Starz’s Blunt Talk, premiering Saturday, is one of those comedies that wants you to know upfront that it’s edgy – think Showtime’s canceled Happyish or FX’s hopefully soon-to-be-canceled Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll – instead of letting you come to that conclusion on your own. IGN talked to Stewart while the Star Trek: The Next Generation star was out promoting his new Starz comedy Blunt Talk, and asked if he would ever reprise his role as Captain Picard. It could not be more tawdry.
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“I don’t think we were wanting to reference Star Trek“, he says.
Viewers may see parallels with Piers Morgan and CNN. “He had set a precedent that a Brit could have a major role on an American newscast”, he says.
Stewart feels comfortable playing a character who works in news. The problem with Blunt Talk is that Walter Blunt is supposed to be the kind of man who commands respect. After a meeting in which Walter promises his staff that he will somehow restore his reputation on that night’s broadcast, he enlists Harry to flagellate him harshly with a wet towel; later he finds comfort in one of the ritual spooning sessions with his executive producer, Rosalie (Jacki Weaver). But after a drunken Blunt gets caught in a compromising position with a transgender prostitute and kicks a police officer in the groin, he is forced to face his team and come to terms with the fact that his show is on the verge of cancellation.
Fortuitous circumstances led to Ames coming up with the idea for “Blunt Talk” the same night he was supposed to pitch MacFarlane.
The Next Generation concluded its run on television in 1994, and Stewart last portrayed Picard in the 2002 film Star Trek Nemesis.
A few days before their first meeting, Stewart realized that they were booked for a lunch the day after MacFarlane was to host the 2013 Academy Awards.
“He was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed”.
“I wrote this present for Patrick Stewart and created the character for him”. You’ll have more fun slapping yourself in the head with a spoon for a half-hour.
Stewart, who lives in Brooklyn, is a self-confessed news junkie, reading several newspapers in print and others online and so he has some connection to how news is consumed in our culture. Hell, he might have even be a better choice than Peter Finch to play Howard Beale in the first place. What politicians do in America affects the entire world.
Walter is every bit an Englishman: well-mannered to a fault despite his outrageous lifestyle, a dubiously decorated Falklands War hero who is fresh off his fourth divorce. She was attracted to the role because of Ames’ “unjudgmental” style.
“I became increasingly interested in his chaotic back story and life off-camera”, the actor said. For his latest project, the 74-year-old Shakespearean-trained actor is exploring new frontiers of outrage. He had worked with Stewart on a BBC radio play. Whether Stewart comes by his aura of authority through actual research or carefully practiced patterns of speech, we’ll never know, but one thing is for sure: When P.Stew says something, you believe it.
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Walter’s former military buddy, manservant and all-around punching bag Harry (Adrian Scarborough, “The King’s Speech”) enables Walter in all his diversions, be it snorting cocaine (medicinal use) or using an SLAA meeting to pick up women. I nearly did a spit-take on that line. It was a gift from God. “I am not mocking any of them, and they would like to do good for each other”.
