Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Amazon’s Sneaky Pete celebrated the show’s upcoming launch last night with an intimate party in the underground Shadowbox bar at Clifton’s in downtown Los Angeles. Decider had the password to get in (“The Turk”) and chatted with executive producers Graham Yost and Bryan Cranston (who does double duty as an exec producer and co-star) and lead actors Giovanni Ribisi and Marin Ireland. A stop at the photo booth for a fake I.D. was next, then guests gambled with fake money at blackjack and poker tables, and were entertained by close-up magicians from Los Angeles’s famed Magic Castle. A signature cocktail menu featured drinks such as “GIMme Your WalLET” and “Murphy’s Mule” named for the Ribisi character’s alter ego Pete Murphy.
When the drama moved from CBS to Amazon, it also got a new showrunner in Graham Yost. Yost detailed the changes, “The original CBS concept was going to be more of a skip trace of the week show. Marius/Pete (Giovanni Ribisi) would be part of the family’s bail bonds business and they’d look for someone new every week. Going to Amazon, the decision was made to make it more of a serialized story. There’d been this character in the CBS pilot referred to, Vince, and they came up with a great idea to have Bryan Cranston play Vince and he’s threatening Marius’s brother and that became a season, a ten episode story.”
Bryan Cranston explained the difference in broader terms: “We have a lot more freedom to create. With the broadcast model, you have certain built-in guidelines you have to fit within to make a more palatable, acceptable program because they’re reliant on the greatest number of eyeballs watching. With Amazon, it’s opened up completely. They’re really wonderful partners; encouraging and supportive.”
Giovanni Ribisi said, “It’s a completely different show (for Amazon.) It feels more like a feature film. It’s the most challenging thing I’ve ever done.”
As the January 13 rollout date for Sneaky Pete approaches, we wondered what the Sneaky Pete folks binge-watched over the holidays and which shows they recommend to friends.
Graham Yost binged on royal drama The Crown and The Man in the High Castle before the holidays, and he’s been recommending Stranger Things and Westworld to all of his friends. He also lavished Fleabag and its star/creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge with high praise. “She’s amazing,” he told us. “You had to go through The Office and Modern Family to go through this fiction of the documentary and now you can just talk to the camera.”
Bryan Cranston said, “No, didn’t bingewatch anything, I watched movies. Academy screeners.” As for shows he recommends to friends, Cranston smiled and said, “Well, I’m partial to Better Call Saul – I love that show. House of Cards, Veep. I like black-ish a lot. They really go after it. It reminds me of a Norman Lear show. They deal with topics that are uncomfortable and do it in a humorous way.”
Giovanni Ribisi shared, “I’m still re-watching Breaking Bad while my house is being renovated. The last thing I watched was The Night Of and Stranger Things.”
Marin Ireland said, “I’ve been re-watching the Rob Delaney/Sharon Horgan comedy Catastrophe and recommending it to everyone in the world” adding, “I was a fan of the show before I worked for Amazon!”
Diane Gordon is an entertainment industry veteran who has done time on red carpets covering TV premieres, award shows and sundry events. She’s also worked in TV development, production and talent management. In addition to reporting, she also does social media hosting for the Paley Center for Media Los Angeles, where she wrangles talent and serves up photos and live tweets for fans to enjoy. You can follow Diane on Twitter and Instagram: @thesurfreport.
