'The Leftovers'

CE as Matt
29 Jun 2014
TV series (10 episodes)
Dir. Peter Berg
Wr. Tom Perrotta & Damon Lindelof
Role: Matt Jamison (reverend).  
character page / HBO




SERIES 2

News:

Dec Christopher Eccleston has confirmed his involvement in the second season of the series in an interview (Dec 5) for GoldDerby (article & audio), though he didn't have any information on exact creative plans. Deadline reports rumours that only part of the regular characters (including CE) are going to come back, and that the action will be shifted from Mapleton that's been the scene for most of the events in the first season (article, Dec 6).

Dec 1 IPA Satellite Awards have nominated Eccleston for best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of Matt Jamison. The series itself and Ann Dowd were also honoured. Awards will be announced on the 15th of February, 2015.

Aug 13 The show has been renewed for a second season.
HBO has renewed the drama series 'The Leftovers' for a second season, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. Created by Damon Lindelof (Emmy® winner for 'Lost') and acclaimed novelist Tom Perrotta (Academy Award® nominee for 'Little Children'), the series is produced for HBO by White Rabbit in association with Warner Bros. Television. Lindelof serves as showrunner.

"We are thrilled to bring back 'The Leftovers' for a second season with the exceptional talents of Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta," says Lombardo. "It has been truly exciting to see the overwhelming response to their provocative and original storytelling. We look forward to continuing the journey as the show delves deeper into the lives of those who remain."

SERIES 1

TX:

UK - Sky Atlantic, Sep 16, 10pm.
Sky's Youtube playlist - photo gallery

US
Jun 18 - 'Making The Leftovers' (29 min) - watch (youtube alt) - programme info
'About The Leftovers' (5 min) available on demand (see HBO site)
June 19 - Advance screening of 'The Leftovers' première - free passes for select theatres - report below 


Jun 29 HBO (US, Canada), Jun 30 (world)
Episode 1: Pilot (72 min) - watch. Jul 6 - Ep. 2: Penguin One, Us Zero (57 min) Jul 13 - Ep. 3: Two Boats and a Helicopter Jul 20 - Ep. 4: B.J. and the A.C. Jul 27 - Ep. 5: Gladys Aug 3 - Ep. 6: Guest Aug 10 - Ep. 7: Solace for Tired Feet Aug 17 - Ep. 8: Cairo Aug 24 - Ep. 9: The Garveys at Their Best Sep 7 - Ep. 10: The Prodigal Son Returns


Scroll down for news
Episode synopses at the bottom of the page


Reviews [CE related; spoilers for eps. 1-3, 5] + images
In lieu of an in-house review >


Video:
 


Clip from Episode 5 / Episode 3 preview (alt on the HBO site)
 


'Sermon' trailer / Trailer #2 (old link)
 

Trailer #1 [Apr 27] /  'Awake' trailer [May 27] / 'Gone' trailer [May 27] / 'Loss' trailer [Jun 12]

'Five Stages' trailer / Teaser #2
   

Teaser #1 / HBO Spring Preview / HBO 2013 Yearender

  Crew interviews:
Oct 29 Damon Lindelof on Season 2, TVLine
Jul 18 Interview with Composer Max Richter, Watching The Leftovers
Jul 7 Tom Perrotta on 7 Ways The Leftovers Has Diverged From the Novel, Vulture
Jul 6 'Leftovers' Creator Tom Perrotta On How He and Damon Lindelof Made His Book Darker for HBO, Indiewire
Jun 27 'The Leftovers' Won't Be Like Lost - It'll Have an Ending, Wired.
Jun 26 'The Leftovers' Creators Damon Lindelof & Tom Perrotta on Their Dark, Mysterious HBO Series, HitFix.
Jun 24 From 'Lost' to The Rapture: Creators Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta on HBO's 'The Leftovers', The Daily Beast. 
Eccleston as Matt in Ep.1 of The Leftovers

News:

Jun 23 Series' red carpet première in NYC. 


CE video interviews from the launch [transcripts]
º for In The Lab [youtube] [screencaps]

º for MTV (also on 'Heroes Reborn', Malekith)

º for Access (all cast)

º from official site (all cast)
 
• Short interview at NY Daily News:
Former 'Doctor Who' star Christopher Eccleston has two reasons to be excited about Sunday: 'The Leftovers' premieres on HBO and, of course, it's the Lord's day. The 50-year-old Brit plays a priest in the pay cable channel's supernatural thriller, and this isn't the first time he's played a holy man. 
"It was a film called 'Anchoress,' 20 years ago," he recounted. "It was shot in black and white in Belgium. It was not a popcorn film. I think that's the only other time I've played a man of the cloth." 
Eccleston confessed that he isn't sure if this Rapture-inspired show will be a lightning rod for controversy among religious people.  
Eccleston as tweeted by TheLeftoversHBO"That's a very big question and not one I've troubled myself with too much," he told us. "Hopefully it's going to promote debate of a good nature between religious groups."
Eccleston declined to say whether he personally is a man of faith.  
"I'm going to take the Fifth on that, as I'm playing this character," he diplomatically answered. 
But he did say the weather in Nyack, N.Y., was ungodly while 'The Leftovers' filmed there over the winter. Eccleston joked that the "polar bears were wearing jackets."
• From the official blog:
Christopher Eccleston, who portrays Reverend Matt Jamison, described his character as "half ape, half angel," and added: "He cares and believes that he has the answer."
[Would you want to be taken?] Eccleston offered: "I wouldn't want to leave, and I wouldn't want to be left. I want to live."
• @TheLeftoversHBO:
Indiewire report:
Christopher Eccleston, who plays a rapture denier on "The Leftovers" (and who is no stranger to sci-fi himself, having starred in first season of the continuation of "Doctor Who" and in NBC's "Heroes"), thinks that this show is just not going to go there.

"We're not doing a series about sci-fi, that's not what this is about," he said. "This is about human beings and emotion and relationships and identity. So I would be very disappointed if this was tied up in a bow when it end, whenever it ends. I think the only way to be with something like this is ambiguous."
MTV jokey interviews
Report from public

Source (1),  source (2), source (3, 4). More images

Jun 20 Advance screening of Episode 1. Chiclit reports:
Per instructions no spoilers, but I can say that if you've read the book – and have seen the trailers – very little in the pilot will shock you. There are some moments but no huge surprises. A small surprise cameo at Holy Wayne's place. Eccleston, as expected from comments IS in the pilot but not extensively. 
My friend pronounced it very much like early 'Lost', I also saw lighting and close up shots that reminded me of FNL, Berg definitely has a style. 
It's slightly over an hour. No previews or other video presentations. Mixed reviews after by people walking out – not sure they had known what they were seeing though, scattering of applause. 
I am more favorably disposed toward Theroux now, Margaret Qualley as the daughter was excellent, didn't really feel the like son made an impression. All in all it was a pilot – set the scene.
Overall I liked it. The show is well cast, and well produced. Will just have to see if it catches fire with critics and people. This show also might do very well on a binge watch, too, where you could tie a few episodes together.
Eccleston as Matt in The Leftovers
   
Press quotes: Jun 16 Canada.com article. Jun 17 My San Antonio article.    

Synopses for the first five episodes [SpoilerTV].  

Jun 1 Another picture of CE on set - posted by Amy Brenneman    

May 30 Feature - Damon Lindelof Promises You His New Show Won't End Like 'Lost', The New York Times.   

May 28 Picture of CE on set - posted by Liv Tyler.    

May 22 Article - Lost without a prayer, The New York Times.    

Apr 24 Amy Brenneman's blog entry.    

Apr 11 Two week break from filming (after the 6th episode finishes lensing) announced, no change to June 15 TX (Deadline). ETA: TX moved. ETA2: Shooting resumed May 2. ETA3: Concluded July 3.

Apr 3 TX announced, teaser coming Apr 6.   

Feb 5 Article from Hollywood Reporter on the pilot: "It's both complex and ambitious. Also: weird and riveting. The Leftovers is a series that may take another two or three episodes to wrap one's head around, but it's buzzing like mad and should continue to." Sky Atlantic could option for the series in the UK (Broadcast).

2014 Jan 8 Damon Lindelof on the series - Entertainment Weekly.    

Dec 16 HBO 2013 Yearender [youtube] - incl. teaser for Leftovers. Article, CinemaBlend.    

Sep 16 'The Leftovers' gets 10-episode series order (Deadline).

The pilot was filmed Jun 26-Jul 24, NY, USA. Examples of background artists' casting and set report.

Jun 10 Christopher Eccleston cast in the pilot: The Hollywood Reporter.

Apr 8 Peter Berg coming on board: Collider off Production Weekly.
[...] the pay cable network is moving forward with production of a pilot for the Damon Lindelof–Tom Perrotta drama, barely six months after first putting the project in development. 
2012 Jun 28 
• Damon Lindelof expounds on the project in an interview with Vulture
HBO acquired rights to The Leftovers for series development with Perrotta attached as writer/executive producer and Yerza and Berger as executive producers in August 2011, shortly before the book came out. Lindelof read the novel that fall and word is he immediately fell in love with it. He tracked the rights down to HBO, which is a network he, like many writers, had been looking to work at. Once Lindelof's deal at ABC Studios expired, he met with Perrotta. The two hit it off and began discussing what a potential Leftovers series would look like.
2011 Aug 9 TV plans announced before the book hit the shelves: Variety - HBO teaming with author Tom Perrotta (also LA Times)  

"The book, which Stephen King has dubbed "the best Twilight Zone episode you never saw," takes place three years after a Rapture-like global event causes millions of people to simply disappear from the face of the Earth." (Vulture  
It is to be further developed by Perrotta and Lindelof.
 
NY Times review of the book (incl. podcast interview with Perrotta and a clip from the audiobook)
 
The author's site; read an extract from the book (pdf).


Episode synopses

Episode 1: Pilot
An adaptation of Tom Perrotta's novel about life in a small town after many of its residents vanished in a Rapture-like event begins with the upcoming third anniversary of the "Departure" and a police chief's personal and professional struggles. [TVGuide]

Garvey and Jamison in Ep. 1 of The LeftoversThree years after millions of people – some 2% of the world's population – vanished into thin air, residents of Mapleton, NY weigh the pros and cons of a "Heroes Day" tribute to the local "Departed." Attempting to maintain a sense of normalcy in his strained community, police chief Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux) faces additional challenges at home with his daughter, Jill (Margaret Qualley), who's lost in a cloud of apathy with her friend Aimee (Emily Meade), and son, Tom (Chris Zylka), who has gravitated to a cult led by the charismatic Holy Wayne (Paterson Joseph). Also of concern is a silent, white-clad group of chain-smoking men and women called the Guilty Remnant, who team up in pairs to stake out people and places around town. As tension in Mapleton escalates, the lives of Laurie (Amy Brenneman), an unexpected member of the Guilty Remnant, and Meg (Liv Tyler), a recently engaged young woman, converge.

Written by Damon Lindelof & Tom Perrotta; directed by Peter Berg.

Episode 2: Penguin One, Us Zero
Kevin sees a therapist after a series of unsettling encounters; Meg makes a crucial decision about her future; Tom and Christine find themselves in a dicey situation; Jill and Aimee take an interest in Carrie Coons' comings and goings. [TVGuide]

In the wake of a series of disturbing encounters, Kevin pays a visit to a therapist. Tom finds himself in a precarious situation with Christine (Annie Q), a favorite of Wayne's. A frustrated Meg is asked to part with pieces of her past. Jill and Aimee tail Nora Durst (Carrie Coon), who became a local celebrity when her entire family disappeared in the Departure.

Written by Damon Lindelof & Kath Lingenfelter; directed by Peter Berg.

Episode 3: Two Boats and a Helicopter
Undaunted by death threats and diminishing attendance, Reverend Jamison maintains that not all the Departed should be considered heroes, but he's shaken by news that he may lose the church to foreclosure, a startling development that forces him to go to extremes to find the money to save it. [TVGuide]

In the face of dwindling church attendance and threats on his life, Reverend Matt Jamison (Christopher Eccleston) continues to preach his gospel: that many who disappeared in the Departure were sinners and not saints. Matt's campaign is detoured when he learns he may lose the church to foreclosure, forcing him to launch a desperate, last-minute plan to come up with the cash to keep it.

Written by Damon Lindelof & Jacqueline Hoyt; directed by Keith Gordon.

Episode 4: B.J. and the A.C.
A holiday display goes wanting, sending Kevin scurrying to find out who is responsible. Tom and Christine run into trouble at a hospital and on the road. Kevin retrieves a surprise detainee from a neighboring police station, and receives unexpected visitors at home. The Guilty Remnant put its stamp on the holiday season.

Written by Damon Lindelof & Elizabeth Peterson; directed by Lesli Linka Glatter.

Episode 5: Gladys
Laurie's resolve is put to the test in the wake of a brutal hate crime. After his latest initiatives to maintain the peace in Mapleton fall short, Kevin turns down an outside offer to rid the town of its problems. Matt brings his pulpit to the street. Meg takes on a new role.

Written by Damon Lindelof & Tom Perrotta; directed by Mimi Leder.

Source, more TX info [pdf]


 

Episode 6: Guest
Nora (Carrie Coon) takes care of unfinished business in Mapleton before heading to New York for the Second Annual DROP (Departure Related Occupations and Practices) conference. Upset that her ID has been pinched, she scours the convention for her imposter while wearing a "Guest" badge, and ends up getting detoured by an amorous salesman, a bestselling author and a rogue attendee.

Written by Damon Lindelof & Kath Lingenfelter; directed by Carl Franklin.

Episode 7: Solace for Tired Feet
After learning his father has escaped the psychiatric hospital, Kevin (Justin Theroux) orders an APB to track him down. Jill (Margaret Qualley) attempts to break an endurance record. Holed up in Indiana, a disillusioned Tom (Chris Zylka) makes an unsettling discovery.

Written by Damon Lindelof & Jacqueline Hoyt; directed by Mimi Leder.

Episode 8: Cairo
Kevin fears he's losing touch with reality after inexplicably finding himself in a difficult situation involving Patti Levin (Ann Dowd), a leader of the Guilty Remnant. Meg (Liv Tyler) loses control during another encounter with Matt (Christopher Eccleston); Jill confronts Aimee (Emily Meade) about her relationship with Kevin; Nora stands up to Laurie (Amy Brenneman), and finds her privacy invaded.

Written by Curtis Gwinn & Carlito Rodriguez; directed by Michelle MacLaren.

Episode 9: The Garveys at Their Best
Kevin tries to suppress his bad habits while tracking down a marauding deer in Mapleton. Laurie receives not-unexpected news amidst a rising sense of foreboding. Tom connects with his past, against his better judgment. Nora has a job interview; Kevin Senior (Scott Glenn) receives an honor.

Written by Kath Lingenfelter & Damon Lindelof; directed by Dan Sackheim.

Source, more TX info [pdf]

Episode 10: The Prodigal Son Returns

An unexpected ally helps Kevin (Justin Theroux) get out of a jam near the town of Cairo. Meanwhile, an elaborate Memorial Day initiative by the Guilty Remnant plunges Mapleton into chaos. Holy Wayne (Paterson Joseph) grants a final wish; Tom (Chris Zylka) copes with his new reality; Nora (Carrie Coon) makes a life-changing decision.

Written by Damon Lindelof & Tom Perrotta; directed by Mimi Leder.

Source, more TX info [pdf]

No comments: