Stay Tuned

The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, September 25, 2020 4 By Kyla Brewer TV Media A s Nov. 3 looms on the horizon, the U.S. presi- dential election cam- paign is in full swing. No mat- ter which way you intend to vote, chances are that you have been inundated with news stories and all manner of political theories about the candidates and their parties. With only weeks to go before the big day, a new miniseries explores events surrounding the previous presidential elec- tion from the perspective of a key player. Emmy winner Jeff Daniels ("The Newsroom") returns to television as FBI Director James Comey in the four-hour minise- ries "The Comey Rule," pre- miering Sunday, Sept. 27, and concluding Monday, Sept. 28, on Showtime. Based on Com- ey's bestselling book "A Higher Loyalty," the production details recent historical events from Comey's perspective, including the FBI's Russia investigation and Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email controver- sy. The miniseries depicts the relationship between Comey and President Donald Trump (Brendan Gleeson, "Mr. Mer- cedes") and Comey's eventual dismissal from his post as the head of the FBI. Holly Hunter ("Saving Grace") also stars. "The Comey Rule" was writ- ten and directed by Oscar- nominee Billy Ray ("Captain Phillips," 2013) and was filmed in Toronto, Canada, beginning in November 2019. Initially, it was scheduled to air after the 2020 presidential election, but Ray publicly decried the move to delay the broadcast and even went so far as to write a letter to the cast to apologize for the move. After Showtime's parent company, CBSViacom, changed its tune and resched- uled the miniseries for a Sep- tember premiere, Ray ex- plained why he felt it was im- portant to air the show in the run-up to the election in an in- terview with Vanity Fair. "Of course, I wanted this se- ries to air before the 2020 elec- tions," Ray said in a July article. "I think our democracy is on the line right now. And I want- ed this series to be part of the conversation." Considering the highly charged subject matter and its depiction of the sitting presi- dent, it's no doubt that the show will draw a lot of atten- tion. No matter which side of the table you sit on, Comey is a controversial figure, to say the least. In 2013, President Obama — who is played by Kingsley Ben-Adir ("The OA") in "The Comey Rule" — named Comey the director of the FBI. During his tenure, Comey faced backlash from both Democrats and Republi- cans. Democrats criticized him for reopening the Clinton email investigation after previously determining that no charges were warranted. Days before the election, news of the re- newed investigation was leaked, and many blamed Comey for Clinton's loss, de- spite the fact that three days before the election the FBI reit- erated that charges were not warranted. On the flip side, many Republicans claimed that he planned to exonerate Clinton even before the inves- tigation was complete. Then, of course, there was the FBI's Rus- sia investigation, which looked at whether there was Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election. "The Comey Rule" brings to life many of the major play- ers involved in U.S. politics during that era. Luckily, pro- ducers secured a top-notch cast to do so. Daniels is known for such films as "Terms of Endearment" (1983), "Dumb and Dumber" (1994), "Looper" (2012) and "The Martian" (2015). TV fans may recognize him from his acclaimed role in HBO's political drama "The News- room," a role that earned him an Emmy along with Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Irish actor Gleeson, who was reportedly initially reluc- tant to take on the role of Trump, is perhaps best known as Alastor "Mad Eye" Moody from the Harry Potter film franchise. His other film cred- its include "Braveheart" (1995), "Cold Mountain" (2003) and "Paddington 2" (2018), while his television work includes "Mr. Mer- cedes" and the 2009 TV film "Into the Storm," for which he won an Emmy. He's also won three IFTA Awards and two British Independent Film Awards. coverstory Holly Hunter in a scene from "The Comey Rule" Political power play: 'The Comey Rule' premieres on Showtime By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: I've been trying to rewatch "My So-Called Life," but I can only find one season. Wasn't there more? A: It may be hard to believe that "My So-Called Life," which has had such a large impact on fans and on wider popular cul- ture, had such a brief run. But it did, indeed, air just a single season, from 1994 to 1995 on ABC. So cherish what you've found. The uninitiated are probably asking themselves: If the show was that good, why did it get canceled? The answer may be one of the rare true cases of the old cli- che: It was ahead of its time. The series was built around a very young Claire Danes ("Homeland") dealing with the various trials facing the mod- ern teenager, and it was groundbreaking for the seriousness with which it treated those problems. In an oral history published by Elle magazine in 2016, cre- ator Winnie Holzman said the network canceled it because the executives never understood the show or its audience. "The network was on the fence about the show pretty much the whole time. They would say, 'Who is the show for?' Like, 'Is it for adults, is it for teens?' They were puzzled by that." However, it apparently became clear that there was value in telling young-adult stories with gravity, but not in time to save "My So-Called Life." Within a few years, shows such as "Daw- son's Creek" and "Felicity" were on the air, telling the same sorts of stories that seemed adult and adolescent at the same time. TV megaproducer and writer Greg Berlanti got his start working on "Dawson's Creek," and he got flowery (the way writers do) in describing the show's influence (in an inter- view for yet another oral history, this one for Entertainment Weekly). "I think about that line in 'Star Wars,' when Obi-Wan Kenobi tells Darth Vader, 'If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.' That's exactly what happened here." Q: What's Robert Taylor doing now that "Longmire's" done? A: He's mostly been focusing on the big screen, plus one TV role "Longmire" fans might be interested in. "Longmire" was beloved for a lot of reasons, but maybe most of all for helping breathe new life into the western genre. And Robert Taylor, who played Walt Longmire, picked maybe the most western series of all for his next small-screen appear- ance. It was, however, a brief one. He appeared in a single episode of "Dolly Parton's Heartstrings," an eight-episode miniseries that dramatized the stories of some of Dolly's biggest songs. Taylor played Reverend Covern in the episode based on "Down From Dover" (one of her darker tracks, lyrically). Besides that, it's been mostly a string of pretty fun (and oc- casionally high-profile) movie projects. Projects such as the King Kong revival "Kong: Skull Island" (2017), the silly yet thrilling giant shark flick "The Meg" (2018) and 2019's "Blood Vessel," a horror film about vampires aboard a Nazi ship in World War II (because why not). Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. Personal replies will not be provided. hollywoodQ&A Towne Floring 3 x 2

• Cover