Season 14 of the annual ATX Television Festival in Austin, TX has come to a close. If you missed them, here are my recaps of Day 1 and Day 2 and Day 3.
On Sunday, after checking out of my hotel, I stopped by the press/industry and badgeholder lounges to grab a muffin or two and then headed to get in line for my first panel of the final day.
I had a Fast Forward pass for “Bad Advice, Great TV with Bill Lawrence & Zach Braff” in the Hyatt Centric Living Room. It was a really entertaining and intimate discussion between Bill Lawrence & Zach Braff about their successful 25-year collaborative relationship/friendship. Among various other series, they discussed Scrubs and shared some anecdotes about working on the show. They talked about Lawrence currently showrunning two different series at the same time, their writing processes, Braff’s directorial work on Ted Lasso and other shows, and more. It was fun to see how these two know each other so well that they could finish each other’s sentences, or just with a nod, knew exactly what story the other one was about to tell.
I also had a Fast Forward pass for my second panel of the day, “Texas Made Award: LANDMAN presented with Media For Texas”, which was just across the street at 800 Congress. With Billy Bob Thornton announced as being present, it was packed!
First ATX TV’s Caitlin McFarland and two folks from Media For Texas took the stage to explain this new “Texas Made” Award, honoring TV productions made within Texas. Then Landman co-creator/executive producer Christian Wallace and stars Billy Bob Thornton, Michelle Randolph and Jacob Lofland joined them to receive the award. The cast/co-creator then engaged in a fun and interesting discussion about the series. Christian Wallace talked about how the series came about, working with a predominantly Texan crew, and finding the balance between the character and pump station drama. The actors discussed how their characters are and aren’t like themselves, and how there was an almost immediate feeling of family among them. Jacob Lofland talked about the roughneck training he went through. Michelle Randolph talked about her hair and wardrobe, becoming an honorary Texan, and shooting some of her awkward dialogue at the football field in front of people who didn’t know the context. Billy Bob Thornton also mentioned that Michelle is like his own daughter, but would be horrified to hear the things that come out of Ainsley’s mouth. Everyone mentioned how great it was to work with Billy Bob Thornton. The actor talked about how the role was written specifically with him in mind, and how he only takes roles he sees himself in. If you haven’t seen Landman yet, its certainly worth a watch!
For my final event of Season 14, I headed back to the Paramount Theater one more time for THE GOLDEN GIRLS 40th Anniversary Script Reading & Conversation presented by Hulu. Every year, the festival does these script readings, pulling actors who are there for the weekend to participate in other panels to play the iconic roles.
After singing a medley of music inspired by The Golden Girls, local Austin band Uncle Roy & Spice sang the shows iconic theme song. Then the actors took the stage to perform two episodes of The Golden Girls. First up was the pilot, S1 E1 “The Engagement”, in which Dorothy’s elderly mother, Sophia, unexpectedly moves in after her retirement home burns down, and Blanche accepts a proposal of marriage. Playing the iconic quartet were Constance Zimmer as “Dorothy Zbornak”, Carrie Preston as “Blanche Devereaux”, Yvette Nicole Brown as “Rose Nylund” and Pamela Adlon as “Sophia Petrillo”. Playing “Coco” and providing narration/stage directions was Nathan Lee Graham. This first episode also featured Dan Bucatinsky as Blanche’s fiancé “Harry”, and Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman as “Cop” and “Minister”. The second episode was episode S2 E5 “Isn’t It Romantic?”, in which Dorothy’s lesbian friend Jean develops a crush on Rose, with Vella Lovell playing “Jean”.
The performances were excellent. Pamela Adlon nailed Sophia’s curmudgeonly attitude and had the audience laughing out loud. Yvette Nicole Brown really captured Rose’s naivety, Carrie Preston conveyed Blanche’s self-obsessed sexiness, and Constance Zimmer also made a wonderful Dorothy (I had assumed they were going to have Adlon do that role since she played Maude at last year’s reading.) It was amazing how fresh and relevant these episodes still felt 40 years later! I also wondered how many of the raunchier jokes just went over 9-year-old me’s head when I watched the series as it originally aired!
Following the reading, the guest cast discussed the cultural influence of The Golden Girls, and its impact on TV in the years since. They talked about how these “golden” women were actually only in their 50s, and how that decade of people’s lives is generally ignored on TV these days. They also talked about roles for older women, how actors generally keep their ages a secret, and more.
This was a great way to close out the festival. After the script readings, I headed to the airport to head home, another season of the ATX Television Festival in the books. This is always a great time, and I look forward to seeing what’s in store for Season 15! If you’re a TV lover, you should definitely think about heading to Austin next summer!
