White House Plumbers
Genre
Created by
  • Alex Gregory
  • Peter Huyck
Based on
Integrity: Good People, Bad Choices, and Life Lessons from the White House
by
Written by
  • Alex Gregory
  • Peter Huyck
Directed byDavid Mandel
Starring
ComposerJeff Cardoni
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes5
Production
Executive producers
Running time45–63 minutes
Production companies
  • Fearless Films
  • Hot Seat Productions
  • Perfect Pleasant Productions
  • Genco Pura Olive Oil Company
  • wiip
  • The District
  • Crash&Salvage
  • HBO Entertainment
Original release
NetworkHBO
ReleaseMay 1 (2023-05-01) –
May 29, 2023 (2023-05-29)

White House Plumbers is an American satirical political drama television miniseries created and written by Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck and directed by David Mandel, based on the 2007 book Integrity by Egil Krogh and Matthew Krogh.[1][2] The series stars Woody Harrelson, Justin Theroux, Domhnall Gleeson, Kiernan Shipka, and Lena Headey and it premiered on HBO on May 1, 2023.[3]

Premise

Watergate masterminds and President Richard Nixon's political operatives E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy are part of the "White House Plumbers". Charged with plugging press leaks by any means necessary, they accidentally overturned the Presidency they were trying to protect.

Cast and characters

Main

Guest

Additionally, Robert Redford makes an uncredited voice-only cameo as Bob Woodward, the same role he played in All the President's Men.[4]

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateU.S. viewers
(millions)
1"The Beverly Hills Burglary"David MandelAlex Gregory & Peter HuyckMay 1, 2023 (2023-05-01)0.216[5]
In 1971, former CIA agent E. Howard Hunt and former FBI agent G. Gordon Liddy are assigned by United States Under Secretary of Transportation Egil Krogh to steal the papers of Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist. They go to Beverly Hills and scope out his office, and Hunt and his wife Dorothy have dinner with Liddy upon their return, though she is put off by his obsession with Adolf Hitler. Hunt and Liddy, now the "Plumbers", return to Beverly Hills and the former recruits his associates Bernard Barker, Felipe De Diego, and Eugenio Martínez to break into the office and photograph the papers, but they trash the office in the process and make up a hasty cover story which passes by the police. White House Counsel John Dean replaces Krogh and informs the Plumbers that Liddy has been made a member of the CRP, and approves the Plumbers' request for a million dollar budget.
2"Please Destroy This, Huh?"David MandelAlex Gregory & Peter HuyckMay 8, 2023 (2023-05-08)0.163[6]
3"Don't Drink the Whiskey at the Watergate"David MandelAlex Gregory & Peter HuyckMay 15, 2023 (2023-05-15)0.195[7]
4"The Writer's Wife"David MandelAlex Gregory & Peter HuyckMay 22, 2023 (2023-05-22)0.172[8]
5"True Believers"David MandelAlex Gregory & Peter HuyckMay 29, 2023 (2023-05-29)N/A

Production

Development

On December 4, 2019, it was announced that HBO had ordered the five-episode limited series created and executive produced by Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck, David Mandel, Frank Rich, Ruben Fleischer, and David Bernad. Gregory and Huyck were attached to write the miniseries with Mandel directing all episodes.[9] The series premiered on May 1, 2023.[3]

Casting

Alongside the series order announcement, Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux were set to star in lead roles as well as executive produce.[9] In April 2021, Domhnall Gleeson and Lena Headey were cast in main roles.[10][11] In May 2021, Kiernan Shipka, Ike Barinholtz, Yul Vazquez, David Krumholtz, Rich Sommer, Kim Coates, and Liam James joined the cast in starring roles while Nelson Ascencio, Gary Cole, Toby Huss, Zoe Levin, John Carroll Lynch, Zak Orth, and Tony Plana were cast in undisclosed capacities.[12][13] In the same month, the following week, Kathleen Turner joined the main cast.[14] In June 2021, Judy Greer was cast in a main role.[15] In July 2021, Corbin Bernsen and Alexis Valdés were cast in undisclosed capacities.[16]

Filming

The series began principal photography on May 3, 2021, and ended on October 21, 2021. Filming took place in Poughkeepsie, New York on Zack's Way, New York City, Albany, New York, Washington, D.C., Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands,[17] Beverly Hills, California,[18] and Redondo Beach, California.[19] On August 5, 2021, production was suspended after an audio recording reportedly captured Mandel berating and threatening the head of props, and the props department walked off the set.[20] Filming resumed on August 12 with additional protocols following the incident.[21]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 68% approval rating, with an average rating of 6.1/10, based on 44 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "White House Plumbers gets clogged up by its overstuffed adherence to real history, but with actors this appealing and material that truly is stranger than fiction, it flushes down easy enough."[22] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, has assigned a score of 62 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[23]

References

  1. ↑ "HBO Releases Official Trailer For The Limited Series WHITE HOUSE PLUMBERS, Debuting May 1". Warner Media (Press release). March 30, 2023. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  2. ↑ Krogh, Egil; Krogh, Matthew (2007). Integrity: Good People, Bad Choices, and Life Lessons from the White House (1st ed.). New York: Public Affairs  – via Internet Archive (subscription required) . ISBN 978-1-58648-467-5. OCLC 141852377.
  3. 1 2 Bergeson, Samantha (March 30, 2023). "'White House Plumbers' Trailer: Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux Protect Nixon's Presidency". IndieWire. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  4. ↑ Whiting, Amanda (May 22, 2023). "'White House Plumbers Recap: The Watergate Crash': Overnights". Vulture. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  5. ↑ Salem, Mitch (May 2, 2023). "ShowBuzzDaily's Monday 5.1.2023 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on May 3, 2023. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  6. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (May 9, 2023). "ShowBuzzDaily's Monday 5.8.2023 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  7. ↑ Salem, Mitch (May 16, 2023). "ShowBuzzDaily's Monday 5.15.2023 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  8. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (May 23, 2023). "ShowBuzzDaily's Monday 5.22.2023 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  9. 1 2 Andreeva, Nellie (December 4, 2019). "Woody Harrelson & Justin Theroux To Star In 'The White House Plumbers' HBO Limited Series About Watergate". Deadline. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  10. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (April 27, 2021). "'The White House Plumbers': Domhnall Gleeson To Play John Dean In HBO's Watergate Limited Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  11. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (April 29, 2021). "Lena Headey Joins 'The White House Plumbers' HBO Watergate Limited Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on April 29, 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  12. ↑ Petski, Denise (May 12, 2021). "Kiernan Shipka, Ike Barinholtz, Kim Coates, Liam James Among 7 Cast In 'The White House Plumbers' HBO Watergate Limited Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  13. ↑ Turchiano, Danielle (May 14, 2021). "Gary Cole, Zoe Levin, John Carroll Lynch Among Eight Added to HBO's Watergate Series (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  14. ↑ Petski, Denise (May 20, 2021). "Kathleen Turner Joins 'The White House Plumbers' HBO Watergate Limited Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on May 20, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  15. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (June 3, 2021). "Judy Greer Joins 'The White House Plumbers' HBO Watergate Limited Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  16. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (July 19, 2021). "'The White House Plumbers': Corbin Bernsen & Alexis Valdés Join HBO's Watergate Limited Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  17. ↑ "The White House Plumbers". Production List. March 22, 2021. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Woody Harrelson is seen filming scenes for his HBO show "White House Plumbers"". Getty Images. October 14, 2021. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  19. ↑ Meyer, Garth (October 20, 2021). "Nixon-era HBO series filming in town". Easy Reader & Peninsula Magazine. Hermosa Beach CA. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021.
  20. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (August 6, 2021). "'The White House Plumbers': HBO Pauses Production To Investigate "Alleged Unprofessional Behavior" On Set". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 15, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  21. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (August 16, 2021). "'The White House Plumbers' Resumes Production With Additional Protocols After Investigation Into "Alleged Unprofessional Behavior" On Set Of HBO Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  22. ↑ "White House Plumbers: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  23. ↑ "White House Plumbers: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
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