Pandora's Box, page 38
40. “David was the only showrunner”: Ian McShane, in discussion with the author, July 31, 2020.
41. “I always felt like I was about five”: Brian Cox, in discussion with the author, June 24, 2020.
42. “Good dialogue ain’t difficult”: Matt Zoller Seitz, “Ian McShane Says Good-bye to Deadwood,” Vulture, May 24, 2019, https://www.vulture.com/2019/05/ian-mcshane-deadwood-the-movie-al-swearengen.html.
43. “Every Friday—‘Good Luck Fridays’”: Ian McShane, in discussion with the author, July 31, 2020.
44. “He’s paid for people’s kids’ college”: Robin Weigert, in discussion with the author, July 16, 2020.
45. “was very clever about how he extended”: Brian Cox, in discussion with the author, June 24, 2020.
46. “Deadwood was the single greatest experience”: Will Harris, “Jim Beaver on Supernatural, David Milch, and How Going to Vietnam Was a Great Career Move,” AV Club, December 4, 2017, https://www.avclub.com/jim-beaver-on-supernatural-david-milch-and-how-going-1820151940.
47. “David Milch was known as a lunatic”: Allen Coulter, in discussion with the author, February 22, 2019.
48. “Working with David Milch”: Kara Howland, “Director Adam Davidson Talks David Milch and Deadwood,” TV Goodness, September 3, 2015, https://www.tvgoodness.com/2015/09/03/director-adam-davidson-talks-david-milch-and-deadwood-exclusive.
49. “Didn’t I hear somebody can juggle?”: Ibid.
50. “I think the pages were blank because”: Brian Cox, in discussion with the author, June 24, 2020.
51. “addictive as The Sopranos”: Alessandra Stanley, “In a Cramped, Claustrophobic Wild West,” New York Times, March 4, 2005, https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/04/arts/television/in-a-cramped-claustrophobic-wild-west.html.
52. “There are so many good actors”: Tom Shales, “Deadwood: Still Shooting from the Hip,” Washington Post, March 5, 2005, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2005/03/05/deadwood-still-shooting-from-the-hip/7111cb73-8ae2-4fae-bfdf-dd5293a23e9e.
53. “Normally a 22-episode season”: Will Harris, “Jim Beaver on Supernatural, David Milch, and How Going to Vietnam Was a Great Career Move,” AV Club, December 4, 2017, https://www.avclub.com/jim-beaver-on-supernatural-david-milch-and-how-going-1820151940.
54. “It was, ‘See you next year, whatever’”: Nick Schager, “Deadwood Star Ian McShane on the Lost Art of Calling Someone a ‘Cocksucker,’” Daily Beast, May 28, 2019, https://www.thedailybeast.com/deadwood-the-movie-star-ian-mcshane-on-the-lost-art-of-calling-someone-a-cocksucker.
55. “a Jewish pissing contest”: Brian Cox, in discussion with the author, June 24, 2020.
56. “That was one of the saddest days”: David Milch, Life’s Work: A Memoir (New York: Random House, 2022), 184.
57. “Nothing,” says McShane: Lesley M. M. Blume, “The Glorious Tragedy of Deadwood,” WSJ Magazine, May 31, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/deadwood-roundtable-cast-11559313669.
58. “I definitely felt out to sea”: Robin Weigert, in discussion with the author, July 19, 2020.
59. “Deadwood was lightning in a bottle”: Paula Malcomson, in discussion with the author, July 31, 2020.
60. “Yes, David had an expensive process”: Carolyn Strauss, in discussion with the author, January 21, 2022.
61. “HBO would say, ‘If you want to do it with us’”: Bob Greenblatt, in discussion with the author, June 22, 2021.
62. “We had no back end on the show”: Carolyn Strauss, in discussion with the author, January 21, 2022.
63. “an echo of a poem by Stanley Kunitz”: Rob Harvilla, “Revisiting the Strange, Occasionally Sublime John from Cincinnati,’” Ringer, August 29, 2018, https://www.theringer.com/tv/2018/8/29/17795462/revisiting-john-from-cincinnati.
64. “if God were trying to reach out”: Nancy Franklin, “Dead in the Water,” New Yorker, June 18, 2007, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/06/25/dead-in-the-water-2.
65. “The answer is no”: Rob Harvilla, “Revisiting the Strange, Occasionally Sublime John from Cincinnati,’” Ringer, August 29, 2018, https://www.theringer.com/tv/2018/8/29/17795462/revisiting-john-from-cincinnati.
66. “It became much more mobby”: Mitch Burgess, in discussion with the author, January 18, 2006.
67. “As David became more secure”: Robin Green, in discussion with the author, September 9, 2019.
68. “The more he got successful”: Mitch Burgess, in discussion with the author, September 19, 2019.
69. “Once he was anointed a genius”: Allen Coulter, in discussion with the author, November 26, 2006.
70. “The day you take your first tennis lesson”: Billy Friedkin, in discussion with the author, April 19, 1996.
71. “I don’t play tennis”: David Chase, in discussion with the author, July 29, 2017.
72. “he doesn’t play golf”: Larry Konner, in discussion with the author, July 24, 2017.
73. “He’s not moody”: Steven Van Zandt, in discussion with the author, November 29, 2006.
74. “But you can’t direct”: Allen Coulter, in discussion with the author, February 22, 2019.
75. “I would think, Go fuck yourself”: Ibid.
76. “It was so respected”: Jeff Bewkes, in discussion with the author, December 20, 2006.
77. “The Sopranos was the hammer”: Chris Albrecht, in discussion with the author, December 13, 2006.
78. “There’s a point at which creative”: David Chase, in discussion with the author, 2006.
79. “David stoked the tension”: Mitch Burgess, in discussion with the author, September 19, 2019.
80. “Matt was so far up David’s”: Robin Green, in discussion with the author, December 18, 2006.
81. “He was initially extremely”: Terry Winter, in discussion with the author, May 20, 2022.
82. “I’d be like, ‘You don’t like that?’”: Brett Martin, Difficult Men (New York: Penguin Press, 2013), 244.
83. “would say ‘No’ to me about 300 times”: Joy Press, “Matthew Weiner in the Mirror,” Vanity Fair, September 30, 2018, https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/09/matthew-weiner-romanoffs-in-the-mirror.
84. “He didn’t take his ideas”: Mitch Burgess, in discussion with the author, September 19, 2019.
85. “If I had had any integrity”: Robin Green, in discussion with the author, September 17, 2019.
86. “hate-rays”: Robin Green, The Only Girl (New York: Little, Brown, 2018), 214.
87. “We never got the voice”: Robin Green, in discussion with the author, September 17, 2019.
88. “After six seasons”: Todd A. Kessler, in discussion with the author, July 13, 2022.
89. “’Cause really,” she says: Robin Green, in discussion with the author, September 17, 2019.
90. “I didn’t want to punctuate”: Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall, The Sopranos Sessions (New York: Abrams Press, 2019), 339.
91. “They wanted to see him go face-down”: Scott Feinberg, “Sopranos Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What Happened to Tony,” Hollywood Reporter, November 2, 2021, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/feature/the-sopranos-david-chase-tony-ending-the-many-saints-of-newark-1235040185.
92. “We didn’t want to make”: Terry Winter, in discussion with the author, November 14, 2006.
93. “People went, ‘What’s next?’”: Chris Albrecht, in discussion with the author, December 13, 2006.
Chapter 4: HBO’s Annus Horribilis
1. “had pissed [him] off”: Amy Wallace, “Violence, Nudity, Adult Content: The Story of Chris Albrecht,” GQ, November 5, 2010, https://www.gq.com/story/chris-albrecht-profile-2010.
2. “The idea came up that I would say”: Ibid.
3. “Jeff [Bewkes] said to me that”: Lindsay Powers, “Chris Albrecht Blames 2007 Arrest on ‘Difficult Relationships with Women’–Not Alcoholism,” Hollywood Reporter, October 21, 2010, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/chris-albrecht-blames-2007-arrest-31815/.
4. “ticking time bomb”: Andrew Wallenstein, “HBO’s CEO Steps Down,” Adweek, May 10, 2007, https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/hbos-ceo-steps-down-88935.
5. “It didn’t occur to me”: Lindsay Powers, “Chris Albrecht Blames 2007 Arrest on ‘Difficult Relationships with Women’–Not Alcoholism,” Hollywood Reporter, October 21, 2010, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/chris-albrecht-blames-2007-arrest-31815.
6. “In an apparent fit of jealous rage”: Quoted in Matthew Belloni, “Chris Albrecht’s Past Is Prologue,” Puck, October 13, 2022, https://puck.news/chris-albrechts-past-is-prologue.
7. “false, inflammatory”: Ibid.
8. “He couldn’t keep it in his pants”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
9. “He has been protected”: Michael Fuchs, in discussion with the author, December 8, 2022.
10. “Violence against anybody”: Lindsay Powers, “Chris Albrecht Blames 2007 Arrest on ‘Difficult Relationships with Women’–Not Alcoholism,” Hollywood Reporter, October 21, 2010, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/chris-albrecht-blames-2007-arrest-31815/.
11. “pissy little dolts”: Amy Wallace, “Violence, Nudity, Adult Content: The Story of Chris Albrecht,” GQ, November 5, 2010, https://www.gq.com/story/chris-albrecht-profile-2010.
12. “If there was a showrunner on Band of Brothers”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
13. “The first cuts were coming in”: Kary Antholis, in discussion with the author, September 25, 2020.
14. “finally tumbled from its pedestal”: Bill Carter, “HBO’s Rivals Say It Has Stumbled, Though Catching Up Is Tough,” New York Times, August 23, 2007, https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/arts/23hbo.html.
15. “Jeff didn’t know the industry”: Michael Fuchs, in discussion with the author, May 8, 2022.
16. “Richard was creative adjacent”: Glenn Whitehead, in discussion with the author, January 28, 2022.
17. “While he excelled at guarding”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
18. “Nobody enjoyed being Richard”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
19. “He did it to me”: Michael Fuchs, in discussion with the author, May 9, 2022.
20. “He became consigliere”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
21. “When Fuchs blew himself up”: Ibid.
22. “‘I’m young in my career”: Ibid.
23. “Michael Fuchs brought me to HBO”: Richard Plepler, in discussion with the author, February 16, 2023.
24. “If he doesn’t get this”: Ibid.
25. “With Mike, Richard was gracious”: Quentin Schaffer, in discussion with the author, January 7, 2022.
26. “Mike refused to be the head of programming operations”: Glenn Whitehead, in discussion with the author, January 28, 2022.
27. “Wanting to be a nice guy”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
28. “Whether intentional or not”: Quentin Schaffer, in discussion with the author, May 24, 2022.
29. “He would leave people crying”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
30. “Mike is in many respects”: Glenn Whitehead, in discussion with the author, January 28, 2022.
31. “I really loved working for Mike”: David Levine, in discussion with the author, March 7, 2021.
32. “it didn’t feel like ‘HBO important’”: Felix Gillette and John Koblin, It’s Not TV: The Spectacular Rise, Revolution, and Future of HBO (New York: Viking, 2022), 220.
33. “[When] I hit puberty”: Elvis Mitchell, “David Benioff and D. B. Weiss: Game of Thrones,” May 8, 2013, in The Treatment, podcast, KCRW, https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/the-treatment/david-benioff-and-d-b-weiss-game-of-thrones/david-benioff-and-d-b-weiss-game-of-thrones.
34. “You have got to buy this book”: David Benioff, in discussion with the author, March 6, 2014.
35. “The Sopranos meets Middle-earth”: Sarah Hughes, “‘Sopranos Meets Middle-Earth’: How Game of Thrones Took Over Our World,” Guardian, March 22, 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/mar/22/game-of-thrones-whats-not-to-love.
36. “For us, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”: Dan Weiss, in discussion with the author, March 5, 2014.
37. “We had no money, we lived in the projects”: George R. R. Martin, in discussion with the author, March 19, 2014.
38. “reading a book and not knowing”: Mikal Gilmore, “George R. R. Martin: The Rolling Stone Interview,” Rolling Stone, April 23, 2014, https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/george-r-r-martin-the-rolling-stone-interview-242487.
39. “We’re only twenty minutes into the movie”: George R. R. Martin, in discussion with the author, March 19, 2014.
40. “What I’d like to do is write an epic fantasy”: John Hodgman, “The Sound of Young America: George R. R. Martin, Author of a Song of Ice and Fire Series,” September 19, 2011, in Bullseye with Jesse Thorn, produced by Kevin Ferguson, Jesus Ambrosio, and Richard Robey, podcast, https://maximumfun.org/episodes/bullseye-with-jesse-thorn/george-r-r-martin-author-song-ice-and-fire-series-interview-sound-young-america.
41. “The producer came to me and said”: George R. R. Martin, in discussion with the author, March 19, 2014.
42. “like J. R. R. Tolkien with a lot fewer”: Peter Sagal, “Thrones Author George R.R. Martin Plays Not My Job,” September 14, 2012, in Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me!, podcast, 1:52, https://www.npr.org/transcripts/161142894.
43. “We can’t have these seventeen subplots”: George R. R. Martin, in discussion with the author, March 19, 2014.
44. “He wanted to write a series”: David Benioff, in discussion with the author, March 6, 2014.
45. “We don’t know why he trusted”: Sam Barsanti, “Based on This Benioff and Weiss Panel, It Must’ve Been Dumb Luck That Game of Thrones Happened at All,” AV Club, October 27, 2019, https://www.avclub.com/based-on-this-benioff-and-weiss-panel-it-mustve-been-d-1839398581.
46. “if HBO wasn’t going to go for it”: Dan Weiss, in discussion with the author, March 6, 2014.
47. “It was an easy green light for us”: Richard Plepler, in discussion with the author, July 20, 2018.
48. “That was not an easy green light at all”: Carolyn Strauss, in discussion with the author, January 21, 2022.
49. “It’s not a story with a million orcs”: James Hibberd, “HBO Conjuring Fantasy Series,” Hollywood Reporter, November 11, 2008, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hbo-conjuring-fantasy-series-122782.
50. “Every scene, you change two lines”: Luka Nieto, “What Showrunners Benioff & Weiss Actually Said at Austin Film Festival About Writing and Producing Game of Thrones,” Watchers on the Wall (blog), October 30, 2019, https://watchersonthewall.com/benioff-weiss-reflect-decade-game-thrones-austin-film-festival.
51. “within the first fifteen minutes”: Richard Plepler, in discussion with the author, July 20, 2018.
52. “a con job”: Adam Clery, “Game of Thrones: 10 Shocking Revelations from Benioff & Weiss’s Q&A,” WhatCulture, October 29, 2019, https://whatculture.com/tv/game-of-thrones-10-shocking-revelations-from-benioff-weisss-q-a.
53. “We knew that it was gonna turn”: Luka Nieto, “What Showrunners Benioff & Weiss Actually Said at Austin Film Festival About Writing and Producing Game of Thrones,” Watchers on the Wall (blog), October 30, 2019, https://watchersonthewall.com/benioff-weiss-reflect-decade-game-thrones-austin-film-festival.
54. “The firing of Carolyn Strauss”: Glenn Whitehead, in discussion with the author, January 28, 2022.
55. “‘This is the biggest mistake”: Ibid.
56. “I think that was something”: Carolyn Strauss, in discussion with the author, January 21, 2022.
57. “The feeling was that HBO”: Quentin Schaffer, in discussion with the author, October 28, 2019.
58. “We think it’s time”: Carolyn Strauss, in discussion with the author, January 21, 2022.
59. “a self-fulfilling prophecy”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
60. “Do you want to go to work at HBO”: Sue Naegle, in discussion with the author, January 27, 2020.
61. “It’s very different to sell”: David Levine, in discussion with the author, March 14, 2021.
62. “Now you’ve got three people”: Confidential source, in discussion with the author.
63. “HBO was very focused”: David Nevins, in discussion with the author, August 9, 2021.
