ATX TV Festival: Highlights From “Season 12” Of The Annual Event For Television Fans

Cinema Scholars reports back from “Season 12” of the ATX TV Festival. The annual event for television fans takes place over four days in downtown Austin, TX every June.

Introduction

This year’s ATX TV Festival celebrated its “Season 12” last weekend in downtown Austin, Texas. The dozenth year of the event filled the historic Paramount Theater, the ACL Live venue, and the iconic Driskill Hotel with various screenings and panel discussions on all things TV. 

Episode debuts of shows like FX’s Justified: City Primeval, Freeform’s Cruel Summer, Netflix’s Manifest, and HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones dazzled packed houses. Plus panels/conversations with TV luminaries like Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen; the teams behind shows including Outlander, Mayans M.C., Grown-ish, and From; and even a Cheers reunion and script read. The festival also honored TV directing legend James Burrows with the Achievement In Television eXellence award. 

Here are a few of the highlights from this year’s ATX TV Festival.

Justified

After a nearly eight-year hiatus, U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens is back with his special brand of off-script law enforcement. That’s right, the beloved Elmore Leonard character that won over fans for five seasons on FX’s Justified is reprised by Timothy Olyphant for an all-new season, Justified: City Primeval. The resurrection of the cult hit finds Raylan navigating the ups and downs of his job with the responsibilities of fatherhood for his teenage daughter Willa. 

A new storyline takes Raylan from his Kentucky stomping grounds to Detroit where “Oklahoma Wildman” Clement Mansell (Boyd Holbrook) is wreaking havoc. With other moving pieces including domestic terrorism, a questionable judge, and usual suspects from the local crime world, Raylan’s quest to spend more quality time with his daughter gets derailed. 

FX premiered its long-awaited seventh season of the acclaimed series to a packed Paramount Theater at the ATX Film Festival. Olyphant was on hand for a post-episode Q and A alongside cast members Boyd Holbrook, Adelaide Clemens, Vivian Olyphant, and executive producer Sarah Timberman. When asked about revisiting the series, Timberman had this to say:

“It felt like we didn’t have the same unfinished business say as like, Shiv and Tom [of Succession] or something. But there was some unfinished business. There was a real question about how Raylan would look at his life a couple of years later. So everyone was excited to explore those things.“

If you noticed a second Olyphant in the ensemble, you are not seeing double. When it was determined that the storyline would be tethered to Rayon’s relationship with his teenage daughter, Olyphant explained why casting his daughter Vivian as Willa made sense:

“My wife and I talked about it. She was going into summer and she needed a job. This would be a good one. So, we talked about it for a while. It was a long conversation. Anyway, my wife thought it was a good idea. We just never let her [before]. But we had an instinct she’d be good at it, and that she’d work hard. I told Sarah and the other producers that we wouldn’t have brought it up if we didn’t think she could handle it. And just the audition process with her was a joy. It was a pleasure. She worked super hard and it was very fun. I thought to myself, this would be a fun person to work with.”

Though the young Olyphant admitted to “not being interested” in her dad’s previous work (met with an uproar of laughter from the audience), she shared that working together gave her a newfound respect for her father and his craft:

“My dad is a very hard worker and it was amazing to watch him work. I’ve always wondered like, what is he actually doing? It was interesting to see that. He’s getting paid to be a child.” 

Cue more uproarious laughter from the crowd, to which her exasperated father admitted:

“That is part of my job.”

When quizzed about picking up the villain torch, season seven bad boy Boyd Holbrook shared his fresh take on the show:

“I’m originally from eastern Kentucky, so I kind of boycotted the show. My mom, she’s such a fan of the show. But I hadn’t really seen the show up until I got the part. I had a buddy who worked on the show. He said, ‘Is Michael Dinner doing it? Dave Andron, Graham Yost, and Chris Provenzano? Run towards that job. The shit you’ll get a say on with the show will blow your mind.’ So, I signed up.”

Holbrook also elaborated on some of his character’s ill-conceived motivations:

“I think Clement thinks he’s gonna be a rockstar one day, and this would just be a cool story he tells everybody on social media. That and he wants some money.”

As far as future adventures for the crime fighter after this limited series revival, the series star and EP are both all in. Olyphant declared:

“Look, I’d show up. I had a good time. Every time we’ve done this, I’ve had a good time. I’d show up.”

Timberman added, emphatically:

“If he shows up, I show up.”

For ardent fans of Justified, this is great news. But in the meantime, enjoy eight more episodes of Raylan Given’s adventures in Justified: City Primeval premiering on FX on July 18, 2023.

Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen 

As a major boon for the ever-growing ATX TV Festival, the “TV Camp For Grown-Ups” welcomed Cheers masterminds to a panel discussion. James Burrows, Les Charles, and Glen Charles as well as stars Ted Danson, John Ratzenberg, and George Wendt gathered at the ACL Live auditorium for a reunion of the legendary comedy series. 

Presented by Paramount+, the special event also featured a Cheers script reading with a cast of hilarious performers including The Righteous Gemstones’ Cassidy Freeman and From‘s Harold Perrineau as your favorite barflies.

The following day in the packed ballroom of the historic Driskill Hotel, Danson returned with his other half, Oscar-winning actress (and award-winning songwriter) Mary Steenburgen. The couple, married for over thirty years, shared anecdotes from their lives and careers, as well as some of the secrets to their success. Though, it seems they have very different versions of their first official meeting for a film that “shall not be named.” According to Danson:

“I just heard that you weren’t really attracted to me. But I remember that first time sitting opposite Mary and saying to myself, ‘I have an excuse to look at her because we’re about to work together.’ So it wasn’t that shy kind of normal social interaction or something. I could just soak her up. And I was blown away.”

Steenburgen countered with her opposite, and brutally honest perspective:

“That’s so much nicer than what I’m going to say. Because I had been up for 48 hours straight. Probably longer than that in some ways because I’d broken up with my boyfriend of four years and it was, like, trauma plus. But I was shooting a film in North Carolina. I was asked at the end of, honest, like an 18 hours shoot to be the maid of honor for the editor and script supervisor who were getting married. And so at the end of this crazy long day, we had a wedding. Then I had to go back and pack and fly across the country to San Francisco to see if I got along with him.”

Steenburgen continued:

“I get there and I’m like, I can’t even believe how leery I am. So, I try to pull it together and we go to this restaurant. Ted’s waiting and greets me in the bar area, and he has hair down to here [points to shoulders]! And I’m like, ‘Oh, wow, your hair is so long.’ He says, ‘Oh, it’s this thing called extensions. Look.’ He leads me to the table and…[mimics tossing hair around]. My first impression of my future husband really was, this is the most ridiculous creature.”

As far as the secret to a long and happy marriage, the couple credits finding one another a bit later in life, leaning on their support team, and always putting family first. Said Steenburgen:

“The secret to it…I have to give credit. We have two assistants. One of them has been with us for 20 years, and she’s a big reason that we can do everything we do. But pretty much the family came first. We’re so in love with our kids and now of course, with our three granddaughters. And that kind of rules everything. If Ted and I are alone, we’re either talking about how much we love our family, or how much we love our home. And our dog Arthur, who is 17 and a half.”

Danson added additional insight into one of the keys to their success:

“We found each other, in my case, late in life. I was 45. And by then, you have made a lot of mistakes and learned. We came with a realization of how blessed we were to have found each other and everything. After that, figuring out kids and careers and everything was easy because we knew what was the most important.”

Admiration for each other’s work has always been a binding force for the couple, whose respective careers span decades. Danson reflected on being a fan of his future wife before they met:

“One of my favorite ones was Time After Time with Malcolm [McDowell] who’s the father of my stepchildren. And Going South. I didn’t see her Oscar film, Melvin and Howard, until later. And it wasn’t like, funny funny. It was the best kind of delicious funny, and it was just such a perfect performance. And I really encourage you to try to find Melvin and Howard. It is brilliant, just brilliant.”

Steenburgen shared how Cheers helped her cope during a tough time in her life:

“I was a massive Cheers fan. Never missed an episode. Thought it was the most brilliant writing, brilliant directing, and most perfectly chosen cast ever. It was just, every single one of them inhabited those roles, and I thought it was brilliant. And then when I was going through my divorce. It was around the same time I lost my dad when I was making Parenthood. I was actually flying back and forth between Orlando, where it was shot, and Newport, where I grew up in Arkansas.”

Steenburgen shared further:

“I adored my father. It was a very heartbreaking time in my life. And I felt like a little rudderless. That was around the time that Cheers came on every night around 10:00 or something. After I got my kids to bed I would go and watch Cheers. I also loved him in Body Heat. He was so great as the tap dancing guy. If you haven’t seen that, you should watch that film.”

With acting careers as busy as ever, the couple still finds time for their side projects. While Steenburgen’s filmography is dotted with musical performances over the years, the actress is enjoying her latest role as a songwriter in several films. For her musical skill in the film Wild Rose (2018), she even tied Elton John for the Critic’s Award for Best Song At The End Of A Movie. Steenburgen stated:

“About 17 years ago I started writing music. So a lot of my goals are musical goals, and I really am enjoying what I’m doing and who I’m writing with. I write a lot with people from Nashville. Sometimes we write country, but more often than not, we’re writing songs for the end of movies. So whatever the movie is impacts the song.”

Danson added:

“My observation of you is that you love acting. Acting is your life, your passion. But when I see you write music, it’s like you go to heaven. You’re in a different sphere, very magical.”

When pressed about projects outside of film and TV, Danson played coy while praising the work of his former castmate Woody Harrelson, until his wife goaded, “You should just say what you and Woody are up to.” To which Danson made an informal announcement of sorts:

“Fingers crossed. Meaning Woody is a little bit of a loose cannon, but we’re doing a podcast. You won’t find it out there until about October because he’s making a film right now. We’re going to celebrate Cheers and our memories. And we don’t really know each other after 30 years of not being together every day. So we’re catching up with each other and I’m meeting his friends, he’s meeting mine that we work with. The truth is we’re having a ball. It will probably happen.”

Despite staying busy with new endeavors, the couple can still be found gracing screens as always. Steenburgen will appear in the upcoming Adam Rifkin Western, Last Train To Fortune. And Danson has a comedy/crime series called The Mole Agent in the works. So be on the lookout for more greatness from two of Hollywood’s most adored veterans.

From

Harold Perrineau is no stranger to characters stuck in a predicament. There’s his star-making role as Augustus Hill in Oz. His blockbuster turn as the freedom-fighting ship operator Link in the early Matrix sequels. And, of course, perhaps his most well-known portrayal in the mysterious melodrama LOST as Michael Dawson. Indeed, Perrineau has embodied complex roles in some of our most beloved film franchises and series. 

In Perrineau’s latest unnerving series, From, the actor once again plays a man trapped in a sort of Twilight Zone. In this alternate dimension, a seemingly average town traps the unwitting visitors who cross into the city limits. While coping with their interminable imprisonment, the captives must also contend with threatening creatures lurking in the surrounding forest.

In From season two, Perrineau reprises the role of Boyd Stevens, leader of the ensemble cast caught in the nightmarish predicament. Reunited with LOST director Jack Bender (who is also known for directing The Sopranos and Game of Thrones), the character-driven story takes a turn as the once-defenseless group begins to take the upper hand. 

Still mid-season with the latest episode dropping on Sunday, June 11 Bender and Perrineau made an appearance at the ATX TV Festival in support of From season two. The pair discuss everything from the joy of working with good writers, reuniting with each other again, and what the conclusion of the high-concept show might look like. When it comes to veering toward more challenging themes in his work and what drew him to From, Perrineau explained:

“Well, I actually really like great writing. So I’m lucky to work with people who are great writers. When I read From, again, great writing. People in extreme circumstances, and how do they rise to those occasions? How do they do the things that they want to do? And when I found out that Jack Bender was going to be directing it, I was also like, ‘Well, that guy knows how to tell a story. He’s my friend. That’s going to be fun.’”

Perrineau added:

“So really, I’m looking for great stories. And I happen to keep finding these great stories where people are trapped in a prison or lost on an island. Or they’re in The Matrix, aren’t they? Always somewhere? But what you do as a human being, trying to get out of there or persevering, that’s the kind of stuff that I love, that inspires me.”

Bender elaborated further about how the show initially came together:

“When I first read the script when Jeff Painter and Michael Wright sent it to me, I thought the key to this show is caring about the people. And I think that’s true of all good television, storytelling, and movies. Especially long form. We’ve got to care about the people. We have to see ourselves in that show. What would we do if we hit that train? And once we got Harold, whom I have had the good fortune to work with many times and is a good friend. Once we got Harold to be the Maypole of the show and we got very lucky with this ensemble cast around him, I knew that we could do something special. So the focus was, how do we tell this story about these people? What if we were there, all of us?”

The series features Perrineau in some terrifying situations, like hiding in a tree only to find it transformed into a chimney in which he’s trapped. To keep his performance as authentic as possible, Perrineau was kept in the dark on some of the specifics of his character’s various predicaments. The actor stated:

“What we’ve been doing so far is that I get to know only what I need to know about each season. And that’s all because I want to try to play the moments as they’re coming. So I didn’t find out about the tree until right before. I actually just thought it was a really fantastic thing. And so for season two, we just show up and we just start talking about whatever we’re about to play. For me, that’s really helpful. I don’t want to play ahead of it. Like, ‘Oh, this is going to happen.’ I just want to play what’s kind of currently happening. So that’s how we talk about it.”

Among some of the creepier elements in From, two stand out from the rest. First, there’s “Smiley”, a man who menaces the small town with an unnerving grin plastered on his face. The second is the continuous appearance of a jewelry box ballerina that has seemingly come to life. Jack Bender stated:

“The idea of a music box came from my partners in the show, Jeff [Pinkner] and John [Griffin]. And I think about my sister and the little one she had with the ballerina inside. I said, ‘But this is From, so we have to break one of her legs, right?’ The ballerina just makes it weird. And our prop guy is out there. So we came up with that. And then when I shoot Harold in a subsequent episode, seeing the ballerina for the first time in season two, and then dealing with it and what the reverberations are in him that he is brilliantly portraying and playing.”

Bender further elaborates:

“And we shot it beautifully. Our DP was brilliant. And so after I cut the scene and saw a rough cut of it, I said to Jeff and John, ‘The ballerina has to come back. I mean, she’s not done. You guys planted the seeds for this crazy ass ballerina that’s affecting him. Where are we going to go with it?’ And the fuse and she now comes out here and there.”

Regarding Jaime McGuire who played From season two baddie and poster boy, Smiley, Perrineau added:

“The guy who plays Smiley is maybe the nicest human being I’ve met in my entire life. He’s just a nice dude from Newfoundland, just a nice kid. And then Jack just tells him to do the most benign things. ‘Work your hand across the steering wheel.’ We, the audience, already know what’s going to happen. So the creep-fest is happening in our own head.”

When asked whether From is building up to a big reveal vs more of an “onion” model with multiple layers, Bender admitted to learning a tough lesson with the LOST finale as well as the last season of Game of Thrones:

“I don’t want to dwell on it, but I’m still being criticized for the finale of Lost. I was proud of it. But I think it was one of the late-night guys who said the Mueller report came out and I haven’t been as disappointed by anything since the finale of Lost. I also know that Game of Thrones was seriously criticized for racing to the finish line. That won’t happen with From. I do believe that one of the expectations for a Sci-Fi or a horror show or something like this is the red phone rings [mimics answering a phone], ‘What? The CIA, they know about the island?!’ And then you cut to the planets and some big graphic novelty comic book.”

Bender continued:

“Not to be demeaning, I don’t mean it that way. It’s going to be very satisfying and I’m not just tap dancing here. The connective tissue will make sense in a way that will be gratifying and all the little Easter eggs and things and moments along the way that we find the little nuggets of gold here and there are going to build a pyramid by the end, and we’ll figure it all out. But it won’t be a punchline.”

Stay tuned to MGM+ for the continuing mysterious saga when the next episode of From drops on June 11. 

Righteous Gemstones 

For the closing night of the ATX TV Festival, a sold-out ACL Live crowd was treated to the debut of episodes one and two from the new season of fan-favorite The Righteous Gemstones. Season three sees Jesse and his siblings struggling to stay relevant after their dad’s retirement from the pulpit. A hilarious side adventure at a prepper compound in addition to a racetrack showdown between Eli and the pastor of a competing mega-church (delightfully played by Stephen Dorff) are mere appetizers for the antics to come. 

In addition to Dorff’s appearance, numerous guest stars will join the Gemstones in season three, including Steve Zahn, Shea Wingham, Kristen Johnson, Robert Oberst, Stephen Schneider, Lukas Haas, Iliza Shleshing, Sturgill Simpson, and Casey Wilson all appear in this outing of the HBO favorite. 

Before the screening at the ATX TV Festival, indie rock duo Jane Leo warmed the crowd up with a round of original songs ending with a cover of the Gemstone universe hit  “Misbehavin’. Following the two back-to-back Season three premiere episodes, the packed house enjoyed a raucous Q and A as the cast and filmmakers took the stage. Head honchos Jody Hill, David Gordon Green, and Danny McBride took the stage with cast members Cassidy Freeman, Edi Patterson, Adam Devine, and the leader of the pack himself, John Goodman. 

When quizzed about whether there was a favorite among the illustrious list of guest players in the latest season, McBride couldn’t choose. However, he did call out a guest star and beloved real-life strong man in the audience:

“No, they’re all awesome. But I’m going to point out a guy who’s here right now, Robert Oberst. Throw somebody across the theater Robert! Come on now!”

And when asked if there were any hazing rituals for welcoming new cast members, McBride referenced a flashback sequence in the series premiere involving Eli Gemstone, a secret society ceremony, and a group of uniformed men. Joked McBride:

“That cape and pistol thing that John does in the first episode. They gotta wear capes and pistols.”

Revisiting his role as the youngest Gemstone sibling, Kelvin, Adam Devine gets to bring even more absurdity to the series with an all-new questionable crusade collecting impure accouterments before they land in the hands of innocent youth. When asked which of his fellow Workaholics would join Kelvin’s latest cause, Devine told the enthusiastic crowd:

“For sure. You know, they’re just trying to fit in. So both Blake and Anders would join us.”

As the middle sibling of the cast as well as a writer on the show, Edi Patterson’s Judy Gemstone gets to participate in her share of sophomoric jokes mixed with the complex dynamics of the powerful family. Before saying their goodbyes to the packed house of ardent admirers, Patterson shared her hope for those anticipating the next installment:

“I’m really, really excited for everyone to see it. I think you guys can tell from the first two episodes, it’s wild. This is a really, really fun season, and we hope you’ll dig it.”

Don’t miss the first two episodes of The Righteous Gemstones season three when they premiere on HBO and Max on June 18, 2023. 

Read more festival coverage from Cinema Scholars!

SXSW 2023: Four Of Our Festival Favorites

Tribeca Festival 2023: This Years Five Most Anticipated Films!

Keep up with Cinema Scholars on social media. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.