Related News
HBO鈥檚 鈥楽uccession鈥 grew out of real-life media mogul quips
Print Edition
鈥淪uccession,鈥 the fictional television show depicting bitter feuding within an all-powerful family running a media conglomerate, was born out of real-life quips by legendary industry moguls Rupert Murdoch and Sumner Redstone, its creator revealed.
Jesse Armstrong, a British television writer and executive producer who created the hit HBO series, said his interest in chronicling a media dynasty was sparked by the two tycoons both joking that they 鈥渄idn鈥檛 plan to die鈥 when asked about their succession plans.
鈥淚t just struck me 鈥 what鈥檚 going on for these men in their 80s and 90s who are still packing the diaries every day?鈥 Armstrong said at a recent London Film Festival event.
The first episodes of the show鈥檚 third season screened at London鈥檚 film and TV showcase last week, days before airing in the United States and United Kingdom.
鈥淚t felt like something quite basic about not wanting to give up and feeling that loss of influence at the end of your life. And I started to feel there was a show about what those people are like in general.鈥
Redstone, who rose from modest beginnings to lead one of the most powerful Hollywood and TV empires that merged US network CBS with media conglomerate Viacom in 2019, did in fact die last year at the age of 97.
Meanwhile Murdoch, 90, still controls his sprawling global enterprises.
鈥淪uccession,鈥 which first aired in 2018, has proved hugely popular with audiences and critics, winning numerous Emmy and Golden Globe awards, including one for best drama.
The show follows the acrimonious power struggles within the Roy family, which controls the fictional media corporation Waystar, as patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox) ages and battles to retain control.
His four adult children vie for positions and power inside and outside the family, typically behaving horrendously along the way.
In the first season, one of Roy鈥檚 drugged-up sons flees a deadly accident in which he was behind the wheel of the car.
Another son, on earning a promotion, masturbates against his floor-to-ceiling office window while looking out over Manhattan.
It has earned a loyal audience despite Armstrong conceding that some initial viewers 鈥渄on鈥檛 take to it because they find the people not nice.鈥
He argued those who do stick with it develop a better understanding for the fact that the characters are 鈥渢errible, but there鈥檚 a reason.鈥
鈥淵ou come to know more about why they act the way they do and does that excuse them? Well, that鈥檚 a question I think is legitimately thrown back on the audience,鈥 he said.
Spark of horror
The series has drawn obvious comparisons with the reported feuding within the real-life Murdoch family, and Armstrong acknowledged its origins lay with a screenplay he wrote in the 2000s about the News Corp founder.
But 鈥淪uccession鈥 is also very much a work of fiction, which deploys plenty of humor around its morally defunct characters to entertain and shock.
鈥淚t is obviously, hopefully, funny, but it鈥檚 also a drama,鈥 said Armstrong, who created the hit British television series 鈥淧eep Show鈥 and worked on other successful shows including 鈥淭he Thick of It鈥 and 鈥淏lack Mirror.鈥
鈥淚 feel like they interrelate well, and that a comic take on a situation can be a twist on that traumatic interaction that doesn鈥檛 necessarily produce a spark of laughter.
鈥淚t can be a sort of spark of horror, or a spark of understanding. I think comedy can go, in its broadest sense, lots of places.鈥
Armstrong said he has struggled from the start over whether his aging fictional mogul should be killed off.
鈥淎s soon as I was writing it, I knew he shouldn鈥檛 die at the end of the first episode. And as soon as we were in the room for the first season, I knew he shouldn鈥檛 die in the first season,鈥 he said. 鈥淭his is the planet, or the sun, that they鈥檙e revolving around. It might be fascinating one day to find out what happens when that goes, but not yet.鈥
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
