The first season of the American

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

television series ''

Succession Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. Governance and politics *Order of succession, in politics, the ascension to power by one ruler, official, or monarch after the death, resignation, or removal from office of ...

'' premiered on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

on June 3, 2018. Series creator

Jesse Armstrong Jesse David Armstrong (born 13 December 1970) is a British screenwriter and producer. Known for writing for a string of several critically acclaimed British comedy series as well as satirical dramas, he has received numerous accolades includin ...

serves as the showrunner for the season. The series centers on the Roy family, the owners of global media and entertainment conglomerate Waystar RoyCo, and their fight for control of the company amidst uncertainty about the health of the family's patriarch. The season features an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

Hiam Abbass Hiam Abbass (; ; born 30 November 1960), also spelled Hiyam Abbas, is a Palestinian actress and film director with Israeli and French citizenship. She is known for her roles in films such as ''The Syrian Bride'' (2004), '' Paradise Now'' (2005) ...

Nicholas Braun Nicholas Joseph Braun (born May 1, 1988) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Greg Hirsch in the HBO series ''Succession'' (2018–2023), for which he received three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Suppor ...

, Brian Cox,

Kieran Culkin Kieran Kyle Culkin (born September 30, 1982) is an American actor. Known for portraying distasteful yet sympathetic characters across stage and screen, List of awards and nominations received by Kieran Culkin, his accolades include an Academy A ...

Peter Friedman Peter Friedman (born April 24, 1949) is an American stage, film, and television actor. He made his Broadway debut in the Eugene O'Neill play '' The Great God Brown'' in 1972. His other Broadway credits include roles in ''The Rules of the Game'' ( ...

, Natalie Gold,

Matthew Macfadyen David Matthew Macfadyen (; born 17 October 1974) is an English actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he Breakthrough role, gained prominence for his role as Mr. Darcy in Joe Wright's ''Pride & Prejudice (2005 film), Pride & Prej ...

Alan Ruck Alan Douglas Ruck (born July 1, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Cameron Frye in John Hughes' film '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), as well as television roles as Stuart Bondek on the ABC sitcom '' Spin City'' (1996� ...

, Parker Sawyers,

Sarah Snook Sarah Ruth Snook (; born 1 December 1987) is an Australian actress. List of awards and nominations received by Sarah Snook, Her accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award. A gr ...

, Jeremy Strong and

Rob Yang Rob Yang is an American actor known for his role as Lawrence Yee on ''Succession'' (2018–2019) and as Logan Kim on ''The Resident'' (2019–2021). Yang has also appeared in numerous television shows and films, including ''Twisted'' (2013), ...

. In June 2016, HBO gave ''Succession'' a pilot order, to be written by Armstrong and directed by executive producer

Adam McKay Adam McKay (born April 17, 1968) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. McKay began his career as a head writer for the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') from 1995 to 2001. After leaving ''SNL'', McKay co-w ...

, and was filmed in late 2016. The series was greenlit for a season order in May 2017, which began filming in October 2017, and wrapped in early 2018. The season consists of ten episodes, and received critical acclaim. It was nominated for five

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

, and won Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the episode " Nobody Is Ever Missing".

Cast and characters

Main

as Marcia Roy *

as Greg Hirsch * Brian Cox as Logan Roy *

as Roman Roy *

as Frank Vernon * Natalie Gold as Rava Roy *

as Tom Wambsgans *

as Connor Roy * Parker Sawyers as Alessandro Daniels *

as Siobhan "Shiv" Roy * Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy *

as Lawrence Yee

Recurring

Dagmara Domińczyk Dagmara Domińczyk ( , ; born 17 July 1976) is an American actress. She has appeared in the films ''Rock Star (2001 film), Rock Star'' (2001), ''The Count of Monte Cristo (2002 film), The Count of Monte Cristo'' (2002), ''Kinsey (film), Kinsey'' ...

as Karolina Novotney *

Arian Moayed Arian Moayed (; born April 15, 1980) is an Iranian-American actor, screenwriter, and director. Moayed received two Tony Award nominations for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performances in '' Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo'' (2011) and ' ...

as Stewy Hosseini * J. Smith-Cameron as Gerri Kellman *

Justine Lupe Justine Lupe-Schomp (born May 31, 1989"Sunday Horoscope: Birthday Star"< ...

as Willa Ferreyra *

David Rasche David Rasche ( ;) (born August 7, 1944) is an American theater, film, and television actor who is best known for his portrayal of the title character in the 1980s satirical police sitcom '' Sledge Hammer!''. Since then he has often played characte ...

as Karl Muller * Swayam Bhatia as Sophie Roy * Quentin Morales as Iverson Roy * Molly Griggs as Grace *

Mary Birdsong Mary Evans Birdsong (born April 18, 1968) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and singer. In addition to her work in theater and voice acting, she was a regular cast member on '' Reno 911!'' and appeared in the HBO series '' Succession''. ...

as Marianne Hirsch *

Judy Reyes Judy Reyes (born November 5, 1967) is an American actress, model, and producer, best known for her roles as Carla Espinosa on the NBC/American Broadcasting Company, ABC medical comedy series ''Scrubs (TV series), Scrubs'' (2001–2009), as Zoila ...

as Eva *

Larry Pine Larry Pine (born March 3, 1945) is an American actor. A veteran of the Broadway stage, he began his career playing the role of Fop in the 1968 production of ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. He has since starred in film and television, with recurring role ...

as Sandy Furness *

Ashley Zukerman Ashley Zukerman is an American-born Australian actor. In Australia, he became known for playing Senior Constable Michael Sandrelli in the drama series ''Rush'' (2008), and Jesse Banks in the political thriller '' The Code'', for which he rece ...

as Nate Sofrelli * Zack Robidas as Mark Ravenhead *

James Cromwell James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940) is an American actor. Known for his extensive work as a character actor, he has received a Primetime Emmy Award as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Babe'' ( ...

as Ewan Roy *

Eric Bogosian Eric Michael Bogosian (; born April 24, 1953) is an American actor, playwright, monologuist, novelist, and historian. Descended from Armenian-American immigrants, he grew up in Watertown and Woburn, Massachusetts, and attended the University ...

as Gil Eavis *

Caitlin FitzGerald Caitlin FitzGerald is an American actress and filmmaker. She is known for her roles as Libby Masters in the Showtime (TV network), Showtime drama ''Masters of Sex'' (2013–2016) and Simone in Starz series ''Sweetbitter (TV series), Sweetbitter ...

as Tabitha Hayes *

Harriet Walter Dame Harriet Mary Walter is an English actress. She has received an Olivier Award and nominations for a Tony Award, five Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2011, Walter was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British E ...

as Lady Caroline Collingwood * Scott Nicholson as Colin Stiles * Juliana Canfield as Jess Jordan

Episodes

Production

Development

Showrunner

initially conceived the series as a feature film about the

Murdoch family Members of the Murdoch family are prominent international media Business magnate, magnates and media tycoons with roots in Australia and the United Kingdom, along with their media assets in the United States. Some members have also been promi ...

, but the script never went into production. Armstrong eventually expanded the scope of the story to include the larger landscape of

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

, which he felt better suited a television format. Armstrong wrote a new script centered on original characters loosely inspired by various powerful media families such as the Murdochs, the Redstones, the Maxwells, and the Sulzbergers. On June 6, 2016, it was announced that

had given the production a pilot order. The episode was written by Armstrong and directed by

. Executive producers for the pilot include Armstrong, McKay,

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for his leading man roles in comedy films and for his work as a television producer. Ferrell received various accolades, including ...

Frank Rich Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born June 2, 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist, who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011. He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO. Rich is ...

, and Kevin Messick. On May 16, 2017, it was announced that HBO had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes. The previously announced creative team continued their involvement as the series entered into production.

Casting

On October 6, 2016, it was announced that Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong,

, and

had been cast in lead roles in the series' pilot. On November 4, 2016, it was announced that

, Parker Sawyers, and

had also joined the main cast of the pilot. Sawyers only appears in the pilot. On January 24, 2018, it was reported that

had joined the series in a recurring role.

Filming

The series was primarily filmed in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, and shot on 35 mm film. The series is distinct for its predominantly

handheld A mobile device or handheld device is a computer small enough to hold and operate in hand. Mobile devices are typically battery-powered and possess a flat-panel display and one or more built-in input devices, such as a touchscreen or keypad. Mod ...

cinematography, which was inspired by the

Dogme 95 Dogme 95 (; Danish for "Dogma 95") was a Danish avant-garde filmmaking movement founded by Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" and the "Vows of Chastity" (). These were rules to create films based on the t ...

movement and intended to embody the style of

mockumentaries A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...

. Cinematographer Patrick Capone characterized the series' camerawork as "voyeuristic" and "non-cinema ic, relying on natural light, close coverage and frequent zooms to evoke the feeling of "eavesdropping" upon the characters and their environments. Director Adam McKay filmed the pilot in late 2016, while principal photography for the rest of the first season of the series began in October 2017. Key locations included the

American Irish Historical Society The American Irish Historical Society (AIHS) is a historical society devoted to Irish American history that was founded in Boston in the late 19th century. Non-partisan and non-sectarian since its inception in 1897, it maintains the most compl ...

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

as the location for Logan's apartment, 714

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

as the location of Shiv's season 1 apartment, and the

Downtown Manhattan Heliport The Downtown Manhattan Heliport (Downtown Manhattan/Wall St. Heliport) is a helicopter landing platform at Pier 6, on the East River, in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The heliport w ...

on the

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

for scenes of the Roys departing on their helicopters. For scenes depicting the interiors of the Waystar RoyCo offices, the crew uses towers 4 and 7 of the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...

, while

28 Liberty Street 28 Liberty Street, formerly known as One Chase Manhattan Plaza, is a 60-story International Style skyscraper between Nassau, Liberty, William, and Pine Streets in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. The building, designed by ...

is used for exterior shots.

Silvercup Studios Silvercup Studios is one of the largest film and television production facilities in New York City. The studio is located in Long Island City, Queens, with another facility in the Port Morris neighborhood of the Bronx. The studio complex has ...

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

houses many of the sets used for the series. Other filming locations for the first season included

Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...

(where the second episode took place), the

Cunard Building The Cunard Building is a Grade II* listed building in Liverpool, England. It is located at the Pier Head and along with the neighbouring Royal Liver Building and Port of Liverpool Building is one of Liverpool's ''Three Graces'', which line the ...

on 25 Broadway (which houses

Cipriani S.A. Cipriani S.A. is an Italian hotel and leisure company domiciled in Luxembourg that owns and operates luxury restaurants and clubs around the world including Harry's Bar in Venice and formerly the Rainbow Room in New York City. It specialises in ...

, the venue for a gala in the fourth episode), the East New York Freight Tunnel (the entrance of a bachelor party in the eighth episode), and the

Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies, and other related finance corporations have their headquarters offices. In major cities, financial districts often host ...

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

. From mid-to-end of January 2018, the production moved from New York to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

for the episode " Austerlitz", which was primarily filmed in Santa Fe. On February 22, 2018, filming took place in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, which required the closing of the Atlantic City-Brigantine tunnel. On February 25, 2018, filming took place at

Eastnor Castle Eastnor Castle, Eastnor, Herefordshire, is a 19th-century mock castle. Eastnor was built for John Cocks, 1st Earl Somers, who employed Robert Smirke, later the main architect of the British Museum. The castle was built between 1811 and 1820 ...

near

Ledbury Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. It has a significant number of Tudor style timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane a ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, which served as the setting for the last two episodes of the season.

Release

On April 27, 2018, the season held its official world premiere during the

Series Mania Series Mania () is an international festival dedicated to television series, held annually in Lille, France. It is the largest TV series event in Europe and an important premiere platform. ''Series Mania'' comprises an institute of the same name ...

Festival in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, France, in which the pilot episode was screened. On May 22, 2018, the season held its official US premiere at the

Time Warner Center Deutsche Bank Center (also known as One Columbus Circle and formerly Time Warner Center) is a mixed-use building on Columbus Circle in Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building occupies the western side of Columbus Circle and strad ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The season premiered on

on June 3, 2018.

Home media

HBO released the first season on

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 ki ...

on August 6, 2018, which included special features; a

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

release was made available on November 6 of the same year.

Reception

Audience viewership

The series premiere drew 582,000 live viewers, down from the 1.39 million viewers that watched its lead-in, ''

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction dystopia media franchise that began with the Westworld (film), 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild West, Wild-West-th ...

''.

Critical response

The first season was met with positive reviews from critics. On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the season holds an approval rating of 89% with an average rating of 7.9/10, based on 89 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Peppering its pathos with acid wit, ''Succession'' is a divine comedy of absolute power and dysfunction – brought to vivid life by a ferocious ensemble." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the season a score of 70 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Accolades

The first season received five nominations at the

71st Primetime Emmy Awards The 71st Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2018, until May 31, 2019, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was held on September 22, 2019, at the Mi ...

, including Outstanding Drama Series, and

won for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (for the episode " Nobody Is Ever Missing").

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Succession (TV series) 2018 American television seasons Succession (TV series)