TV Land
Alfre Woodard and K. Todd Freeman Encounter A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix
Featured Image: Netflix
“If you were interested in stories with happy endings, then you would be better off somewhere else,” an ominous narrator warns his audience in the opening of the new Netflix show “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” starring Emmy winner Alfre Woodard and Tony nominee K. Todd Freeman. This deterrent, as well as the short pause allowing viewers time to push the back button, sets the tone for the grim, sordid tale to follow.
Based on the 13-book series written by Lemony Snicket (the author), Lemony Snicket (the character) played by Patrick Warburton, laments the depressing story of The Baudelaire Orphans, three young children left under a cycle of negligent guardians, each worse than the last, after their parents perish in a terrible fire.
None of them quite so terrible, however, as the first — the cruel Count Olaf (played by Neil Patrick Harris), a mediocre actor and eccentric criminal after the fortune Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire’s parents left behind.
In the eight-episode season, which follows the first four books, the crafty, bookish, and sharp-toothed Baudelaires evade Count Olaf at every turn. But he won’t rest until he gets his hands on that fortune, and so, with his theatre troupe of henchmen, he reappears in the children’s lives, each time under a new disguise, effectively repeating the same formula every episode. New guardian, Count Olaf appears, Baudelaires expose him.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Woodard plays the children’s third guardian, Aunt Josephine, a widow and panophobic grammar-Nazi with close ties to the children’s parents. Originally portrayed by Meryl Streep in the mixed-reviewed 2004 film adaptation, which starred Jim Carrey, Josephine is described as a “fierce and formidable woman” when her husband Ike was alive. Now she’s afraid of realtors.
Freeman (Wicked, Airline Highway) plays a financial banker named Mr. Arthur Poe, the executor of the Baudelaire estate. While he means well, he’s, in fact, a bumbling idiot completely ignorant of the children’s plight and oblivious of Count Olaf’s ridiculous disguises. He not only delivers the news of their parent’s death but, due to his misinterpretation of the will, he’s partly to blame for placing them in Count Olaf’s care in the first place.
Image: Joe Lederer/Netflix
Both brilliantly capture their characters’ odd tics and nuances, and Freeman is certainly a standout in the series (see: any of his scenes at Mulctuary Money Management). His repetitive delivery of “Jacquelyn, can you bring the Baudelaire file in here please?” alone deserves an Emmy nod.
In a bleak, anachronistic world of untrustworthy and useless adults, secret organizations, and treacherous leeches, the story has more wit and charm than it sounds.
While self-deprecating and sarcastic, Daniel Handler (the man behind the pen name Lemony Snicket), also serving as writer and executive producer, has created a setting where, despite the horrors Violet, Klaus, and Sunny face, we laugh at the dark humor and absurdity of it all.
Take, for instance, Cleo King (a bit player, but a scene-stealer) who plays Poe’s wife, Eleanora, editor-in-chief of The Daily Punctilio. “I had my star reporter write an article for the front page so that everyone will know that your home was destroyed and you’re orphans now!” she proudly exclaims, flaunting a newspaper at the dinner table in front of the Baudelaires with the blaring headline, “Baudelaire Mansion Destroyed,” thinking it would cheer them up. “Some people wait a lifetime for that!”
True to the nature and tone of the books, the series obliterates the fourth wall by poking fun at itself, subtly taking shots at the “godforsaken Nickelodeon” movie to the idea of “streaming content from the comfort of one’s home.”
Every now and then, Snicket might even stop the action to explain the meaning of a word, or provide some commentary on current social issues relating to whatever is happening. Also, devoted fans of the books should keep an eye out for various easter eggs scattered throughout.
The series has received rave reviews, with a second season (following books five through nine) in the works.
Stream Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” on Netflix.
The Live From Lincoln Center broadcast of Dominique Morisseau’s Pipeline, will debut February 8 at 9 PM ET. The LCT production opened in July 2017 was directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz and starred Karen Pittman as Nya.
The cast also includes Tasha Lawrence, Morocco Omari, Namir Smallwood, Jaime Lincoln Smith, and Heather Velazquez.
Nya, an inner-city public high school teacher, is committed to her students but desperate to give her only son Omari opportunities they’ll never have. When a controversial incident at his upstate private school threatens to get him expelled, Nya must confront his rage and her own choices as a parent. But will she be able to reach him before a world beyond her control pulls him away?
With profound compassion and lyricism, PIPELINE brings an urgent conversation powerfully to the fore. Don’t miss this deeply moving story of a mother’s fight to give her son a future — without turning her back on the community that made him who he is.
“We Were There” Check out our review of the 2017 production
Not too long ago, NBC announced that the musical “Hair Live!” would have life on the network and air May 19 with Broadway director Diane Paulus at the helm, reprising her position from the 2009 Tony-winning revival.
According to Variety, NBC is longer moving forward with the project. This announcement comes a week after “RENT Live” on Fox reported having the lowest ratings of any networks live musical.
NBC previously announced a live version of “A Few Good Men” with Alec Baldwin and a live production of “Bye Bye Birdie.” starring Jennifer Lopez, but the productions were both pushed back multiple times. Both projects remain in limbo.
Paul Telegdy and George Cheeks, co-chairmen of NBC Entertainment said in a statement:
“Live musicals are a part of this network’s DNA, and we are committed to continuing that tradition with the right show at the right time. Since these shows are such enormous undertakings, we need titles that have a wide appeal, and we’re in the process of acquiring the rights to a couple of new shows that we’re really excited about,”
So it is said that NBC “won’t be completely abandoning live musicals” According to an individual with knowledge of the decision, but will no longer plan on airing them as regularly as they have in the past with” The Sound of Music Live!” “Peter Pan Live!,” “The Wiz Live!,” & “Hairspray Live!”
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