Posted in: ABC, AMC, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: ABC, alec baldwin, better call saul, George Stephanopoulos, opinion, rust, Thomas Schnauz
Better Call Saul EP Calls Out "Gross" ABC/Alec Baldwin/Rust Interview
If you're reading this then it's pretty safe to assume that you heard about the tragedy that happened back on October 21 on the set of the film Rust. Actor Alec Baldwin (who both stars in and co-produced the feature) was holding an antique revolver during a rehearsal at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico when the gun discharged. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins would end up dead, with director Joel Souza wounded. Yet with more questions than answers and with the Sant Fe Sheriff's Office issuing a new search warrant just this past Tuesday to help find the source of the live bullet that was fired. So with investigations still underway, we thought it was odd (and really poor timing) for Baldwin to pick now of all times to do what feels like nothing more than a face-saving public relations grab in an attempt to control the narrative about what went down on set. Because if it's not that then we're lost on the reason why Baldwin and interviewer George Stephanopoulos would need an hour of primetime television to simply state the facts. One person who isn't mincing words when it comes to how they feel about the special is AMC's Better Call Saul writer, producer, & director Thomas Schnauz, who took to Twitter to unload his feelings on the matter.
"I had this gross thing 'promoted' into my timeline. Everything I despise about tv news rolled into one turdball package. I hate the milking of 'drama' over the loss of life. Remember Halyna Hutchins, let investigators figure out what happened, & don't get sucked into this show,'" Schnauz wrote in his tweet earlier today regarding the broadcast. And while we're choosing to not offer any additional information about the special beyond what's necessary for this opinion piece (we're pretty much on the same page as Schnauz), the promo that was pimped out there for the interview felt more like a disgustingly melodramatic infomercial for Baldwin's career than an actual attempt at getting to the truth.