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Posts tagged as christopher guest

Reviews

Christopher Guest Brings His Version of the Mockumentary to TV with 'Family Tree'

by | May 13th, 2013

Mockmentary-style television has become the preferred method for edgy, self-aware sitcoms, and now the original mockumentarian is giving TV a try. Family Tree, a BBC/HBO co-production from Christopher Guest, creator of classics like This Is Spinal Tap and Best in Show, follows Chris O’Dowd as Tom Chadwick, a sweet but aimless 30-year-old who has been laid off from his job and dumped by his girlfriend.

When his great-aunt bequeaths him a trunk full of family knick-knacks, Tom becomes obsessed with tracing his lineage, with the help of a convenient antique-store-owning pal (Jim Piddock, who co-created the series with Guest), and despite the bumbling of his dim-witted best friend Pete [...]

Casting Notices

Christopher Guest Casts Three New People in HBO Series, None of Whom Are Eugene Levy or Catherine O'Hara

by | October 23rd, 2012

Christopher Guest has added three new people to the cast of his HBO series Family Tree. The show will be his return to writing/directing after six years away that's expected to run 8 episodes on HBO and BBC Two next year. Deadline reports that Nina Conti (Four Your Consideration) and UK actor Tom Bennett will be regulars on the series, whereas Amy Seimertz (Tiny Furniture) has been hired for a recurring role. As previously reported, the show centers around Bridesmaids' Chris O'Dowd as a guy who sets off on a journey to learn more about his family after getting fired and dumped. Christopher Guest regulars Michael McKean, [...]

For Your Consideration

Christopher Guest Is Working on a Television Show

by | May 23rd, 2012

Christopher Guest has been mostly inactive since 2006's For Your Consideration but that is about to change. It's being reported that Guest is working with Jim Piddock to create a television show. Television seems like a natural fit for the Guest and his ability to create completely lived-in worlds for his characters. The hope is to have it run commercial-free on a network like HBO or Showtime, or maybe even Netflix.  Entitled Family Tree, the show will be primarily improvised and will about a man, played by Chris O'Dowd, tracking down his real family. They are going to need do a lot of prosthetic eyebrow work on O'Dowd [...]

Quicklink

Christopher Guest to Turn Mockumentary Sights on Retro Collectors

by | September 23rd, 2010

Christopher Guest's next mockumentary focus: retro collectors: "Christopher Guest and his Spinal Tap brothers Harry Shearer and Michael McKean (who have been touring together recently) want to bring the world of collecting to the big screen. We're not talking only about the regular 'collector's item' sort of fare, but 'people who ferret out such things as old comic books, Barbie dolls, vintage magazine ads, vinyl 45-rpm singles, or even — ick! — Charles Manson song lyrics written on Kleenex.'"

Trailers

Watch the Trailer for Christopher Guest's New HBO Show 'Family Tree'

by | March 18th, 2013

Here's a short teaser trailer for Family Tree, a new HBO series from Christopher Guest that stars Chris O'Dowd (Bridesmaids, Girls) as a guy trying to track down his parents. It's the first show/movie we've seen from Christopher Guest in seven years, since the movie For Your Consideration in 2006. Christopher Guest regulars Michael McKean, Fred Willard, Bob Balaban, and Ed Begley Jr. will appear in guest starring and recurring roles, along with people who haven't worked with Christopher Guest, I assume.

old friends

Christopher Guest Casts His New Comedy with Exactly Who You'd Expect Him to Cast

by | September 26th, 2012

It’s been six long years since Christopher Guest’s last comedy, For Your Consideration, but he’s finally back behind the camera for a new HBO/BBC2 series called Family Tree, which sees Guest working in the mockumentary format that he’s done so well with in the past. The Hollywood Reporter, um, reports that Fred Willard, Michael McKean and Ed Begley Jr., all members of the Christopher Guest Repertory Company, have signed on for recurring roles, which begs the question: “Where are Eugene Levy, Harry Shearer, and Catherine O’Hara?”

It was announced last month that Family Tree would center around Tom Chadwick (played by Bridesmaids’ Chris O’Dowd), who, after getting fired from his job and dumped by his girlfriend, [...]

SNL

Saturday Night's Children: Christopher Guest (1984-1985)

by | December 20th, 2011

Saturday Night Live has been home to over a hundred cast members throughout the past 35 years. In our column Saturday Night’s Children, we present the history, talent, and best sketches of one SNL cast member each week for your viewing, learning, and laughing pleasure.

In the final year before Lorne Michaels returned to save SNL, NBC producer Dick Ebersol replaced the recently departed Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo (and fired cast members like Brad Hall and Tim Kazurinsky) with ringers like Billy Crystal, Harry Shearer, Martin Short, and Christopher Guest, who was not only known for his work on The National Lampoon Radio Hour but for his role [...]

Interviews

Christopher Guest on His New HBO Series 'Family Tree'

by | January 4th, 2013

Christopher Guest's new HBO/BBC2 series Family Tree is set to debut this spring, starring Bridesmaids' Chris O'Dowd as a guy traveling the world to investigate his family lineage. Christopher Guest regulars Michael McKean, Fred Willard, Ed Begley, Jr., and Guest, himself, will be making appearances throughout the first season. HBO passed the following interview with Guest along to us, in which he discusses his move to TV, how he researched the series, and why he always works with the same actors:

HBO: You are well-known for feature films such as Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, and A Mighty Wind. What led to your conceiving a TV series?

Christopher Guest: I thought [...]

New Shows

Christopher Guest's New Show a Welcome Guest on HBO

by | August 16th, 2012

HBO in conjunction with BBC Two has agreed to deal with Christopher Guest for his show Family Tree. The show will go straight to its first season without having to go through the pilot process, which must be pretty nice for CG. The show, which was created by Guest and Jim Piddock, stars Chris O'Dowd as Tom Chadwick, a 30-year-old who, after losing his job and girlfriend, inherits a box of belongings from a great aunt, which starts him off on a journey to learn more about his bizarre family. That sure sounds like a TV show, right? It just is so TV showy, what with its protagonist [...]

Christopher Guest Directed Groupon's Gross "Tibet" Ad

by | February 7th, 2011

So you know those god-awful Groupon commercials that made light of the suffering in Tibet? That whole campaign was directed by…Christopher Guest. Buh?

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