Gaslit is an American political thriller television limited series based on the first season of the podcast Slow Burn by Leon Neyfakh. It stars Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, Dan Stevens, Betty Gilpin, Shea Whigham, and Darby Camp. It premiered on Starz on April 24, 2022.
Gaslit | |
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Genre | Political thriller |
Created by | Robbie Pickering |
Based on | Slow Burn by Leon Neyfakh |
Directed by | Matt Ross |
Starring | |
Composer | Mac Quayle |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 8 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Cinematography | Larkin Seiple |
Editor | Joe Leonard |
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Original network | Starz |
Original release | April 24 (2022-04-24) – June 12, 2022 (2022-06-12) |
Watergate scandal |
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Watergate complex |
Events |
List
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People |
Watergate burglars
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Groups
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CRP
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White House
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Judiciary
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Journalists
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Intelligence community
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Congress
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Related
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The series is about the Watergate scandal and focuses on several untold stories, including Richard Nixon's subordinates, deranged zealots, and the whistleblowers who would eventually bring the whole enterprise crashing down. The story centers on Martha Mitchell, a celebrity Arkansan socialite and wife to Nixon’s loyal Attorney General, John N. Mitchell. Despite her party affiliation, she is the first person to publicly sound the alarm on Nixon's involvement in Watergate, causing both the presidency and her personal life to unravel. As attorney general, Mitchell is forced to choose between Martha and the president.
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
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1 | "Will" | Matt Ross | Robbie Pickering | April 24, 2022 (2022-04-24) | 0.224[4] |
2 | "California" | Matt Ross | Robbie Pickering & Amelia Gray | May 1, 2022 (2022-05-01) | 0.227[5] |
3 | "King George" | Matt Ross | Robbie Pickering & Amelia Gray | May 8, 2022 (2022-05-08) | 0.204[6] |
4 | "Malum in Se" | Matt Ross | Alberto Roldán & Amelia Gray | May 15, 2022 (2022-05-15) | 0.194[7] |
5 | "Honeymoon" | Matt Ross | Robbie Pickering & Anayat Fakhraie | May 22, 2022 (2022-05-22) | 0.208[8] |
6 | "Tuffy" | Matt Ross | Uzoamaka Maduka & Sofya Levitsky-Weitz | May 29, 2022 (2022-05-29) | 0.217[9] |
7 | "Year of the Rat" | Matt Ross | Amelia Gray | June 5, 2022 (2022-06-05) | 0.266[10] |
8 | "Final Days" | Matt Ross | Robbie Pickering | June 12, 2022 (2022-06-12) | 0.339[11] |
Gaslit is a political thriller based on the first season of the Slate podcast Slow Burn by Leon Neyfakh. The series from Universal Content Productions was announced in February 2020, with Sam Esmail attached to executive produce and Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, Armie Hammer and Joel Edgerton joining the cast. Edgerton was also set to direct the series along with his brother Nash Edgerton.[12] Hammer would exit the series due to scheduling conflicts in January 2021.[13] In February, the series was picked up by Starz, while both Edgerton brothers also exited the series. Matt Ross joined as the new director.[14] Dan Stevens would be cast to replace Hammer in April,[15] with Betty Gilpin, Darby Camp and Shea Whigham joining in May and Whigham replacing Edgerton.[16]
Filming began that same month in Los Angeles, California.[16] In July 2021, Allison Tolman, J.C. Mackenzie, Chris Bauer, Chris Messina and Hamish Linklater joined the cast in recurring roles.[17] Penn had refused to return to the series until all cast and crew on the production had the COVID-19 vaccine.[18] In September, the studio and Penn reached a compromise where Penn would film his scenes in two weeks with a vaccinated production crew.[19] Fourteen cast members were confirmed for recurring roles in October.[20] On February 2, 2022, the series was given an April 24, 2022 premiere date.[21] In an interview, Pickering said the series was not a "girlboss overcorrect of history" or a "Wikipedia run down" but that their goal was to accurately depict the historical events. "Anyone can go and read a book about this or the Wikipedia entry," Stevens said, "but there are human stories that illustrate the depth."[22]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 42 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.40/10. The website's consensus reads, "Fronted by a nervy Julia Roberts, Gaslit is less a slow burn than an acting extravaganza of big personalities enmeshed in historic scandal."[23] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 71 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[24]
No. | Title | Air date | Rating (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | DVR (18–49) | DVR viewers (millions) | Total (18–49) | Total viewers (millions) |
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1 | "Will" | April 24, 2022 | 0.02 | 0.224[4] | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
2 | "California" | May 1, 2022 | 0.01 | 0.227[5] | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
3 | "King George" | May 8, 2022 | 0.01 | 0.204[6] | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
4 | "Malum in Se" | May 15, 2022 | 0.00 | 0.194[7] | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
5 | "Honeymoon" | May 22, 2022 | 0.02 | 0.208[8] | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
6 | "Tuffy" | May 29, 2022 | 0.02 | 0.217[9] | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
7 | "Year of the Rat" | June 5, 2022 | 0.02 | 0.266[10] | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
8 | "Final Days" | June 12, 2022 | 0.03 | 0.339[11] | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
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2022 |
Hollywood Critics Association Awards | Best Broadcast Network or Cable Limited or Anthology Series | Gaslit | Nominated | [25] |
Best Actor in a Broadcast Network or Cable Limited or Anthology Series | Sean Penn | Nominated | |||
Best Actress in a Broadcast Network or Cable Limited or Anthology Series | Julia Roberts | Nominated | |||
Best Supporting Actor in a Broadcast Network or Cable Limited or Anthology Series | Dan Stevens | Nominated | |||
Best Supporting Actress in a Broadcast Network or Cable Limited or Anthology Series | Betty Gilpin | Nominated | |||
Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie | Larkin Seiple (for "Will") | Nominated | [26] | |
Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup | Kazu Hiro, Vincent Van Dyke, Richard Redrefsen, Christopher Nelson, Michael Ornelaz, and Kelly Golden (for "Final Days") |
Nominated | |||
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special | Kevin Buchholz, Stefani Feldman, Sang Kim, Dan Kremer, Adam Parrish-King, Sam Munoz, Jordan Aldinger, Ben Zales, Chris Rummel, Jacob McNaughton, and Noel Vought (for "Year of the Rat") |
Nominated | |||
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie | John W. Cook II, Ben Wilkins, and Devendra Cleary (for "Final Days") | Nominated | |||
Set Decorators Society of America Awards | Best Achievement in Décor/Design of a Television Movie or Limited Series | Jennifer Lukehart and Daniel Novotny | Nominated | [27] | |
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