''Joe vs. Carole'' is an American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

created by

Etan Frankel Etan Frankel is an American playwright and television writer and producer. Career Frankel got his start as a playwright, writing a number of plays including ''Create Fate'', ''The Fearless'', and ''Truth and Reconciliation'', which won the Wil ...

. It stars

John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell (born April 21, 1963) is a two-time Tony Award winning American actor, playwright, screenwriter, singer, songwriter, producer and director. He is best known as the writer, director and star of the 2001 film '' Hedwig and th ...

Kate McKinnon Kate McKinnon Berthold (born January 6, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is known for her character work and celebrity impressions on the sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (2012–2022), of which she was a ca ...

Kyle MacLachlan Kyle Merritt MacLachlan (; ' McLachlan, February 22, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dale Cooper in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and its film prequel '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992), as well as roles ...

Dean Winters Dean Gerard Winters (born July 20, 1964) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Ryan O'Reily on the HBO prison drama ''Oz (TV series), Oz'' and had roles in TV series'' Rescue Me (U.S. TV series), Rescue Me'', ''30 Rock'', ''Sex and th ...

, Brian Van Holt,

William Fichtner William Edward Fichtner (born November 27, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on ''Invasion'', Alexander Mahone on ''Prison Break'', Carl Hickman on ''Crossing Lines'', and Adam Janikowski on ...

Nat Wolff Nathaniel Marvin Wolff (born December 17, 1994) is an American actor and musician. He gained recognition for composing the music for ''The Naked Brothers Band (TV series), The Naked Brothers Band'' (2007–2009), a Nickelodeon television serie ...

Sam Keeley Samuel Keeley is an Irish actor from County Offaly. His first major acting break was in the role of Philip in the RTÉ's hit television series ''Raw''. He later appeared in the films '' Burnt'', '' Monsters: Dark Continent'', '' The Siege of Ja ...

, Lex Mayson, Joel Marsh Garland, Marlo Kelly, Kenneth Radley and Aliandra Calabrese. The series began streaming on

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

on March 3, 2022. The series is based on the second season of

Wondery Wondery is an American podcast network and publisher of numerous award-winning podcasts, including Dirty John, Dr. Death, and The Shrink Next Door. Wondery was founded in 2016 by entrepreneur and media executive Hernan Lopez. The company was lau ...

's '' Over My Dead Body''

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 choosing ...

, entitled ''Joe Exotic: Tiger King'' (before being retitled to ''Joe vs. Carole''), which follows the

criminal case Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

Joe Exotic Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage (né Schreibvogel; born March 5, 1963), known professionally as Joe Exotic and nicknamed "The Tiger King," is an American media personality, businessman, and convicted felon who operated the Greater Wynnewood Exot ...

, a zookeeper who has been convicted of

murder-for-hire Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

. The series received mixed to negative reviews upon release.

Cast

Main

Carole Baskin Carole Baskin (née Carole Stairs Jones, formerly known as Carole Murdock; born June 6, 1961) is an American animal rights activist and CEO of Big Cat Rescue, a non-profit animal sanctuary based near Tampa, Florida. She has attracted the atten ...

as Howard Baskin *

as Jeff Lowe * Brian Van Holt as John Reinke *

Rick Kirkham Richard Allen Kirkham (born May 16, 1958) is an American film producer, writer, cinematographer and journalist who is best known for his documentary ''TV Junkie'' and appearance in the Netflix documentary ''Tiger King.'' Early life Kirkham ...

Travis Maldonado The American true crime documentary streaming television miniseries '' Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness'' (titled onscreen as simply ''Tiger King'') features a large cast of characters, with the majority of them being big cat enthusiasts ...

as John Finlay * Lex Mayson as Kelci "Saff" Saffery * Joel Marsh Garland as James Garretson * Marlo Kelly as Jamie Murdock * Aliandra Calabrese as Lauren Lowe * Kenneth Radley as Allen Glover

Recurring

* Jack Scott as Joshua Dial * Will McNeill as Tyler *

David Wenham David Wenham (born 21 September 1965) is an Australian actor who has appeared in film, television and theatre. He is known for his roles as Faramir in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Friar Carl in ''Van Helsing'', Dilios in ''300'' and ...

Don Lewis Don Lewis (March 26, 1941 – November 6, 2022) was an American vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and electronic engineer. He created an instrument called the Live Electronic Orchestra (LEO), which integrated multiple instruments under a controlle ...

* Jenna Owen as Amber * Nic English as Brian Rhyne * Benedict Hardie as Agent Thomas * Shareena Clanton as Susan * Alexandra Jensen as Chealsi *

Anthony Sharpe Anthony J Sharpe (born 24 September 1974) is an Australian actor, producer and singer, best known for his role playing the character of Cecil Yates (Cec) on ABC1's ''Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.'' He grew up in Melbourne and became involved ...

Erik Cowie The American true crime documentary streaming television miniseries '' Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness'' (titled onscreen as simply ''Tiger King'') features a large cast of characters, with the majority of them being big cat enthusiasts ...

Episodes

Production

Development

In March 2020, following the commercial success of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''

Tiger King The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

'', development started on a limited series adaptation of

's life, headed by

Universal Content Productions Universal Content Productions (UCP) is an American television production company operating within the Universal Studio Group division of NBCUniversal. History Universal Cable Productions In July 2008, Universal Cable Productions was split off ...

, with

executive producing and portraying Baskin, and is based on ''Joe Exotic: Tiger King'', later retitled to ''Joe vs Carole'', which is the second season of

's '' Over My Dead Body''

. The series was expected to air on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

, and

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

(the show eventually made its linear premiere on the latter network in October 2022). In May 2021, it was announced that the series would instead be streaming exclusively on Peacock. The series was created by

, who also served as writer and executive producer, while

Justin Tipping Justin Tipping is an American television and film director, screenwriter, and executive producer best known for his work on ''Kicks'' (2016), '' Flatbush Misdemeanors'' (2021), and '' Joe vs. Carole'' (2022). Career In 2016, Tipping began hi ...

directed the first four episodes, including the pilot. It was also announced that

Natalie Bailey Natalie Bailey is a screenwriter and director, known for her work on TV series in the UK, US and Australia. Early life Bailey emigrated to the UK from Australia in 2000. Career Bailey has worked in the production and direction of many TV come ...

would direct episodes five, six, and seven. On January 21, 2022, the show's title was announced, and its March 3, 2022 release date was revealed in the first trailer.

Casting

In June 2021,

, Brian Van Holt,

, and

Dennis Quaid Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the late 1970s, some of his notable credits include ''Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The ...

were cast to portray Jeff Lowe,

, John Reinke, John Finlay,

, and

, respectively. In July 2021,

replaced Quaid in the role of Kirkham. In the same month,

, Lex Mayson, Joel Marsh Garland, Marlo Kelly, and Aliandra Calabrese joined the series, to portray Howard Baskin, Kelci "Saff" Saffery, James Garretson, Jamie Murdock, and Lauren Lowe respectively. In September 2021, Will McNeill, Jack Scott, Jenna Owen, Nic English, Benedict Hardie, Shareena Clanton, Alexandra Jensen, and

were revealed to have been added to the supporting cast during production, to portray Tyler, Joshua Dial, Amber, Brian Rhyne, Agent Thomas, Susan, Chealsi, and

, respectively.

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, on July 12, 2021. By September 2021, filming also occurred in areas around

, Australia, including

Screen Queensland Studios Screen Queensland Studios are a set of film studios located in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. They are the second of two major studio lots in Queensland, the other being Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast. Description Screen Queensl ...

, which doubled for

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. In October 2021, due to filming commitments with ''Joe vs. Carole'', McKinnon was precluded from appearing in the first seven episodes of season 47 of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

''.

Critical response

Review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported an approval rating of 33% based on 27 critic reviews, with an average rating of 5.40/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Kate McKinnon and John Cameron Mitchell do an admirable job of bringing these larger-than-life figures back down to earth, but ''Joe vs. Carole'' feels like a pale retread of an already overdone tale."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

assigned the series a weighted average score of 53 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed to average reviews".

References

External links

* {{Tiger King 2020s American crime drama television series 2020s American LGBT-related drama television series 2020s American mystery television series 2022 American television series debuts American biographical series American television spin-offs English-language television shows Peacock (streaming service) original programming Serial drama television series Television series about tigers Television series by Universal Content Productions Television series by Matchbox Pictures Television shows based on podcasts Television shows directed by Justin Tipping Television shows filmed in Australia Television shows set in Florida Television shows set in Oklahoma Tiger King