''Battleground'' is a

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

comedy-drama television web series created by J. D. Walsh streamed on Hulu. The show follows a group of

political campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...

staffers working to elect a dark horse candidate to the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in the

battleground state In American politics, the term swing state (also known as battleground state or purple state) refers to any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often referring to pre ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Walsh serves as executive producer alongside Hagai Shaham and Marc Webb. The show marks Hulu's first foray into original scripted programming. It premiered online on February 14, 2012. In December 2017, it was announced that the series was being revived as a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

by UK 3's The World At Large series. The first three episodes of season two were made available on iTunes on December 3, 2017.

Overview

The series chronicles the inner workings of a

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

candidate for a

seat in

. Led by campaign manager Chris "Tak" Davis, the team battles against corrupt politicians and staff infighting while campaigning for a distant third-place candidate.

Cast

Starring

* Jay Hayden as Chris "Tak" Davis, Campaign Manager *

Teri Reeves Teri Lynn Reeves (née Kretz) is an American theater and television actress. Her television credits include '' Chicago Fire'', '' Battleground'', and '' NCIS''. Early life Reeves was born in Northern California but moved many times in her life. ...

as Kara "KJ" Jamison, Head of Media Strategy * Jack DeSena as Cole Graner, Speechwriter *Ben Samuel as Ben Werner, volunteer *Jordan T. Maxwell as Jordan T. Mosley, the candidate's step-son *Lindsey Payne as Lindsey Cutter, volunteer * Alison Haislip as Ali Laurents, Social Media Director *Meighan Gerachis as Deirdre Samuels, the candidate *Sam White as George Mosley, the candidate's husband

Guest Starring

*John Kishline as Jack Makers, the incumbent *

Matt Corboy Matt Corboy (born June 4, 1973) is an American actor. He has appeared in both films and television series. Early life Corboy was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and grew up there, before leaving to attend Colorado State University, where he earned a ...

as Michael Corboy, Makers campaign manager *

Kelly O'Sullivan Kelly O'Sullivan (born 1983/1984) is an American actress, screenwriter and producer. She wrote and starred in '' Saint Frances'' (2019), which won the Audience Award and the Special Jury Award at 2019 SXSW Film Festival. Biography O'Sullivan w ...

as Sarah, Tak's wife * Ray Wise as Frank "D-Day" Davis, Tak's father

Production

In October 2010,

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

gave a script commitment to the series, which was being written by J. D. Walsh and executive-produced by Walsh and Marc Webb, with

20th Century Fox Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Co ...

as the attached studio at the time. Fox later passed on making the show. Walsh shot a 20-minute pilot funded by family members. He said no television network was willing to air the series due to its politics-related theme. Hulu later stepped in to produce the series. ''Battleground'' is set in

, the childhood home of long-time friends Walsh and Webb. Walsh has also worked for Massachusetts Senator

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

in a previous political campaign. In a press release, he said: "People hate politics but they love elections. Campaigns are about good versus evil, our team versus yours, relationships, temptations, power, unimaginable triumphs and heartbreaking defeats. I’m interested in the people behind the people." The first season was filmed in Walsh's hometown of

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, with sets ranging from local homes to a local elementary school. Walsh said he chose to film in Madison instead of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

because he had a better feel for the people, places and politics and there was a "sense of excitement" among the locals to be a part of the project. As many as 90 local actors were cast. Local

WKOW WKOW (channel 27) is a television station in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Allen Media Broadcasting. The station's studios are located on Tokay Boulevard on Madison's west side, and its transmitter is locate ...

anchors Greg Jeschke and Sabrina Hall appeared in a fake broadcast. To stage large crowds, real-life scenes of fans heading to a

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

football game were used. Walsh calls the show "a love letter to Madison".

Episodes

Television: Season 1 (2012)

The first season consists of 13 episodes. The series premiere was made available online on February 14, 2012. New episodes were made available each subsequent week on Hulu.

Podcast: Season 2 (2017-18)

Broadcast

In its first ever appearance at the

Television Critics Association The Television Critics Association (TCA) is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canada, Canadian television television criticism, critics, journalists and columnists who cover television television programme, programming for newspapers, ...

(TCA) press tour on January 15, 2012, Internet streaming site Hulu announced that it will be airing the series online. Hulu's senior vice president of content Andy Forssell said the site picked up the series because it "saw a spark" and " see what J.D. alshsees in it and we know the audience is there." ''Battleground'' is Hulu's first original scripted series. The series, along with Hulu's other original documentary series, is available for free rather than on the subscription-based

Hulu Plus Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series l ...

to enable the site to build its user base and reputation for original programming. The show premiered on February 14, 2012, with a new episode made available online each subsequent week.

Reception

''Battleground''s first episode received mixed to positive reviews, with critics noting its relatively low production value but strong writing. The

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

's Jake Coyle described the show as a "light, watered-down knockoff of ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series o ...

''" that comes off like a "student fantasy of playful politics." David Hinckley of the '' Daily News'' said the show "parlays solid professional castinto some good jokes, political and otherwise" but viewers "should not expect that ... the look of the show will match what they see on broadcast or cable." Dean Robbins of local newspaper ''

Isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

'' called the first episode worthy of comparison to sophisticated modern sitcoms, saying it "distinguishes itself with strong writing and acting, not to mention a distinctive setting."

References

External links

*
Battleground
' at Hulu * {{Hulu 2010s American comedy-drama television series 2012 American television series debuts 2012 American television series endings Hulu original programming Television shows set in Wisconsin 2010s American political television series 2010s American mockumentary television series Political web series American comedy web series Political mockumentaries American satirical websites