Patrick Stewart's Short-Lived Show From Family Guy's Creator Deserves Another Look

When most people think of acclaimed British actor Sir Patrick Stewart, they tend to think of him in a dignified manner — not having public crash-outs where he screams profanities at the press. But that's exactly what audiences who tuned in to the Starz original comedy "Blunt Talk" saw, and while critics seemed to absolutely hate it, the show honestly deserves a little more love. 

While Stewart is best known for characters like the noble Captain Jean-Luc Picard on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and the civil rights leader Professor X in the "X-Men" movies, on "Blunt Talk" he goes 100% in the opposite direction as cable newscaster Walter Blunt. Fans might be surprised that Stewart has such a funny bone, as he largely considers his SNL episode a disaster and almost always stars in dramas, but it turns out Stewart is very funny.

As Blunt, Stewart was able to get as vulgar and weird as he wanted, and since the series was created by "Bored to Death" showrunner Jonathan Ames and executive produced by "Family Guy" creator Seth Macfarlane, there was no limit to the weirdness or vulgarity. That was too much for most critics and "Blunt Talk" was critically ripped to shreds, but audiences had a ball with Stewart behaving badly. (There are two types of people in this world: those who love it when Stewart controversially drops F bombs and those who do not.) "Blunt Talk" was originally greenlit for 20 episodes, split into two seasons, and sadly never got to go beyond that. It's a real shame, too, because the brutally irreverent humor of "Blunt Talk" is even more relevant a decade later. 

The humor on "Blunt Talk" is definitely not for everyone, as Seth Macfarlane's has a tendency toward the rude and crude and Jonathan Ames has a darkly subversive wit that can feel too mean at times, but there's so much more to it than just Sir Patrick Stewart doing copious amounts of cocaine or getting caught with a transgender sex worker in his car. Stewart has excellent comedic timing and can be truly shocking (there's a reason why co-star Ricky Gervais couldn't stop cracking up while filming "Extras"), and his ability to poke fun at people who take themselves too seriously is next-level. That's the real genius of "Blunt Talk," as it points out how ludicrous it is that newscasters have become celebrity figures. It's a pretty harsh take-down of cable news networks and the 24-hour news cycle, where facts matter less than ratings, but it's also a series where the main characters all spend an episode detailing their sexual hang-ups. It's weird, it's wonderful, it's occasionally surprisingly sweet, and there really isn't anything out there like it. 

Unfortunately, "Blunt Talk" isn't available on any streaming platforms, though you can buy the series or individual episodes digitally. It's well worth a watch in a time when cable newscasters have gained so much power and notoriety, and even if that's not your thing it's worth checking out just to see Stewart really cut loose. Walter Blunt is one of Stewart's most unique characters, and even though he's usually not ranked among the best, he deserves another look.