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Prodigal Son in the Media

Meredith Quill

By Meredith Quill
in Prodigal Son

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Trini

Trini

(edited)

A few interviews:

Frank Harts (JT) about his arc for the season: https://tvline.com/2021/01/19/prodigal-son-recap-season-2-episode-2-jt-police-brutality-racism/

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TVLINE | I had spoken with co-creators Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver earlier this month, and they said they consulted with you and some other cast members about how to approach this storyline. What were those conversations like?

After the situation with George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and all the rest, we started to have conversations over the summer about what it would be like for someone like me to approach playing a cop on television. Here you have a Black man, post-George Floyd, playing a Black cop on television, in a world where that representation means something completely different now. I was losing a little bit of sleep over what that was going to look like, and what that was going to mean for me, going into Season 2.

Chris and Sam were really, really great at listening to my thoughts about how we might approach that. I just wanted to make sure that the many dimensions and many colors showed through with a character like this. How do you have a guy like JT Tarmel — who has a Black son on the way, who bleeds blue, and is a military veteran — deal with a post-Floyd universe as a cop? There was no clear answer at that time, but there was a lot of sharing of feelings, and we talked about social justice issues, and they came up with what you see in Episode 2, based on our conversations and my feelings and experiences.

 

Another with Harts: https://www.tvinsider.com/985192/prodigal-son-season-2-episode-2-jt-racist-cops-frank-harts/

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Exactly. Even though we're all brown-skinned individuals — it's one of the things that excited me about doing the show to begin with, the diversity in the police force — in the end, we're all cops, and so when something like this happens, you don't know what people's beliefs, political or anything else, are. All you know is we all wear the badge.

He's definitely comforted to find out his NYPD family — Dani (Aurora Perrineau) and Gil (Lou Diamond Phillips) and even Bright (Tom Payne) — is on his side and with him to the bitter end no matter what happens. We'll have the opportunity to see that unfold throughout the season. JT definitely has not given up. He's just trying to figure out how to navigate this in the most diplomatic fashion to keep himself sane and ready for fatherhood.

 

Lou Diamond Phillips: https://www.looper.com/319346/lou-diamond-phillips-on-prodigal-son-his-most-popular-roles-and-more-exclusive-interview/

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You're directing an episode of Prodigal Son this season. You've directed before, on Fear the Walking Dead, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Longmire and others. What's your approach to directing this show, and is this something that you want to keep exploring?

Yeah. I directed my first film that I co-wrote back in 1990 (Dangerous Touch) and I've been a member of the DGA since '97. It's like me writing a novel, to be honest. It's something that I love doing but that I don't do a lot because my day job worked out okay. I keep getting asked to dance as an actor, which obviously I'm very grateful for, but I am leaning into directing more these days. I'd love to be Eastwood and doing it when I'm 80 — when I can't do stunts anymore and I'm not the love interest and I really don't care what I look like [laughs]. It has to be a challenge for me. I have to love it because it's too hard to do if you don't. You don't want to take on a project that you're so-so about.

Interestingly enough, Prodigal Son is very, very much in the vein of what I've done lately, which is somewhat genre, but not. When you go from Longmire, which is a Western, to Fear the Walking Dead, which is just horror and had a very, very specific — in that season — visual approach, to the sci-fi aspect of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the action aspect of it, Prodigal Son brings together a lot of that. And what I love about Prodigal Son is it's not your typical procedural in how we do it, in how we shoot it.

 

And a lengthy one with Tom Payne at Collider: https://collider.com/prodigal-son-season-2-tom-payne-interview-the-walking-dead/

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Could you ever have imagined that you would have an acting job that would require you to perform an exorcism to get out of a situation?

PAYNE: No, and that’s what’s so fun about the show. We get to do all of these things in these fun situations, in every episode. That was like the end of a movie, screaming at the guy while holding the candle. Holding the candle was actually something that I did on impulse while we were shooting. I was like, “I should be holding something. There should be something that I’m threatening him with, like a cross or a Bible.” And all of the candles were there, so I was like, “This is good. Does this work for camera?” And they really liked it. So, I ended up holding that in front of me to ward him off. It’s so fun. I had a scene yesterday where I said a line where I thought, “Wow, this is on the verge of parody, what I’m saying right now,” but that’s the show. I love that we lean into those things and we can do it because we’re underpinned by this really deep, emotional stuff, in the family and with the police side of things. We have these storylines that come from deep, meaningful things in real life, so when those are played effectively by the great actors that we have, we can afford to go the other way as well and really play with situations and add the comedy. I really love it when people are surprised by the show, and I’m constantly surprised when I watch it. I like when people are like, “I laughed a lot, and I’m not sure if I should be laughing.” That’s great. That’s the show.

 

Edited by Trini
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Trini

Trini

Interview with Michael Sheen: https://nypost.com/2021/02/01/michael-sheen-prodigal-son-character-is-likeable-monster/

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“I am drawn to characters that have something different going on underneath rather than what’s on the surface,” Sheen, 51 tells The Post. “I think that’s true of people generally — we’re always aware of the version of ourselves that we want people to see, and then there’s that version that we feel like we’re covering up.

“A lot of what’s interesting about playing a character is how much you show,” he says. “Martin Whitly is one of those. We know that he’s a monster, and yet the version that we see of him is someone that’s likable and charming. Clearly that’s not all that’s going on. I do very much enjoy that.”

 

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AnimeMania

AnimeMania

Prodigal Son: Michael Sheen Recovering from COVID; S02 Prod Continues

Michael Sheen has been recovering over the "last few weeks" since he tested positive for COVID-19. Due to Sheen's other acting commitments, Sheen's segments are often filmed out of order and in large blocks way ahead of the scheduled episode (this is one of the reasons why the first season was able to end with a proper finale).

Michael Sheen and his baby Lyra contracted the virus first, which spread his partner Anna Lundberg. Since there is a sizable break between episode 7 which just aired and the next episode which will air April 13th, the schedule was never in jeopardy.

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Sile

Sile

Fuck.  I was so afraid this was going to happen.  At least we got two seasons.

With Lucifer ending, come on Netflix!!  This show is a good fit and really would benefit over not having to abide by network standards, much like Lucifer.

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TrininisaScorp

TrininisaScorp

Freaking Fox.  They always do this to me...either cancel something I love (The Gifted was the last one), or save it only to allow it to get really fucked up (I'm looking at you Sleepy Hollow).  This is the only show I watch on Fox, and it makes me very sad to see it go.  Damn, I hope they get a pick up somewhere.  Honestly, the format works better on FX, but maybe Netflix?  I don't know...sigh.

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denise42

denise42

So how do we fight for this show any ideas we could try and get the actors to fight for it, they might have some contacts they could speak to.  We can't give up without a fight what do we do next any ideas.

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ichbin

ichbin

6 hours ago, Tachi Rocinante said:

Yet 9-1-1 Lone Star lives on.  Jeebus.

Let's not forget that it was announced that Call Me Kat was renewed at the same time Prodigal Son was canceled. 

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denise42

denise42

If you have a twitter account we are fighting for this show over there or just join its not to hard to do i am tweeting all the time now. If you like Prodigal son fight for it.

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NeenerNeener

NeenerNeener

(edited)

A gossip site said the reason for the cancelation was that Sheen doesn't want to do it anymore. A network series takes more of his time than he's willing to commit now.

They decided not to recast or write around his absence.

Edited by NeenerNeener
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denise42

denise42

Thats not what we heard, they said it was low viewing figures .  If Michel sheen decides not to do the show there are other things they can do with it.  The fans were told that they had penned an outline of season 3, if you enjoy this show go to twitter and fight.

 

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Trini

Trini

Showrunner interview; finale post mortem: https://tvline.com/2021/05/18/prodigal-son-cancelled-season-2-finale-ending-explained/

Quote

TVLINE | Even though this episode ends with a cliffhanger, it felt — to me, at least — like it also worked as a series finale. As you wrote and produced it, were you planning the episode as a potential series ender?

FEDAK | No. We were approaching it as, “What’s the most exciting way to end Season 2?” We also feel, like you do, that it is not a series finale that doesn’t work because we’ve been cancelled. It still does work… This isn’t like ALF being captured by the government before they were cancelled. It’s still a good and exciting story.
SKLAVER | What COVID taught us is that you’re never sure what tomorrow is going to bring. When we knew Fox had ordered 13 episodes, we needed each one to feel like a finale. If we were only able to produce 11 episodes, then it would end with Martin in Vivian’s car, and that would be cool. If it could only be 12, then it would end with Martin and Bright on a sea boat, and that seemed like a pretty great finale. We kept pushing the bar and putting ourselves in these crazier and crazier situations. The finale really feels like we’ve earned everything that happens in that moment, but it’s pretty crazy to know, in 13 episodes, we were able to tell this story. We found it very satisfying. We have a whole Season 3 story locked and loaded, and we don’t want to stop telling this story. But we’re feeling good about how this ended on Fox. ...

 

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UnknownK

UnknownK

On 5/17/2021 at 9:23 AM, NeenerNeener said:

A gossip site said the reason for the cancelation was that Sheen doesn't want to do it anymore. A network series takes more of his time than he's willing to commit now.

They decided not to recast or write around his absence.

He isn't even the main character so his screen time is limited except for the last couple episodes. 

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FormerMod-a1

FormerMod-a1

I think it could last with much less Sheen/Surgeon but not without him totally.  That said I'd love to see them try. :D  Too bad Netflix or Prime or whomever hasn't picked this up.  And I don't expect them too, unfortunately.

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vibeology

vibeology

CDAN is not a great source. He clearly makes things up or posts blind after something has already leaked to the media. I have a hard time believing that Sheen didn't have a multi-year contract like nearly everyone else in TV. And if he didn't then the producers messed up badly.

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Perfect Xero

Perfect Xero

Yeah, I have trouble buying this one. Aside from CDAN having an iffy reputation even by the standards of blind item blogs, they could easily bust Sheen down to guest star status, and they've already shown a willingness to shoot out of order to make his schedule work.

Like 75% of his scenes are just him on the phone or him or him and the guard and/or Malcolm in the cell set, they could easily bring him in, shoot 3 or 4 episodes worth of scenes in a day a couple of times each season and he'd have all the time off he wanted while collecting his check if that was the issue.

 

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nodorothyparker

nodorothyparker

‘Prodigal Son’ Creators On Fox Finale Cliffhanger, Season 3 Plans & Hopes For Series’ Finding A New Home: “WBTV Is Shopping It As We Speak”

The showrunners seem to have envisioned a Season 3 that included Sheen when they made their pitch to Fox shortly before it pulled the plug. I would imagine he's also part of any sales pitch they're now making elsewhere as we get confirmation that they're trying to find a new home.

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