Succession -- HBO

[CooterBrown 18015]

I still think Greg ends up with it and Willa. She's ready for a new sugar daddy and one with real money.

[hornian 5219]

10 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

James Cromwell crawling out of the woodwork, and pushing Greg for his own interests would be plausible. Cromwell is also the last of the UK prestige actors in a very across the pond writing room. 

Didn't his character already die? And leave his money to Greenpeace?

[billfromlaketravis 11519]

20 minutes ago, hornian said:

Didn't his character already die? And leave his money to Greenpeace?

Still alive my man. But yeah it’s been a minute since he’s been on the show. 

[oSuJeff97 3435]

1 hour ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Still alive my man. But yeah it’s been a minute since he’s been on the show. 

Yeah IIRC the last time we saw him was the Shareholder meeting episode maybe?

[Aqua Buddha 14598]

On 3/31/2023 at 2:27 PM, oSuJeff97 said:

Yes pretty much.

Nan Pierce (and family) are supposed to be representing aristocratic "old money" New Englanders... in that they are rich as fuck but want to pretend like they aren't, throwing around transparent platitudes like "we don't like to talk about money" or "this whole thing is so vulgar".... etc., etc., but meanwhile they are just as relentless in getting what they want and increasing their wealth as the Roys.

 

On 3/27/2023 at 10:03 AM, henrygandorf said:

great premiere and the scenes make the season look crazy. lol at greg saying “it’s like jaws, if everyone in jaws worked for jaws.”

and yeah, the pierce overpay completely contingent on the waystar sale seems a little dicey. 

We've been rewatching from the beginning and we just finished the first episode of the current season.  We loved the Piece plot line in Season 2.  Great characters for the above mentioned reasons.  The Tern Haven upside was a master class in subtle acting.

The number they were throwing around to buy the Pierce's in Season 2 was around $25B, if I remember right and now they're down to $9B.  We caught that.  (Maybe we're wrong, though.)  There was also a good line by Nan Pierce about how they need the money now because of a few divorces and keeping up "this place."

[Chopper 17238]

I read an article yesterday by Gabriel Sherman in Vanity Fair about Rupert and the Murdoch clan being very paranoid about this show, and worried that some insider is leaking stories to the producers of Succession to give them story lines. This show is good but I find it annoying as fuck. But that tidbit makes it all worthwhile.

edit here's a shorter article summarizing some of the amusing bits of the VF article

Quote

A new report has claimed that Rupert Murdoch’s son Lachlan accused his brother, James, of leaking lines to the writers of Succession.

The acclaimed HBO series focuses on a corporate power struggle between ailing Murdoch-esque media mogul Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and his children.

While the show’s creators have often played down any direct parallels to real-life people or events, viewers have drawn numerous comparisons between the Roys and the Murdochs.

A recent episode, for instance, saw Logan stand on paper boxes to deliver an impassioned speech to the staff at his Fox News-like TV network ATN. The moment bore close similarities to a real incident from 2007, when Murdoch stood on paper boxes to address staff at the Wall Street Journal.

A new feature on the Murdochs for Vanity Fair cites a source claiming that Lachlan accused James of leaking stories to the writers of Succession. Lachlan then told Rupert.

However, another source close to Lachlan denied that he told his father this.

The Independent has contacted representatives of Rupert, James and Lachlan Murdoch for comment.

In the same Vanity Fair feature, it is claimed that Rupert told his fourth wife, Jerry Hall, that their marriage was over via an email message.

The 92-year-old tycoon agreed a divorce settlement with Hall back in August 2022. The pair had been together for six years.

An email from Rupert, obtained by the magazine as a screenshot, began: “Jerry, sadly I’ve decided to call an end to our marriage. We have certainly had some good times, but I have much to do… My New York lawyer will be contacting yours immediately.”

Earlier this month, it was reported that Rupert had “called off” his engagement to former dental hygienist Ann Lesley Smith.

 

Also here's how the VF article describes how Rupert's successor will be chosen at Fox. Posting in case there's any parallels.
 

Quote

 

Although he is a nonagenarian intent on living forever, Murdoch has been consumed with the question of his succession. He long wanted one of his three children from his second wife, Anna—Elisabeth, 54, Lachlan, 51, and James, 50—to take over the company one day. Murdoch believed a Darwinian struggle would produce the most capable heir. “He pitted his kids against each other their entire lives. It’s sad,” a person close to the family said. Elisabeth was by many accounts the sharpest, but she is a woman, and Murdoch subscribed to old-fashioned primogeniture. She quit the family business in 2000 and launched her own phenomenally successful television production company. Lachlan shared Murdoch’s right-wing politics and atavistic love for newsprint and their homeland, Australia. “Lachlan was the golden child,” the person close to the family said. But Murdoch worried that his easygoing son, who seemed happiest rock climbing, did not want the top job badly enough. In 2005, Lachlan, then News Corp’s deputy chief operating officer, quit and moved back to Sydney after clashing with Fox News chief Roger Ailes and chief operating officer Peter Chernin. That left James as the heir apparent. For the next decade, James climbed the ranks, vowing to make the Murdoch empire carbon-neutral and investing in prestige media brands like Hulu and the National Geographic Channel. But James’s liberal politics and desire to make News Corp respected in elite circles rankled Murdoch, who continued to woo Lachlan with Ahab-like determination. In 2015, the older son agreed to return from Australia as his father’s heir. “It was a big slap in the face,” a person close to James said.

Ascending to the throne and holding on to it are different propositions. Lachlan’s future will be decided by his siblings, all of whom sit on the board of the trust that controls the company through a special class of stock. According to sources briefed on the trust’s governance, Murdoch has four votes while Elisabeth, Lachlan, James, and Prudence, Murdoch’s daughter from his first marriage, each have one. Murdoch’s daughters Chloe and Grace from his third marriage, to Wendi Deng, have a financial stake but no voting rights. After Murdoch’s death, his votes will be distributed equally among the four eldest children, the source said. “The question is, when Rupert dies, how are the kids aligned?” said a former News Corp executive.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Chopper

[Aqua Buddha 14598]

3 minutes ago, Chopper said:

I read an article yesterday by Gabriel Sherman in Vanity about Rupert and the Murdoch clan being very paranoid about this show, and worried that some insider is leaking stories to the producers of Succession to give them story lines. This show is good but I find it annoying as fuck. But that tidbit makes it all worthwhile.

Evidently, when he divorced/broke up with either the ex wife or the current fiancé, he had a clause in the settlement that the woman could not leak story lines to Succession.  I laughed when I learned that.

[Chopper 17238]

17 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Evidently, when he divorced/broke up with either the ex wife or the current fiancé, he had a clause in the settlement that the woman could not leak story lines to Succession.  I laughed when I learned that.

Yes, Jerry Hall. Although I also read they suspect son James of leaking, as well. This is from the VF article.

Quote

Hall and Murdoch finalized their divorce two months later. (One of the terms of the settlement was that Hall couldn’t give story ideas to the writers on Succession.) Hall told friends she had to move everything out of the Bel Air estate within 30 days and show receipts to prove items belonged to her. Security guards watched as her children helped her pack. When she settled into the Oxfordshire home she received in the divorce, she discovered surveillance cameras were still sending footage back to Fox headquarters. Mick Jagger sent his security consultant to disconnect them.

 

[A-Tex Devil 2451]

There is a shitload of Sumner Redstone here too. Including the fact that he’s dead.  

[yoladu 4094]

On 4/12/2023 at 10:23 PM, The Ace of Aces said:

Plan for ousting Cyd. 
 

The phone call scene apparently was a one shot 23 minute affair with multiple cameras. Wow. 

yeah, i was trying to figure out what everyone was talking about with the "long take".  (was thinking more like what you see from Scorsese, Anderson, Cuarón, etc).

... but i guess if 3 or 4 cameras are filming Shiv, Roy and Kendall in the yacht cabin at the same time (real time) that makes more sense. They just cut and pasted a particular shot from a particular camera in the editing room and pieced it together.

I assume that strategy was to give the actors a break and have them react to each other in real time - not having them attempt to pull off an emotional scene in isolation with multiple takes.

will have to look at it again.

[Buzzrock 14926]

This show is the ultimate “where do I know that actor from?” series. I’m constantly going to IMDB.

Also how is there now t&a in a show like this on HBO?

[YGIFS 19452]

There's not really any T&A anybody wants to see.  I think Shiv's probably got a good rack, but she seems like the type who would have it in her contract that there's to be no nudity.  And Willa's got a nice ass but that's sorta the point with her and Connor---almost no physical affection so we get nothing and like it!  

The Logan assistant with the bangs seems like she's probably got a good body, but she also seems like she's sleeps and showers in a pants suit.  

I guess that Pierce granddaughter that Kendall was banging for awhile seems hot and vulnerable enough to just take her clothes off to heal her tortured soul, still time for that I suppose.  

[TonyTexas 10517]

11 hours ago, Buzzrock said:

Also how is there now t&a in a show like this on HBO?

Yeah. They could have at least indulged us during Kendall’s hookers and blow phase. 

[Reynolds Woodcock 4764]

21 hours ago, A-Tex Devil said:

There is a shitload of Sumner Redstone here too. Including the fact that he’s dead.  

Yep. There is so much shit pulled directly from Unscripted. And the Pierces are pretty obviously based on the Bancroft family.

[Doc Sam Beckett 5793]

Thicc Shiv is the best Shiv 

[hornian 5219]

On 4/14/2023 at 2:56 PM, yoladu said:

yeah, i was trying to figure out what everyone was talking about with the "long take".  (was thinking more like what you see from Scorsese, Anderson, Cuarón, etc).

... but i guess if 3 or 4 cameras are filming Shiv, Roy and Kendall in the yacht cabin at the same time (real time) that makes more sense. They just cut and pasted a particular shot from a particular camera in the editing room and pieced it together.

I assume that strategy was to give the actors a break and have them react to each other in real time - not having them attempt to pull off an emotional scene in isolation with multiple takes.

will have to look at it again.

The behind the scenes of the episode and some interviews I've read have made it sound like during the 23 minutes continuous take, even when the actors weren't "on screen" they were still being filmed and had to be in character. Even ad libbing things not in the script. 

They also did multiple takes, and used those if needed, but the director said that a lot of the 23-minute take made it into the episode. 

[billfromlaketravis 11519]

On 4/14/2023 at 10:34 AM, Chopper said:

I read an article yesterday by Gabriel Sherman in Vanity Fair about Rupert and the Murdoch clan being very paranoid about this show, and worried that some insider is leaking stories to the producers of Succession to give them story lines. This show is good but I find it annoying as fuck. But that tidbit makes it all worthwhile.

edit here's a shorter article summarizing some of the amusing bits of the VF article

 

Also here's how the VF article describes how Rupert's successor will be chosen at Fox. Posting in case there's any parallels.
 

 

This is how you satirize a powerful family in the prestige tv era. 

[oSuJeff97 3435]

2 hours ago, hornian said:

The behind the scenes of the episode and some interviews I've read have made it sound like during the 23 minutes continuous take, even when the actors weren't "on screen" they were still being filmed and had to be in character. Even ad libbing things not in the script. 

They also did multiple takes, and used those if needed, but the director said that a lot of the 23-minute take made it into the episode. 

Yeah they staged that entire 23-minute sequence like a one-act play so they had multiple cameras continuously rolling and the actors played the entire scene all at once (no breaks for coverage, etc.).

[Sgt Hulk 13786]

Rolling into season 2 and while inwas confident in season 1. I’m more confident now that I want to break my dick off in Shiv daily. Perhaps hourly with a good scrip of Cialis 

[billfromlaketravis 11519]

1 minute ago, Sgt Hulk said:

Rolling into season 2 and while inwas confident in season 1. I’m more confident now that I want to break my dick off in Shiv daily. Perhaps hourly with a good scrip of Cialis 

Disgusting Bros spinoff with gym membership/not pregnant Shiv critiquing their game would be the funniest show on TV. 

I'm still laughing my ass off on the Greg scene : "It's like Jaws, if all the people in the town worked for Jaws." 

[NoName 16354]

47 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I'm still laughing my ass off on the Greg scene : "It's like Jaws, if all the people in the town worked for Jaws." 

Honestly I look so forward to every Disgusting Brothers / Greg scene.

[Bama Chick 28596]

“No, pal. Down low. Unless you want me to pull out the strap-on?”

[Hornius Emeritus 12471]

If Kendall keeps playing hardball, don't you just know that Roman and Shiv are going to use his confession about killing the waiter (from last season) against him? They are still holding that card.

[henrygandorf 29192]

bridge episode. had to happen. no way we’d luck out into a “3 weeks later” dropping us straight into an acquisition negotiation. whatevs. 

it was worth it for the asst meltdown and shiv eating it on the stairs.

the running joke is that it always had to be the kids because the grownups can never fucking decide on shit. 

[Aqua Buddha 14598]

Willa walking around the apartment made me laugh.

[Ted Lange 16110]

 

[CooterBrown 18015]

Has there been a screen shot of the notes at the bottom of the letter? Seems like it would be legible. I could clearly see "Greg" at the bottom.

 

[Red Five 40862]

Greg is trying so hard. 

[yoladu 4094]

the writing and acting is so good, that plot advancement hardly matters.

• Greg has turned into a little turd.
• The short exchange between Marcia and Willa was awesome (you've turned out well)
• Who is the father of Shiv's baby?
• Kendall being surprised that Marcia showed up? Come on, that shouldn't be a shock to anyone
• The kids joking about Logan's obit.
• Frank is probably the most decent guy on the show.
• Pre-grieving is a one-off joke, but cuts pretty deep when you think about it.
• a catatonic smiling Sandy.

[Aqua Buddha 14598]

42 minutes ago, yoladu said:

the writing and acting is so good, that plot advancement hardly matters.

• Greg has turned into a little turd.
• The short exchange between Marcia and Willa was awesome (you've turned out well)
• Who is the father of Shiv's baby?
• Kendall being surprised that Marcia showed up? Come on, that shouldn't be a shock to anyone
• The kids joking about Logan's obit.
• Frank is probably the most decent guy on the show.
• Pre-grieving is a one-off joke, but cuts pretty deep when you think about it.
• a catatonic smiling Sandy.

Marcia tell them to take Kerry to a subway stop so she can go back to her “little apartment” was cutting and awesome.

[LonghornSean 4008]

Karl just eviscerated Tom when he put his "hat into the ring" for CEO.

"The negative case would go: You're a clumsy interloper and no one trusts you. The only guy pulling for you is dead, and now you're just married to the ex-boss' daughter, and she doesn't even like you. And you are fair and squarely fucked."

[Red Five 40862]

"Jesus Karl."

[oSuJeff97 3435]

4 hours ago, LonghornSean said:

Karl just eviscerated Tom when he put his "hat into the ring" for CEO.

"The negative case would go: You're a clumsy interloper and no one trusts you. The only guy pulling for you is dead, and now you're just married to the ex-boss' daughter, and she doesn't even like you. And you are fair and squarely fucked."

LOL Karl is always awesome but has been especially good this season.

"I need a stiffiner..."

 

6 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

Has there been a screen shot of the notes at the bottom of the letter? Seems like it would be legible. I could clearly see "Greg" at the bottom.

 

"We had a rapport..."

[HamsterHookah 112]

4 hours ago, LonghornSean said:

Karl just eviscerated Tom when he put his "hat into the ring" for CEO.

"The negative case would go: You're a clumsy interloper and no one trusts you. The only guy pulling for you is dead, and now you're just married to the ex-boss' daughter, and she doesn't even like you. And you are fair and squarely fucked."

I thought more prescient and pithy was Kendall's, "I like you Tom. Good luck."

[wild_turkey 3167]

If Kendall keeps playing hardball, don't you just know that Roman and Shiv are going to use his confession about killing the waiter (from last season) against him? They are still holding that card.

What about Gerri holding the dick pics card? Kendall and Roman are both vulnerable.

[Hornius Emeritus 12471]

1 hour ago, wild_turkey said:

What about Gerri holding the dick pics card? Kendall and Roman are both vulnerable.

I don't think most people in this day and age are going to care about dick pics.

[HamsterHookah 112]

https://www.vulture.com/article/succession-connor-marchia-logan-63-million-townhouse-991-fifth.html?campaign_id=4&emc=edit_dk_20230418&instance_id=90468&nl=dealbook&regi_id=165268850&segment_id=130720&te=1&user_id=f4ecd405aea12402a7903eeb4a4fd7fb

[Ted Lange 16110]

 

Team Underlined 

[Red Five 40862]

Underlined, because it starts off that way. If it were the reverse I'd say it was crossed out. 

[Mez2 4024]

Underlined

[HamsterHookah 112]

Definitely underlined.

And Greg has gotten annoying. He needs a partner to banter off of. Tom can be funny stand-alone, but Greg needs the Greg-and-Tom show where they are both at their best.

The attempts at peanut-gallery gags during the eulogy was a shadow of what once was.

[Jerry Callo 8704]

If Logan was left handed, he might have started the line from the other side.

[YGIFS 19452]

He's used his right hand for important tasks throughout the series.  Unless in his early 80's, after multiple health scares, he suddenly became ambidextrous. 

Or he's secretly Hebrew.

It's the handwriting of a man who has suffered a stroke, that represents his continued uncertainty about his legacy wishes for his empire and his family.  He is skeptical of their capabilities, but found Kendall to be a killer when he gave him that lecture on the yacht and then Kendall went a dealt that blow to him about the sexual assault scandals.  In the end, he wanted his name and legacy to endure but still thought he'd last forever, hence the awkward scribble.  Or he's just fucking old with shaky hands.  In the end, it's a McGuffin.  The children are contemplating the meaning of the pencil marks, the executive team is contemplating the very existence of the document, and in the meantime we're all projecting our own showrunning ideas onto it while Colin is in the hallway in business casual for the first time ever because nobody stopped to remember, "Oh right, that dude that helped dispose a dead body and bribe local police officials to get Kendall out of a murder wrap.  Right, right."  

Edited April 18, 2023 by YGIFS

[Aqua Buddha 14598]

Maybe this has been detailed and we missed it but what about Logan's voting shares?  Who do those go to?

I know with Robert Murdoch there are 8 total votes.  He has 4 and each of the 4 kids has one vote.  When he dies, they each get one of his votes or something like that.  Did his shares go to his wife, the kids, etc.?  There was a line where someone said the family no longer has controlling interest but that about it.

[YGIFS 19452]

Yeah, good point IRL.  On the show, it has something to do with the ex-wives and Stewy.  The actual finances/capital stack/M&A of this company on the show make a lot less sense but they serve the plot as it becomes convenient.  Like that horribly inconvenient "loan" from season 1 that conveniently was absolved when the show got picked up for a second season.  It's okay, it's TV, we get it.  I think Connor not having a vote and Marcia's sale of the townhome will have some implication down the road.  It was too jovial and cute, and then awkward with Willa doing interior decorating at was basically a Wake.

[Buzzrock 14926]

So I’ve now binged this show straight through from episode one until this recent one, and I’ve read this whole thread. So I would like to offer an observation that I haven’t seen:

Gerri would get it.

[Mez2 4024]

43 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:

So I’ve now binged this show straight through from episode one until this recent one, and I’ve read this whole thread. So I would like to offer an observation that I haven’t seen:

Gerri would get it.

[Buzzrock 14926]

The wealth porn on this show is really amazing. The cars, planes, helicopters, yachts, etc. Every hotel room is bigger than my first couple of apartments. It must have been a lot of fun to shoot. 

[YGIFS 19452]

This.  I'm not sure if the Production Designer has won any awards yet, but they should. 

It's a delicate balance because Logan, and to an extent his children, want to exert their dominance but they also don't want to appear over-the-top about their wealth.  Logan came from nothing in Scotland, his children are really just second generation wealthy while most of their contemporaries in New York/Globally are multi-generational wealth.  And their spaces and wardrobe are usually understated by high-end.  Never really gaudy, even the main Manhattan townhome.  They flash it in their close inner circle on occasion, but never to the public.  The plane is obviously huge and private, but it doesn't scream nuveau riche.  The yacht was really the only space that is over the top.  And I think they did that on purpose because it's used primarily in Europe where Logan is from and it's kind of his dick measuring device for when he goes back to his native continent.  I mean I'm sure we could do a whole Breaking Bad color pallate breakdown of their clothes 'n shit, but I think most of their spaces, clothing, jewelry...it all says, "Yeah, it probably cost a lot, I don't care.  It's not flashy but it's solid.  I'm not here to impress you, I'm here to break you."  

[Aqua Buddha 14598]

4 hours ago, Buzzrock said:

The wealth porn on this show is really amazing. The cars, planes, helicopters, yachts, etc. Every hotel room is bigger than my first couple of apartments. It must have been a lot of fun to shoot. 

The real estate porn alone is reason enough to watch.  Kendall's house in LA was balls.