Dylan Brandsema – Blunt Talk
Not enough people are watching Blunt Talk. It should be said out loud – plaid and simple. Starz’s new series starring Sir Patrick Stewart is one of the best and freshest new comedies to make its way on the air in quite some time. The newest addition to Starz’s Saturday night line-up centers around Stewart as aging TV news personality Walter Blunt, who, like Stewart himself, has had a long and illustrious career and strives only to put out the best work possible. The conflict, thereafter, lies with his staff, who are constantly engaging in other shenanigans and getting themselves into ruts instead of doing their work, as well as Walter’s own struggles, typically involving his family or his own self-being. It’s a simple concept, and in fact, it is a simple show, but the execution, on all fronts, couldn’t be more impeccable.
The cherry on top of all the show’s ingredients is the performances, as expected from its impressive cast. With people like Dolly Wells, Adrian Scarborough, Jacki Weaver, Richard Lewis, and Ed Begley Jr., it’s almost impossible to go wrong, and Stewart is great as always. Everyone knows Stewart for sci-fi roles such as Captain Picard in the Star Trek universe, and of course as the telepathic Professor Charles Xavier in the still ongoing X-Men franchise. Some may also know him largely for his stage roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but as the egotistical, yet self-searching Walter Blunt, Stewart transforms himself completely. Blunt is a role unlike anything Stewart has taken on before and he truly shines above all else every moment he’s on screen. The natural chemistry Stewart has with other actors, particularly with Scarborough, who plays his maybe-gay, maybe-sexually-confused right hand man and butler Harry, is unparalleled by most other actors currently on television. It’s not common for an actor to take on a full series commitment, among the rest of their busy career in their mid-70s, but Stewart has nothing to prove to anyone, and likes to pick his own adventures. If this show proves anything about Stewart, it’s that he’s clearly very adventurous.
It goes without saying, of course, that great performances are nothing without equally great writing. And the writing (and directing) here is great. Really great, in fact. Blunt Talk is a show that works as two things – a character drama and a workplace comedy. The majority of it’s runtime for each episode tends to take place within Walter’s offices and studio where he runs his show, Blunt Talk, and the writing makes good use of this. Any writer of any caliber will tell you it’s immensely difficult to write any story that takes place predominantly in one sole setting because it relies almost exclusively on characters interacting with one another. Very few shows have gotten a right rhythm for this formula – The Office, Newsroom… and now Blunt Talk. Such a confined setting allows, with inept enough writers (and believe me, they’re inept enough), for both comedy and drama galore, and this show in indeed both of those things. But it is neither one or the other at the wrong moment – it knows exactly what comedic and dramatic notes should be hit at the right time. This is something so many modern TV comedies either fly way too high over the mountain with, or not high enough. Blunt Talk is a show that soars at the perfect altitude.
The show’s seventh episode, the comically and appropriately titled “Meth or No Meth, You Still Gotta Floss” was a perfect balance of both of the show’s characteristics – hilarity, and real-life sadness. Character relationships are the heart what the show is about, and it’s truly ascending into greatness in that category, offering some of both the funniest, and the most real, emotionally touching moment of the series so far.
If you’re not watching Blunt Talk, you’re missing out on something truly special. Beginning back in late August of this year, the show concluded in first season run on October 17th. A little odd, a little offbeat, but a lot awesome, Blunt Talk is truly a gem. If you haven’t seen it, it’s never too late to start. Start watching and get it up high in the ratings so the show can renewed for a second season; we could all use a little more Walter Blunt.
https://youtu.be/miYYipdtLs4
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