| Transparent | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Comedy drama |
| Created by | Joey Soloway |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 41(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Victor Hsu |
| Production location | Los Angeles |
| Editors |
|
| Camera setup | Jim Frohna |
| Running time | 27–31 minutes (102 minute finale) |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | Amazon Prime Video |
| Release | February 6, 2014 (2014-02-06) – September 27, 2019 (2019-09-27) |
Transparent is an Americancomedy-drama television series created byJoey Soloway forAmazon Studios that debuted on February 6, 2014.[1] The story revolves around aLos Angeles family, the Pfeffermans, and their lives after learning that their parent (Jeffrey Tambor) is atrans woman now going by the name Maura.[2]Transparent tells the story of Maura's coming out, as well as her family's personal journeys in discovering their own identities and coming to terms with Maura's identity.Transparent moves away from a solely transition-centred narrative and represents Maura's story in her role as a trans parent, grandparent, professor, partner, ex-spouse, sibling, and as an older persontransitioning.[3]Transparent also includes other queer representation in the Pfefferman family. Sarah (Amy Landecker) explores her sexuality and works through relationship dilemmas throughout season one while Ali (Gaby Hoffmann) explores their gender and sexuality.[4]Transparent's first season premiered in full on September 26, 2014,[5] and its second season on December 11, 2015,[6][7] third season on September 23, 2016, and fourth season on September 21, 2017.[8][9]
Amazon picked up the series for a fourth season ahead of the premiere of the third.[10] The fourth season premiered on September 22, 2017.[11] Shortly before the premiere, Amazon renewed the series for a fifth and final season, which ultimately took the form of a feature-length finale with the subtitleMusicale Finale, which was released on September 27, 2019.[12][13][14][15]
Critical reviews were largely positive, though there were objections to the casting of Tambor, acisgender man, in the role of a trans woman.[16] At the72nd Golden Globe Awards, the show won theGolden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy, while Tambor won theGolden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy and thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. This is the first show produced by Amazon Studios to win a major award and the first show produced by astreaming media service to win a Golden Globe for Best Series.[17]
The series began airing onSundance TV starting August 9, 2017.[18]
In November 2017, Tambor was accused ofsexual harassment on the set.[19] On November 19, 2017, Tambor stated, "I don't see how I can return toTransparent" after a second sexual harassment allegation was made against him.[20] He was officially fired fromTransparent on February 15, 2018.[21]
TheTransparent: Musicale Finale addressed the death of Maura, and examined the lives of the Pfefferman family primarily from perspective of Maura's former spouse, Shelly (Judith Light), and through music. TheFinale, featuring music and lyrics by Faith Soloway, was developed through a series of concerts atJoe's Pub and, in addition to the regular and recurring cast, featured performersShakina Nayfack,Lesli Margherita,Erik Liberman, and Jo Lampert.[22][23]
In 2023, the show was adapted into a stage musical,A Transparent Musical, for the Center Theatre Group inLos Angeles. The book was written by showrunnerJoey Soloway and transgender playwright MJ Kaufman, with music and lyrics by Faith Soloway, Joey's sister.[24] The production received mixed reviews.[25]
| Character | Played by | Seasons | Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Musicale Finale | ||
| Main characters | ||||||
| Maura (née Morton "Mort") Pfefferman | Jeffrey Tambor | Main | Stand-in | |||
| Sarah Pfefferman | Amy Landecker | Main | ||||
| Josh Pfefferman | Jay Duplass | Main | ||||
| Ari (né Ali) Pfefferman | Gaby Hoffmann | Main | ||||
| Shelly Pfefferman | Judith Light | Main | ||||
| Rabbi Raquel Fein | Kathryn Hahn | Recurring | Main | Does not appear | Main | |
| Davina Rejennae | Alexandra Billings | Recurring | Main | |||
| Len Novak | Rob Huebel | Recurring | Main | |||
| Ava | Shakina Nayfack | Does not appear | Main | |||
| Recurring characters | ||||||
| Ella Novak | Abby Ryder Fortson | Recurring | Does not appear | |||
| Julia Butters | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | |||
| Ashley Silverman | Does not appear | Recurring | Supporting | |||
| Marcy | Bradley Whitford | Recurring | Does not appear | |||
| Magnus Hirschfeld | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Supporting | ||
| Tammy Cashman | Melora Hardin | Recurring | Does not appear | Supporting | ||
| Shea | Trace Lysette | Recurring | Guest | Supporting | ||
| Syd Feldman | Carrie Brownstein | Recurring | Does not appear | |||
| Bianca | Kiersey Clemons | Recurring | Does not appear | |||
| Zack Novak | Zackary Arthur | Recurring | Supporting | |||
| Ed Paskowitz | Lawrence Pressman | Recurring | Does not appear | |||
| Francis | Noah Harpster | Recurring | Does not appear | Supporting | ||
| Rita Holt | Brett Paesel | Recurring | Does not appear | |||
| Young Ali | Emily Robinson | Recurring | Does not appear | Guest | Does not appear | |
| Young Rose | Does not appear | Recurring | Guest | Does not appear | Supporting | |
| Barb | Tig Notaro | Recurring | Does not appear | Supporting | ||
| Connie | Michaela Watkins | Guest | Does not appear | |||
| Yetta | Does not appear | Recurring | Guest | Does not appear | Supporting | |
| Colton | Alex MacNicoll | Guest | Recurring | Does not appear | Supporting | |
| Dr. Steve | Jason Mantzoukas | Guest | Recurring | Does not appear | Guest | Does not appear |
| Bryna | Jenny O'Hara | Does not appear | Recurring | Supporting | ||
| Leslie Mackinaw | Cherry Jones | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | Supporting | |
| Vicki | Anjelica Huston | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | ||
| Gittel (née Gershom) | Hari Nef | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | ||
| Sal | Ray Abruzzo | Does not appear | Recurring | Guest | Recurring | Does not appear |
| Buzzy Rackless | Richard Masur | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | ||
| Duvid Ovadia | Kobi Libii | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | ||
| Elizah Parks | Alexandra Grey | Does not appear | Guest | Does not appear | Supporting | |
| Lila | Alia Shawkat | Does not appear | Recurring | Supporting | ||
| Moshe Pfefferman | Jerry Adler | Does not appear | Recurring | Supporting | ||
| Nitzan | Mark Ivanir | Does not appear | Recurring | Does not appear | ||
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 10 | February 6, 2014 (2014-02-06) | September 26, 2014 (2014-09-26) | |
| 2 | 10 | November 30, 2015 (2015-11-30) | December 11, 2015 (2015-12-11) | |
| 3 | 10 | September 23, 2016 (2016-09-23) | ||
| 4 | 10 | September 21, 2017 (2017-09-21) | ||
| Film | September 27, 2019 (2019-09-27) | |||
Soloway felt inspired to createTransparent after their parent came out astrans.[26] They created the pilot forAmazon.com, which became available for free streaming and download on February 6, 2014 as part of Amazon's second pilot season.[27][28] Amazon Studios picked up the pilot forTransparent in March, 2014, ordering a ten-episode season.[29][30][31]
Tambor had previously portrayedtransvestite judge Alan Wachtel on thepolice procedural television showHill Street Blues in the 1980s.[32] Soloway wrote Hoffmann's role after seeing her performance on Season 3 ofLouis C.K.'s showLouie.[33]
Transparent premiered all ten episodes simultaneously in late September 2014.[34] In Canada, where Amazon's video streaming service was not available, the series premiered on theShomi platform on January 23, 2015.[35]
The series depicts several Jewish characters and deals with spiritually and culturally Jewish themes. Joey Soloway, the series' primary creator, is Jewish and consulted Rabbi Susan Goldberg ofWilshire Boulevard Temple. They also sought advice from Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie of New York, describing him as "a God-optional patriarchy-toppling Jewish modern mind. There's a mandate among religious and spiritual thinkers to be thinking about the binary, the gendered, the feminist, the goddess, and Amichai reminds me of that every day."[36]
Soloway said that they hoped to use the series to explore ideas ofgender identity through a "wounded parent being replaced by a blossoming femininity" and that they pictured Tambor as Maura when writing the character.[5]
Soloway, the writers, and the cast developed, workshopped, and rehearsed both seasons with consulting producer Joan Scheckel at Joan Scheckel Filmmaking Labs.[37]
As part of the making of the show, Soloway enacted a "transfirmative action program", whereby trans applicants were hired in preference to non-trans ones.[30] Over eighty trans people worked on the show, includingZackary Drucker andRhys Ernst, trans consultants and co-producers.[30][38] Despite this, the main character Maura was played by Tambor, a man. In 2014, when the show debuted, Soloway defended their casting choice, citing Tambor’s “ability to embody a sort of very dignified feminine way of being.”[39] However, in 2016, Soloway recanted this perspective, saying that casting a man as a trans woman is unacceptable and that no one should make the same casting decision again, citing such a decision as an "insult" to trans women.[40]
In 2014,Our Lady J was chosen as the first openly trans person to be a writer for the show.[41] All the bathrooms on set weregender-neutral.[42]
The original pilot made available in February 2014 (withGillian Vigman in the role of Tammy) was partly reshot after the series was approved.[43]
On November 19, 2017, Tambor quit the show amidstsexual harassment allegations made against him.[44]
| Season | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 98% (59 reviews)[45] | 92 (29 reviews)[46] |
| 2 | 98% (42 reviews)[47] | 94 (28 reviews)[48] |
| 3 | 100% (38 reviews)[49] | 90 (15 reviews)[50] |
| 4 | 91% (22 reviews)[51] | 74 (10 reviews)[52] |
| 5 | 68% (25 reviews)[53] | 55 (13 reviews)[54] |
OnRotten Tomatoes it received an overall score of 91%, and an overall score of 85 onMetacritic.[55][56]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season held an approval rating of 98% based on 59 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The site's consensus read: "As much about a change in television as it is about personal change,Transparent raises the bar for programming with sophistication and sincere dedication to the human journey, warts and all."[45] OnMetacritic, the first season received an average rating of 92 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[46]
Alan Sepinwall from HitFix namedTransparent the best new show of the Fall 2014 season and Amazon's "most impressive volley yet".[57] He added:
"... [The] show looks gorgeous and displays an instant command of both tone and this particular pocket of life in Los Angeles; Soloway is incredibly confident in introducing us to the parts of the show that are more universally relatable (a marriage gone sour, a disappointing child), knowing that we'll then follow her into more unfamiliar territory—not just with Maura, but the many disreputable behaviors her kids get tangled up in."[57]
The second season held a 98% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 42 reviews, with an average rating of 9.2/10. The site's critical consensus read: "Transparent's second season ups its dramatic stakes while retaining the poignancy and humor that have made the series such a consistently entertaining example of the best that modern serial drama has to offer."[47] On Metacritic, the second season received an average rating of 94 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[48]
The third season held a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 38 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The site's critical consensus read, "Uniquely its own, and compelling and poignant as ever,Transparent continues to transcend the parameters of comedic and dramatic television with sustained excellence in its empathetic portrayal of the Pfefferman family."[49] while Metacritic granted the season an average rating of 90 of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[50]
The fourth season held a 91% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The site's critical consensus read, "Transparent's fourth season forsakes tight narrative discipline for an absorbingly unwieldy continued exploration of the show's uniquely ambitious themes."[51] while Metacritic granted the season an average rating of 74 of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[52]
Transparent: Musicale Finale held a 68% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The site's critical consensus read, "Though it won't be for everyone,Transparent's singular musical finale grants its audience closure while giving its groundbreaking characters something they never expected: something resembling a happy ending"[53] while Metacritic granted the finale an average rating of 55 of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[54]
In Australia, the first two episodes of the series premiered on theNine Network on January 27, 2015, and all subsequent episodes premiered onstreaming serviceStan upon its launch.[58]
As Prime Video was not available in Canada at the time, the series launched on theShomi platform.[59]
On December 11, 2014, the series was nominated for aGolden Globe Award in the category Best TV Comedy.[60] On January 11, 2015,Transparent won two Golden Globe awards for the first season of the series. Tambor dedicated his win forOutstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series to the trans community,[61] while Soloway dedicated their award to the memory ofLeelah Alcorn.[62]
