Day 3 of ATX TV Festival Season 12 was jam-packed with some great panels, and some tough decisions had to be made!
I started my morning off with my second Fast Pass of the convention—“A Conversation with Ted Danson & Mary Steenburgen”. It was a a fun and heartwarming discussion between two people who obviously still love one another very much. The two actors talked about their 30+ year relationship—how they first met while doing a chemistry read for a film, blending their families, working together on other movies, and why their marriage has lasted. Steenburgen talked about her recent discovery and love of music, and working on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, while Danson mentioned that he is currently working on a podcast with Woody Harrelson. The podcast, which should be released around October, will find Danson and Harrelson catching up with one another’s lives—since it’s been 30+ years since they spent every day together—and they will introduce one another to their friends, who will serve as guests. I could have listened to Ted Danson & Mary Steenburgen talk for hours—they seem like really genuine, caring people.
Next I headed over to 800 Congress for a panel for the Amazon Freevee series Jury Duty. If you’re unfamiliar with the show, it’s a hidden camera show in the vein of The Joe Schmo Show that sets out to make one unsuspecting person the hero of their own story. At the same time, it comes from some of the folks behind The Office, and mixes in some sitcom tropes to make the episodes feel more like a sitcom. Unsuspecting juror Ronald Gladden believes he is doing a documentary about his first time serving jury duty, but is unaware that the other 11 jurors, the judge, the prosecution, the defense and everyone else involved are all actors. Well, that’s not entirely true—he does recognize one of his fellow jurors, actor James Marsden, who’s playing a pompous and annoying version of himself. The series is hilarious and heartwarming, and this was one of the panels I was most excited for. Everyone I talked to seemed to have put this panel at the top of their fast pass list and didn’t get it, so I knew this was going to be a packed room.
The panelists included executive producers Nicholas Hatton & David Bernard, director Jake Szymanski, casting director Susie Farris, actress Edy Modica, and the unsuspecting juror himself, Ronald Gladden. In this fun discussion, the panelists talked about the challenges of pulling off such a feat, the casting process for both Ron and the other jurors, and the system that had been put in place to ensure that Ron was both mentally stable to handle the situation, during and afterwards. Some of the situations in the courtroom were so off-the-wall, so the executive producers talked about having a “reality bank” where they would “deposit” more grounded events and tedium before withdrawing with some of the show’s more wacky turns of events. This was key to keeping Ron believing the ruse. They discussed planning for many different circumstances, even seeding the word “jorf” in the Urban Dictionary ahead of time in case Ronald asked to see the waitresses’ phone. However, more often than not, they were usually able to stick with their Plan A for most scenarios. After the show finished filming, Ronald couldn’t even tell anyone about his experience for over a year, until the series finally aired. Ronald talked about how his life has changed since the show aired, and actress Edy said that she wasn’t prepared for all the recognition she has been getting, but that this was one of the best experiences of her life. She and the crew talked about filming the ridiculous bed-jumping scene, which was done in real time, and just for the sake of the cast/crew, since Ronald wasn’t even present.
As the panel ended, we were told that it was time to take back the word “jorf”, and they handed out t-shirts proclaiming that it now stood for “Jury Of Ronald’s Friends”.
I wasn’t sure what to check out for my next panel, but “Unscripted POV: Shaping the Story” in one of the rooms in The Driskill hotel sounded interesting. The panel featured Ben Megargel (SVP, Development, Unscripted Television, eOne), Renata Lombardo (SVP Development & Current Unscripted Programming, Scout Productions), David Collins (Co-Founder / EP, Scout Productions), and Billy Corben (Co-Founder, Rakontur). Some of the projects these folks worked on include Legendary for HBO Max, the original and reboots of Queer Eye, and the Cocaine Cowboys series of documentaries. The panelists discussed some of the pitching process, and the cyclical nature of television—how things can be hot one moment and then something no one is looking for the next. David Collins talked about creating the original Queer Eye and then receiving calls from everyone at the time who wanted “their own Queer Eye“. However, years later when he got the rights back, he was telling people he had Queer Eye for them, but no one wanted it. The panel, which was moderated by Sarah Pitre (Alamo Drafthouse), was an interesting look into the nature of the TV business and how some of these non-scripted deals are made.
Next up, in a room nearby was a panel for the Hulu comedy This Fool. The series follows 30-year-old Julio Lopez (Chris Estrada), who still lives in his childhood bedroom while he works for a non-profit. “Hugs Not Thugs” seeks to rehabilitate former gang members after they get out of prison, teaching them baking skills and helping them get back into society. In the first season, Julio’s older cousin Luis (Frankie Quiñones) gets out of prison after 8 years, and joins the program, with Julio as his case worker, and hilarity and hijinx ensue. This Fool‘s second season premieres July 28 on Hulu.
The panel featured stars Chris Estrada (Co-Creator) and Frankie Quiñones and was moderated by Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter. The actors talked about how the series came about, and how each was cast in their role—Estrada hadn’t originally planned to star in the series, just write/create it, but it soon became clear that he was perfect for the role. And the series almost went in a more burly and serious direction for the character of Luis, but Estrada fought for Quiñones to play the role. The guys discussed working with the great Michael Imperioli, representing their culture, and some of the first season’s crazier moments. They also showed a few clips from the upcoming second season, and talked about how the dynamic between their characters will be shaken up. They also discussed one of their new co-stars in the new season…a chicken.
I really enjoyed the first season of the series, which I only discovered after seeing the series listed for this season of ATX, and now I can’t wait for season 2!
One of this season’s big marquee events was the third season premiere of HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones. This was another show I hadn’t seen, but caught up on the first 2 seasons when I saw it listed in the ATX programming. I’m not generally a Danny McBride, but this show is so much fun.
Much like the Cheers Reunion, ATX turned this premiere into a big event at the ACL Live Moody theater. I got there extra early and got a seat on the floor near the front. They handed us fans that looked like prayer missals, with the breakdown of the the night’s events.
There were lots of reserved seats in the area around me, and we soon found out why. Just before things started, all of the main actors, some of the guest actors, and their entourages made their way to the seats. sitting just four seats down from me was John Goodman, and behind me was Adam Devine!
The program opened with a musical performance by Jane Leo. As soon as I saw that they were a guy/girl duo, I got my hopes up that we’d be getting a rendition of “Misbehavin'” as sung by siblings Aimee-Leigh and Baby Billy in the series. After a couple of original songs, it was the moment I had hoped for. That familiar beat started playing, and the audience sang along and danced in their seats!
Next up, we got to see an early showing of the first two episodes of season 3 (which officially premiere June 18 on HBO and Max). It was a great start to the season, and interesting to watch along with the cast, who were probably laughing out loud and cackling the loudest as they watched themselves and their peers’ work.
Afterwards it was time for the Q&A, and stars Danny McBride, John Goodman , Adam Devine, Edi Patterson & Cassidy Freeman took the stage, along with directors/EPs David Gordon Green & Jody Hill. Ben Travers of IndieWire led the conversation. The cast talked about the upcoming season, what it is like working with one another, shooting the de-aged scenes, and more. It was a fun conversation, but felt incredibly short compared to the rest of the night’s events, and was done in a flash. It was just great to see so much of the cast on the stage together and how they interact with one another.
As we exited the venue, we discovered that we were in the midst of a torrential downpour. It figured that this had to be the farthest venue. but everyone just made a run for it. I was completely soaked by the time I finished the 10-minute walk back to my hotel. I discovered afterwards that if I had held out for 20-30 minutes, I could have remained dry.
I quickly changed into some dry clothes and headed over to The Driskill next door, for the “Are You Afraid of The Driskill?” Camp Badge event. The Driskill hotel has a history of being haunted, so in that “spirit”, they were showing episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark? in the ballroom, along with some snacks courtesy of Cornucopia Popcorn.
