'It's really not the Murdochs': Thick of It's Jesse Armstrong on his new show about a media dynasty

The screenwriter skewered political spin doctors: now his new show targets media’s ultimate players: America’s rich and powerful TV barons. ‘Comedy has to be part of how you portray these people,’ he says

An ageing and cantankerous media billionaire is living in New York with his third wife, surrounded by a brood of children and hangers-on who spend their time squabbling over who will inherit the family conglomerate. Desperate to win the favour of their foul-mouthed father, the offspring spend their time taking over online startups and arriving at family gatherings in helicopters – anything they can think of to impress the mogul.

So far, so familiar. But Jesse Armstrong would like to make it absolutely clear that Succession, the writer’s new big-budget drama series, is definitely not about a certain Australian-born media magnate. “It’s not bullshit to say it really isn’t the Murdochs,” says Armstrong, who previously wrote an unproduced film script about Rupert Murdoch and his family.

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2OrnHQ5