HBO at TCA: A Stunning New Movie, Several Strong New Series and a "Girls" Controversy

Pasadena CA HBO always puts on a terrific threehour block at Television Critics Association tours usually with a mix of panels promoting bigname specials and movies plus a series or two But during its afternoon last week HBO filled its time almost entirely with sessions for series The big takeaway was that after a sleepy year or three HBO may once again have one of the most extraordinary lineups of ongoing series on any television network or streaming service And the afternoon didn39t even include quotGame of Thronesquot quotThe Newsroomquot or quotVeepquotThe only exception in HBO39s almostallseries presentation was an allstar panel for the upcoming movie adaptation of activist and playwright Larry Kramer39s modern classic about the early years of the AIDS plague quotThe Normal HeartquotThe quotHeartquot session which featured executive producer and director Ryan Murphy and cast members Julia Roberts Mark Ruffalo Matt Bomer Jim Parsons and Taylor Kitsch was unarguably the highlight of HBO39s afternoon if not the entire tour to date Even though the film has not yet been made available to critics the sizzle reel was truly powerful and sitting in that session I couldn39t help but think that I was watching several of next year39s Emmy winners talk about the project that earned them their awards I won39t be surprised if everyone on the panel is nominated for an Emmy later this year and if most of them winWhile quotThe Normal Heartquot looks to be HBO39s prestige movie of the year it has an extraordinary new series that should receive similar acclaim in quotTrue Detectivequot a deeply psychological drama about detectives involved in particularly disturbing cases that will feature a new cast each season Season one stars Matthew McConaughey making his television series debut and Woody Harrelson in his drama series debut both of whom were at TCA to talk about the show Even at this early time it is safe to say that they give two of the finest performances of the year and I imagine both of them will give the estimable Bryan Cranston a run for his money at the Emmys in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series category In fact I predict that McConaughey will take home that award unless the show is placed in the movie and miniseries arena in which case he39ll be up against Mark Ruffalo and all bets will be offThe other series HBO showcased were quotSilicon Valleyquot a new liveaction comedy from quotOffice Spacequot and quotBeavis ampamp Buttheadquot creator Mike Judge about cocky and nerdy young people trying to strike it rich in the technology business that looks to be the riotous comedy Amazon Studios must have hoped the similarly themed quotBetasquot would be quotLookingquot a comedy about gay men navigating life in San Francisco starring Jonathan Groff a thriller titled quotThe Leftoversquot about the awful aftermath of a global supernatural event during which two percent of the world39s population including unborn babies suddenly disappeared which features an extraordinary cast including Justin Theroux and Amy Brenneman and counts Damon Lindelof of quotLostquot among its executive producers and the sometimes controversial comedy quotGirlsquot which just began its third seasonAs if the HBO session weren39t already hot enough a reporter at the quotGirlsquot panel inadvertently fomented the first heated conflict of the tour Actually it was more a series of WTF moments than a testy exchangeWhen a male reporter told quotGirlsquot star Lena Dunham that he didn39t quotget the purpose of all the nudity on the showquot noting that nudity on other shows such as quotGame of Thronesquot is done simply to be salacious and titillate people but that her character quotis often naked at random times for no reasonquot Dunham who remained impressively cool and calm and her fellow executive producers Judd Apatow and Jenni Konner who did not were plainly offended For what it39s worth I don39t think the reporter meant to offend but perhaps he could have been more careful in his wording of his questionquotIt39s a realistic expression of what it39s like to be alive I think and I totally get itquot Dunham replied quotIf you are not into me that39s your problem and you are going to have to kind of work that out with whatever professionals you39ve hiredquotDunham seemed confident and satisfied with her response but Apatow and Konner wouldn39t let the matter go Apatow began grilling the reporter wanting to know if he has a girlfriend he does and whether or not she likes him she does Konner suggested that the reporter39s girlfriend may be quota misogynistquotIt seemed the dustup had settled but a few minutes later in responding to a question about whether or not people are more accepting of quotbadquot behavior from male characters then female characters Apatow turned his gun back in the reporter39s directionquotSometimes it39s hard to watch bad behavior because I think everybody relates to it in some wayquot he said quotLike when that guy goes to the mirror and he looks at himself naked he feels bad and so he relates He39s like 39Why is anyone naked39quotAgain it seemed that the session had moved on But minutes later Konner was caught off guard by a question to which she had not been paying attention quotI literally was spacing out because I39m in such a rage spiral about that guy that I literally could not hearquot she said gesturing toward the reporter who asked the nudity question quotI39m so sorry I really don39t mean to disrespect youquot Glaring at the reporter she snarled quotI just was looking at him and going into this rage this idea that you would talk to a woman like that and accuse a woman of showing her body too much The idea it just makes me sort of sick and so I apologize to everyone I39m going to try to focus now but if I space out it will be because of that guyquotquotThat has nothing to do with what I saidquot the reporter assertedquotWe heard the questionquot Konner sniffedquotWe don39t expect that from the New York Timesquot Apatow remarked quotThat39s all I39m sayingquot The reporter was not from The New York Times In fact I don39t believe the New York Times was represented in the roomquotI don39t expect that from Us Weeklyquot Konner dismissed I do believe she offended the Us reporter in the roomquotI don39t understand it from any standpoint is what I39m askingquot the reporter soldiered on quotI39m asking for you to help me understand the show and what the purpose of the nudity isquotquotIt39s whateverquot Dunham replied That seemed to end the disputeHBO39s afternoon concluded with a brief QampampA with John Oliver the actor and comedian who last summer winningly served as guest host of Comedy Central39s quotThe Daily Showquot HBO was so impressed it offered Oliver a topical talk series The critics were so impressed with Oliver that they can39t wait to see itCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscom Follow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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HBO at TCA: A Stunning New Movie, Several Strong New Series and a "Girls" Controversy

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Ed Martin

"About That with Carl Mayer:" Alaina Donnellon (Episode 6) - By Carl Mayer

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HBO at TCA: A Stunning New Movie, Several Strong New Series and a "Girls" Controversy

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