"Clark's Place"
April 14, 2016 9:47 AM   Subscribe

 
This show is so good, and their marketing is so misleading and uninteresting that it seems like an accident that anyone watches it.

I still remember watching the pilot (as the third season was about to start, I think) because someone I trust basically ordered me to, and just being completely flabbergasted by how good it was. Yet, in retrospect four seasons in, the pilot was actually kind of not-great.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:58 AM on April 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


Also like , how did I not know until recently that Rhys and Russell are an actual real life couple?

It's the absolute best show no one watches, three seasons on Amazon prime, go for it.

(Rhys played a Welsh terrorist on Archer with no less than three wig changes)
posted by The Whelk at 10:08 AM on April 14, 2016 [7 favorites]


It's an awesome show as everyone else says.

Plus Ms. Russel always appears to be from the future, everyone else can be wearing period correct hair/makeup/clothing except her character, who always appears to have just returned from the Apple store to have her cracked screen fixed in her Tesla.
posted by Keith Talent at 10:20 AM on April 14, 2016


How does a TV show go from an idea to something you can watch ?

Even many of the ones that eventually get aired never do.
posted by Gelatin at 10:21 AM on April 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


It's a phenomenally good show, with some particularly good flashes of humor, but it's otherwise just so heavy and dark and foreboding that I need to psych myself up to watching it.

And I don't know how it's on basic cable. That suitcase, for example. Jesus.
posted by leotrotsky at 10:21 AM on April 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


For anyone that's interested, we discuss episodes over on FanFare.

This show is absolutely fantastic and I tell everyone I know that they need to watch it. Its starting to feel like a repeat of Breaking Bad (which I watched live from about the 3rd episode in), where I tell everyone I know to watch it and no one listens (and then 5 years later will decide to binge watch the whole thing for the final episode and ask me if I've watched it. Grrrrr.)

Of the people I do know who were fans, they lost interest after the 2nd season because they didn't like Paige, which is unfortunate because 1) she's really done very well with the role and 2) future seasons definitely become much more Paige heavy.

While the lack of an audience is disappointing, its not really that big of a deal because FX does not care and wants it on the air anyways. The more disappointing part is the lack of awards for Russel and Rhys. Except for the 2014 Satellite Award to Keri Russel, the only other actor that has one is Margo Martindale's Emmy for her guest appearances. The show itself has won a few awards: Critic's Choice, Peabody, each season wins the American Film Institute. They have yet to receive a single Golden Globe nomination. Neither Russel nor Rhys has even received an Emmy nomination. For a show that has been critically lauded for pretty much its entire run, the lack of awards really hurts it, I think. Its a real shame that they seem yet to be recognized for their outstanding work.
posted by LizBoBiz at 10:23 AM on April 14, 2016 [5 favorites]


I am so obsessed with this show and it's a continual marvel to me that it has such a small audience. We have good discussions about it over on FanFare if anyone cares to start watching and bean plating with us.
posted by orange swan at 10:24 AM on April 14, 2016


Fascinating article, thank you!
posted by egypturnash at 10:33 AM on April 14, 2016


Also a big fan of The Americans, it's up there with Better Call Saul as some of the more interesting TV I watch right now.

This article is fantastic too and worth a careful read. The author really gets into the detail. Five months to make an episode! Everything chopped up into little bits; not just filming scenes totally out of order but so much time passes between script writing to filming to post-production. It's amazing a coherent thing comes out the other end.

I'd love to read this same article but for a schlocky sit-com. Is it as much work or do they just throw it together? I mean I know daily soap operas are literally daily, but what about a weekly hapless dad show?
posted by Nelson at 10:43 AM on April 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


By the way, I just now discovered that Slate has been doing a podcast with the producers, frequently talking to the cast, writers, and consultants. I haven't listened to last season's episodes but this seasons' have been amazing.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:49 AM on April 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


I'd love to read this same article but for a schlocky sit-com. Is it as much work or do they just throw it together?

Overall, this is pretty much what it takes to make an hour-long single-camera (not shot in front of an audience) show. The Americans has more fx than most dramas (green-screening in all those period street scenes, for example) so that lengthens the post-production schedule some, so another show might hit air in 4 months rather than 5. (I have always been astonished by South Park's ability to turn on a topic in weeks, I have no idea how it's done but apparently the entire production team goes without sleep or leaving the office for the duration of production, so I guess that. Animation's obviously easier since you can change dialogue in post-production.)

But every second of any production is planned. Nothing is thrown together, even the relatively few shows that do semi-improvised dialogue still have writers, still have call schedules for cast and crew and have to be catered and electrified and gripped, still have to be edited and color-corrected and be exactly the right length to run in their slot with commercials, adhere to standards and practices, abide by union schedule regulations, stick to the studio and network party line, etc. Every one of those seconds costs a certain amount of money, and someone had to decide how much beforehand.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:59 AM on April 14, 2016 [3 favorites]


Thanks for this. I had thought about using an AskMe to ask what it is like working on a TV show because it looks like something really fun and interesting. This post describes what it is like, and as a bonus it's about on of my favorites shows.
posted by Rob Rockets at 11:07 AM on April 14, 2016


I have always been astonished by South Park's ability to turn on a topic in weeks

Its actually just 1 week. And sometimes comedy central doesnt even get it until a few hours before it airs. Here's the wiki but there was a behind the scenes special a couple years ago that went into detail on how they make the show.
posted by LizBoBiz at 11:11 AM on April 14, 2016


I watched the pilot on friend's recommendation. As someone born and raised in "Soviet Russia", the Soviet parts of it were so childishly unauthentic that it turned me off completely. I guess I need to give it another try.
posted by shala at 11:12 AM on April 14, 2016


6 Days to Air. The Making of South Park. Well worth a look.

The Americans and Better Call Saul are the best dramas on TV at the moment.
posted by bigZLiLk at 11:17 AM on April 14, 2016 [3 favorites]


Also binge watching this show has turned my "ha ha wouldn't a Cold War reenactment society be funny" into "wait this could be a compelling LARP thing"
posted by The Whelk at 11:21 AM on April 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


shala, if it helps any, there is very little of that on the show overall, but really the pilot was clearly made with the least possible amount of cash they could get away with, and frankly some of the Authentic American 80s stuff in the first few episodes was pretty hammy too.

But also they have consultants now.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:52 AM on April 14, 2016


It's as good--or better--than the greatest shows of the last decade (Sopranos, Deadwood, Breaking Bad, etc.) yet gets so little attention and love. I'm constantly recommending it to friends.
posted by Sassenach at 2:01 PM on April 14, 2016


Martha is my favorite character who's ever been on TV. And that's coming from a Mad Men fanatic.

I swear to God Clark, if Martha gets hurt...
posted by sallybrown at 2:08 PM on April 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


How does a TV show go from an idea to something you can watch ?

The answer to this is, I hope, Evil Gnomes.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:48 PM on April 14, 2016


Wow, being In Europe I had no idea that this show was not doing well. I thought it was really well known considering how good it is.
Also, never say "we'll fix it in post" to someone who works in post-production, ever.
posted by SageLeVoid at 3:38 PM on April 14, 2016


Wow, being In Europe I had no idea that this show was not doing well. I thought it was really well known considering how good it is.

Neither did I, I thought it had a big following :/ Great show nonetheless, probably the best on TV - has definitely gotten even better the last couple of seasons.
posted by photo guy at 6:03 PM on April 14, 2016


I watched the pilot on friend's recommendation. As someone born and raised in "Soviet Russia", the Soviet parts of it were so childishly unauthentic that it turned me off completely. I guess I need to give it another try.

Yeah, lots of the show I find completely unbelievable, mostly having to do with the couple doing an absurd amount of spy craft for such a supposed sort-of-sleeper-cell. But they make up for it in the character development, which uses the spy stuff to expose us to nuance and dilemma in the characters, their motivations, and growth.

The show does have the distinction of having Oliver North credited as writer for one episode, depicting a situation and character that he would probably have some familiarity with.
posted by 2N2222 at 8:41 PM on April 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


Yeah they're kind of a two person KGB doing ALL OF THE MISSIONS, EVERY ONE but you know, TV

(My favorite detail is Elizabeth constantly trying to undermine the right wing glossed over education her kids are getting in thier nice suburban school)
posted by The Whelk at 8:51 PM on April 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


Yep, like how the Good Wife seems to allow only five lawyers on Chicago at one time, I figure we chuck that in the suspension of disbelief pile.

Also how having one of these overworked operatives be *extremely* attractive is hardly for befuddling legions of straight men, but probably not so much for going unnoticed and unrememebered.
posted by ominous_paws at 10:23 PM on April 14, 2016


I love this show so, so much. We started watching it because I'd heard it was really good, here, I think, and while I was expecting to love the intrigue aspect, I wasn't expecting such nuanced, wrenching representations of (albeit unconventional?) marriage and family. Philip and Elizabeth, Clark and Martha, Stan and Sandra, and then the kids--not to mention their demi-familial relationships with their handlers. That's the stuff that keeps me coming back.

I read all the recaps I can get, over at Vulture and here, but I almost don't want to read this--I don't want the magic to be disappear!
posted by stellaluna at 11:04 AM on April 15, 2016


I'm only one season in and am super impressed with Rhys as an actor ... what he does is not very showy at all despite the wig changes, but he makes a great Soviet George Smiley. Love it when he gets to be funny, too, which isn't often so far.
posted by Sheydem-tants at 11:14 AM on April 15, 2016


... and, damn, Rhys is a RADA alum. That is some serious stealth craft there... maybe he really is a spy ;-)
posted by Sheydem-tants at 11:41 AM on April 15, 2016


Oh my goodness, I tweeted Alison Wright to compliment her on her work as Martha, and she responded.
posted by orange swan at 1:00 PM on April 15, 2016 [8 favorites]


She's been sort of the show's official tweeter for the past week, which gives me an even greater case of the #PoorMarthas. Cos you know who was the previous prominent tweeter this season?

I usually watch this next day, unspoiled, via Amazon. I need to decide if I'll peek online late tonight.
posted by NorthernLite at 4:15 PM on April 20, 2016


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