At 80 years old, Woody Allen shows no signs of slowing down. The film-maker currently has his 47th feature, Café Society, doing solid business in cinemas, and is already at work on a follow-up feature, starring Kate Winslet and Justin Timberlake. Up next, however, is his first-ever television show: Crisis in Six Seasons.
Not much was known about the six-episode series Allen scripted and directed for Amazon until Sunday, when the first preview screened during the Television Critics Association panel in Los Angeles, and a plot synopsis was made available.
As shown by the footage, which showcases Allen at his neurotic best as a Jewish novelist named Sidney Muntzinger, Crisis in Six Seasons is a period piece set in the swinging 60s, when “American society is brought to verge of revolution”.
The show is said to center on a middle-class suburban family visited by a guest who turns their household completely upside down, likely to be played by Miley Cyrus, who the director cast as his leading lady in January. Comedy legend Elaine May also stars, but her role is also unknown.
The footage is drolly funny, which bodes well for the show. It sees Muntzinger requesting his barber (Vinyl’s Max Casella) to “take a little bit off the top” to make him resemble James Dean.
“I can’t make you look like James Dean,” the barber says matter-of-factly. “I can work on your hair for 10 years and you’re never going to look like James Dean.” The barber then proceeds to criticize Muntzinger’s latest “novella”, telling the author it put him to sleep.
The show debuts on Amazon Prime Video on 30 September.
