''On Becoming a God in Central Florida'' is an American

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

television series created by Robert Funke and Matt Lutsky that premiered on Showtime on August 25, 2019. The series stars

Kirsten Dunst Kirsten Caroline Dunst (; born April 30, 1982) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the short ''Oedipus Wrecks'' directed by Woody Allen in the anthology film '' New York Stories'' (1989). She then gained recognition for her ro ...

and is set in the early 1990s. In September 2019, the series was renewed for a second season. However, in October 2020, the renewal decision was reversed and the series was canceled after one season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Plot

Krystal Stubbs is a minimum-wage-earning water park employee in

Greater Orlando The Orlando metropolitan area, commonly referred to as Greater Orlando, Metro Orlando, Central Florida as well as for U.S. Census purposes as the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, is a metropolitan area in the ...

who schemes her way up the ranks of Founders American Merchandise, a cultish, flag-waving, multi-billion-dollar

multi-level marketing Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling th ...

pyramid scheme A pyramid scheme is a business model that recruits members via a promise of payments or services for enrolling others into the scheme, rather than supplying investments or sale of products. As recruiting multiplies, recruiting becomes quickly i ...

that drove her family to ruin.

Cast and characters

Main

as Krystal Stubbs *

Théodore Pellerin Théodore Pellerin (, born June 13, 1997) is a Canadian film and television actor from Quebec. He is most noted for his performance in the 2018 film '' Family First (Chien de garde)'', for which he won the Prix Iris for Revelation of the Year at ...

as Cody Bonar * Mel Rodriguez as Ernie Gomes *

Beth Ditto Mary Beth Patterson (born February 19, 1981), known by her stage name Beth Ditto, is an American singer and songwriter most notable for her work with the indie rock band Gossip. Her voice has been compared to Etta James, Janis Joplin and T ...

as Bets Gomes *

Ted Levine Frank Theodore Levine (born May 29, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the roles of Buffalo Bill in the film '' The Silence of the Lambs'' (1991) and Leland Stottlemeyer in the television series ''Monk'' (2002–2009). Le ...

as Obie Garbeau II

Recurring

Usman Ally Usman Ally (born August 27, 1982) is a Swazi-born Pakistani-American film, stage and television actor. Marking his acting debut in 2008, Ally won an Obie Award in 2015 for his role in ''The Invisible Hand''. He has appeared in several stage pro ...

as Stan Van Grundegaard *

Eric Allan Kramer Eric Allan Kramer (born March 26, 1962) is an American actor and fight choreographer. Kramer has appeared in numerous feature films and television programs including ''True Romance'' and '' Robin Hood: Men in Tights'' and is also known for his ...

as Carroll Wilkes *

Julie Benz Julie Benz (born May 1, 1972) l is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Darla on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ''Angel'' (1997–2004), and as Rita Bennett on ''Dexter'' (2006–2010), for which she won the 2006 Satellite Award ...

as Carole Wilkes *

Billy Slaughter William H. Slaughter is an American film and television actor, best known for his roles in '' The Campaign'' and ''Focus''. In his free time he works with students that want to become actors and actresses at Launch Model And Talent in Metairie, ...

as Kissinger Haight *

Josh Fadem Josh Fadem (; born July 19, 1980) is an American actor, writer, and comedian. Early life Fadem was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he attended Booker T. Washington High School. He has lived and worked in Los Angeles since 2000. Career ...

as Pat Stanley *

Da'Vine Joy Randolph Da'Vine Joy Randolph (born May 21, 1986) is an American actress and singer. She first gained recognition as Oda Mae Brown in the Broadway production of '' Ghost: The Musical'' (2012); she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a ...

as Rhonda * Cooper Jack Rubin as Harold Gomes * John Earl Jelks as Dr. Judd Waltrip *

Melissa De Sousa Melissa De Sousa is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Shelby in the 1999 romantic comedy-drama film '' The Best Man'', its 2013 sequel ''The Best Man Holiday'' and the 2022 Peacock series '' The Best Man: The Final Chapters' ...

as Mirta Herrera * Kevin J. O'Connor as Roger Penland * Sharon Lawrence as Louise Garbeau *

Shari Headley Shari Headley (born July 15, 1964) is an American actress and former model. She is best known for her role as Lisa McDowell in the 1988 box-office hit romantic comedy film ''Coming to America'' and its sequel ''Coming 2 America'' (2021). Headley ...

as Harmony * Geoffrey Owens as Pastor Steve

Guest

Alexander Skarsgård Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård (; born August 25, 1976) is a Swedish actor. Born in Stockholm, he began acting at age seven but quit at 13. After serving in the Swedish military, Skarsgård returned to acting and gained his first role in th ...

as Travis Stubbs *

Mary Steenburgen Mary Nell Steenburgen (; born February 8, 1953) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and songwriter. After studying at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse in the 1970s, she made her professional acting debut in 1978 Western comedy film '' Goin ...

as Ellen Joy Bonar *

David Paymer David Emmanuel Paymer (born August 30, 1954) is an American actor, comedian, and television director. He has been in films such as '' Mr. Saturday Night'', ''Quiz Show'', ''Searching for Bobby Fischer'', '' City Slickers'', ''Crazy People'', '' ...

as Buck Bridges

Episodes

Production

Development

On January 6, 2017, it was reported that

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

was developing the production. The series was created by Robert Funke and Matt Lutsky who also wrote the pilot episode and were set to executive produce for the series alongside

Yorgos Lanthimos Georgios "Yorgos" Lanthimos ( el, Γιώργος Λάνθιμος, Giórgos Lánthimos, ; born 23 September 1973) is a Greek film director, film producer, screenwriter, photographer, theatre director and former professional basketball player. Sin ...

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Academy Awards, one for his acting and the ot ...

, and

Grant Heslov Grant Heslov (born May 15, 1963) is an American actor and filmmaker known for his producing and writing collaborations with George Clooney, which have earned him four Oscar nominations. As a co-producer of ''Argo'' (2012), he received the Academ ...

. Lanthimos was also set to direct. Production companies involved with the series were expected to include

Smokehouse Pictures Smokehouse Pictures is an American film and television production company. The company was founded in 2006 by George Clooney and Grant Heslov after the shutdown of Section Eight Productions. Its name is taken from the Smoke House restaurant, l ...

TriStar Television TriStar Television, Inc. (first spelled Tri-Star, and abbreviated as TT) is an American television production studio that is a division of Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Television. TriStar Television was launched in March 1986 by TriStar Pi ...

, and

AMC Studios AMC Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company headquartered in 11 Penn Plaza, New York. AMC Networks owns and operates the eponymous cable channel and its siblings, IFC, We TV, and Sundance TV; the art house movie theater IFC Cente ...

. On June 25, 2018, it was announced that the production had moved to

YouTube Premium YouTube Premium (formerly Music Key and YouTube Red) is a subscription service offered by the video platform YouTube. The service provides ad-free access to content across the service, as well as access to premium YouTube Originals programming ...

, which had given it a series order for a first season consisting of 10 episodes. It was further reported that Esta Spalding and

Charlie McDowell Charles Malcolm McDowell (born July 10, 1983) is an American film director and screenwriter. He is most known for his film '' The One I Love'' (2014). Early life McDowell was born on July 10, 1983, in Los Angeles, California to English actor Mal ...

had joined the series as executive producers. Spaulding is also set to serve as showrunner and McDowell is set to direct, replacing Lanthimos as executive producer and director. On June 17, 2019, it was announced that Showtime, which had acquired the series from TriStar, would air the series instead of YouTube and that it would premiere on August 25, 2019. On September 26, 2019, Showtime renewed the series for a second season. However, on October 7, 2020, Showtime reversed the renewal and canceled the series, stating that "the nowiki/>COVID-19_pandemic.html" ;"title="COVID-19_pandemic.html" ;"title="nowiki/>COVID-19 pandemic">nowiki/>COVID-19 pandemic">COVID-19_pandemic.html" ;"title="nowiki/>COVID-19 pandemic">nowiki/>COVID-19 pandemichas continued to challenge schedules across the board, and although we have made every effort to reunite the cast and crew for a second season, that has become untenable."

Casting

Alongside the initial development announcement, it was confirmed that

would star in the series. On August 28, 2018, it was announced that

had been cast in a lead role. On September 14, 2018, it was reported that

, Mel Rodriguez, and

had joined the cast in series regular roles and that

would appear on a recurring basis. On October 5, 2018, it was announced that

had joined the cast in a recurring capacity. On November 28, 2018, it was reported that

would appear in a recurring role.

Filming

Principal photography for the series commenced in October 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. On October 8, 2018, filming took place in Westwego, Louisiana.

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 85% based on 47 reviews, with an average rating of 7.29/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though it loses a bit of narrative steam, ''On Becoming a God in Central Florida'' proves a clever and absurd satire that will make you want to buy whatever Kirsten Dunst is selling." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, it has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:On Becoming a God in Central Florida 2010s American black comedy television series 2010s American comedy-drama television series 2010s American satirical television series 2019 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings English-language television shows Fraud in television Television series about organized crime Showtime (TV network) original programming Television productions cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television series set in the 1990s Television shows filmed in Louisiana Television shows set in Orlando, Florida