie and Nestor – the whole cast – there’s an amazing cast. I don’t know. I can’t answer that. In a landscape of over 400 shows, there’s that… Maybe people who are voting haven’t seen it. There are so many great shows and performances out there. It’s not to say that any show these days is a shoo-in, but it is hard for me to understand how some of the work on this has not been recognized to some extent. And also there are a lot of people who have not watched the show who think it is something it isn’t. Who think it’s a horror film every week. I’ve had people say to me that haven’t watched it, “Oh don’t they just kill people in the motel every week?” They really have no idea what the show is or how carefully it’s constructed or what it’s really about. That it’s telling stories of human beings in extreme circumstances. I don’t really have an answer. I hope this year is different, and I would beg anyone who has not seen the show to please watch the last three episodes of the season just to see what the show is. It’s just such a labor of love… I’ve told people I would wear a sandwich board and stand on a freeway exit if I could get people to acknowledge Vera and Freddie. I think their work is so phenomenal.
ADTV: Looking forward, where are you with season five right now?
KE: We just started! We’ve been in the room for maybe four weeks. We’re just kind of mapping it out at this point, figuring out arcs and then breaking it down into smaller pieces. It’s going to be a really balls-out, off the chain season. I think we’re going out with a bang. We’re really excited about it.
ADTV: That sounds amazing. I did read that Marion Crane was going to check into Bates Motel.
KE: We are definitely taking a drive through Psycho and its events. It isn’t the whole season, but it weaves in with the story we are telling. What’s fun about it is that you get to look at events in Psycho that you didn’t get to see in the film. A lot of the stuff that happens in Psycho some of it will happen off-screen, and you’ll see different things that you didn’t see in the movie. Of course, we’re going to do our own version of it. It’s not going to be verbatim, but we are having a lot of fun with that. It’s going to be super cool.
I’ve had people say to me that haven’t watched it, “Oh don’t they just kill people in the motel every week?” They really have no idea what the show is or how carefully it’s constructed or what it’s really about.
ADTV: You have to have Marion eating like a bird.
KE: [Laughs] Everybody has their favorite little things. It is a weirdly beloved film for being such a dark film. People really have a lot of sentiment about that film. It’s kind of amazing… It’s so simple, and it is actually very character driven which I love. There’s one violent incident halfway through, and it’s incredibly suspenseful. Visually, too, it’s in a class by itself. And then after that scene you forget about Marion and worry about Norman, living with his crazy mother. That’s such a testament to Anthony Perkins’ fantastic performance. It’s amazing that they got away with that.
ADTV: I have just one more question for you. What’s on the horizon for you professionally after the final season of Bates Motel?
KE: I’m developing another show… I can’t talk about it because we haven’t taken it out yet. Bates has been kind of a full-time gig for me. There hasn’t been much time to do anything else. What is front of me right now is a little development and mostly Bates 24×7 until we put it to bed.
ADTV: And then hopefully a very long vacation.
KE: Yeah, but it won’t be. That’s not how it works. [Laughs]
Episodes of Bates Motel season four are available at A&E.com. Kerry Ehrin, Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, and Nestor Carbonell will return to Bates Motel for its final season in 2017.
Bloodline continues as the specter of Danny Rayburn continues to cause problems for his estranged family
Netflix’s Bloodline was a mixed bag for some viewers. It started off well enough by giving a flash-forward into what’s expected from the Florida-set noir series. Driven by the early revelation that Danny Rayburn (Emmy nominee Ben Mendelsohn) dies and is burned by his brother John (Emmy nominee Kyle Chandler), viewers were largely propelled forward through the at-times sluggish narrative. It was the end game that drew us into the story. As such, the first season’s final three episodes served up some truly remarkable drama. Bloodline season two is nearly completely dedicated to the Rayburn family dealing with the fallout.
Clearly, the current two halves of the Bloodline story are meant to be taken as one complete whole. The series has always felt very novelistic in its approach to the story. Watching the luscious Key West-set locales and the noir-influenced interior cinematography, you could practically hear the florid description that would most assuredly fill a novel version. That look and feel is carried forward into the sweaty second season.
Sometimes, there isn’t any light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes, all there is is more darkness. – Bloodline‘s Lenny Potts (Frank Hoyt Taylor)
What’s missing from Bloodline season two, though, is that sense of foreboding danger that pushed and pulled viewers through the weirdly paced first season. We wanted to know why Danny died. Here, though, the family attempts to bury the circumstances surrounding Danny’s death under lies, deception, secrets, and more lies. I’m only three episodes into the season, but I can tell you this: none of this will end well. Danny’s mysterious past introduces a series of new characters meant to avoid a sense of repetition but only serve to crowd the narrative. Owen Teague returns (after playing the young Danny Rayburn in tortured flashbacks) as Nolan Rayburn, Danny’s suddenly appearing son. Andrea Riseborough pops up midway the season as Nolan’s mother, Evangeline, who was receiving substantial monthly contributions from Danny’s father. The great John Leguizamo is also on hand as a former accomplice of Danny. They’re not enough to introduce any kind of newness to the material.
A third into the season, and I already feel that the story is being stretched beyond its capacity. Bloodline season two is already three episodes shorter than season one. Yet, the material feels padded beyond what the story can reasonably support. That said, the acting continues to be top notch with Chandler truly excelling as John, the story’s strong center trying to juggle the many complications of Danny’s death. Linda Cardellini turns in strong work as always, but no matter how much material she’s given she always feels wasted. Emmy nominee Mendelsohn returns in flashback and illusion form, so there’s little chance of a repeat nomination for him this season. In fact, only Chandler really seems suited to repeat as the season seems determined to tear him down.
And, honestly, season one spent so much time attempting to justify John Rayburn’s admittedly terrible actions (Danny is all but painted as a complete devil after threatening to kill not only his niece but also threatening his own mother). After all of that, why make John pay for the sins of the family? Everyone seems to turn against him, but he was only doing what he could to protect those who now seek to bring him down.
Bloodline season two ultimately fails, three episodes in admittedly, to justify its existence. After spending 13 episodes wallowing in the darkness of the story, did we really need a coda to remind us how bad people can be? Season one would have been just fine without tacking on a coda meant to deepen the impact of the first season. All it really does is shove our faces into the murk and forces us to breathe it in.
Emmy contender Richard Dreyfuss talks about conveying the financial villainy in Madoff
One of Academy Award-winner Richard Dreyfuss’s most notable films is Jaws, where he and Roy Scheider set out to stop a shark from wreaking havoc on a small beach town. But in ABC’s Madoff miniseries about Ponzi-scheme fraudster Bernie Madoff, he is the shark – the one everyone should be trying to sink.
I had the pleasure of talking to Mr. Dreyfuss about playing the famous shyster, including what surprised him about the role, why it’s fun to play the bad guy, and whether he’ll ever portray a certain Republican presidential candidate.
AwardsDaily TV: You were wonderful in Madoff. You really brought that character to life in the miniseries, making him more than just a villain. How did you prepare for this role?
Richard Dreyfuss: Well, I knew one secret. It’s an acting secret. If you’re going to be soothing and gentle and sweet enough to allow men and women to give you all of their millions of dollars, you gotta be the nicest guy in the world. There’s no question that you can ever go. . .(lets out maniacal laugh.) You can’t do that. That was the whole trick. That’s exactly what he was.
ADTV: He is kind of likable in a sense, but he’s also really bad. You usually play good guys, like my personal favorite Elliott in The Goodbye Girl or Mr. Holland’s Opus. Did him being a bad guy attract you to the role?
RD: Yes, the story attracted me first, and then the idea of presenting to the audience this guy that you really can’t help but like. They can experience it as the victims experienced it. And one of the great opportunities when you’re an actor in America is that you’re not the expert, but you’re the one that everyone thinks for a moment is an expert. We met all the victims and all of the people that should have been responsible for curtailing all of this. I’m actually making a speech in Vegas on June 13 to a room full of a thousand people, I think, of SEC investigators. It’s interesting that they’ve asked me to speak because they know that actors have great stories, and they also know that actors are not chief justices of the United States of the Supreme Court who can look at them and say, “You really fucked up!” And I can. I can say it.
ADTV: Did anything surprise you with Bernie’s story?
RD: About two weeks before we started shooting, I had the same questions in my mind about whether the kids or wife knew. But as soon as I got into the work, I realized, of course, they didn’t know. Where were you born? What city were you born in?
ADTV: Me? I was born in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania.
RD: And what did your dad do?
ADTV: What does my dad do? He’s a drug and alcohol counselor. [Laughs]
RD: And did you ever say when he came home at night, “Are you really a drug and alcohol counselor?”
ADTV: [Laughs] No. I just assumed.
RD: Yeah, and that’s what they did. That’s what we all do. And that’s why I’m absolutely 100 percent convinced that neither his wife nor his boys knew anything at all. They might have suspected something, but they would have put it down to bad parenting.
ADTV: I wondered about that, too.
RD: I grew up 10 blocks from where he lived for a while. I have a distinct memory of men on 218th Street in Bayside who were all very political. Leftists, communists, and socialists. And that’s what meant something to them, men of their generation. But they were all starting to go into business. One of the things to consume from Madoff, and from All My Sons by Arthur Miller, is that there’s a certain group of men who came out of World War II who went into business. They didn’t go into the aluminum siding business. They didn’t go into the ball bearing business. They went into business. They didn’t care what it was, and they went. And when you go into business in America, there are two things that everyone already knows. One is you have to lie to the government and you have to lie to your taxes. And so you go in knowing you’re going to do that because if you don’t, you’ll just fail. And if you can imagine the character in All My Sons not getting a case of moral judgment and blowing his own brains out, if he hadn’t done that, he would have turned into Bernie Madoff in the 1950s. And it was probably 15 years of his [Madoff’s] career when he thought of himself as a businessman and then he realized he was working real hard at that, so he said, “Screw it.” He figured, “Why not?” Because the government doesn’t care. So it was a very illuminating thing. I understood a whole generation of men, including my father and his brothers, why they did what they did.
ADTV: That’s so interesting.
RD: Madoff did it for the most base reasons. He really spent $50 billion or north of that on his wardrobe. [Laughs]
ADTV: Oh my gosh.
RD: He didn’t create philanthropy or anything. He did it because he could have his suits made in London and he could buy a yacht. He was a true scumbag.
ADTV: Was it kind of fun to play that?
RD: Yeah, it was. It’s always fun to play characters like that. I played Dick Cheney. That had to be fun.
ABC/Bob D’AmicoADTV: I wanted to ask you. So you’ve played Dick Cheney. You’ve played Bernie Madoff. What other controversial figure are you eyeing up? Would you play Trump?
RD: Ummmm. I haven’t yet. Actually I did. I did on the Internet (referring to this theatrical reading of Donald Trump for the Independent Journal Review). Hopefully, I’ll play him when he’s living in Central Africa, and we’re having trouble extraditing him.
ADTV: [Laughs] So there’s been some Emmy talk for your Madoff role, obviously, and I believe this would be your first Emmy nomination. TV seems to be where a lot of big movie stars like yourself are turning up nowadays. What do you think the draw is with television versus film right now? Do you think the roles are getting more interesting?
RD: Oh, yeah. The roles are getting interesting, and the structure is allowing for something that nothing else can offer. For instance, when you do a movie or a stage play, you know what the ending is. You know every night in a stage play that it’s going to be the same ending. In a film, you may shoot out of sequence, but you know what the ending is. And when you’re doing television, the one thing that can change is the producers can walk in the next day and say, “Let’s make him a cross dresser!” And they do. And the ending is always with a question mark. The character can morph into things that were never expected at the beginning. And that makes it really kind of like life.
ADTV: You will next be appearing on Fox’s Shots Fired with an A-list cast that includes Helen Hunt. Can you tell us anything about your role?
RD: Actually, I can’t, which I find amusing. Because they keep this show under very tight wraps. And they don’t want people to know what’s going to happen, who’s going to do it, or who’s good and bad and all that. And so, I’m actually constrained from telling you anything except that it’s a really well-written show.
ADTV: Are you working on any other TV shows or movies right now?
RD: Yeah, I’m doing two or three things. I’m doing a film in Israel in the fall about an American who goes to Israel to raise pigs. A hold for the laugh.
ADTV: [Laughs]
RD: It’s called Holy Land. I’m also writing two books. A piece about the American Civil War called The Two Virginians. One who stayed with the South, and one who stayed with the Union. Everything in the story is true. And I’m going to play all the characters. [Laughs] The other book is a short book about civics. Three chapters, a hundred pages long. Written by me and a bunch of history teachers, and Bruce Pandolfini wants to write a chapter about how chess helps you think clearly.
ADTV: You’re crazy busy! There’s one other thing about Madoff that I wanted to ask you. One of my favorite scenes in the series is when you explain your famous smirk to the paparazzi and the press. Did you watch that real-life video dozens of times to get it just right?
RD: You like that scene? [Laughs]
ADTV: It was so funny. You just nailed it.
RD: We did it in one take. We kept working, but what they used was the first take.
ADTV: Wow. Cause I remember all of this when it happened in the news and I remember that clip they showed. When you did it, it was exactly what it was like.
RD: When I was researching the role, I found two articles written in Vanity Fair by Marie Brenner. Once you read those two articles, you will never smile at the thought of Bernie Madoff or remember him with anything but loathing. Because she details the pain he inflicted. Anyone who sees the film should go back and read those articles.
ADTV: Well, I certainly will.
RD: When I heard Bobby De Niro was doing a show with the same character, I met his partner at a theater in New York, and I said, “If we finish first and you’re still shooting, I want to be in your movie! I could play a waiter. Or Harry Markopolos.” And she said, “What?” I said, “I’m not kidding. I think it would be fun.” And she said, “Great! We’ll call you.” They never called. [Laughs]
ADTV: That would have been so fantastic.
RD: Yeah. It would have been great.
ADTV: Did you know De Niro’s version was happening when you started filming?
RD: Yeah, we were tracking it. I don’t think they made a decision about when they would release it for quite a while. I kept thinking it was going to be the same season, which would have added extra anxiety. And I’ve heard that Bobby De Niro has a lot of acting talent. [Laughs] I’m really curious to see that show.
Madoff reairs on Saturday, May 28, on ABC at 9 p.m. EST. The episodes are also available online at ABC.GO.COM.
It’s that time of year again! The 2016 Emmy voting window starts Monday, June 13, and runs until Monday, June 27 (you can track who’s most likely to secure Emmy nominations on our Awards Daily TV Emmy Tracker). You won’t see any updates to this week’s Emmy Tracker, but here are seven long-shot contenders we hope to see when the Emmy nominations are announced on Thursday, July 14.
Because everybody loves an underdog, right?
1. Tommy Dewey, Casual on Hulu – Outstanding Supporting Actor Comedy
Casual received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, so maybe Dewey can get in for playing the wise-cracking brother who steals every scene. Of all the characters on the show, he had the biggest character arc. It would be great to see him, and this underrated show, get rewarded.
2. Britt Lower, Man Seeking Woman on FXX – Outstanding Supporting Actress Comedy
Many MSW fans argue whether Jay Baruchel’s on-screen sister Liz (Lower) is more interesting than Josh and his adventures on the FXX series. Case in point: the episode “Tinsel,” where Liz has an affair with Santa Claus. It’s one of the funniest, most heartfelt 20 minutes of the year (and you’ll never look at holiday trains the same way). As much as Baruchel is the singleton poster boy of the series, Lower is right up there next to him, representing the ladies.
3. Martha Kelly, Baskets on FX – Outstanding Supporting Actress Comedy
The most talked-about role on Baskets is Louie Anderson, who plays Chip’s (Zach Galifianakis) mother on the series. But Martha Kelly, as Chip’s love interest, is superb with her dry delivery. Watch “Strays,” when Martha takes in a stray coyote thinking it’s a dog. She’s both heartbreaking and hilarious.
4. 7 Days in Hell on HBO – Outstanding Television Movie
HBO rolled out two big political TV movies in 2016, with All the Way and Confirmation, in hopes of striking Emmy gold, but truly the most entertaining HBO movie of the Emmy year has been 7 Days in Hell, starring Andy Samberg and Kit Harington as two tennis phenoms stuck in a week-long match, shot documentary-style. It’s inspired comic lunacy accentuated with a surprisingly committed comic performance from Harington.
5. Unreal on Lifetime – Outstanding Drama Series
By far, Unreal was summer 2015’s buzziest show, following the behind-the-scenes making of a Bachelor-type show called Everlasting. It surprised and captivated, and even for its second season, it’s already ahead of its inspiration by hiring an African-American bachelor. Win!
6. Wayward Pines on Fox – Outstanding Limited Series
Outstanding Limited Series is a crowded category, but we’d love to see Wayward Pines get in for spinning such a taut mystery with a pitch-perfect end. (Although season two, which premiered May 25, proves there are more questions to be answered – and that Wayward Pines couldn’t be eligible for the Limited Series Emmy so this is really more of a protest wish than anything else).
7. RuPaul for RuPaul’s Drag Race on Logo – Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program
We’ve said it once, and we’ll say it again. It’s time for Emmy to serve some Realness and include RuPaul on its list of Emmy nominated hosts.
Funny guys Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer have been passengers on Emmy Award-winning shows like Transparent and 30 Rock. With their Comedy Central special Crash Test, the two cut-ups are front and center, leading the way toward what could be Emmy gold for Outstanding Variety Special.
Premiering on January 22, 2016, Crash Test, directed by Lance Bangs, is a comedy special unlike anything you’ve ever seen, taking place on a bus (that’s right—just don’t make any Speed jokes). Huebel and Scheer act as hosts with all of Los Angeles as their stage as they pull up on the street to comedians like Rob Corddry, Aziz Ansari, and Natasha Leggero.
I talked with Huebel and Scheer about this grand production (but not before they argued over which one of them I liked better based on their appearances in Norbit versus School for Scoundrels) and learned about this incredible comedy experience and why they aren’t afraid of throwing down against past Outstanding Variety Special winners like The Kennedy Center Honors.
AwardsDaily TV: Crash Test had to be a huge undertaking. It’s a simple concept, but it seems like a big production – the Grease: Live of comedy with its mobility.
Rob Huebel: (Laughs.) That’s how we should market it. As “the Grease: Live of comedy.” If you think we’re not going to steal that, you’re so mistaken.
ADTV: Oh my God. Please do. I would love that. (Laughs.) But how did this all come together?
Paul Scheer: You know, Rob and I have been doing this show at the UCB theater (the Upright Citizens Brigade) for years now, since 2005. It’s just a place for us to kind of do whatever’s on our mind.
Rob Huebel, of “Crash Test” on Comedy Central
RH: It’s a stand-up show that we host.
PS: Every week, in addition to having stand-ups on the show, Rob and I will do elaborate bits with the audience. Like one night we sent people up on blind dates, we did a Seder (cause Rob and I had never had a Seder before). We’ve done all of these kind of bits and the joke that we always made was, “What if we just took this show and put it on a moving bus and went to the comedians’ houses instead of having them come to us?” Put the audience on a bus and just drive to their houses. And we said it as a joke, and then Ben Stiller and his company were like, “Well, let’s get you that bus.” Then, we were actually forced to make good on our promise.
RH: But you’re right, logistically, the actual production of it was really hard. That bus for example isn’t out here on the West Coast. It’s on the East Coast. So we had to pay that company to drive that bus all the way out here to LA just for that. That’s an expensive, weird job. Some guy had to drive that weird glass bus all the way across the country by himself.
PS: And the thing is, too, like what you said about Grease: Live, there is a true feeling of that. Putting on a special, even if it’s a stand-up special, is a big endeavor. You have to block it, shoot it, get the space, get the people there. What we did was we took all that pressure and put it on a moving bus. And we had people having to hit their marks as we were pulling up so there’s a level of danger in the entire show in the sense that everything had to be orchestrated down to the second and if we went too long, everything had to be perfectly timed out.
RH: Well, the main danger was that we didn’t tell the audience how long they were going to be on the bus. They just showed up and I think they thought, “This will be like an hour” or something like that. You know, cause the special is an hour. It took like eight hours to actually do it, and so we’re driving all over LA, and there are no bathrooms on the bus, so we would have to stop and let people go to the bathroom or get something to eat. At the beginning, you could see the audiences’ faces. They were like, “Ha-ha-ha! We’re having a great time!” Towards the end of it, they were like, “What the fuck is going on?”
PS: We had to have a fully functioning plan for the night, but because we’re on a bus and because there’s traffic and because things take longer and we were interacting with new things on the street that we could never have planned for, there’s a lot of improvisation in it. So that was part of the fun. When we went out to Mann’s Chinese Theater, we didn’t know what we were going to get. We had no dress rehearsal. We had no tech. We had that bus for one night because that was all we could afford. So we rigged it up, and were like, we’re going to shoot for eight hours, and make the best version of whatever we got. Some of the things turned out so great, like that guy Zev that we found on the bus, who did the earpiece thing. That was totally unplanned. We could have picked the guy next to Zev. We just didn’t know. And the people we interacted with on the street, we just didn’t know. We wanted to create a show that had a little bit of an improvisational element to it. So we knew what we wanted from a moment, but we were open to it going in many different directions. And that, for me, was the most fun thing to do because I don’t think anyone has done that in a special, captured that element of “anything could happen” right now. And I think shows like The Chris Gethard Show have an element of that, too. I think for us, coming from the UCB and that stage thing, I think we thrive on that and can find these moments that you could never even plan. And it makes it feel very different from a normal show.
RH: Most people that see the special say, “Oh my God. You have to come do that in my town. You have to come to Austin, you have to come to San Francisco. Please come to Seattle.” So we keep thinking, “Oh, yeah. We should do that.” Make this a regular thing. It would probably be so stressful to do, but I think it would be really fun.
ADTV: I wanted to ask you guys that. Would you ever do it again?
PS: Yeah, we’re in talks with Comedy Central, and it’s really figuring out the logistics. It’s almost doing a special as a series. How many can we do that won’t break the bank? There are a lot of elements involved in it. Rob and I have talked about maybe doing it during South by Southwest or Comic-Con where there’s a lot of people on the street, too. I think part of the fun is making the audience feel like they are really a part of the show and that they’re in it with us, and then also having the stage be a street, as a living, breathing thing. As we roll up into something, we’re changing the backdrop every single time, whether it’s stand-up, music, or whatever. Having Earl Sweatshirt and the Odd Future guys do that rap song—that was amazingly fun for us. The cool, live music performance kind of reminded me of the stuff that [Dave] Chappelle did with his musical stuff.
Photo Credit: Tina St. Claire
RH: I think the trick if we did more of them would be to really get the right people involved that can roll with something like this. Like Tom [Lennon] and Ben [Garant] from Reno 911!. When they show up as the cops when we go on the Paramount lot, it’s so funny and it’s so outrageous, but those guys are just making up that whole thing and we’re just kind of rolling with it. We would need to make sure if we were doing it in Seattle or wherever or Austin, that we’d be able to fly in all of our friends to get all the right people there.
PS: Yeah, so it’s basically like flying in a full show, the full variety show. But then the variety show isn’t even on stage. It’s on a street. And everything can put it off guard. We found so many fun moments. Originally, we were going to have Earl Sweatshirt scale down from a building with a stunt rig on. At the last minute, they couldn’t get the stunt rig to go, and he was going to land on top of the bus and crawl into the bus. We had no communication because we were on the bus. We were just going, so a lot of the stuff you’re seeing is us just killing time as we’re getting from location to location because we had this amazing team. It was like running a little army out there, around LA in this 30-block radius. We basically drove in a giant circle.
ADTV: So the comedians were just kind of waiting in the wings at specific locations? So you would just show up and then they’d come out of nowhere?
RH: Those are obviously not their houses where they are because we didn’t want to tell people where they lived, but we had blocked off a neighborhood in L.A. and then we just had all those people on tap for that night and we said, “OK, we’re gonna come by there at, like, 8 o’clock. So be in your location at 8 o’clock.” And for the next guy we’d be like, “Be there at 8:20.” It was literally scheduled like that. Cause the bus is so big that you can’t turn around and go back for anything. You have to catch the bus. It was a logistical challenge but it all worked out.
PS: We basically had like a full army of producers and directors running around trying to make it all seem seamless. At one point, we were driving through this neighborhood, and you could tell that people paid a lot of money for these houses, and then they would open up their door and see this giant bus. We had a bullhorn, screaming out into the street. And at one point, someone walked out of their front door and saw a bus full of us all wearing ski masks and yelling stuff. Those were moments that I really loved. There’s just an energy you can’t recreate but we were able to do.
ADTV: I want to ask you about the bus interior. It was very reminiscent of MTV’s TRL circa 2000. Did either one of you ever feel like Carson Daly? Did you have the urge to throw it to the Backstreet Boys or a screaming fan?
RH: It does look like that. That bus actually lives in New York City and does this thing called The Ride and they ride around Times Square and they have all these little stop-offs and everything. And there’s street performers and stuff. But because it lives in Times Square, I almost think it just sorta has that look to it. It looks like a thing from TRL, but it has all kinds of stuff like lasers. There’s a lot of stuff we didn’t use because we were like, “Well, if we do a smoke machine, then the rest of the show is going to be in this haze.”
PS: Grease:Live rehearsed for months. We literally got on that bus and took it out and were like, let’s see what it’s got. We decorated the side of it so it looked a lot different from The Ride bus, but it had the lights. It looked like if TRL jettisoned. If Carson Daly was like, “Guys, TRL’s gonna blow! Let’s get in our escape hatches!” And by the way, I know a lot about TRL because I did a dumb series on the web called Scheer-RL, which was a recreation of TRL with me as Carson Daly.
Paul Scheer, of “Crash Test” on Comedy Central
ADTV: I wanted to watch that. I haven’t had a chance to watch it yet.
PS: It will always wait for you on the Internet. It will never go away.
ADTV: OK, good. Cause that’s been on my list of things to get to. (Laughs.)
PS: It’s so dumb. (Laughs.) But the bus was kind of already pre-manufactured, and we tried to make it our own. We could only do as much as we could.
ADTV: After eight hours on the bus, did it smell?
PS: (Laughs.) People were not shitting on the bus. No one shit themselves on the bus. I think the audience didn’t know what to expect. If they’re used to coming to our show, they knew it’s like a two-hour show from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. every Monday night. It’s the craziest schedule. I think they thought, “Oh, this will be like that.” But because the show just kept on changing, one of the last things that they saw was Earl Sweatshirt. The order [of the special] is the same. We kept on kind of goosing them whenever we felt they were getting tired. All of the sudden Tom and Ben are ramming the bus with a go-kart. Jack McBrayer is coming out in a green-screen suit. So they always felt like there was another thing coming at them. We didn’t tell them what was coming next. They didn’t know there was a musical thing. The only way they knew something musical was happening was by the smell of pot because Odd Future and Earl Sweatshirt and that whole crew smoked so much weed that actually the Paramount security people were like, “Our backlot smells like weed. You have to cut this off.”
RH: I think it’s like a rare thing, especially in Hollywood, it’s not like it is in New York where there’s so much live entertainment with all the theaters. I think this, to a lot of people on the bus, was almost like this mind-blowing live experience that they knew was never going to happen again. They’d never be able to go out and see Rob Corddry, Aubrey Plaza, Jack McBrayer, Tom and Ben, Earl Sweatshirt, Natasha Leggero. They would never get all of that in one night in any other format. I think it was sort of this really special thing. Even though it took eight hours, I think people were pretty psyched in the end.
PS: It has that Bonnaroo festival mentality. You’re into the experience. Bonnaroo, you’re there for a weekend. And for us, the big thing also was, Rob and I are not traditional stand-ups. We’re not going to get on stage solo and do an hour-long show. I think we both love the idea of doing kind of what we do do, which is kind of like sketch prov. We have these ideas. We have these written bits, but we’re open to improvising. We’re open to being with each other. There’s no outlet for it, so that was a part of our deal, too. How could we capture what we do without necessarily compromising to make it something a little bit different? Us on a stage, I think, would be compared too much to a stand-up special. We wanted to create what’s so fun about our live show, which is that anything can happen. We’ve had guests come in and people take the stage that you would never expect. I think the only way we could do it was with the bus.
ADTV: Speaking of anything could happen, was security or safety something you were ever nervous about?
PS: That bus goes, like, four miles an hour.
RH: The only thing that was unsafe I think was me and Paul standing up the whole time. They are weird about standing up when the bus is moving. Right away, we were like, “Well, no. We’re going to be standing up the whole time and we’re going to be running around on the bus.” We’re not going to abide by your internal bus safety rules. But as for the actual safety, we had a police escort and everything. Those motorcycle cops that take you everywhere when you’re filming. So that was all good. The only thing that was also hard was parallel parking. We had to pull over and find a parking spot for a 60-foot glass bus. It’s like trying to park the Love Boat. There’s no parking space for that. So that was kind of tricky.
PS: The other thing we were always getting into trouble with was we were essentially bullies. We had a loud speaker. We had this giant colorful bus, and we’re going down Hollywood Boulevard and harassing people on the street. We were just like the bully in high school, who’d go, “Hey! What are you doing? Kiss her!” There was a guy going to a valet stand, and we were like, “Tip him more! Tip him more!” And he finally went back in his wallet and got more money. We were like a bully that was doing good but we were definitely making fun of people. Luckily we avoided any fights. But we did get one guy to flip us off because we made fun of him while he was getting his salsa.
ADTV: I wondered if you were worried about Zev when he was out and you were feeding him lines.
RH: That was a little touch and go because we didn’t know him and know how good he was going to be doing exactly what we said. There was a part that we kept in there where he goes up to this girl by herself and he starts flirting with her and he asks her if he can touch her hair and then she very quickly turns around and gets her huge boyfriend. She’s like, “Babe!” And we’re like, “Zev, get out of there! Get out of there!” He was probably in the most danger, I would say, of all the performers. I think he was putting himself out there the most.
PS: His energy that he gives off on the street was so pleasant that he could say these weird, horrible things to people or unnerving things to people and people were giving him a second chance. I was nervous a couple of times. He started riffing on his own a couple times. I was like, No, no, no. Reign it back in. We cut out a lot of stuff, too. Rob and I could have a whole special of Zev, we were laughing so hard. We kept on trimming him down because he was saying the most insane stuff. And I realized an important life lesson: You can really say anything to anybody and they’re pretty much OK with it. He said so much stuff and it seemed to only endear him to people. Except that girl’s boyfriend.
ADTV: If Crash Test is nominated and wins the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special, it’ll sit next to other such winners like The Kennedy Center Honors and Barbra Streisand: The Concert. How would you guys feel to be the winner to bring Nuts and Butts into the Emmy lexicon?
PS: I think that’s the only way we could do it effectively is if we had a mini-bus that we were able to drive up on stage and accept the award in a mini-bus.
RH: I think this represents the new style of comedy specials. With all due respect to The Kennedy Center Honors and all of those very prestigious productions, ours is very run-and-gun and down and dirty. But I would say, pound for pound, just as funny as those comedy specials that my parents used to love. But I think it just represents something brand-new in the comedy world.
PS: I’m going to go one step further and say to any other potential nominee that’s even in this category, “So what. You did a show. Were you moving on a bus during it? No. Case closed. We’re the best. The only special that moved the audience, the performers, and ourselves.”
RH: Well then I would take it one step further and say if any of these other shows are interested in fighting us, we’re down. We live here in Los Angeles. We’re easy to find. And if you think your show is better than our show, come and fight us.
PS: Take that, Kennedy Center Honors. Take off your top hat and your bow tie, and come meet us out on the streets of LA. We got a bus. What do you have? A podium? No thank you. Take that Mark Twain award and shove it up your ass.
Crash Test, a Paramount Digital Entertainment production, is available for purchase on Vimeo for $3.99.
In the past I thought Emmy voters would eventually grow tired of Netflix’s House of Cards. Yet, as the show ages, voters’ (especially the actors branch) passion for the show grows as well. Overall the political drama has received 32 nominations so far, continues to do well at guild awards, the Metacritic score has consistently stayed at 76 for three of the four seasons, and, most importantly, the drama races are thinner than usual. This all means House of Cards is looking pretty good in terms of nominations. The fact that voters will be bingeing the current season in the middle of an out-of-control primary season most likely will propel the show to even more support from voters.
Robin Wright as Claire Underwood was the star of the fourth season. From her battles with her husband, her mother, President Petrov, the vice president, the Republican challengers, and even the leader of a terrorist organization, Claire Underwood controlled and manipulated just about entire world. In fact, the show is arguably more about Claire than it is about Frank at this point. She dominated screen time throughout the season especially when Frank was in the hospital after being shot. The most interesting and even shocking turn of events was when Claire joined Frank in his infamous breaking of the fourth wall moments at the end of the season after she came up with the idea to go to war to save their candidacy. Not only did Wright dominate the season with her performance but she also controlled the season behind the scenes by directing a third of the season. With the show being as popular as it is with Emmy voters and Robin Wright being at the face of season four, she is probably the front runner of the lead actress race even against the reigning champ Viola Davis.
Kevin Spacey has won two individual SAG awards and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Frank Underwood, but he has never won an Emmy. He’s lost to iconic performances from Bryan Cranston, Jon Hamm, and surprisingly Jeff Daniels. Now Spacey is the most revered actor and gives the most iconic performance of the contenders and will probably win because of these factors. The only reason Emmy voters might not want to vote for Spacey is because this wasn’t necessarily his strongest season. Spacey was overshadowed by his onscreen wife throughout the season and was even in a coma for part of the season. Now that the submitted episodes don’t really have an impact and the popularity of the show and actor is much more significant Spacey probably has nothing to worry about.
Other than the leads of the show the easiest predictions to make in terms of nominations are the Emmy bait names in contention for the guest categories. Ellen Burstyn is beloved by Emmy voters having won twice and having been nominated seven times total (five over the past ten years). After she snatched her own wig off and tore Claire to shreds I knew she was winning the Emmy. There is no reason to overthink it, the race is sewn up. Reg E. Cathey has been nominated two times already for his work on House of Cards and even shockingly won last year. Part of his success might be because of the infamous alphabet theory that might not have as much power but Cathey is also a well-respected character actor. He only had two scenes this year but as long as voters still like the show he shouldn’t be counted out. Cicely Tyson had a small role at the beginning of the season as a retiring congresswoman, and it would be easy to argue that she could easily earn a nomination off of name recognition and love for the show. Her biggest competition to a nomination is herself in a role that she was nominated for the year prior on How to Get Away With Murder. She could easily split the vote or be nominated for both performances.
House of Cards’ biggest question marks in terms of nominations this year are the supporting actors. Michael Kelly was nominated last year for his performance as Doug, the president’s chief of staff. He had a huge story-line last year beginning with his struggle to walk again and ending with him murdering another character with a shovel. He doesn’t have the same material in season four and he is also one of the slimiest and just straight unlikable characters currently on television. His only significant material this season (feelings of remorse for essentially killing a man on the donor list) came off as trite. When Neve Campbell joined the cast as Claire’s campaign aide I thought she had a strong chance at receiving her first Emmy nomination, but as the season went on she wasn’t given anything to do besides stand in the background. Depending on how well voters respond to the fourth season Campbell and Kelly could sneak into the supporting categories especially since there is not a lot of new competition.
The fourth season of House of Cards was absolutely wild but so is the current Presidential election. Emmy voters could easily embrace the Netflix political drama in this election year but voters could easily feel exhausted with politics and end up snubbing the show in a lot of categories. In the end though, voters will probably continue to embrace House of Cards in growing numbers, especially among the actors. Readers, do you think Wright and Spacey are the front-runners to win the lead categories? Do you think the other guest nominees should even bother showing up? Or do you think voters will skip the show altogether?
Guaranteed Nominations
Drama Series
Directing
Kevin Spacey, Lead Actor
Robin Wright, Lead Actress
Ellen Burstyn, Guest Actress
Probable Nominations
Reg E Cathey, Guest Actor
Michael Kelly, Supporting Actor
Writing
Possible Nominations
Neve Campbell, Supporting Actress
Cicely Tyson, Guest Actress
hey’re able to easily switch from a scene where they are breaking into Bird Bones’ house to save a puppet to a scene where they are both crying as Emma promises to help Maggie raise her baby as she achieves her dream of becoming a nurse.
Emmy nominated shows The Office, Silicon Valley, and Veep) is the standout of the supporting cast as Maggie’s younger brother/doula. How many critically acclaimed shows does oods need to be a scene stealer on before he is finally recognized by the Emmys?
RH: Well, the main danger was that we didn’t tell the audience how long they were going to be on the bus. They just showed up and I think they thought, “This will be like an hour” or something like that. You know, cause the special is an hour. It took like eight hours to actually do it, and so we’re driving all over LA, and there are no bathrooms on the bus, so we would have to stop and let people go to the bathroom or get something to eat. At the beginning, you could see the audiences’ faces. They were like, “Ha-ha-ha! We’re having a great time!” Towards the end of it, they were like, “What the fuck is going on?”
RH: The only thing that was unsafe I think was me and Paul standing up the whole time. They are weird about standing up when the bus is moving. Right away, we were like, “Well, no. We’re going to be standing up the whole time and we’re going to be running around on the bus.” We’re not going to abide by your internal bus safety rules. But as for the actual safety, we had a police escort and everything. Those motorcycle cops that take you everywhere when you’re filming. So that was all good. The only thing that was also hard was parallel parking. We had to pull over and find a parking spot for a 60-foot glass bus. It’s like trying to park the Love Boat. There’s no parking space for that. So that was kind of tricky.
ADTV: If Crash Test is nominated and wins the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special, it’ll sit next to other such winners like The Kennedy Center Honors and Barbra Streisand: The Concert. How would you guys feel to be the winner to bring Nuts and Butts into the Emmy lexicon?
