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

(Image credit: Facebook/PatrickStewart)

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."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Explore More

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.