One of the best shows on TV right now is FX’s Fargo, but that is not something the series’ executive producers Joel and Ethan Coen are much concerned with. The show is a spin-off of the brothers’ 1996 hit movie of the same name, but the brothers could hardly care less about its success based off a recent interview with Radio Times.
“We’re just not very interested,” Joel Coen said. “I mean, we’re perfectly happy with it. We have no problem with it. It just feels divorced from our film somehow.”
Luckily for Fargo show runner Noah Hawley, the show has not needed the Coen brothers’ support to this point. The show stands on its own. Through two seasons it has been one of the best dramas amongst some of the toughest competition in television history. The show has received critical acclaim all over, including a win at last year’s Golden Globes for Best Miniseries or Television Film.
As Joel would go on to say later in his interview, the show Fargo is not necessarily the issue but rather the concept of TV in general.
“Here’s the thing,” Joel said. “We work short. Our longest movie (2008’s Oscar winner No Country for Old Men) is two hours two minutes. It’s just not how we think about stories. I mean, after two hours with a character we feel we’re pretty much done with them.”
When asked about maybe doing a TV show somewhere in the future, Ethan Coen was less than optimistic, “Would it be interesting to do something like that at some point? I don’t even know where you’d start frankly.”
For now, the Coen brothers are focused on movies with their new flick, Hail, Caesar! which debuts tonight and has already earned stellar reviews from critics. Meanwhile, Hawley and the star-studded cast of Fargo are gearing up for season three and a yet another busy awards season.
[Radio Times/Photo: Entertainment Weekly]
