''The Politician'' is an American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

series created by Ryan Murphy,

Brad Falchuk Bradley Douglas Falchuk (born March 1, 1971) is an American television writer, director, and producer, best known for co-creating with Ryan Murphy the comedy-drama television series ''Glee'', the drama series ''Pose'', the horror comedy '' Screa ...

, and Ian Brennan and released on

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 ...

. The trio also serves as executive producers with Alexis Martin Woodall,

Ben Platt Benjamin Schiff Platt (born September 24, 1993) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He began his acting career in musical theater as a child and appeared in productions of ''The Sound of Music'' (2006) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (201 ...

, and

Gwyneth Paltrow Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (; born ) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Paltrow gained notice for her early work in films ...

. The series centers on the story of Payton Hobart (Platt), a wealthy Santa Barbaran, and each season revolves around a different political race his character is involved in. The first season was released on Netflix on September 27, 2019. The series stars

Zoey Deutch Zoey Francis Chaya Thompson Deutch ( ; born November 10, 1994) is an American actress. She is daughter of director Howard Deutch and actress-director Lea Thompson. She gained recognition for her roles in the film '' Everybody Wants Some!!'', the ...

Lucy Boynton Lucy Boynton (born January 17, 1994) is a British-American actress. Raised in London, she made her professional debut as the young Beatrix Potter in '' Miss Potter'' (2006). She starred in television productions '' Ballet Shoes'' (2007), '' Sens ...

Bob Balaban Robert Elmer Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an American actor, author, comedian, director and producer. He was one of the producers nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for ''Gosford Park'' (2001), in which he also appeared. Balab ...

Laura Dreyfuss Laura Catherine Dreyfuss (born August 22, 1988) is an American actress and singer, known for her roles as Zoe Murphy in the Broadway musical ''Dear Evan Hansen'', Madison McCarthy on the FOX musical series '' Glee'' and McAfee Westbrook on the ...

, Julia Schlaepfer,

Theo Germaine Theo Germaine is an American actor, best known for playing James Sullivan on the Netflix television series ''The Politician''. Personal life Germaine is originally from Illinois; they worked at a coffee shop in Chicago before temporarily reloca ...

Rahne Jones Rahne Jones is an American television actress. She made her television debut as Skye on Netflix's ''The Politician'' in 2019. She is currently a co-host on the new MTV reality show, "Help! I'm in a Secret Relationship!". Life and career Jone ...

and

David Corenswet David Packard Corenswet (born July 8, 1993) is an American actor. After graduating from the Juilliard School in 2016, he began guest starring in television series, including ''House of Cards'' in 2018. He then played lead roles in the Netflix seri ...

, Benjamin Barrett, and

Jessica Lange Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. She is the 13th actress to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, having won two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, along with a Screen Actors G ...

joined the main cast in the first season, while

Judith Light Judith Ellen Light (born February 9, 1949) is an American actress. She made her professional stage debut in 1970, before making her Broadway debut in the 1975 revival of ''A Doll's House''. Her breakthrough role was in the ABC daytime soap opera ...

and

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...

joined the main cast in the second season. Production on the second season started in November 2019, which premiered on June 19, 2020.

Premise

The first season is set at the fictional Saint Sebastian High School in Santa Barbara,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Payton Hobart, who has dreamed of being elected

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

since childhood, is running for

student body president The student government president (sometimes called "student ''body'' president," "student ''council'' president" or "''school'' president") is generally the highest-ranking officer of a student union. While a student government group and a class p ...

against the popular and athletic River Barkley. Payton, under the direction of his ambitious friends McAfee Westbrook, James Sullivan, and Alice Charles, chooses Infinity Jackson, a cancer patient and victim of Munchausen by Proxy disorder, to be his vice-president. Meanwhile, River, under the direction of his girlfriend Astrid Sloan, chooses Skye Leighton, a

gender-nonconforming Gender variance or gender nonconformity is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-bina ...

black classmate, to be his

vice-president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

. The second season is set in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

. Payton, now a student at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, is running for a seat in the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

against incumbent

Majority Leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

Dede Standish. Payton, under the direction of his former classmates and

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

activist Infinity Jackson, runs an

ecocentric Ecocentrism (; from Greek: οἶκος ''oikos'', "house" and κέντρον ''kentron'', "center") is a term used by environmental philosophers and ecologists to denote a nature-centered, as opposed to human-centered (i.e. anthropocentric), syst ...

campaign. Standish, under the direction of her conniving campaign manager Hadassah Gold, runs a more conservative campaign. Meanwhile, Payton's mother, Georgina Hobart, is running to be

Governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...

Cast and characters

Main

as Payton Hobart, an ambitious man who ran for student body president at St. Sebastian and later for State Senate of New York *

as Infinity Jackson, Payton's former

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint Ticket (election), ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate ...

who becomes an activist for the environment *

as Astrid Sloan, Payton's rival and River's former girlfriend *

as Keaton Hobart (season 1), Payton's adoptive father *

as River Barkley (season 1; recurring season 2), Payton's opponent for student body president and ex-boyfriend * Julia Schlaepfer as Alice Charles, Payton's girlfriend and later fiancée *

as McAfee Westbrook, Payton's campaign manager and advisor *

as James Sullivan, Payton's campaign manager and advisor *

as Skye Leighton, River's former running mate who is now helping Payton with his New York campaign * Benjamin Barrett as Ricardo (season 1; guest season 2), Infinity's former dim-witted boyfriend *

as Dusty Jackson (season 1), Infinity's grandmother and former caretaker *

as Georgina Hobart, Payton's adoptive mother. *

as Dede Standish (season 2; guest season 1), the New York State Senate Majority Leader *

as Hadassah Gold (season 2; guest season 1), Dede's Chief of Staff

Recurring

* Ryan J. Haddad as Andrew Cashman, a former student with cerebral palsy at St. Sebastian who is now helping Payton with his New York campaign * Kobi Kumi-Diaka as Pierre Toussaint (season 1), the only Haitian student studying at St. Sebastian * Trevor Mahlon Eason as Martin Hobart, one of Payton's brothers * Trey Eason as Luther Hobart, one of Payton's brothers * Natasha Ofili as Principal Vaughn (season 1), the Principal at St. Sebastian who is registered deaf *

B.K. Cannon Barbara-Kimberly Cannon (born August 27, 1990) is an American actress known for '' Switched At Birth'' and '' Why Women Kill''. She is from Kailua, Honolulu, Hawaii. A survivor of childhood neuroblastoma, Cannon became a volunteer and later dir ...

as Kris *

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...

as Brigitte (season 1), a horse trainer who is also Georgina's lover *

Dylan McDermott Dylan McDermott (born Mark Anthony McDermott; October 26, 1961) is an American actor. He is known for his role as lawyer and law firm head Bobby Donnell on the legal drama series ''The Practice'', which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best ...

as Theo Sloan (season 1), Astrid's father *

January Jones January Kristen Jones (born January 5, 1978) is an American actress and model. She played Betty Draper in ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which she was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and a Pri ...

as Lisbeth Sloan (season 1), Astrid's mother *

Sam Jaeger Samuel Heath Jaeger (born January 29, 1977) is an American actor and screenwriter. Life and career Jaeger was born in Perrysburg, Ohio, the son of LeAnne (née Graening) and Charles Jaeger. He is the youngest of four children. He graduated from ...

as Tino McCutcheon (season 2; guest season 1), the Junior Senator-Elect from Texas. *

Joe Morton Joseph Thomas Morton Jr. (born October 18, 1947) is an American stage, television and film actor. He has worked with film director John Sayles in ''The Brother from Another Planet'' (1984), '' City of Hope'' (1991) and '' Lone Star'' (1996). Oth ...

as Marcus Standish (season 2; guest season 1), Dede's husband *

Teddy Sears Edward M. Sears (born April 6, 1977) is an American actor, known for his roles as Richard Patrick Woolsley on the TNT legal drama series '' Raising the Bar'', Patrick on the first season of FX anthology horror drama ''American Horror Story'' ( ...

as William Ward (season 2; guest season 1), the third in Dede and Marcus' throuple *

Jackie Hoffman Jacqueline Laura Hoffman (born November 29, 1960 in Queens, New York City) is an American actress, singer, and comedian known for her one-woman shows of Jewish-themed original songs and monologues. She is a veteran of Chicago's famed The Second ...

as Sherry Dougal (season 2; guest season 1), the receptionist at Dede Standish's campaign office

Guest

* Jordan Nichole Wall as Ivy (season 1), girl with Down syndrome on school bus *

Rick Holmes Richard "Rick" Holmes (born March 16, 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American actor. He received his BA from Gettysburg College and an MFA in acting from New York University. He has played numerous stage roles, including roles in such B ...

as Cooper (season 1) *

Eric Nenninger Eric John Nenninger (born November 19, 1978) is an American actor, best known for playing Scott Braddock in the 2003 horror film, ''Jeepers Creepers II'', he had a recurring role as Cadet Eric Hanson on '' Malcolm in the Middle'' and Scott in '' ...

as Detective (season 1) *

Rudy Pankow Rudy Pankow () is an American actor. He stars as JJ Maybank on the Netflix teen drama series ''Outer Banks''. Early life Pankow was born and raised in Ketchikan, Alaska. He began his interest in acting and production in middle school via YouTube ...

as Other Kid (season 1) * Russell Posner as Elliot Beachman (season 1) *

Jake Tapper Jacob Paul Tapper (born March 12, 1969) is an American journalist, author, and cartoonist. He is the lead Washington anchor for CNN, hosts the weekday television news show ''The Lead with Jake Tapper'', and co-hosts the Sunday morning public af ...

as himself, a CNN correspondent and moderator for the gubernatorial debate. *

Terry Sweeney Terry Sweeney is an American artist, actor, and writer. He was a writer and cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 1980s, co-wrote the 1989 film '' Shag'', and has written for the television ''series MADtv'', '' Hype'', and ''Tripping the ...

as Buddy Broidy (season 1) *

Robin Weigert Robin Weigert (born July 7, 1969) is an American television and film actress. She is best known for portraying Calamity Jane on the television series '' Deadwood'' (2004–2006), for which she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award f ...

as Andi Mueller (season 2) * Susannah Perkins as Jayne Mueller (season 2)

Episodes

Season 1 (2019)

Season 2 (2020)

Production

Development

On February 5, 2018, it was announced that

had given the production a two season order. The order came after a bidding war involving

Hulu 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 serie ...

and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

. The series was created by

, Ian Brennan and Ryan Murphy, all of whom will executive produce alongside

. Production companies involved with the show include

Fox 21 Television Studios The second incarnation of Touchstone Television (formerly known as Fox 21 Television Studios) was an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Disney Media Networks' Walt Disney Television owned by The Walt Disney Company. It ...

and Ryan Murphy Productions.

Casting

Alongside the initial series announcement, it was confirmed that

would star in the series and that

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

and

were in talks to join as series regulars. On July 16, 2018, it was announced that

and

had been cast in main roles. On October 11, 2018, it was reported that

had joined the cast. On November 4, 2018, Streisand revealed in an interview with ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' that she had chosen to turn down the series in order to work on her album ''

Walls Walls may refer to: *The plural of wall, a structure * Walls (surname), a list of notable people with the surname Places * Walls, Louisiana, United States *Walls, Mississippi, United States * Walls, Ontario, neighborhood in Perry, Ontario, C ...

'', and that

had been cast in the role she had been eyed for instead. On December 3, 2018, McDermott announced in an interview with

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

that

had been cast to portray his wife in the series. In March 2019, it was announced

and

would guest star in the series.

Filming

Principal photography for the first season took place on location in

Fullerton Union High School Fullerton Union High School is a public high school located in the Orange County, California city of Fullerton, operated by the Fullerton Joint Union High School District. History In 1893 a special election was held to create Fullerton Union High ...

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

, and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Reception

Critical response

The

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 ...

website

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 a 58% approval rating for the first season with an average rating of 6.74/10, based on 91 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads: "While ''The Politician'' can't uphold all of its tantalizing promises, it delivers just enough soapy satire in a sumptuous setting to keep Ryan Murphy fans invested—though its 'sic''unlikely to win him many new votes."

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 ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned the season a score of 66 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season received a 40% approval rating with an average rating of 5.84/10, based on 20 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads: "Shallow and messy, but not in a fun way, ''The Politicians second term expands its political horizons but doesn't seem to know what to do with them." Metacritic gave the second season a weighted average score of 46 out of 100 based on 8 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Politician, The 2010s American comedy-drama television series 2010s American high school television series 2010s American LGBT-related comedy television series 2010s American LGBT-related drama television series 2010s American political comedy television series 2010s American satirical television series 2010s American teen drama television series 2019 American television series debuts 2020 American television series endings 2020s American comedy-drama television series 2020s American LGBT-related comedy television series 2020s American LGBT-related drama television series 2020s American political comedy television series 2020s American satirical television series 2020s American teen drama television series Bisexuality-related television series English-language Netflix original programming Political satirical television series Polyamory in fiction Television series about teenagers Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series created by Ryan Murphy (writer) Television shows filmed in Los Angeles Television shows set in New York City Television shows set in Santa Barbara, California