Skip to content
Crisis In Six Scenes is the new TV project for prolific writer/director Woody Allen, a man who churns out a new film every year, even as he approaches his 81st birthday.
Set in the ’60s, he takes the lead role as Sid Munzinger, a novelist working on a new TV show, and having written a lot of television commercials in the past, but not everyone’s a fan. For example, the series begins with him at the barber shop wanting to get a haircut like James Dean, where he learns the man attending to his hair took ages to read his latest book… because it made him fall asleep.
Watching the whole series, as each episode ends, it links into the start of the next one and I loved wanting to see what happens next. There are frequent, big laughs from the mind of Woody Allen, such as when tells the barber that, thanks to his family, he feels blessed, to which comes the reply, “So was Job, but then God fucked him over(!)”
Amongst the many one-liners in this, Sid tells his wife and marriage relationship expert, Kay (Elaine May), “I read an article in a magazine that said you can add years to your life if you avoid anything pleasurable”, and as they go to bed, he gets paranoid about having forgotten to put the alarm on at night, but reasons that if they did get burgled, “We’ve got nothing. What are they going to take? The pots? The rug? Let him take it, I hate that rug!”
The first episode also features a cameo from Lewis Black (Inside Out‘s Anger, and a regular on The Daily Show) as one half a couple who hate each other, and everything about each other. When asked by Kay if there’s anything they agree on, his wife replies, “Neither one of us like guacamole”.
There’s also a great turn from Miley Cyrus (above) as political activist Lennie, and she keeps her clothes on for a change! 😉
Overall, Crisis in Six Scenes is a little uneven, but is a very comfortable and enjoyable watch, and there’s a lot of big laughs in it. So far, most of what I’ve seen takes place in Allen’s house, so it’s clearly an efficient and low-budget piece.
If there’s any downside, it’s that only six episodes have been made and Allen has confirmed there will not be a second series. I do hope he changes his mind. And I still have have Mel Torme's Comin Home Baby going round in my mind, as that is frequently heard, here.
Crisis In Six Scenes begins on Amazon Prime this Friday, September 30th, broadcasting one episode per week. I originally assumed they were airing a full series, as IMDB lists the same date for all six episodes, and it would have made sense given the nature of how each episode links into the next one.
Series Score: 8/10
Director: Woody Allen
Producer: Helen Robin
Writer: Woody Allen
Executive Producer: Erika Aronson
Cast:
Sid Munzinger: Woody Allen
Darlene “Lennie” Dale: Miley Cyrus
Kay Munsinger: Elaine May
Ellie: Rachel Brosnahan
Alan: John Magaro
Narrator: Mark Zeisler
Lee: Becky Ann Baker
Al: Lewis Black
Barber: Max Casella
Ann: Joy Behar
Linda: Mary Boyer
Lucy: Marylouise Burke
Helen: Margaret Goodman
Roz: Julie Halston
Rita: Sondra James
Gail: Margaret Ladd
Rose: Rebecca Schull
Andy: Mary Schultz
Carol: Barbara Singer
Doug: Douglas McGrath
Eve: Christine Ebersole
TV Voice #1: Jay Patterson
TV Voice #2: Steve Mellor
Vic: David Harbour
Jane: Kaili Vernoff
Ron: Sebastian Tillinger
Mel: Bobby Slayton
Waitress: Ellen Kearney
Moe: Gad Elmaleh
Lorna: Nina Arianda (Matijico)
Doctor: Larry Bryggman
Joe: Rick Younger
Woman in Park: Judy Gold
Cop in Park: Danny Mastrogiorgio
Sy: Boris McGiver
Lou: Tom Kemp
Judy: Deborah Rush
Ervin: Jeremy Burnett
Cal: Ephraim Sykes
Sol: William Hill
Tom: Mike Massimino
Trooper: Michael Rapaport
Singer/Guitarist: David O’Neil Rogers
Network Guy: Stephen Gleason
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.