Post by Flamingo on Sept 17, 2003 15:11:51 GMT
Wednesday, September 17, 2003 10:03 AM
The Capital Times
Rob Thomas: 'K Street' blurs line between TV, reality
By Rob Thomas
September 16, 2003
Imagine you're watching an episode of "The West Wing," and Sam and Josh are striding down the halls of the White House, exchanging rapid-fire banter about the Earned Income Tax Credit or cranberry-orange muffins or something.
Then they suddenly burst through the doors of the Oval Office, where they join President George Bush and Karl Rove in a discussion about the fruitless hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Of course, it's a completely fanciful idea; Bush never talks about weapons of mass destruction anymore. But this scenario may help illustrate just how disorienting "K Street," HBO's new series, can be to watch. The jury's still out on whether it's great drama, but after only one episode it's clear that "K Street" is one of the boldest, oddest experiments in television history.
"K Street," created by Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney, takes place at a high-priced lobbying firm in Washington, D.C., and stars John Slattery ("Ed") as Democratic political consultant Tommy Flannegan and Mary McCormack ("Murder One") as Republican political consultant Maggie Morris.
So far, so normal. But also on the staff are real-life political consultants James Carville, Mary Matalin and Michael Deaver, and there's no line drawn between the actors and the real thing, as if "E.R." had three actual doctors in its cast. What's more, "K Street" features appearances by some of Washington's more recognizable faces as themselves - Sunday's episode included scenes with Sen. Rick Santorum, Sen. Don Nickles and, in a huge casting coup, Democratic presidential front-runner Howard Dean.
What's more, every episode of "K Street" is conceived, written, shot and edited in the seven days leading up to its Sunday airing, allowing Soderbergh and Clooney to create storylines based on the political events of that week. For example, the premiere episode dealt with Carville's decision to do some free-lance consulting for Dean before last Wednesday's Democratic debate in Baltimore, something that sent his Republican office mates into a tizzy.
Let me stress that again. A mere four days after an actual, real-life political debate, HBO viewers were able to watch a half-hour fictional television show crafted around (and using behind-the-scenes footage from) that debate. That is amazing.
How do they do it? The series is shot on digital video, which is cheap and relatively easy to shoot and edit. And the dialogue is mostly improvised, not unlike Larry David's HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm," so Soderbergh (who directed Sunday's episode) can give his actors the rough outlines of a scene and let them fill in the details themselves.
The shaky handheld cameras and the improvised dialogue make "K Street" play more like a documentary than a traditional television drama. When Carville and his "Crossfire" co-host Paul Begala were prepping Dean for the debate, it seemed like they were giving him sound advice on how to act and react to questions.
In fact, if you were watching that debate, you might remember Dean responding to a question about whether a governor from a mostly white state like Vermont would best represent the interests of minorities. "Well, if the percent of minorities that's in your state has anything to do with how you can connect with African-American voters, then Trent Lott would be Martin Luther King," Dean responded, and the New Republic called it "one of the night's best lines" in its post-debate analysis.
But, in a life-imitating-art-imitating-life moment, Dean was actually repeating a line that Carville had ad-libbed during the "K Street" scene! Soderbergh made the clever decision to include the remark in Sunday's show, along with a shot of Carville and Slattery sitting in the audience, Carville beaming like a proud papa.
It remains to be seen how much the real-life politicos will really add to "K Street." Dean came off as enthusiastic and likable, even doing a passable Carville imitation at one point. And it was somewhat gutsy of him to be part of a scene that showed how much influence consultants have over candidates - when Begala mentions the "angry man" label, Dean responds, like a pupil who knows he's aced the assignment, "That was one thing I did right during the last debate."
Nickles and Santorum, on the other hand, kept big I'm-on-TV smiles fixed on their faces through their entire scenes with McCormack. It's doubtful that "K Street" will draw any political leaders into saying or doing something that might make them look bad - Nickles and Santorum are two of the most extreme conservative voices in the Senate, but they just seemed like darn nice guys on TV.
The risk for Soderbergh and Clooney is that they'll become so excited about their ability to include real events and real people that they'll shape the show around those events, and not around a compelling story. The actors, McCormack and Slattery, were largely sidelined in Sunday's episode, and viewers will need to connect to them by the time the guerrilla novelty of "K Street" starts to wear off.
Right now, "K Street" is less of a structured drama and more of a fly-on-the-wall opportunity for political junkies. But what a fly, and what a wall.
The Capital Times
Rob Thomas: 'K Street' blurs line between TV, reality
By Rob Thomas
September 16, 2003
Imagine you're watching an episode of "The West Wing," and Sam and Josh are striding down the halls of the White House, exchanging rapid-fire banter about the Earned Income Tax Credit or cranberry-orange muffins or something.
Then they suddenly burst through the doors of the Oval Office, where they join President George Bush and Karl Rove in a discussion about the fruitless hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Of course, it's a completely fanciful idea; Bush never talks about weapons of mass destruction anymore. But this scenario may help illustrate just how disorienting "K Street," HBO's new series, can be to watch. The jury's still out on whether it's great drama, but after only one episode it's clear that "K Street" is one of the boldest, oddest experiments in television history.
"K Street," created by Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney, takes place at a high-priced lobbying firm in Washington, D.C., and stars John Slattery ("Ed") as Democratic political consultant Tommy Flannegan and Mary McCormack ("Murder One") as Republican political consultant Maggie Morris.
So far, so normal. But also on the staff are real-life political consultants James Carville, Mary Matalin and Michael Deaver, and there's no line drawn between the actors and the real thing, as if "E.R." had three actual doctors in its cast. What's more, "K Street" features appearances by some of Washington's more recognizable faces as themselves - Sunday's episode included scenes with Sen. Rick Santorum, Sen. Don Nickles and, in a huge casting coup, Democratic presidential front-runner Howard Dean.
What's more, every episode of "K Street" is conceived, written, shot and edited in the seven days leading up to its Sunday airing, allowing Soderbergh and Clooney to create storylines based on the political events of that week. For example, the premiere episode dealt with Carville's decision to do some free-lance consulting for Dean before last Wednesday's Democratic debate in Baltimore, something that sent his Republican office mates into a tizzy.
Let me stress that again. A mere four days after an actual, real-life political debate, HBO viewers were able to watch a half-hour fictional television show crafted around (and using behind-the-scenes footage from) that debate. That is amazing.
How do they do it? The series is shot on digital video, which is cheap and relatively easy to shoot and edit. And the dialogue is mostly improvised, not unlike Larry David's HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm," so Soderbergh (who directed Sunday's episode) can give his actors the rough outlines of a scene and let them fill in the details themselves.
The shaky handheld cameras and the improvised dialogue make "K Street" play more like a documentary than a traditional television drama. When Carville and his "Crossfire" co-host Paul Begala were prepping Dean for the debate, it seemed like they were giving him sound advice on how to act and react to questions.
In fact, if you were watching that debate, you might remember Dean responding to a question about whether a governor from a mostly white state like Vermont would best represent the interests of minorities. "Well, if the percent of minorities that's in your state has anything to do with how you can connect with African-American voters, then Trent Lott would be Martin Luther King," Dean responded, and the New Republic called it "one of the night's best lines" in its post-debate analysis.
But, in a life-imitating-art-imitating-life moment, Dean was actually repeating a line that Carville had ad-libbed during the "K Street" scene! Soderbergh made the clever decision to include the remark in Sunday's show, along with a shot of Carville and Slattery sitting in the audience, Carville beaming like a proud papa.
It remains to be seen how much the real-life politicos will really add to "K Street." Dean came off as enthusiastic and likable, even doing a passable Carville imitation at one point. And it was somewhat gutsy of him to be part of a scene that showed how much influence consultants have over candidates - when Begala mentions the "angry man" label, Dean responds, like a pupil who knows he's aced the assignment, "That was one thing I did right during the last debate."
Nickles and Santorum, on the other hand, kept big I'm-on-TV smiles fixed on their faces through their entire scenes with McCormack. It's doubtful that "K Street" will draw any political leaders into saying or doing something that might make them look bad - Nickles and Santorum are two of the most extreme conservative voices in the Senate, but they just seemed like darn nice guys on TV.
The risk for Soderbergh and Clooney is that they'll become so excited about their ability to include real events and real people that they'll shape the show around those events, and not around a compelling story. The actors, McCormack and Slattery, were largely sidelined in Sunday's episode, and viewers will need to connect to them by the time the guerrilla novelty of "K Street" starts to wear off.
Right now, "K Street" is less of a structured drama and more of a fly-on-the-wall opportunity for political junkies. But what a fly, and what a wall.