I'm Glad To Come Back to This City: City on a Hill Season 2 Review

 

Kevin Bacon has been so ubiquitous  that its all too easy to forget what a great actor he can truly be. Whether in prestige films Apollo 13 or A Few Good Men, sly comedies like Crazy, Stupid, Love or big Oscar winners like Mystic River, he always gives quiet understated performances. As he’s gotten older, like so many other great actors, he’s migrated to TV, hunting serial killers in The Following or the twisted subject of devotion in the too-short-lived Amazon series I Love Dick. And now, in his sixties, he’s finally found one of his greatest roles in the exceptional City on a Hill.

Jackie Rohr, the Boston FBI agent at the center of the series, has managed to maintain his career by manipulation and charm. But as the second begins, he’s beginning to run out of moves and he knows it. He dumps the body of an ADA who ODs while in his car in an old hospital. (TV fans will recognize it as St. Eligus.) The head of Justice doesn’t want him there any more, and the old cops and agents who listened to him are finding his stories annoying more than charming. (In a funny joke, he’s being referred to as ‘I Am Woman’ by agents now. If you know the chorus, you know why that would stick in Jackie’s craw.) And the series which had a little sympathy for his last season, has none to spare for him now. He’s just a monster who keeps moving rather than face himself. Even his daughter, a junkie last year, knows as much.

DeCourcy Ward (Aldis Hodge) tried to outmaneuver Jackie last season and paid the price. Now his ambitions have shifted from simply making a place for himself to trying to destroy Jackie. A lot of the brilliance in the series comes when these two adversaries are in the same room. Hodge and Bacon spark with every exchange between them as Jackie tries his best to utterly destroy his enemy and frankly anyone else who gets in way. But Ward has learned his lesson and is more than willing to get down in the muck.

There’s also the central crime going on at the center of Season 2. There’s a drug war going on between two black gangs which led to a girl named Grace getting shot by a stray bullet. The two brothers who lead the gang are the nephews of a community organizer in Boston who tries to make things better for her world, not knowing her nephews are doing their part to make it worse. Nor has the series forgotten last season’s arc: Cathy Ryan, the wife of the bank robber criminal has been left destitute by her husband’s imprisonment. In an effort to survive, she makes a deal with the devil – her brother-in-law Jimmy, who sold out her entire family as an FBI informant and is still walking around free, making drug deals to survive with this gang. It’s only a matter of time, particularly since Jackie still has a hold over Jimmy, that all these worlds will collide.

City on a Hill improved immensely over the first season, and one of the ways it has gotten much better as we go into Season 2 is the increased role of the women. Amanda Clayton is charismatic as ever as the battered down Cathy, who will do anything to survive except take help from her friends. Siobhan, DeCourcy’s wife (Lauren E. Banks) was mostly a figure of support in Season 1. Now, she branches out on her own, trying for the political ambitions her husband squandered, trying to get a baby that she may not be able to have, and openly clashing with him. But by far the most outstanding performance comes from Jill Hennessy as Jenny, Jackie’s embattled wife. Jenny had all the marks of a cliché when we first met her; now she’s become, in many ways, the most brilliant of all the characters on this series.  Jenny has been battered down by every aspect of her life, and though she made enormous progress in the Season 1 finale, all her problems are still there; a horrible mother who has no interest in taking responsibility for any actions, no real future for her life at this point, and Jackie, a husband who won’t touch his wife, and would rather make fun of her for playing with herself rather than do anything to satisfy her urges. This is Hennessy’s best work in decades.

City on a Hill had all the markings of a great series when it premiered: in addition to its sterling cast, it’s a production of Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana, who gave us two of the greatest series of all time: Homicide and Oz. It features many of the writers and directors from both of those series, but struggled early on to find its true voice. Now, it has nearly realized its potential, showing great acting and dealing with some of the harder issues that it only touched on in early in its run. It’s not quite at the level of The Wire or even Homicide yet, but it’s close, and given the absence of so many major series this year; I think it’s a good contender for a lot of Emmy nominations.

My score: 4.5 stars.

And Now For Something (Almost) Completely Different: I Try To Pick The SAG Winners

 

Those of you who have been following my column for awhile know that I love awards and awards shows as well as trying to handicap them. There has been one exception to this over the years – the SAG Awards.

Part of it is due to the fan that I’m still not wild about how they group all actors – lead and supporting in the same category – male actor or female actor. And I still don’t know why I have more than a quarter of a century they haven’t bothered to put up an ensemble for a Limited Series/TV Movie yet have a category for stunt actors. My biggest problem, though, has been their tendency – an even bigger one than the Emmys, for that matter – to have the same winners in the same categories year after year. I actually lost count of how many years in a row Alec Baldwin for 30 Rock.

But I will admit that over the last few years the Guild has made some major strides forward. They still have a tendency to repeat every so often, but their list of nominees has become more ambitious over time. They’re not perfect – even the cast of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was shocked that they managed to beat out Fleabag last year – but they’ve been making some major improvements, as their list of nominees clearly shows.

So, for the first time in my career, I’m going to step out on a ledge and try to hypothesize what the SAG awards will do for TV on Sunday. It’ll probably be more fun than the awards – lockdown procedures are still in place for what will hopefully be the only time.

 

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A DRAMA

This is the easiest choice of the night, and not just because the winner is the same as last year. The Crown has already dominated the Golden Globes and the Broadcast Critics Award, and I really don’t see anything that could stop it. It’s not that the series has gotten even more ambitious as it shifts its attention from Elizabeth to Charles and Diana and Margaret Thatcher; it’s that its still one of the more daring pieces of drama ever done for any service. It’s not just it won last year; it deserves to win this year. So much as I’d lead to see Better Call Saul or Lovecraft Country prevail, The Crown’s going to repeat – and I’m fine with that for a change.

Should Win/Will Win: The Crown.

 

BEST MALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA

This I’m a little more torn on, as I would like to see Bob Odenkirk finally prevail here and after Sterling Brown’s work this year on This is Us, I’d be fine with him repeating. Admittedly, there’s more room for an upset. But I think it’s most likely to go to Josh O’Connor for his brilliant work as Charles on The Crown. He comes across as a truly horrible person, particularly in regard to how he treats Diana, but every scene he has with his parents, you really wonder if he’s to blame. It’s brilliant work and O’Connor deserves to win.

Should Win: Odenkirk.

Will Win: O’Connor.

 

BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA

This is the hardest choice of the night probably. I know an actress from The Crown is going to win; I’m just not sure which. Emma Corrin and Gillian Anderson have dominated the female acting awards so far this year, and considering how brilliant Colman is (particularly in the brilliant episode ‘Fagan’) it’s going to be a really difficult choice.   Will Anderson duplicate John Lithgow’s triumph her as a Prime Minister? Will Colman duplicate Claire Foy’s victory as Elizabeth? It’s a dice roll on this one, so I’m going to give the barest of edges to Anderson, though I really think Colman deserves it the most.

Should Win: Colman/Anderson.

Will Win: Anderson (but they’re all good)

 

BEST ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY SERIES

Much as I’d like to consider Dead to Me a dark horse (it’s really brilliant) I think this comedown to a showdown between the two comedies that have been dominated the awards: Schitt’s Creek and Ted Lasso. And considering that Schitt’s Creek had all four Emmy winners nominated, I think we have to consider the SAG Awards will go up the Creek. (Sorry.)

Should Win: Ted Lasso.

Will Win: Schitt’s Creek.

 

BEST MALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Jason Sudeikis deservedly has the hot hand for the last couple of awards shows, but you can never rule out the possibility that a supporting actor will triumph in this category. Considering that Daniel Levy has basically been the face of this show as well as its breakout lead, I think it’s likely that he will narrowly edge out Sudeikis. Still, you never know.

Should Win: Sudeikis

Will Win: Daniel Levy.

 

BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Would I like to see either Christina Applegate or Linda Cardellini prevail for their extraordinary work in Dead to Me? I’d frigging love it. However, I think that all signs point to the actress who has been dominating the Lead Actress in a Comedy awards since September: Catherine O’Hara, one of the funniest actresses I’ve ever seen and one of the great speech givers. Don’t rule out the possibility that Kaley Cuoco could pull an upset if there is vote splitting in both Dead to Me and Schitt’s Creek camp, but I think it’s going to go to O’Hara.

Should Win: Applegate/Cardellini.

Will Win: O’Hara.

 

BEST MALE ACTOR IN A MOVIE/LIMITED SERIES/SPECIAL

Could Hugh Grant finally manage an upset here? Could Ethan Hawke triumph? John Boyega is out, which is a relief. It’s a tough call, but I think the most likely winner is going to be the Emmy and Golden Globe winner, Mark Ruffalo for I Know This Much is True. It’s the kind of performance awards show love. Grant and Hawke can wait to duel in the Emmys.

Should Win: Grant.

Will Win: Ruffalo.

 

BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A MOVIE/LIMITED SERIES/SPECIAL

This one hurts. I really want Kerry Washington to win something for her extraordinary work in Little Fires Everywhere and considering she’s been ignobly ignored by every other awards show, this is her only chance. I also wouldn’t object to Michaela Coel getting a prize for her exceptional work in I May Destroy You and just as with Daniel Levy in Schitt’s Creek, this is a better chance to recognize her.

But the SAGs do tend to follow a trend. And honestly, after having seen her entire body of work in The Queen’s Gambit, it’s impossible to argue with anyone who doesn’t say Anya Taylor-Joy didn’t give one of the best performances I’ve seen this year. Look for her to continue her path to the inevitable Emmy she’ll win.

Should Win: Washington.

Will Win: Taylor-Joy.

 

I’ll be back in a couple of days with my reaction.

Time for a DNR for Grey's Anatomy

Personal Note: This is the 900^th Post on my Blog. I’ve decided going forward that every 100 posts from here on out will have a more personal touch. What better way to go forward then with one of my own personal bugbears?

 

I know that Grey’s Anatomy is no longer under the discretion of my arch nemesis Shonda Rhimes and that it would be easier to just ignore it. But given the current circumstances of where the series is, come on, it’s just too good an open to let go.

No one – not even the current showrunner seems to know whether or not Grey’s will come to an end after this season or whether it will be brought back for yet another year to wrap it up. But right now, the writers couldn’t have set up its current status in a more appropriate form if they tried.

As those of you who’ve stuck with the series for sixteen years plus are well aware, Meredith Grey, the protagonist of the show collapsed and has been on life support for the entirety of this season so far. This is a metaphor so clumsy and yet so appropriate for where the series is that I can’t help but think the writers have done it deliberately. Yes, I know the series is dealing with how Sloane Grey Memorial is handling the current pandemic, but they could have done this with any other character. Instead, the writers have decided to put the central character for their series on a respirator, unable to interact with any of the actions that are going on around her. They’re basically saying that the series doesn’t need its main character any more. And the way they’re handling it so horrible that they don’t even seem to recall they’ve done it before.

Way back in the third season, during a crisis involved a crashed ferry at a pier, Meredith somehow fell into the water, went into hypothermia, and died on the table. During that period, she awoke in a hospital in a white void, where certain characters from the past - most notably Denny Duquette (starting a very sad period where Jeffrey Dean Morgan would be playing a ghost) staying between life and death. It was the kind of thing that a lot of series do when they get desperate late in their run, so the fact that it was happening in Season 3 doesn’t say much for where Rhimes was for ideas. The reason we could tolerate it was because it didn’t even last an episode.

Now however, Meredith has spent the entire season on a shoreline, having more personal visits from the dead. McDreamy showed up, (all is forgiven for Patrick Dempsey with the show)   and George (ditto for T.R. Knight) and now this week her half sister Lexie is going to show up. All of which I’d find a little more amusing if she hadn’t spent so much of these characters times when they were alive basically ignoring them. I don’t know what it says about the work of Shondaland in general that you only realize characters importance when they are dead, and then only for a little while.

I find this appalling for quite a few reasons. There’s the obvious fact that the series is now being derivative of itself (a few weeks ago, when another major character passed away, Meredith saw him on the shore just as he passed. The exact same thing happened in Season 3 when her mother died just as she was leaving the void.)

The second, and far more horrible thing, is that this seems to be the epitome of how ridiculous the world of Grey’s in particular is. It’s always been a series that paid a minimum of value on how important characters lives were when they interacted with you. You basically screwed them, and that was it. Friendship, marriage, even life never really mattered. None of the friends of Meredith who are still among the living have returned to help (where are Torres or Steven or Yang, for crying out loud.) And let’s not forget (though God knows the series has) that Meredith is a mother of two children. I didn’t expect to see anybody at the hospital to them, but I’d think even in the void that Meredith, who was abandoned by her parents at a young age, might at least care a little about getting back to them. She’d rather hang out with the father of her children then try to be with them.

I wish I could work up of this rage about Meredith Grey living or dying, but honestly I’m beyond caring. Meredith was always one of the weakest characters imaginable to put at the center of a series and she always seemed someone who people  reacted to, then did anything with. All of the interesting characters on this series either died or left long ago. There’s nothing holding up Grey’s Anatomy but… a respirator, literally. It is time to order a DNR on both the patient and the series. For the love of anything you hold dear, ABC, stop keeping this show alive.

 

 

In Memoriam: Jessica Walter

 

Jessica Walter was one of the great actresses of any medium, both because of her acting talent and an incredible voice. In a career that spanned over seven decades, she was memorable in just about everything she did, drama, comedy, or animation. Her resume consists of nearly every major or minor television series you can possibly name, from The Defenders to The Love Boat, Ironside to The Streets of San Fransicso, Murder, She Wrote. She was even given a few series of her own to lead – an Ironside spinoff called Amy Prentiss.

With her brusque, authoritative tone, she also had a voice that animation made good use off. I remember her work as Lady Diabolyn on the shortlived Saturday morning cartoon Wildfire and her  work as Fran, the matriarch of the Sinclair family on Dinosaurs.

But unlike so many of the actors who have passed just this year, Walter is thought of perhaps most highly by my generation. This is because of her work in two of the most extraordinary comedy series of the new Golden Age, one that just couldn’t stay cancelled and one of the most marvelous animated adult series in history.

Arrested Development,  even after the scattershot success of the two seasons that aired on Netflix, has to rank as one of the greatest comedy series of all time. It certainly had perhaps the greatest cast of comic actors ever assembled. Jason Bateman, Portia Del Rossi, Will Arnett, David Cross and Tony Hale are some of the greatest comic actors imaginable and its stunning to the think that the character with the smallest role – Michael Cera – has become perhaps the biggest star of all. ‘Here’s the story of a wealthy family who lost everything and the one son who had to keep it all together.” I don’t think I have ever laughed harder or long at some of the throwaway lines of dialogue, the pratfalls so many characters did and the frigging narration by Ron Howard was part of the fun. And by any calculation, I may have missed eighty percent of the in-jokes that so many of the fans loved.

To name any single cast member as the funniest member of the Bluth family is ludicrous – the writers went out of their way to make sure everybody got a great joke. But its fair to say that the world loved Lucille, the character that Walter played so flawless, with a martini glass always ready in her hand and an acerbic comment always ready to be deployed.  One of the better ones: “I love all my children equally.” Flashback: “I don’t particularly care for Gob.” There seemed something perfect about everything she did, the way she cheerfully pitted her children against each other, how she gleefully lied about the affair she was having with her husband’s twin brother, and her eternal battle with Lucille 2  (Liza Minelli) – at least in her mind anyway. Any other actress would have made this unpleasant, but just as all the other actors were perfectly cast to make their flaws hysterical, Walter was just at making everything as much fun.

When Arrested Development ended its network run, Walter continued to work. Then in 2009, FX came a calling with an animated series that a voice role that you could imagine anyone other than Walter doing. Archer is one of the most enduring and hysterical animated series of any era, featuring one of the great voice casts around: H. Jon Benjamin, Aisha Tyler, Chris Parnell, Judy Greer, and at the head of their agency (I’ve never been entirely sure whether calling it ISIS was a deliberate bad joke or just bad timing) was Mallory Archer, voiced impeccably by Walter.

There was little difference in behavior between Mallory and Lucille; she was always drinking, always berated her son and employees (who, to be fair, were mostly very incompetent) and not really caring about the government she worked for. (Halfway through the series run, we would learn that ISIS was, in fact, not affiliated with the government and had been committing treason all this time.) Part of what has made Archer so successfully during its long run is that unlike other certain animated series (hint, hint) Archer was never afraid to change the game. Halfway through its run, Archer and crew began running cocaine and doing Hollywood Security. When Archer fell into a coma, it was excuse for the series to go inside his mind and embrace different genres – noir, adventures series, and outer space. The cast took on different roles, but Walter was always at the lead making things bad for everybody. In a way, few actress have either played – or voiced – such memorable messy matriarchs.

Walter will be missed by the lion’s shares of fans of both series, but at least Archer will have a chance to give a fitting goodbye. Animated series can often do surprisingly moving tributes to voices they’ve lost – The Simpsons remembered Marcia Wallace fondly and Family Guy was particularly movie after the passing of guest voices Carrie Fisher and Adam West. It will be hard to say goodbye to Walter – it’s hard to imagine if Archer will even continue without her – but somehow, I have a feeling Walter would want it that way. Not Mallory, though.

In Memoriam, Part 1: Yaphet Kotto

 

I don’t always pay tribute to actors or writers in TV who have recently passed away, unless they have made a significant impact on the medium as a whole. However, in the past two weeks, two of my favorite actors who played two of my favorite characters since I’ve begun watching television critically have passed away at comparatively young ages as opposed to some of earlier ones. (As much as I will miss Hal Holbrook, Cloris Leachman and Cicely Tyson, it’s been awhile since any of them played characters who meant a lot to me. Which doesn’t mean I still don’t feel anguish at their passing.) So I’m going to reflect on two superb characters who had many great roles over their long careers, but each of whom played a character that is indelible in the annals of TV history.

I will start with Yaphet Kotto. Kotto was a character actor’s character actor. With his massive build, there always seemed to be something vaguely fearsome about him, even when his characters weren’t. From the lead villain in Live and Let Die to the brash parker in Alien to his work in such varied films as Brubaker, Blue Collar, and Midnight Run, he had a posture and bearing that said authority figure. Which may have been the reason he was cast it what would be his most famous role: Lt. Al Giardello in Homicide: Life on the Street.

Anyone who has been a constant visitor to this blog knows how big a fan I was of this series, so in this case, I’d like to a little background. During the 1990s, in what was surely the most infuriating stereotype in the history of broadcast television: rather than give an African-American a real role as a police officer on cop shows, they would frequently put them as superiors, meaning that they’d be there but never have anything interesting to do or say. From Steven Williams in 21 Jump Street to James McDaniel on NYPD Blue to S. Epetha Merekson on Law & Order, these lieutenants would just tradition be there to back up their detectives in the office and against the bosses, and every so often, have to deal with a ‘race’ based episode.

It would’ve been very easy for Al Giardello to just be another one of those lieutenants. But Homicide was never that kind of show. In a sense, ‘Gee’ as he was known, would follow a lot of the tropes: he wouldn’t go out on the street (though there were a couple of exceptions) he would defend his detectives to the bosses, and he would deal with race based issues. But because the series was set in Baltimore, a lot of the authority figures that Giardello would clash with were African American themselves. Indeed, Giardello most frequently butted heads with Captain/Colonel George Barnfather (Clayton LeBoeuf), who more often would prove that a black man in charge could be just arrogant and snide as a white man in charge. (That was revealing in itself.)  Perhaps the most significant thing about Homicide was that being black and in authority didn’t get you any bonuses even in a mostly African-American city.

And Gee, while he would be paternal and warm with most of his fellow detectives, especially the rookies, he would just as often butt heads with them too. He would often go head to head with Frank Pembleton, his best detective but also the one who caused him the most agita. There was a memorable storyline early in the series where Pembleton would investigate a shooting where it looked like a cop had been the trigger man. Pembleton wanted to go after the cops; Gee was adamant in giving them every chance. Pembleton memorably went over his head, leaving Gee to snarl “You son of a bitch, Pembleton.” This would lead to one of the most bracing sequences, where Pembleton, in order to appease his lieutenant, elicited a false confession from the friend of a victim. Giardello reluctantly tore it up and forced the investigation to go forward.

There were layers to Giardello that we almost never found in so many similar characters. He was a widower and a family man, with three children he rarely saw. (The final season would introduce his estranged son, Mike Giardello, played by Giancarlo Esposito, who returned to Baltimore to try and mend fences. It didn’t work out well.) We knew he had few friends and very little romantic attachments. We knew he’d been in Vietnam and a POW – who’d convinced his captor to defect.  Kotto often complained his character was never quite developed enough, but every time he said something in Sicilian, there seemed to be more meaning than any monologue.

It was fitting that when the reunion film aired, what brought everybody together was the assassination attempt of Giardello, who was running for Mayor. And it was also right, even though it hurt, that he would not survive the shooting. Giardello was always larger than life, and somehow I think once he was gone, the series was meant to finally be done with.

Kotto was frustrated with the constant problems in working on television in general. When Homicide ended, he would basically retire with only a few cameos for the remaining twenty years of his life. I think in a way, that’s only right – that his greatest role would also be the last thing he ever really did for anything.

The final images of Homicide: The Movie took place in the squadroom in the afterlife, where all the police who died in the line of the duty – and some figures that were just as important to the series – were all there. The last image we ever saw was Gee sitting down to play poker with Steve Crosetti (Jon Polito) and Beau Felton (Daniel Baldwin). “When you’re gone,” Crosetti said “you’re a long time gone.” “Rest in peace,” Felton would say. “Means what it says.” Gee let down his problems and for the first time in maybe forever, finally relaxed. I’d like to take that image of Kotto with me, and hope he’s in a similar, peaceful place.

There Are Difficult Women Too: Conclusion

 

There is room for ambiguity in the story of The Affair. There is far less room for doubt in the story of Frankie Shaw and SMILF, which happened roughly the same time on the same network.

From the moment it debuted it debuted in the fall of 2017, SMILF actually seemed the rare high value property that would live up to its name. Based on short film written and directed by series creator Frankie Shaw,  the series dealt with Bridgette Bird (Shaw) an early twenty-ish single mother, living on the poverty line trying to raise her toddler son in a very complicated relationship. She worked several jobs, including as an au pair for a very wealthy woman (Connie Britton), tried to balance her life with her baby’s father, a recovering drug addict who was in the middle of a relationship of his own with the upper class Nelson (Samara Weaving). She had a complicated relationship with her very depressed mother (Rosie O’Donnell did some of her best work in a very long time) and was dealing with the issue of having been molested as a child.

The series was extremely messy but occasionally brilliant in its first season and Showtime renewed it for a second. In my opinion, it actually got better that year, dealing with some very ambitious experimental production that at times was nearly as good as some of the more ambitious comedies – I compared it in a review to Atlanta, Donald Glover’s masterwork, and while it never reached that level, I thought it could’ve. Then halfway through the second season, Showtime announced it was cancelling the series.

At the time, I was appalled at their actions; I was unable to comprehend why the network would burn their bridges with a project this highly favored. Then a few months later, I got the whole story. Shaw served as the writer and director of nearly every episode, and while filming, several cast members including Weaving, accused Shaw of openly body shaming them before the cast and crew. Considering the nature of the violations (and probably the fact that the network was dealing with the fallout of what was happening on The Affair) I believe Showtime made the correct call.

Can women showrunners be as toxic as men? Admittedly to date, the sample size is still too small to make a clear assessment. Network bigwigs like Tina Fey and Shonda Rhimes have, as far as I’m aware, never had problems like this after decades of multiple series. And to their credit, other female showrunners when forced to deal with a cast member whose behavior has been offensive – I’m thinking of Jill Soloway on Transparent and Lena Waithe on The Chi – have removed the actors from the series, though it could be vitally damaging to the stories they had been telling. (Soloway had to abruptly end Transparent and Waithe had to have a character who was ostensibly the most important killed off last season.) It’s hard to imagine some male showrunners or executives making the decision that quickly. On the other hand, we do know that some personalities are unpleasant to everybody – Roseanne was a nightmare to work with throughout her original run in the 1990s and she crossed so many lines when her series were revived, that ABC to their credit was willing to have her removed, damn the cost.

As the  entertainment industry continues to make the long march to equality, there are bound to be flawed and toxic female writers and directors as much as there are male ones. God knows, every day we seem to learn about just horrible another icon is. But it is important that we can’t expect a woman to be perfect at her job just because she is a woman. If there are male showrunners who can be horrible to work for, there have to be some female ones as well. That is one of the ways we know what equality looks like.

There Are Difficult Women, Too: Part 1

 

In the past few years, we’ve heard so many stories about just how misogynist and horrible some of the biggest names in show business have been. To date, we have heard few horror stories from TV showrunner, with Joss Whedon being the most notable and painful exception to the rule.

Of course, it is worth noting that you don’t have to be sexist to be a toxic personality in television. David Chase has never been, as far as I know, accused of being a sexual abuser. But if you’ve read Difficult Men, the story behind the showrunners who helped make the Golden Age of television what it is, you will know that he was a horrible person to work for, given the prodigious number of hiring and firing that took place over his tenure at The Sopranos. (One fired writer, Todd Kessler, based his experience on the series to turn out another great show, Damages…but that’s a story I’ve already told.) Given how unpleasant he could be, it’s rather remarkable that The Sopranos is one of the greatest series of all times. 

We’ve heard other stories about how hard certain other showrunners can be to work for. It could be a struggle to work for David Milch, given his methods for creating legendary series such as Deadwood, and all things considered, I’m still stunned there were no onset revolts. And recently we’ve learned that Peter Lenkov, who created the successful reboots of Magnum P.I. and Hawaii Five-O  was one of the most wretched and horrid people to work for in the modern era. He was abusive to his fellow writers and actors, and it is very possible that Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park resigned rather than continue to work for him.

But while all of the concentration has justifiably, been, on the horrible men in power, it is worth noting that these levels are not strictly limited to men. In recent years, there have been stories about how two difficult female showrunners, who managed successful series on Showtime, turned out to be toxic in their own ways. We learned about how difficult one was only after the series ended; the other lost her show because of her behavior.

The Affair was one of those series that I never quite got around to appreciating, even though it had many of the things I liked in. Several of the cast members are among my favorite actors in this era – Dominic West, who continues his successful streak that began with The Wire; Joshua Jackson, who I’ve long considered one of the most undervalued actors of the golden age, and Maura Tierney, who in a career that stretches as far back as Newsradio has been one of the most talented actresses in either comedy or drama, and who arguably had her best role here. Ruth Wilson has always been graceful to watch – she was remarkable on Luther.

The series dealt with the relationship between two happily married couples: Noah and Helen (West and Tierney) who’ve been married for fifteen years with several children and have a seemingly happy marriage; and Alison and Cole (Wilson and Jackson), a younger couple who are dealing with the loss of the child. On a trip to Montauk, Noah and Alison meet and very gradually are drawn into an affair. The series would be divided into two parts, showing the story from Noah’s point of view, then Alison’s (it would grow over the years) and slowly, we would learn of a more serious crime underpinning it. There was a fair amount of back and forth over the years, as all the relationships would change.

The series was always well regarded. Though it never did well at the Emmys, it won three Golden Globes: (Best Drama and Actress for Wilson in 2015; Best Supporting Actress for Tierney). And creators Hagai Levi and Sarah Treem received much praise not only for their storytelling, but for how well done the nude scenes were (which tested the boundaries even of Showtime) It seemed like a series that had no real flaws.

Then in the fourth season, something odd happened. In one of the most shocking twists in TV history, Alison’s character was killed off, and Wilson refused to comment about why it had happened or if she had any other reason to leave the series where she’d had such success. At the time, critics were fond of it: the episode where Alison and her current love have a long discussion and we are given two alternate versions of how it happened was one of the high points of the season. But creatively, the series never recovered from it: Jackson left the show not long after, and the final season involved a bizarre story set in a Montauk drastically affected by climate change, following Alison’s now grownup daughter Joanie (played by Anna Paquin). There were many other odd elements to the fifth season which never sat right, and I’m still not sure if the writers lost their way afterward.

After The Affair ended in the fall of 2019, Wilson finally made public comments about why she left the series. She claimed that she never agreed to many of the way so many of the love scenes (many of which she had been at the center of) had been shot and that she’d had disagreements with Treem, who wrote and directed many of the episodes, about them. Treem denied the rumors, as did Showtime as a whole, so what we are left with is a ‘she said, she said’ story and its hard to know which side is more credible. But in an age where so many actresses have come forth complaining about so many male directors/executives have demanded that they be forced to film a scene a certain way or be fired, are we supposed to dismiss Wilson’s claims because the showrunner is also a woman?

There is room for ambiguity in the story of The Affair. There is far less room for doubt in the story of Frankie Shaw and SMILF, which happened roughly the same time on the same network. I’ll discuss that tomorrow.