Review: You're Not Watching Patrick Stewart's New Show BLUNT TALK, But You Should Be

Did you know that Sir Patrick Stewart, star of stages and screens large and small had returned to television this season? No, I didn't think so. In BLUNT TALK on the Starz network, the Shakespearean legend turned Starship captain turned mutant teacher plays debilitatingly self-destructive newsman Walter Blunt. The black comedy, produced by Seth McFarland, is what would happen if you threw HBO's THE NEWSROOM, Showtime's EPISODES, and FOX's FAMILY GUY in a blender and turned it into a half-hour TV show. It's not WAITING FOR GODOT level quality, but seeing the normally earnest actor play such a delightfully silly character is incredibly entertaining, and for some reason cathartic.

Blunt is a once respected cable news anchor, who has fallen on hard times, both personally and professionally. Not only is he going through his fourth divorce, but his ratings are also in sharp decline. In the first episode, which aired in late August, we meet Blunt pontificating (as only a classy British former Royal Marine can) in a bar about nothing all that important to anyone willing to listen. More than a little under-the-influence, he decides to drive his beloved Jaguar home.

Along the way, he meets Gisele (played by TRANSPARENT's wonderful Trace Lysette), who is not a lady of the night, but instead a goddess, who also happens to be a transgender prostitute.

It is at this very early point in the pilot episode that the entire series could have gone one of two ways; it could have devolved into the base, lowest common denominator stuff that McFarland is known for (of which I am often a fan), or it could have turned towards the odd, more interesting (both in the long and short-term) land of the obtuse, and I am happy to say that it most deferently took the latter. I won't ruin the surprisingly sweet moment that Walter shares with Gisele (because I do recommend that you go back and catch up), but it does end with Blunt on the top of his car, surrounded by police officers reciting speeches from HAMLET.

This very public incident leads to changes in both Blunt's personal and professional life. In order to remain on air, he must be cleared by the network's psychiatrist, a hilariously cast (and thus far under-used) Richard Lewis, and he also decides that he needs "to be a better father to the American people... and of course to (his) own children." He's kind of an even more unwittingly pompous Piers Morgan, if you can believe that.

BLUNT TALK's humor is offbeat, and almost always the exact opposite of what you would expect. While this doesn't always mean that the jokes, or awkward situations, land, what it does often guarantee is interesting performances from the show's great supporting players; chief amongst them, Olivier-winner Adrian Scarborough as Harry, Blunt's dedicated man-servant.

Harry, who served under Blunt in the Falklands War, is unflinchingly dedicated to his "Major," but in a way that looks far more like friendship (or co-dependency) than employment. Now, some of the things that Walter asks Harry to do border on the ridiculous, but there is such a genuine love between the two men that it allows Harry's loyalty to actualy be believable.

Blunt's production team includes his long-time producer Jacki Weaver (who is in a happily open-marriage with Ed Begley Jr.), Timm Sharp, Dolly Wells, Mary Holland, and Karan Soni. Each one with a mountain of issues all their own and odder than the next. Despite the crew's often askew humor, there is something very sad beneath the surface with each of them that makes them emotionally compelling as well as entertaining. It is clear that creator and show-runner Jonathan Ames is laying the ground work to delve even deeper into the bizarre personal lives of the supporting characters as the season goes on, of which I am very much in favor.

Each episode thus far has including a really funny set piece; from an old Hollywood musical number, to an all-too familiar scene highlighting the difficulties of public bathroom use, to a green-screen stand-up that results in raining condoms, to Walter giving the absolute worst advice to a Sex Addicts Anonymous meeting. If nothing else BLUNT TALK will give you scenes you won't see on any other show.

So far, there have also been a few fun cameos by a very non-Data Brent Spiner, Moby, Sharon Lawrence, and more. The show has already been renewed for a second season, and while it isn't a genre-defying or defining hit, it is an enjoyable blending of touching, absurd, thought-provoking, and sentimental.

So, do yourself a favor and watch the first four episodes on demand, then catch BLUNT TALK on Starz, airing about 738 times each week, with new episodes on Saturdays at 9:00pm.

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Have you tuned in to see Sir Pat Stew deliver some BLUNT TALK? Let me know what you thought in the comments below, or on Twitter @BWWMatt. If you want to follow along with my "366 in 366" articles, you can check out #BWW366in366 on Twitter. Also, don't forget to follow @BWWTVWorld on Twitter and Like us on Facebook for all of the latest TV news, reviews, and recaps.

Photo Credit: Starz

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