''Wild Palms'' is a five-hour
miniseries
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
which was produced by
Greengrass Productions
Walt Disney Television, formerly American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, American Broadcasting Companies, Capital Cities Communications, Capital Cities/ABC and Walt Disney Television, Disney-ABC Television Group has formed a number of production ...
and first aired in May 1993 on the
ABC network in the United States. The
sci-fi
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...
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 ...
, announced as an "event series",
deals with the dangers of politically motivated abuse of
mass media technology
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementa ...
and
virtual realities in particular. It was based on a
comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
written by
Bruce Wagner
Bruce Alan Wagner (born March 22, 1954) is an American novelist and screenwriter based in Los Angeles known for his apocalyptic yet ultimately spiritual view of humanity as seen through the lens of the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood entertainm ...
and illustrated by
Julian Allen
Julian Allen (1942–1998) was a British-American illustrator. He covered various "secret history" stories, including the Watergate scandal and the Yom Kippur War. His illustrations appeared in numerous publications, including ''Queen'', NOVA, '' ...
first published in 1990 in
''Details'' magazine. Wagner, who also wrote the screenplay, served as executive producer together with
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...
. The series stars
James Belushi
James Adam Belushi (; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Jim on the sitcom ''According to Jim'' (2001–2009). His other television roles include ''Saturday Night Live'' (1983–1985), '' Total Security'' ...
,
Dana Delany
Dana Welles Delany (born March 13, 1956) is an American actress. After appearing in small roles early in her career, Delany received her breakthrough role as Colleen McMurphy on the ABC television drama ''China Beach'' (1988–1991), for which s ...
,
Robert Loggia
Salvatore "Robert" Loggia ( , ; January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Jagged Edge'' (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for ...
,
Kim Cattrall
Kim Victoria Cattrall (; born 21 August 1956) is a British-Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones on HBO's ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), for which she received five Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe A ...
,
Bebe Neuwirth
Beatrice "Bebe" Jane Neuwirth ( ; born December 31, 1958) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. On television, she played Dr. Lilith Sternin, Frasier Crane's wife, on both the TV sitcom ''Cheers'' (in a starring role) and its spin-off ''F ...
,
David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to:
Sports
* Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor
* David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier
* David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer
Oth ...
, and
Angie Dickinson
Angeline Dickinson (née Brown; born September 30, 1931) is an American actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in ''Gun the Man Down'' (1956) wit ...
. The episodes were directed by
Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Ann Bigelow (; born November 27, 1951) is an American filmmaker. Covering a wide range of genres, her films include ''Near Dark'' (1987), ''Point Break'' (1991), '' Strange Days'' (1995), '' K-19: The Widowmaker'' (2002), ''The Hurt Locke ...
,
Keith Gordon
Keith Gordon (born February 3, 1961) is an American actor and film director.
Early life
Gordon was born in New York City, the son of Mark, an actor and stage director, and Barbara Gordon. He grew up in an atheist Jewish family. Gordon was insp ...
,
Peter Hewitt and
Phil Joanou
Phil Joanou (born November 20, 1961) is an American director of film, music videos, and television programs, known in part for his ongoing relationship to the band U2.
Biography
Joanou was born in La Cañada Flintridge, California, and began m ...
.
Plot synopsis
In the United States in the near future of 2007, a
right-wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
political group called the Fathers dominate large sections of American politics and the media. A
libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
movement called the Friends opposes the government, often making use of underground
guerrilla tactics
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run ta ...
. The Fathers' leader is
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 ...
Senator Tony Kreutzer, who is also the leader of the
Scientology
Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The most recent published census data indi ...
-like Church of Synthiotics and the owner of the Wild Palms media group. Kreutzer's Channel 3 TV station is about to launch its first VR program ''Church Windows'', a
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
that projects characters into viewers' homes as holograms using a system called Mimecom.
Harry Wyckoff is a successful
patent attorney
A patent attorney is an attorney who has the specialized qualifications necessary for representing clients in obtaining patents and acting in all matters and procedures relating to patent law and practice, such as filing patent applications and op ...
living in Beverly Hills, California on the brink of becoming a partner in the law firm where he works. He has two children with his wife Grace, a perfect housewife who also moonlights as a boutique owner. His 11-year-old son Coty is a precocious child actor who has just been cast for ''Church Windows'' while Deirdre, his 4-year-old daughter, has been mute since birth. His mother-in-law is the impossibly chic socialite and artist Josie Ito, a woman of strong will and numerous social and political connections. At night, Harry is plagued by strange dreams of a
rhinoceros
A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...
and a faceless woman who has palm trees tattooed on her body.
One day, Harry is visited by a former lover of his college days - the alluring Paige Katz. Paige asks for his help in tracking down her 12-year-old son Peter, who disappeared five years earlier. Paige is closely associated with the Wild Palms media group, which Harry's firm is going up against in court. Harry is passed over for a promotion due to the seeming
conflict of interest
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...
when it is revealed that Paige works as the public relations director at Wild Palms. After this, Harry quits his job and gladly accepts when Kreutzer offers him a job at Channel 3 with a much higher salary.
Harry's wife Grace becomes alienated by his lingering interest in Paige and attempts suicide. To his dismay, Harry learns that Coty is actually the son of Kreutzer and Paige, and that her search request was a plot to bring him and the Senator together. After ''Church Windows'' is aired, Coty becomes not only a TV star but also — due to his privileged upbringing and personal ruthlessness — a high-ranking member of the Church of Synthiotics. Josie turns out to be the Senator's sister who disposes of potential rivals with the same violently brutal means as her brother. Her only weak point is her affection for her estranged husband Eli Levitt, leader of the Friends and Grace's father who is currently in prison.
Kreutzer plans to marry Paige and tries to get hold of the Go chip, an advanced microchip which would enable him to become an immortal living hologram. He uses all means possible to acquire the chip, but Paige is disgusted by his methods and gives information to the Friends. Meanwhile, Harry finally finds Paige's son Peter, who is living on the streets having run away from home. Harry discovers that Peter, who has connections to the Friends, is his real son who was taken away by the Fathers shortly after his birth. Kreutzer, who suspects Harry of collaborating with his opponents, has him tortured, and kidnaps Deirdre, while Josie strangles Grace.
Harry joins the Friends and uses his access to Channel 3 to broadcast a Mimecom recording of Grace's murder that causes a social uproar in order to bring down the Fathers. Synthiotics facilities and the campaign offices of Kreutzer (who is now running for president) are attacked. The Fathers try unsuccessfully to defuse the situation by killing Eli and broadcasting a fake video that depicts Harry as Grace's killer. Josie ends up being brutally killed by a former victim, Tully Woiwode. Kreutzer finally manages to get hold of the Go chip and has it implanted, but not before it is secretly altered by Harry and Peter. Kreutzer reveals to Harry that he is his biological father, then loses cohesion and dissolves into nothingness. Harry and Paige rescue Dierdre from Coty who has now taken Kreutzer's place as the leader of the Fathers and the Church of Synthiotics. In the end, Harry, Paige, Peter and Dierdre pack up and flee from the civil unrest happening all over Los Angeles and they safely drive away into the sunset on a nearby beach.
Episodes
ABC aired the miniseries over five consecutive nights:
* 1993-05-16: Everything Must Go (approx. 90 minutes) - directed by
Peter Hewitt
* 1993-05-17: The Floating World (approx. 45 minutes) - directed by
Keith Gordon
Keith Gordon (born February 3, 1961) is an American actor and film director.
Early life
Gordon was born in New York City, the son of Mark, an actor and stage director, and Barbara Gordon. He grew up in an atheist Jewish family. Gordon was insp ...
* 1993-05-18: Rising Sons (approx. 45 minutes) - directed by
Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Ann Bigelow (; born November 27, 1951) is an American filmmaker. Covering a wide range of genres, her films include ''Near Dark'' (1987), ''Point Break'' (1991), '' Strange Days'' (1995), '' K-19: The Widowmaker'' (2002), ''The Hurt Locke ...
* 1993-05-19: Hungry Ghosts (approx. 45 minutes) - directed by
Keith Gordon
Keith Gordon (born February 3, 1961) is an American actor and film director.
Early life
Gordon was born in New York City, the son of Mark, an actor and stage director, and Barbara Gordon. He grew up in an atheist Jewish family. Gordon was insp ...
* 1993-05-20: Hello, I Must Be Going (approx. 45 minutes) - directed by
Phil Joanou
Phil Joanou (born November 20, 1961) is an American director of film, music videos, and television programs, known in part for his ongoing relationship to the band U2.
Biography
Joanou was born in La Cañada Flintridge, California, and began m ...
Cast
*
James Belushi
James Adam Belushi (; born June 15, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Jim on the sitcom ''According to Jim'' (2001–2009). His other television roles include ''Saturday Night Live'' (1983–1985), '' Total Security'' ...
as Harry Wyckoff, a
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...
based patent attorney and later, CEO of the Wild Palms group.
*
Dana Delany
Dana Welles Delany (born March 13, 1956) is an American actress. After appearing in small roles early in her career, Delany received her breakthrough role as Colleen McMurphy on the ABC television drama ''China Beach'' (1988–1991), for which s ...
as Grace Wyckoff, his wife, suburban housewife and owner of Hiroshima, a retro fashion boutique.
*
Ben Savage
Bennett Joseph Savage (born September 13, 1980) is an American actor. He played the lead role of Cory Matthews on the ABC sitcom ''Boy Meets World'' (1993–2000) and its Disney Channel sequel ''Girl Meets World'' (2014–2017).
Early life
Sava ...
as Coty Wyckoff, their 11-year-old son, a child actor on the verge of a breakthrough to stardom.
*
Robert Loggia
Salvatore "Robert" Loggia ( , ; January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Jagged Edge'' (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for ...
as Senator Tony Kreutzer, former sci-fi author, founder of the Wild Palms group and the Synthiotics cult.
*
Angie Dickinson
Angeline Dickinson (née Brown; born September 30, 1931) is an American actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in ''Gun the Man Down'' (1956) wit ...
as Josie Ito, Grace's mother, a celebrated interior decorator with numerous connections and secrets.
*
David Warner David or Dave Warner may refer to:
Sports
* Dave Warner (strongman) (born 1969), Northern Ireland strongman competitor
* David Bruce Warner (born 1970), South African alpine skier
* David Warner (cricketer) (born 1986), Australian cricketer
Oth ...
as Eli Levitt, Grace's father, former history professor imprisoned for terrorism. Founder of the Friends.
*
Kim Cattrall
Kim Victoria Cattrall (; born 21 August 1956) is a British-Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones on HBO's ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), for which she received five Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe A ...
as Paige Katz, PR director of the Wild Palms group, Harry's former love and Kreutzer's fiancée.
*
Ernie Hudson
Earnest Lee Hudson (born December 17, 1945) is an American actor. His roles include Winston Zeddemore in the ''Ghostbusters'' film series, Sergeant Darryl Albrecht in ''The Crow'' (1994), and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's '' Oz'' (1997–2003). Hu ...
as Tommy Laszlo, Harry Wyckoff's childhood friend, an eccentric entrepreneur.
*
Nick Mancuso
Nicodemo Antonio Massimo Mancuso (born May 29, 1948) is an Italian-Canadian actor, artist, playwright, and director. Beginning his career as a stage actor, he had his breakthrough role in the 1981 drama ''Ticket to Heaven'', for which he won the ...
as Tully Woiwode, infamous and popular painter and toast-of-the-town, Tommy's secret lover.
*
Bebe Neuwirth
Beatrice "Bebe" Jane Neuwirth ( ; born December 31, 1958) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. On television, she played Dr. Lilith Sternin, Frasier Crane's wife, on both the TV sitcom ''Cheers'' (in a starring role) and its spin-off ''F ...
as Tabba Schwartzkopf, Academy Award-winning actress who befriends Grace, and is part of the Wild Palms group.
*
Aaron Michael Metchik
Aaron Michael Metchik (born April 22, 1980), also credited as Aaron Metchik, is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his role as Steven Floyd Torkelson on ''The Torkelsons'' and as Jeremy in '' Trading Mom''.
Biography
Metchik's a ...
as Peter, a street urchin with mysterious connections to Harry, Grace and the Fathers.
*
Brad Dourif
Bradford Claude Dourif (; born March 18, 1950) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Oscar, and won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for his film debut role as Billy Bibbit in '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975). He is also kn ...
as Chickie Levitt, Eli Levitt's son from another relationship. Virtual reality boy genius and technology wizard.
*
Charles Hallahan
Charles John Hallahan (July 29, 1943 – November 25, 1997) was an American film, television, and stage actor known for his performances in ''Going in Style'', '' The Thing'', '' Cast a Deadly Spell'', and ''Dante's Peak''. He was also best know ...
as Gavin Whitehope, Harry's associate at the Wild Palms group. Reformed alcoholic and Synthiotics devotee.
*
Robert Morse
Robert Alan Morse (May 18, 1931 – April 20, 2022) was an American actor, who starred in ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', both the 1961 original Broadway production, for which he won a Tony Award, and its 1967 film adaptati ...
as Chap Starfall, erstwhile pop star reduced to lounge singer status until the Wild Palms group revives him.
*
Beata Pozniak
Beata or Beate is a female given name that occurs in several cultures and languages, including Italian, German, Polish, and Swedish, and which is derived from the Latin ''beatus'', meaning "blessed".''Behind the Name''"Given Name Beate" Retrie ...
as Tambor, the Wyckoffs' dutiful au-pair.
*
Bob Gunton
Robert Patrick Gunton Jr. (born November 15, 1945) is an American character actor of stage and screen. He is known for playing strict authoritarian characters, including Warden Samuel Norton in the 1994 prison drama ''The Shawshank Redemption'', ...
as Dr. Tobias Schenkl, Harry's psychiatrist.
*
Rondi Reed
Rondi Anne Reed (born October 26, 1952) is an American actress of stage and screen. A longtime member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, she has appeared in more than 50 productions at that theater. Also active on Broadway, she won the 20 ...
as Eileen Whitehope, Gavin's wife, a "
Lady-who-lunches" who also alerts Grace to a danger in her own home.
*
Charles Rocket
Charles Adams Claverie (August 28, 1949 – October 7, 2005), known by stage names Charlie Hamburger, Charlie Kennedy and Charles Rocket, was an American actor, comedian, musician, and television news reporter. He was a cast member on ''Saturda ...
as Stitch Walken, a stand-up comedian who is also a surreptitious agent of the Friends.
*
Eugene Lee as Lt. Bob Grindrod, a corrupt LAPD detective under contract to the Wild Palms group.
*
François Chau
François Chau (born October 26, 1959) is a Cambodian American actor. He is known for his roles as Dr. Pierre Chang in ABC's ''Lost'', Quick Kick on '' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'', Dr. Chang in the film '' 21 & Over'', The Shredder in '' Te ...
as Hiro, Grace's childhood sweetheart from her years spent in Japan, and an enemy of Kreutzer.
* Monica Mikala as Deirdre Wyckoff, Harry and Grace's silent four-year-old daughter, who gets kidnapped and used as a pawn later on.
Cameos
*
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyber ...
author
William Gibson
William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ...
has a
cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...
as himself. When the author is introduced as the man who invented the term
Cyberspace
Cyberspace is a concept describing a widespread interconnected digital technology. "The expression dates back from the first decade of the diffusion of the internet. It refers to the online world as a world 'apart', as distinct from everyday rea ...
, he remarks, "and they won't let me forget it".
* ''Wild Palms'' producer and film director Oliver Stone also has a cameo. In a fictitious interview he appears as himself and comments on the release of files pertinent to the assassination of
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
, revealing that the theories in his film ''
JFK
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
'' were right.
* ''Wild Palms'' director
Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Ann Bigelow (; born November 27, 1951) is an American filmmaker. Covering a wide range of genres, her films include ''Near Dark'' (1987), ''Point Break'' (1991), '' Strange Days'' (1995), '' K-19: The Widowmaker'' (2002), ''The Hurt Locke ...
has an uncredited cameo. She plays the character Maisy Woiwode.
Production
Oliver Stone had originally planned to film Bruce Wagner's novel ''Force Majeure'', but then decided to film Wagner's comic strip ''Wild Palms'', published in Details magazine, instead: "It was so
syncretic
Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...
. It was such a fractured view of the world. Everything and anything could happen. Maybe your wife isn't your wife, maybe your kids aren't your kids. It really appealed to me." Wagner referred to his creation as "a sort of surreal diary
€¦a
tone poem
A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ''T ...
", set in an "Orwellian Los Angeles". ABC agreed to finance the project on a budget of $11 million, but, remembering the eventual decline of
David Lynch's ''
Twin Peaks
''Twin Peaks'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company, ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cance ...
'', insisted that the series had "a complete story, with a beginning, a middle, and an end".
[''Television: Never mind reality, just revel in the kitsch: 'Wild Palms' began as a cartoon strip, now it's a mini-series with a major twist''](_blank)
article by Mary Harron in The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
, November 7, 1993, retrieved 2012-02-18.
Actor James Belushi compared the series (among others) to the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
TV serial ''
The Prisoner
''The Prisoner'' is a 1967 British television series about an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a mysterious coastal village, where his captors designate him as Number Six and try to find out why he abruptl ...
'', and stated: "It's very tough, very challenging—a lot of viewers probably won't dig it." Dana Delany suggested that viewers should "let it wash over you, enjoy each scene, and by the end it'll make sense". Robert Loggia compared it to the
Elizabethan
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
play ''
The Duchess of Malfi
''The Duchess of Malfi'' (originally published as ''The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy'') is a Jacobean revenge tragedy written by English dramatist John Webster in 1612–1613. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, ...
'' and the
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
tragedy ''
Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...
''. ABC, bound to make sure that viewers wouldn't lose attention, had a supplemental book, ''The Wild Palms Reader'', published and offered a telephone hotline with the show's initial run.
These measures notwithstanding, Stone considered the atmosphere to be more important than the storyline.
[''Aus dem Land der Alpträume''](_blank)
interview with Oliver Stone (in German) by Catherine Mayer in Focus
Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to:
Arts
* Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film
*''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore
* ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...
50/1993, December 13, 1993, retrieved 2012-02-03.
William Gibson later stated that "while the mini-series fell drastically short of the serial, it did produce one admirably peculiar literary artifact, ''The Wild Palms Reader''" (to which he contributed). Both Stone and Gibson called Wagner the creative force behind the series.
Production design
The United States of the year 2007 as depicted in the series shows a strong influence of Japanese culture, such as in dress and interior and exterior design.
Hologram
Holography is a technique that enables a wavefront to be recorded and later re-constructed. Holography is best known as a method of generating real three-dimensional images, but it also has a wide range of other Holography#Applications, applic ...
s of
Miss
Miss (pronounced ) is an English language honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as "Doctor" or "Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her maiden name. Originating in the 17th century, it ...
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
and
girl group
A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...
The Supremes
The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful ...
even bear Japanese facial features.
Other interior details show the influence of
Scottish designer and architect
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macdo ...
(1868–1928). Deliberately anachronistic elements include 1960s cars (like
Studebaker
Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers M ...
police vehicles) and
Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
fashion.
Cerruti 1881
Cerruti 1881, also known as Cerruti, is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1967 in Paris by the Italian stylist and fashion producer Nino Cerruti. It was named "1881" because Nino's grandfather established the family woolen mill, Fratelli C ...
provided costumes.
Supplements
Soundtrack album
In addition to
Ryuichi Sakamoto's music score, a number of 1960s rock and pop songs and classical compositions could be heard in the series. On the 1993 released soundtrack album, the following songs were included besides Sakamoto's music:
*
The Zombies
The Zombies are an English rock band formed in the early 1960s in St Albans and led by keyboardist and vocalist Rod Argent and vocalist Colin Blunstone. The group had a British and American hit in 1964 with "She's Not There". In the US, two fu ...
: ''
She's Not There
"She's Not There" is the debut single by British rock band the Zombies, written by keyboardist Rod Argent. It reached 12 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1964, and 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States at the beginning of ...
''
*
Don Gardner
Donald Gardner (May 9, 1931 – September 4, 2018) was an American rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, and drummer. His records included the 1962 pop hit " I Need Your Lovin'", with Dee Dee Ford.
Biography
Born in Philadelphia, Gardner star ...
&
Dee Dee Ford: ''
I Need Your Lovin'''
*
Frankie Valli
Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer, known as the frontman of the Four Seasons beginning in 1960. He is known for his unusually powerful lead falsetto voice.
...
: ''
Can't Take My Eyes Off You
"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is a 1967 song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio. It was recorded as a single by Frankie Valli. The song was among his biggest hits, earning a gold record and reaching No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for a week ...
''
*
Lou Christie
Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco (born February 19, 1943), known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American pop and soft rock singer-songwriter known for several hits in the 1960s, including his 1966 US chart-topper "Lightnin' Strikes" and 1969 ...
: ''
Lightnin' Strikes
"Lightnin' Strikes" is a song written by Lou Christie and Twyla Herbert, and recorded by Christie on the MGM label. It was a hit in 1966, making it first to No. 1 in Canada in January 1966 on the '' RPM'' Top Singles chart, then to No. 1 in th ...
''
*
Mason Williams
Mason Douglas Williams (born August 24, 1938) is an American classical guitarist, composer, singer, writer, comedian, and poet, best known for his 1968 instrumental "Classical Gas" and for his work as a comedy writer on ''The Smothers Brothers ...
: ''
Classical Gas
"Classical Gas" is an instrumental musical piece composed and originally performed by American guitarist Mason Williams with instrumental backing by members of the Wrecking Crew. Originally released in 1968 on the album ''The Mason Williams Ph ...
''
The following songs and compositions can be heard in the series but are not featured on the album:
*
The Animals
The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and ...
: ''
The House of the Rising Sun
"The House of the Rising Sun" is a traditional folk music, folk song, sometimes called "Rising Sun Blues". It tells of a person's life gone wrong in the city of New Orleans. Many versions also urge a sibling or parents and children to avoid th ...
''
*
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
: ''
Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92, Second Movement''
*
The 5th Dimension
The 5th Dimension is an American popular music vocal group, whose repertoire includes pop, R&B, soul, jazz, light opera, and Broadway.
Formed as the Versatiles in late 1965, the group changed its name to "the 5th Dimension" by 1966. Betwee ...
: ''
Wedding Bell Blues
"Wedding Bell Blues" is a song written and recorded by Laura Nyro in 1966. The best known version was a number one hit for the 5th Dimension in 1969.
The lyrics are written from the perspective of a woman whose boyfriend has not yet proposed to ...
''
*
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
: ''
Gimme Shelter
"Gimme Shelter" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. Released as the opening track from band's 1969 album ''Let It Bleed''. The song covers topics of war, murder, rape and fear. It features prominent guest vocals by American singer ...
''
* The Rolling Stones: ''
No Expectations
"No Expectations" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones featured on their 1968 album ''Beggars Banquet''. It was first released as the B-side of the " Street Fighting Man" single in August 1968. The song was recorded in May 1968. Bria ...
''
*
The Supremes
The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful ...
: ''
Love Child''
*
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
: ''
Parsifal
''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival'' ...
, Prelude''
Books
A book, ''The Wild Palms Reader'', was published by
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...
before the series aired. It included time lines, secret letters, and character biographies. ABC, concerned that viewers might get "hopelessly lost in the tangled story line",
arranged for the
primer
Primer may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Primer'' (film), a 2004 feature film written and directed by Shane Carruth
* ''Primer'' (video), a documentary about the funk band Living Colour
Literature
* Primer (textbook), a t ...
to be published. It also included writing supposedly from the "world of the series". Contributors included:
*
Norman Spinrad
Norman Richard Spinrad (born September 15, 1940) is an American science fiction author, essayist, and critic. His fiction has won the Prix Apollo and been nominated for numerous awards, including the Hugo Award and multiple Nebula Awards.
Pe ...
– sci-fi writer ''(
Bug Jack Barron
''Bug Jack Barron'' is a 1969 science fiction novel by American writer Norman Spinrad, first serialized in the '' New Worlds'' magazine under the editorship of Michael Moorcock. It was nominated for the 1970 Hugo Award. The novel is notable for ...
,
The Iron Dream
''The Iron Dream'' is a metafictional 1972 alternate history novel by American author Norman Spinrad. The book has a nested narrative that tells a story within a story. On the surface, the novel presents a post-apocalyptic adventure tale entitl ...
)''
*
Genesis P. Orridge (anonymous) – musician (
Psychic TV,
Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter (British musician), Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pi ...
)
*
E. Howard Hunt –
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
officer involved in the
Watergate Scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...
, writer of spy/sci-fi novels
*
William Gibson
William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ...
– sci-fi writer
*
Brenda Laurel
Brenda Laurel (born 1950) is an American interaction designer, video game designer, and researcher. She is an advocate for diversity and inclusiveness in video games, a "pioneer in developing virtual reality", a public speaker, and an academic. ...
–
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
consultant on the mini-series
*
Spain Rodriguez
Manuel Rodriguez (March 2, 1940 – November 28, 2012), better known as Spain or Spain Rodriguez, was an American underground cartoonist who created the character Trashman. His experiences on the road with the motorcycle club, the Road Vultures M ...
– 1960s underground comic artist ''(
Trashman)''
*
Hans Moravec
Hans Peter Moravec (born November 30, 1948, Kautzen, Austria) is an adjunct faculty member at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, USA. He is known for his work on robotics, artificial intelligence, and writings on ...
– scientist and writer in the
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
field
While the comic series was published in book form in Germany, the ''Wild Palms Reader'' was not. Instead, a
novelization
A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...
, written by German
dime novel
The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century U.S. popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related forms, r ...
author
Horst Friedrichs, was published under the title ''Wild Palms''.
Reception
Reviews of the series were mixed.
''The New York Times'' critic John J. O'Connor called ''Wild Palms'' a "truly wild six-hour mini-series" resembling "nothing so much as an acid freak's fantasy, drenched in paranoia and more pop-culture allusions than a
Dennis Miller
Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is an American talk show host, political commentator, sports commentator, actor, and comedian.
He was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1991, and he subsequently hosted a stri ...
monologue." He described it as "rich and insinuating as a good
theatrical film, albeit harder to follow" and concluded, "You wanted something different? Here it is. And ''Wild Palms'' also happens to be terrific."
Ken Tucker in ''Entertainment Weekly'' stated that "in its length, scope, sweeping visual tableaux, and over-the-top passion, ''Wild Palms'' is more like an opera than a TV show." Comparing it to David Lynch's ''Twin Peaks'', he decided that "unlike ''Peaks'', which started out brilliantly lucid and then rambled into incoherence, ''Palms'' sustains its length and adds layers of complexity to its characters. It also has something crucial that Peaks did not: a sense of humor about itself."
[''Wild Palms'' review](_blank)
by Ken Tucker in Entertainment Weekly, May 14, 1993, retrieved 2012-02-01.
Mary Harron of the British ''
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
'' suggested that viewers "forget about the message, and about what the rhino means. Wild Palms should be watched like opera; for its gorgeous images, its emotional set-pieces and its high style."
Readers of the British trade weekly ''
Broadcast
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...
'' were much more negative, calling it one of the worst television shows ever exported by the U.S. to the U.K. It placed fourth on their list, exceeded only by ''
Baywatch
''Baywatch'' is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann, ...
'', ''
The Anna Nicole Show
''The Anna Nicole Show'' is an American reality sitcom starring former model and Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith. The series debuted on August 4, 2002 on E! and ran for three seasons. The first season was the most watched show on the network ...
'' and ''
The Dukes of Hazzard
''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television series ...
''. ''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' also blasted it, offering the interpretation that
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...
was condemning television while covertly lauding cinematic films.
Home media
* ''Wild Palms'' was released on
VHS cassette in the UK by BBC in 1993, where it aired between November 15 and December 7 the same year.
* It was first released on
CLV laserdisc
The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...
in the U.S. in March 1995. The series was released on VHS on February 8, 2000 on two separate VHS tapes.
* It was released as a
Region 4 DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
in Australia in 2004, a
Region 1 DVD in the U.S. on October 4, 2005 by MGM Home Entertainment, and a
Region 2 DVD in the UK in 2008.
* It was re-released as a two-disk DVD special edition and on
blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
for the first time by
Kino International
The Kino International is a film theater in Berlin, built from 1961 to 1963. It is located on Karl-Marx-Allee in former East Berlin. It hosted premieres of the DEFA film studios until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Today it is a protec ...
on June 30, 2020.
References
External links
*
* {{cite web , title=''The Wild Palms Reader'' , url=http://www.locusmag.com/index/t511.htm#A26729 , website=Contents Lists , publisher=
Locus magazine
''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy (genre ...
1990s American science fiction television series
1993 American television series debuts
1993 American television series endings
American Broadcasting Company original programming
Television shows based on comic strips
Television shows about virtual reality
Television series set in 2007
Television shows set in Los Angeles