Crisis in Six Scenes | |
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Genre | Comedy |
Created by | Woody Allen |
Written by | Woody Allen |
Directed by | Woody Allen |
Starring |
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Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 6 |
Production | |
Executive producer | Erika Aronson |
Producer | Helen Robin |
Cinematography | Eigil Bryld |
Editor | Alisa Lepselter |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | Amazon Prime Video |
Release | September 30, 2016 |
Crisis in Six Scenes is an American comedy television miniseries written and directed by Woody Allen for Amazon Studios. [1] [2] [3] [4] Allen wrote and directed six episodes for the half-hour series, marking the first time he has done so for television.
The series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on September 30, 2016, [1] to generally unfavorable reviews. Allen himself denounced the series, calling it a "cosmic embarrassment", and stated that it would conclude with one season. [5]
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
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1 | "Episode #1.1" | Woody Allen | Woody Allen | September 30, 2016 | |
A middle-class suburban home- all seems well until a dangerous intruder enters in the dead of night. | |||||
2 | "Episode #1.2" | Woody Allen | Woody Allen | September 30, 2016 | |
An intruder causes terrible panic and tension in a usually placid household. | |||||
3 | "Episode #1.3" | Woody Allen | Woody Allen | September 30, 2016 | |
Because of an armed intruder, after a home invasion, a married couple's life is turned upside-down. | |||||
4 | "Episode #1.4" | Woody Allen | Woody Allen | September 30, 2016 | |
Romantic alliances fray and conflict in the suburban home reaches a boiling point. | |||||
5 | "Episode #1.5" | Woody Allen | Woody Allen | September 30, 2016 | |
A middle-class husband and wife put their lives in jeopardy carrying out a dangerous assignment. | |||||
6 | "Episode #1.6" | Woody Allen | Woody Allen | September 30, 2016 | |
Finally a resolution but not before chaos, surprising disclosures, police and guns come into play. |
The deal with Allen was seen as giving Amazon a possible advantage in its competition with Netflix and television networks. The series was announced within days of Amazon winning the Golden Globe Award for the comedy-drama Transparent, another original series. [6] Allen had last written new material for television in the 1950s, when he wrote for Sid Caesar. [4]
In a May 2015 interview, Allen said that progress on the series had been "very, very difficult" and that he had "regretted every second since I said OK". [7] [8] Allen has said of the series, "I don't know how I got into this. I have no ideas and I'm not sure where to begin. My guess is that Roy Price [the head of Amazon Studios] will regret this." [2] [3] [9]
In January 2016, it was announced that the series would star Allen, Elaine May and Miley Cyrus, and that shooting would begin in March. [10] In February 2016, it was announced that John Magaro and Rachel Brosnahan had joined the cast. [11] In March 2016, Michael Rapaport, Becky Ann Baker, Margaret Ladd, Joy Behar, Rebecca Schull, David Harbour, and Christine Ebersole had joined the cast of the series. [12]
For approximately three weeks in early 2016, filming for the six episodes took place at 508 Scarborough Road, in Briarcliff Manor, New York. [13]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 18% based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 4.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Woody Allen's filmmaking skills prove a poor fit for the small screen in Crisis in Six Scenes, a talk-heavy, unfunny, and overall disengaged production buried below numerous superior offerings." [14] On Metacritic, the series has a score 44 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [15]
Rodrigo Perez from The Playlist gave the series a D+ on an A+ to F scale, and described it as "nearly unwatchable". [16]
Allen himself had openly expressed severe misgivings about the project. [2] [3] [9] At the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, Allen said in reference to the show, "It was a catastrophic mistake. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm floundering. I expect this to be a cosmic embarrassment." [17]