Stuart Stevens Movies
Co-created by actor George Clooney and director Steve Soderbergh, the ten-part HBO series K Street was a docudrama about a political consulting firm in Washington. Each episode was based on a late-breaking political story, and each was edited just before telecast for the sake of topicality. It was often difficult to discern the line between fiction and reality, notably in an early episode wherein presidential candidate Howard Dean was provided with a witty retort by real-life political advisors James Carville and Paul Begala just before an important debate -- and indeed, this was the joke that turned out to be the highlight of the actual debate. Carville, his wife, Mary Matalin, and Michael Deaver, genuine professional D.C. consultants all, were among the executive producers of the series, appearing as "themselves" along with the fictional consulting crew, played by John Slattery, Mary McCormack, and Roger G. Smith. Filmed on location in the nation's capital (a fact that caused some controversy when the producers -- and their cameras -- were summarily booted out of the Senate building), K Street debuted September 14, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Carville, Mary Matalin, (more)
- 2003
Created by West Wing writer Lawrence O'Donnell Jr., the weekly, 60-minute political drama Mister Sterling was a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington for the 21st century. Josh Brolin starred as William Sterling Jr., the idealistic young "reformist" son of a popular retired California governor (James Whitmore). Selected by his state's political machine to fill out the term of a dead Democratic senator, Mister Sterling arrived in the nation's capitol with a naïvely altruistic agenda -- and with no party ties, since he was a registered Independent (though in West Wing tradition, he tended to veer toward the left). Doing their best to educate Sterling to the facts of life about Washington, and sometimes expressing amazement at how much smarter he was than the "established" politicos, were his chief of staff, Jackie Brock (Audra McDonald); his legislative director, Tommy Doyle (William Russ); and resident techno-geek Leon (David Noroña). Mister Sterling was elected to office on January 10, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Brolin, Audra McDonald, (more)
- 1990
Dr. Joel Fleischman (Rob Morrow) continues his struggle to acclimate himself to his new life as resident physician of faraway Cicely, AK. One of his first assignments is to persuade Native-American medicine man Anku (Frank Sotonoma Salsedo), the ailing uncle of townie Ed Chigliak (Darren E. Burrow), to forsake such "remedies" as red willow bark and give modern medicine a try. Joel also has another run-in with his attractive landlady, Maggie (Janine Turner), who can't understand why a man his age has never learned to cook or clean up after himself. Elsewhere in town, Maurice (Barry Corbin) is outraged when Chris (John Corbett) tells him that his favorite poet, Walt Whitman, was a homosexual, and at that he fires Chris and installs himself as "morning man" on radio station KBHR (and if you don't like show tunes, you're out of luck). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
