Patrick Stewart plays a drunk, egomaniacal TV pundit in Blunt Talk series premiere

(Image credit: Facebook/PatrickStewart)

last updated 17 August 2015

Can Patrick Stewart be unlikable? Or can the urbane, gentlemanly British actor make you warm up to a pompous, hard-drinking, pill-popping cable TV news personality who does something so disreputable that The New York Times, Bill O'Reilly, and Anderson Cooper (fictionally) trash him for it. That seems to be the question Stewart and the Blunt Talk team at Starz — Jonathan Ames is the creator and head writer as well as executive producer with Seth McFarlane — seem sto be asking. Blunt Talk doesn't start its run on Starz until Aug. 22, but Stewart posted the first episode on his Facebook page over the weekend.

"My character Walter Blunt's behavior is a little embarrassing in this episode," Stewart wrote as way of introduction, "but I am proud of the show."

You can watch the episode here. And if you like the opener, Stewart has also posted the link to the second episode. After that, you'll probably have to wait. In the meantime, you can decide for yourself if Walter Blunt is more a likable rogue or an unredeemable jerk.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.