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.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
China and Taiwan's war of words ahead of anniversary paradeUnder The Radar Neighbours both claim to have led the fighting during World War Two
-
Epstein files: Maxwell courts a pardonFeature A new prison transcript shows Ghislaine Maxwell praising Trump as 'a gentleman' while denying his involvement in the Epstein scandal
-
Pentagon readies military deployment in ChicagoFeature The Pentagon is preparing to deploy thousands of Illinois National Guard members to Chicago after Trump threatened to send troops into other major cities
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
A long weekend in ZürichThe Week Recommends The vibrant Swiss city is far more than just a banking hub
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
