TCA 2016: HBO takes punches for "Sesame Street," "Westworld"
HBO
Violence toward women was the hot topic for HBO during the network's presentation at this summer's TCA.s by Casey Bloys, the new President of HBO Programming, was peppered with questions about the intense violence in the new series "Westworld," which debuts Oct. 2 but had been viewed by critics. "There's violence toward men, too," he said, and then flung his arms over his head and asked everyone to stop picking on him. Okay, that didn't happen, but one more question might have pushed him over the edge.
He also sidestepped a question about what the hell is going on with the recent casting bloodbath at "Sesame Street," saying that HBO has no input into creative decisions for the show. Yeah, but everything was better before you showed up, HBO. Just saying.
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" is going into production in the fall and will air in 2017, according to Amy Gravitt, EVP of Programming at HBO. This is important news for some people, but I find people who like this show are largely unpleasant to be around, so have fun, guys.
"Insecure" (Oct. 9) is everything "Awkward Black Girl" would have been with a budget. "It's the notion that there's a universal way to be black," says Issa Rae. "I always find the humor in that, because you can't escape being black. That's just what you are, it's on your skin." This show represents, how do you continue when you don't fit into categories? No networks said no to diversity, but convincing networks that color is relatable. This isn't a show exclusively about the struggle to be black, it's just regular black people living life.
"Divorce" is exactly what it sounds like -- an extremely dark, momentarily funny comedy about a couple (Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Haden Church) Thomas Haden Church -- the mustache "has its own trailer now."
"Vice Principals" (currently airing) is about two white guys ganging up on an African-American woman, but not really (it helps that she's so much smarter than either of them). "I think it would be underestimating the show to think we're just going for laughs with this. These guys make a very bad choice and it haunts them for the rest of the series.," says star Danny McBride.
Co-star Walter Goggins took it further. "That's a two dimension review of this show, and it's about so much more. The auteurs are actually reflecting what's going on in this culture, but it's so much more than that. And the most well-adjusted person is played by an African-American woman."
Fittingly, the woman who plays Dr. Belinda Brown, Kimberly Hebert Gregory, summed it up. "This is what casting equality looks like. It's about power and it's not about race and it's not necessarily about gender. If Melissa McCarthy played the role, they'd do the same thing."
Wondering what the difference is between the movie and the TV show versions of "Westworld" (October 2) is? "When Michael Crichton wrote the book, the video game business was "Pong," says co-creator Jonathan Nolan.
But the big question was the one that was tossed around during the executive session -- what's with all the sexualized violence, people? "It was heavily considered," says co-creator Lisa Joy. "'Westworld' is an examination of human [behavior,] the best parts and the basest, and that includes violence and sexual violence. There are people who engage in violence, who are victims of violence and it continues to this day. With a world in which you can do whatever you want without consequence, it seemed like an issue you had to address. Sexual violence is an issue we take very very seriously. It's extraordinarily disturbing and horrifying. We do not want this to be about the fetishization of those acts, but exploring the crime and exploring those stories with dignity and depth." There's a debate to be had here about whether adding depth of character minimizes the impact of slaughtering a not-quite-real woman on screen, and whether the character being a robot mitigates the horror of it, but give it a minute. This conversation is going to get a lot hotter in late September.
