Blunt Talk
Season 1 Episode 2: “I Experience Shame and Anticipate Punishment”
Directed by Tristram Shapeero
Created and written by Jonathan Ames
Starring Patrick Stewart, Adrian Scarborough, Richard Lewis, Jacki Weaver, Timm Sharp, Dolly Wells, Karan Soni, Mary Holland
Starz
Air Date: Saturday, August 29th, 2015, 9:00pm

Blunt Talk is a brand new series from Starz, debuting this Saturday evening, but as a promotion, they’re offering the first two episodes free on the Starz website. In Episode 1 (see our full review, we are introduced to Walter Blunt, played by the magnificent Patrick Stewart. Blunt is a cable news host with an addiction problem. In just the show’s first 30-minutes we witnessed him ingest alcohol, Ambien, cocaine, speed, and marijuana chocolate. Suffice to say, these things have an adverse affect on him. He is pulled over and charged with solicitation, drunk driving, and assaulting a police officer. When he gets to interview himself (yep, you read that right) live on the air, he begs for forgiveness only to pass out on air.

Blunt Talk
Season 1 Episode 1: “I Seem to be Running Out of Dreams for Myself”
Directed by Tristram Shapeero
Created and written by Jonathan Ames
Starring Patrick Stewart, Adrian Scarborough, Richard Lewis, Jacki Weaver, Timm Sharp, Dolly Wells, Karan Soni, Mary Holland
Starz
Air Date: Saturday, August 22nd, 2015, 9:00pm

Walter Blunt is a little bit of Will McAvoy from Newsroom, with the addictions and demons of Dr. House, and a lifestyle straight out of Shameless. If you like any or all of these shows, then Blunt Talk may just be for you. Patrick Stewart is Walter Blunt, the host of nightly cable news show who is dangerous addicted to… well, pretty much anything. As we learn in the first episode of Starz’s new half hour comedy (free now on Starz), Blunt is a 4x divorcee, estranged father, who is constantly supplied fresh flasks of alcohol and drugs from his manservant and best friend Harry (Adrian Scarborough). Despite the seriousness of the addictions, and his arrest early in the episode, Stewart is absolutely hilarious and believable in the role, and I was laughing constantly. The show was created and written by Jonathan Ames (Bored to Death) and is executive produced by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane amongst others.

Watch the Blunt Talk featurette below, and beware of spoilers!