Ryan Murphy's "Hollywood" (Episode 1)
Saturday, May 2, 2020 at 5:00PM by Eric Blume
Our hero, the dreamer, hoping to be picked
We’ll be covering the latest Ryan Murphy show Hollywood for you, now streaming on Netflix. Instead of a retread of the plot each episode (because, who cares?) we thought we’d treat you to a succinct look at the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of it all each week. And, because the show features a lot of beautiful eye candy, include the 'Not So Ugly' as a digestif. Let’s take a look at Episode One…
EPISODE 1 "HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD"
The Actor (David Corenswet as "Jack") and The Writer (Jeremy Pope as "Archie") meet under false gay-sex-sting circumstances
THE GOOD
Murphy’s shows almost always have a strong-out-of-the-gate first episode before they spiral into a mess (sometimes as soon as episode two). Hollywood is no exception. Though more low-key than most of his shows which start out very big, you get dropped into the Hollywood milieu immediately, and it’s just a rather FUN forty-five minutes. You don’t expect subtlety in a Murphy production, just entertainment, and he delivers. It’s breezy and has a nice fizz.
David Corenswet, who plays our main protagonist, is not only ideally cast as the young actor-cum-gigolo, but he’s a solid actor. He shows a bright flair for comedy, keeps the character’s intentions front and center while making believable transitions in roughly-written moments, and captures that very 1950’s leading-man charm and charisma you want him to nail. Haters will say he’s just that dark-haired porcelain white guy type that Ryan Murphy crushes on, and while on one level that may be true, it’s a discredit to the fine talent of Corenswet, and those who became before him (Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, et al, who are all quite wonderful actors).
The pimp (Dylan McDermott) and his boys
Dylan McDermott seems to be having a great time with his role, based on real-life Hollywood sex worker Scotty Bowers. There’s not a lot of there there, but Hollywood never really did figure out what to do with McDermott, an actor decidedly game for playing anything, and he brings both a snazzy brio and a sad undercurrent to this service expert.
The costuming of the series’ men. Usually in a period piece like this, it’s all about the women’s clothing, but in this first episode, which concentrates on men selling themselves, designers Lou Eyrich and Sarah Evelyn do marvelous work accentuating these men’s bodies in tight, sexy fashions that feel both genuine and stylized at the same time. It’s rare and satisfying to see a Hollywood story where the men’s costumes really shine.
THE BAD
The John (in this case a Joan) and the Stud for Hire
It’s a bummer that Hollywood is lensed identically to Murphy’s Feud: Bette and Joan. Basically, you could insert scenes from one into the other and it’d be a few minutes before you realized a swap. I mean, the show “looks great”…it’s professionally and elegantly shot and you see the budget…but it has no visual point-of-view of its own. Couldn’t Murphy and team have devised something a little different?
Patti LuPone plays the studio chief’s wife, and let’s just say it’s not her finest hour. She’s commenting on everything while she’s doing it: she’s playing camp in the lighter moments (a conscious choice, surely, but not a particularly interesting one), and playing pathos rather than evoking it in the more tender moments. Plus, in her big scene with Corenswet, she’s not listening to him or playing off what he’s giving her…it all feels rehearsed solo in her dressing room ahead of time.
THE UGLY
Historical accuracy is obviously not the point. But...
Where can this show go from here? The trailer for the series and even the anachronisms all over the place suggest we're headed into a completely revisionist past, which could be interesting if Murphy were anywhere near as talented as, say Quentin Tarantino, another director who is super fond of revisionist history.
One of the reasons Episode One works well is because it’s light on its feet…when this material turns serious, though, it will likely be deadly.
THE NOT-SO-UGLY
Patti Lupone likes what she sees in David Corenswet, and so do we...
We get a late introduction to Jeremy Pope’s character here, and methinks he will be featured in a future write-up as the final beauty beat (he’s captivating). But because this episode was lean and mean and focused on Corenswet’s character, we should celebrate him. He has a statuesque frame, the chiseled face of a young Montgomery Clift, and a dimple the size of the Grand Canyon. He’s stunning in and out of clothes and embodies both old-style Hollywood and contemporary hunkdom. He makes the eyes happy. More please.
Did you like the first episode?
We'll discuss episodes 2 and 3 on Monday.
Reader Comments (31)
I wasn't really a fan of the first episode and this sort've continued with the rest of the series. I'll be interested to read your coverage of the show because I really hated the show a lot and was offended as a fan of the time period the takes place during.
I’m one and done. A miss for me
I don't even think I'm going to watch it. Tarantino's revisionist films have clear points being made by the revisions. There's a reason why he does what he does. Nothing I've read suggests Murphy has a reason beyond just not wanting to do the research or thinking it would be "fun" to give Rock Hudson a Black boyfriend or what not.... I'd love a more accurate (at least Feud-level accurate) look at this era and the sexual underworld of Hollywood at the time, but I really think this would be a waste of time.
The first episode focused almost exclusively on this character that I "couldn't help but wonder", is this an Anthology series?
It opens up more characters in Part 2 of this, but I have no idea what the point is. OTOH, I'm entertained, and the Shirtless! Level is high, so far.
I'm two episodes in and find it pretty objectionable. As others have said, the anachronisms are self-congratulatory and dumb things down rather than engaging more honestly with history. And it isn't always drawing coherent lines between when characters are using sex knowingly and when they're being exploited; it also seems to be celebrating the idea that looks are more important than talent?
Ryan Murphy has talent, but there's a laziness to some of his projects that is frustrating. Feud was mostly wonderful, but this latest series portends a return to The Politician's "why was this made" level of quality. A series like this would be much more engaging if it told the real story, because truth, in Hollywood anyway, is always stranger than fiction.
I might watch for Jeremy Pope--dayum.
They rewrite the 20th Oscar ceremony in the last episode, it's absolutely ridiculous, lol. Give a gay man the chance to change history and he will rewrite the Oscars.
I enjoyed the show overall, obviously it's not good, you have to be in a specific set of mind and I was, I think is harmless, except to Rock Hudson who is dumb, lifeless, naive, but pretty as fuck.
I just binged the entire series. I understand everyone's objections thus far but I found it supremely entertaining. Corenswet is one of the most beautiful men I have ever seen. I predict Holland Taylor, Patti LuPone, Jim Parsons, and Dylan McDermott will all receive Emmy nominations
And how could I not mention Joe Mantello who is MVP of the series? Look, the show has problems : its wild fluctuations of tone are whiplash inducing, and Murphy and Co. really need to slow down and do some script polishing. It feels at times like they shot a rough draft of the screenplay. Nonetheless it has some very moving moments and I was entertained throughout.
Ryan Murphy has talent?
the bad, the worse and the very very pretty
the bit where the lead guy dresses up as a cop and "arrests" jeremy pope in the porn theatre and takes him to schwabs [where his wife works!] just to get...cocksucking tips or something? was the dopiest meet up scenario i've ever seen
the golden tip full service was haphazard - seemingly first come, first served [or maybe the other way around]
i'm writing this quickly before this piece of fluff disappears from my memory in three, two....
thevoid—he’s done some good stuff. Both seasons of American Crime Story were excellent. As was the first season of Glee and first two seasons of AHS.
The final episode had a couple of moments, borne of pure fantasy and cornball schmaltz, that nevertheless got to me as a queer person of color. It would have been nice to have those moments during that era because it really could have changed the world. Alas, the show around those moments is so sloppy and tonally inconsistent and slapdash that those moments don't shine quite as bright.
Corenswet graduated from Juilliard. He has the training. He lucked out he was conceived in Ryan Murphy's wet dream.
I was interested until I realized Murphy aim. He should've stuck with Scotty's stories of gas-station dick downs instead of revisionist history. He doesn't have the range for that.
I'm not watching any more episodes beyond the first two. Absolute trash! Do stop reviewing subsequent episodes for it's a waste of your time which could better be used elsewhere.
Instead of covering Hollywood could the site cover Mrs. America the better miniseries that is currently airing on television. That show is art and made for actressexuals
Stitching bits of gossip and revisionist wishful thinking together does not a great show make,Absolute rubbish,I couldn't believe any of it,Ryan's fantasy no doubt,an excuse for actors to get their kit off which is no bad thing when the story around it has good acting.
I know we often talk about film actors who never successfully transition to stage and lose all their magnetism when they try to tread on Broadway...Patti LuPone is the opposite of that. She has no idea how to modulate for the screen.
I guess if you look at is as fantasy version of Hollywood history it might work on that level
Why spend your time watching or writing about this?
Actually, I haven’t seen it yet. So I have no opinion.
But an interesting article and some good comments (except for one unnecessary one).
That Vivien Leigh portrayal is brutal! Poor woman, what did she do to deserve that!
As Eoin Daly says, I would like to read a Mrs America coverage too, it's the best tv show since Mad Men! The writing is exceptional and Blanchett, as usual, is doing stellar work but is the whole cast that is aboslutely amazing: Ullman, Byrne, Martindale, Aduba, Paulson are killing it.
The show is extremely objectionable because I'm not sure it's aware in the midst of celebrating openly gay people that Ernie is basically in the sex slave trade. It's somewhat clear that his workers don't have the option of turning down jobs they're uncomfortable with. He seems worse than Bryan Singer who tried to justify his behavior by claining he was a persecuted gay man (according to Mark Harris on twitter who was an EW editor at the time)
I thnk Greg Daniels' Upload and On Becoming a God in Central Florida I think are the two best shows I've seen this year. Tales from the Loop and Nora from Queens are really strong as well and Miracle Workers' first season was great and I imagine the third season will be better. Oh and Showtime's Kidding.
Re: Orrin
Tales from the Loop was great! But no one else seems to be talking about it :(
I thought Patti had some Sylvia Miles potential here but she is so awful. And her TV work has been pretty consistently detached. She must really need to feed off an audience.
Ryan Murphy is not a women’s ally, and he needs to be called out for his misogynist behavior, It’s violent and abusive. To make things worst his victims are death and can’t defend themselves. For ex. Vivien Leigh and Joan Crawford had amazing rich careers and are reduced by him to caricatures and makes fun of their very real struggles with mental health, alcohol abuse and professional step backs.
Vivien Leigh was a multi awarded actress that is often considered the best or one from the classic era. She didn’t work a lot in films but when she work IT WAS GREAT. She deal with personal step backs, her marriage to Lawrence Olivier, her relationship with her daughter and a sometimes crippling mental illness. Her mental illness was no joke and it handicap a lot of aspects of her life and her relationship with family and friends. This needs to be respected and if showcased some effort needs to be put in understanding why and how Vivien was affected and how she deal with it. She as millions of people thru history with mental illness deserves respect, it was not a joke or campy for her and her family.
She gave us Scarlett O’Hara, she almost went completely insane fro Blanche, this two performances alone ranks in the very very best of the very best in acting for film. She gave us her body’s and mind for us to enjoy a performance and we are paying her back in a mean violent way.
In Joan Crawford’s case, the exploitation of her name is shameful. From Mommie Dearest to Feud, her career and legacy has been transformed in something that Joan avoid in real life. She care about how audiences perceive her, she care about her fans, public persona and her projects are a testament to this. We all know that Christina Crawford has been trashing her mom with lies for 40 years, this accusations have been widely denied, then why when a opportunity is given she was portrayed as bitter,unprofessional and sexual maniac, Im not saying she didn’t have issues or that she was perfect. I mean I know she had her moments and she was a diva in every aspect of her life, but as a diva she knew what she wanted, she knew her worth, she work harder than most of the Hollywood starts from the classic age and she build a successful career. Her rags to riches story, her determination and the value she gave to her work deserves respect. Yes sometimes she had a complicated relationship with people, but all of them share a common value, from Christina to Bette, Joan expected RESPECT and most of the time she didn’t got that from a lot of people.
Not because the person been death for 50 years means that you can go and put things on the screen for audiences who are not familiar to her, that’s a game changer for stars from yesterday. Classic Hollywood is a topic that is not easy to digest to a lot of people, and in a time we’re truth is blurry and there’s an active campaign for people not to educate themselves we can’t afford people like Ryan Murphy who has a considerable size of followers since Glee, to come a rewrite history.
Is violent against this people who existed and haves families to take advantage of their struggles and profit from them in a shameful way.
To put all this in simple words, Dame Olivia de Havilland was right, someone needs to stop him.
This series is stupid AF!
Thank god for Patti, Holland and Joe! They are all it is worth for.
The others are abominable.
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The term du jour "person of color" is getting annoying. 90% of the planet are "people of color". You're 1 of six billion POC another words. Get over yourself. White people are the minority.