Damian Lewis

Billions Moves On In A Post-Axe Economy

On January 20, 2022 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Forging Ahead

by Miles Surrey | The Ringers | January 20, 2022

After Damian Lewis’s departure following Season 5, the Showtime drama forges ahead in a landscape that hardly looks like it used to. Maybe that’s a good thing.

One of the most underrated virtues of Billions is predictability. The Showtime drama has followed a familiar pattern each season, with longtime rivals Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) and Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) finding new ways to screw each other over in the overlapping spheres of finance and politics. Billions might throw in the occasional wrinkle—there was a brief period in Season 4 when Chuck and Axe became unlikely allies—but the cyclical nature of the characters’ squabbles was a feature, not a bug, elevated by the show’s scenery-chewing performances and colorful dialogue. Showtime has a tendency to run series into the ground, but Billions has always felt like it could eternally depict Chuck and Axe’s dick-swinging contest.

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A Poet for Every Day of the Year at the National Theatre

On January 16, 2022January 20, 2022 By Damianista Comments Off

A Poetry Reading Dedicated to Helen

by Staff | National Theatre | January 16, 2022

Damian, Allie and Helen at A Poem for Every Day of the Year at the National Theatre in November 2018. Allie organized the event and Helen was one of the readers.

Following the success of previous poetry reading evenings at the National Theatre, Allie Esiri is back on January 25, 2022 for a fifth year with a show based on her latest anthology; A Poet for Every Day of the Year. We will journey through a calendar year, highlighting key moments and dates with poetry from some of the world’s greatest verse writers, read by some of our leading actors. This event is dedicated to Helen McCrory, who took part in some of these poetry evenings in previous years. Allie Esiri and Damian Lewis will be joined onstage by friends including Simon Russell Beale, Fay Ripley and Lesley Sharp.

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Billions Homeland Poll Print Media

The 10 Best Showtime Dramas According To IMDb

On January 11, 2022 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Homeland and Billions

by Nathan Sharp | ScreenRant | January 11, 2022

Showtime has produced some excellent dramas throughout its history, many of which have won awards and become important products of pop culture.

Showtime is a major player in cable television. While it doesn’t quite have the prestige of an HBO or the popularity of an AMC, it has nevertheless become a household mainstay thanks to its strong lineup of television shows. Many shows that have aired on Showtime have gone on to enjoy incredible success, both in terms of popularity and critical evaluation. Some have even become iconic mainstays of popular culture.

They can’t all be winners of course, but Showtime’s greatest dramas are well-renowned within critical television circles, as is evident by their strong ratings on IMDb. These are the best of them all.

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Billions Homeland Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Poll Print Media Wolf Hall

10 Most Underrated TV Drama Actors

On January 5, 2022January 11, 2022 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Bobby and Wendy

by Christine Persaud | ScreenRant | January 5, 2022

It seems the same names often get recognized for their roles in drama series, but there are other actors who are deserving of praise.

Every year during awards season, there are top actors who are praised for their performances in some of the biggest shows. Oftentimes, the same names appear, or during the run of a top show, the leads get their deserving accolades. Think Bryan Cranston during the Breaking Bad era, Claire Danes when Homeland was the drama du jour, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ impressive domination of the Best Actress in a Comedy category through Veep‘s entire run.

But there are some actors who have consistently appeared in some of the highest rated shows or had major roles in specific ones past and present, who don’t get the recognition they so rightfully deserve, and it’s time they receive their moment in the spotlight.

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Band of Brothers Poll Print Media

25 of the Most Expensive TV Series of All Time

On January 5, 2022 By Gingersnap Comments Off

Band of Brothers

by Angela Underwood | Stacker via MSN | January 5, 2022

TV is a numbers game in more ways than one. Creating intricate sets, using new visual effects, and paying famous actors make television an expensive enterprise. Some of the biggest numbers in show budgets are on actors’ paychecks: In the 1990s, well-known stars like Kelsey Grammer were getting $1.6 million for each episode while Jennifer Aniston and her five “Friends” raked in up to $1 million per episode. In the final season of HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” several of its stars made $500,000 per episode, revealing paying talent top dollar has not changed.

“Band of Brothers” was among the first big-budget shows not on major network television when it began its run on HBO in the late 1990s with an almost unheard of budget of $12 million per episode. Having Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg attached to the project pushed HBO into funding it. The network has since spent even more on making shows like “The Pacific” and “Game of Thrones.”

To find out the 25 most expensive TV series of all time, Stacker conducted independent research via news reports and entertainment outlets and ranked the shows by budget. Ties were not broken when shows shared the same budget. Read on to discover which shows cross the $10 million-per-episode budget threshold—and which takes the cake, with a budget of a whopping $21.7 million per episode.

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