TV review: Patrick Stewart gets silly in ‘Blunt Talk’ on Starz

Blunt Talk premieres Saturday, August 22 at 9pm on Starz. “It always struck me as criminal that Patrick Stewart had never been cast in a single-camera comedy because, obviously, he was hilarious on [HBO’s] ‘Extras.’ But he’s very quietly, or not so quietly if you’re me, conquered every genre that he has attempted”.

Blunt Talk is the creation of Bored To Death impresario Jonathan Ames, who developed this series after Seth MacFarlane (who serves as executive producer) expressed a desire to build a new show around Stewart.

Stewart has gamely lent his distinctive voice to MacFarlane’s animated shows (appearing often in “American Dad” and “Family Guy“) and is now giving his elegant all to “Blunt Talk“.

“It’s a fairly recent development”, Stewart said earlier this summer on the show’s set during a break from filming a scene with guest star Jason Schwartzman. The name derives from the actor’s own pseudonym, borrowed from the first character he played with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Sometimes these coping mechanisms don’t go that well – well, they never do.

Stewart is no stranger to television – his most recognizable role is for the seven seasons he played Jean-Luc Picard on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” – so he admits “it wasn’t the idea of coming back to TV” that drew him to “Blunt Talk“. We finished filming the last episode 21 years ago.

“It is no totally different”, stated Stewart. And yet, that doesn’t stop the media from implying that this is nothing more than a self-promotional matter and the celebrities are just trying to get attention. His signature bald pate and regal bearing made Stewart look as fit for a revival of “The King and I” as for “Blunt Talk“. “You know, start at the top, and then work your way down from there”. In the first episode, the booze-and-cocaine-loving anchorman is caught in a auto with a prostitute and attempts to rehabilitate his image by interviewing himself. “How can he possibly balance his journalistic passions and keep his life in somewhat reasonable order?” Men like Stewart and Ames seem to comprehend the esteem with which Trekkies hold that universe, and seek to honor that type of loyalty.

“I wrote this show for Patrick Stewart and created the character for him”. At best, it’s a cacophony of background filler, and at worst, it’s a true waste of the talented Patrick Stewart. “I wanted to make Walter Bunt a hero but a confused hero, a Don Quixote”, he said.

A British war vet with a nightly show on an American cable news channel, Walter wants to exude the gravitas of a trusted anchor but frequently finds himself too drunk to stand, too high to focus and occasionally – as is the case in Saturday’s series premiere (9/8c) – pursued by the police while nuzzling a transsexual hooker’s chest.

Afterward, Stewart famous such moments reaffirmed his determination to return to the grueling tempo of TV manufacturing. For a long while I considered Galaxy Quest the best Star Trek movie, and I think a Star Trek pitch from MacFarlane could be in that vein, but again, probably won’t ever happen. “I truly felt when “Next Generation” ended in ’94, I could not face that pressure and those hours anymore”. The thought of a half-hour comedy present had by no means been a part of my recreation plan till Seth referred to as me, and right here I’m.