| Crisis in Six Scenes | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Created by | Woody Allen |
| Written by | Woody Allen |
| Directed by | Woody Allen |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Erika Aronson |
| Producer | Helen Robin |
| Cinematography | Eigil Bryld |
| Editor | Alisa Lepselter |
| Running time | 24–25 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Amazon Prime Video |
| Release | September 30, 2016 (2016-09-30) |
Crisis in Six Scenes is an Americancomedy television miniseries written and directed byWoody Allen forAmazon Studios.[1][2][3][4] Allen wrote and directed six episodes for the half-hour series.
The series premiered onAmazon Prime Video on September 30, 2016,[1] to generally unfavorable reviews.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode #1.1" | Woody Allen | Woody Allen | September 30, 2016 (2016-09-30) | |
A middle-class suburban home- all seems well until a dangerous intruder enters in the dead of night. | |||||
| 2 | "Episode #1.2" | Woody Allen | Woody Allen | September 30, 2016 (2016-09-30) | |
An intruder causes terrible panic and tension in a usually placid household. | |||||
| 3 | "Episode #1.3" | Woody Allen | Woody Allen | September 30, 2016 (2016-09-30) | |
Because of an armed intruder, after a home invasion, a married couple's life is turned upside-down. | |||||
| 4 | "Episode #1.4" | Woody Allen | Woody Allen | September 30, 2016 (2016-09-30) | |
Romantic alliances fray and conflict in the suburban home reaches a boiling point. | |||||
| 5 | "Episode #1.5" | Woody Allen | Woody Allen | September 30, 2016 (2016-09-30) | |
A middle-class husband and wife put their lives in jeopardy carrying out a dangerous assignment. | |||||
| 6 | "Episode #1.6" | Woody Allen | Woody Allen | September 30, 2016 (2016-09-30) | |
Finally a resolution but not before chaos, surprising disclosures, police and guns come into play. | |||||
The deal with Allen was seen as giving Amazon a possible advantage in its competition withNetflix and television networks. The series was announced within days of Amazon winning theGolden Globe Award for thecomedy-dramaTransparent, another original series.[5] Allen had last written new material for television in the 1950s, when he wrote forSid Caesar.[4]
In a May 2015 interview, Allen said that progress on the series had been "very, very difficult" and that he had "regretted every second since I said OK".[6][7] Allen has said of the series, "I don't know how I got into this. I have no ideas and I'm not sure where to begin. My guess is thatRoy Price [the head of Amazon Studios] will regret this."[2][3][8]
In January 2016, it was announced that the series would star Allen,Elaine May andMiley Cyrus, and that shooting would begin in March.[9] In February 2016, it was announced thatJohn Magaro andRachel Brosnahan had joined the cast.[10] In March 2016,Michael Rapaport,Becky Ann Baker,Margaret Ladd,Joy Behar,Rebecca Schull,David Harbour, andChristine Ebersole had joined the cast of the series.[11]
For approximately three weeks in early 2016, filming for the six episodes took place at 508 Scarborough Road, inBriarcliff Manor, New York.[12]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 18% based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 4.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Woody Allen's filmmaking skills prove a poor fit for the small screen inCrisis in Six Scenes, a talk-heavy, unfunny, and overall disengaged production buried below numerous superior offerings."[13] OnMetacritic, the series has a score 44 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[14]
Rodrigo Perez fromThe Playlist gave the series a D+ on an A+ to F scale, and described it as "nearly unwatchable".[15] Robert Bianco ofUSA Today was more positive, writing "Crisis is not Allen at his peak, nor at his most serious and contemplative as an artist.Crisis is a bauble, a light comedy that starts very slowly and builds to a satisfyingly funny conclusion." He also praised the performances of Allen and May, stating "Not only is it great to see them performing so well together, it's just a nice change of pace to see a comedy about two married senior citizens where the casting is age appropriate and the story is not built around senility or mortality."[16]
TheLos Angeles Times wrote: "This isn't Allen at his wittiest or wildest—his career is almost by definition a thing of peaks and valleys, and he can be satisfying and frustrating within a single film. But he has a voice, and he has not yet lost it. Anyone susceptible to that sensibility will find many familiar pleasures here," and further stated "as the work that has returned Elaine May to public view, it can only be welcomed, with rose petals and trumpets. And it does well by her."[17]The New York Times stated: "In recent years, Mr. Allen's movies have swung wildly in quality, alternating real highs with definite lows.Crisis sits in between. It's closer to the low end, but for fans of a certain earlier strain of his work, its shambling, amiable vibe may seem comfortingly familiar."[18]
Allen himself had openly expressed severe misgivings about the project,[2][3][8] and denounced the series, stating that it would conclude with one season.[19] At the2015 Cannes Film Festival, Allen said in reference to the show, "It was a catastrophic mistake. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm floundering. I expect this to be a cosmic embarrassment."[20]
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