The Girlfriend Experience (TV series)

The Girlfriend Experience
Genre Drama
Legal thriller
Created by
Starring
Composer(s) Shane Carruth
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)
Location(s) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Cinematography Steven Meizler
Editor(s) Greg O'Bryant
Camera setup Single-camera
Running time 27–31 minutes
Production company(s) Transactional Pictures
Release
Original network Starz
Original release April 10, 2016 (2016-04-10) – present
External links
Official website

The Girlfriend Experience is an American anthology drama television series created, written, and directed by Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz. The first season stars Riley Keough as Christine Reade, a law student intern who also works as a high-end escort. Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, it is based on the 2009 film of the same name. A 13-episode first season premiered on April 10, 2016, and all episodes were made available on Starz On Demand.[1]

On August 1, 2016, Starz renewed the series for a 14-episode second season, focusing on new characters and storylines, with Seimetz and Kerrigan returning.[2]

Plot

Chicago-Burnham Law School student Christine Reade (Riley Keough), lands an internship at the law firm of Kirkland & Allen and struggles to balance her workload, expenses and classes. When her close friend Avery reveals that she has been working as an escort, she encourages Christine to tag along and introduces her to a friend of one of her clients who is also looking for an escort. Christine eventually makes the decision to work as an GFE, women who provide "The Girlfriend Experience" - emotional and sexual relationships available through the transaction of money, under the pseudonym "Chelsea Rayne", initially working for Avery's madam Jacqueline (Alexandra Castillo). Christine eventually strikes out on her own, experiencing pitfalls along the way as clients cross boundaries and she uncovers a scandal at Kirkland & Allen.

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateU.S. viewers
(millions)
1"Entry"Amy SeimetzLodge Kerrigan & Amy SeimetzApril 10, 2016 (2016-04-10)0.363[3]
2"A Friend"Lodge KerriganLodge Kerrigan & Amy SeimetzApril 10, 2016 (2016-04-10)0.334[3]
3"Retention"Lodge KerriganLodge Kerrigan & Amy SeimetzApril 17, 2016 (2016-04-17)0.268[4]
4"Crossing the Line"Amy SeimetzLodge Kerrigan & Amy SeimetzApril 24, 2016 (2016-04-24)0.262[5]
5"Insurance"Amy SeimetzLodge Kerrigan & Amy SeimetzMay 1, 2016 (2016-05-01)0.163[6]
6"Boundaries"Lodge KerriganLodge Kerrigan & Amy SeimetzMay 8, 2016 (2016-05-08)0.196[7]
7"Access"Lodge KerriganLodge Kerrigan & Amy SeimetzMay 15, 2016 (2016-05-15)0.222[8]
8"Provocation"Amy SeimetzLodge Kerrigan & Amy SeimetzMay 22, 2016 (2016-05-22)0.226[9]
9"Blindsided"Amy SeimetzLodge Kerrigan & Amy SeimetzMay 29, 2016 (2016-05-29)0.161[10]
10"Available"Lodge KerriganAmy SeimetzJune 5, 2016 (2016-06-05)0.177[11]
11"Fabrication"Lodge KerriganLodge Kerrigan & Amy SeimetzJune 12, 2016 (2016-06-12)0.248[12]
12"Home"Amy SeimetzLodge Kerrigan & Amy SeimetzJune 19, 2016 (2016-06-19)0.180[13]
13"Separation"Lodge KerriganLodge Kerrigan & Amy SeimetzJune 19, 2016 (2016-06-19)0.209[13]

Production

In June 2014, the series was greenlit by Starz, with a 13-episode order with the series being based upon The Girlfriend Experience which was directed by Steven Soderbergh who also serves as an executive producer on the series, while Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz, wrote and directed all 13 episodes and also serve as executive producers.[14] In September 2014, Riley Keough was cast as the female lead.[15] Shane Carruth composed the musical score for the series.[16] Principal photography took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[17]

Critical response

The Girlfriend Experience received positive reviews from critics, earning a rating of 81% with an average score of 8.6 out of 10, based on 31 reviews, on the review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. The site's critical consensus reads: "The darkly fascinating (and utterly bingeworthy) The Girlfriend Experience powers past any shortcomings with a breakout performance by Riley Keough."[18] Metacritic provides a score of 78 out of 100 from 27 critics, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[19] Matt Zoller Seitz, reviewing for Vulture, gave top praises to the series, stating that "The Girlfriend Experience is actually four or five shows rolled into one, and a big part of its specialness resides in those moments where it morphs from one thing into another", as well as giving high praise especially to the season finale: "[It] is the most daring, dense, allusive, and multilayered single episode of TV I’ve seen since the finale of season three of Louie".[20]

Home media

Amazon Video acquired rights to the series for the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and Japan, with the series premiering on June 27, 2016, excluding Japan.[21] The first season was released on Blu-ray and DVD in region 1 on August 2, 2016.[22]

References

  1. ↑ "Starz Original Limited Series "The Girlfriend Experience" to Premiere Sunday, April 10th" (Press release). Starz. January 8, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  2. ↑ Birnbaum, Debra (August 1, 2016). "Starz Renews 'The Girlfriend Experience' For Season Two". Variety. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Metcalf, Mitch (April 12, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.10.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  4. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (April 19, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.17.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  5. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (April 26, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.24.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  6. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (May 3, 2016). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.1.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  7. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (May 10, 2016). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.8.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  8. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (May 20, 2016). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.15.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
  9. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (May 24, 2016). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.22.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  10. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (June 1, 2016). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 5.29.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  11. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (June 14, 2016). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.5.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  12. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (June 20, 2016). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.12.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  13. 1 2 Metcalf, Mitch (June 21, 2016). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 6.19.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  14. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (June 23, 2014). "Starz Orders Steven Soderbergh Anthology Series 'The Girlfriend Experience' Based On His Movie". Deadline. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Riley Keough To Topline Steven Soderbergh's 'The Girlfriend Experience' On Starz". Deadline. September 23, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Starz's 'The Girlfriend Experience' to feature music by Shane Carruth". Film Music Reporter. March 31, 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  17. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (January 30, 2015). "Starz' The Girlfriend Experience TV series to shoot in Toronto". Playback. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  18. ↑ "The Girlfriend Experience: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  19. ↑ "The Girlfriend Experience : Season 1". Metacritic. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
  20. ↑ Seitz, Matt Zoller (April 8, 2016). "The Girlfriend Experience Is One of the Best Shows of the Year". Vulture. New York Media LLC. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  21. ↑ Szalai, Georg (June 27, 2016). "Amazon Takes Steven Soderbergh's Starz Series 'Girlfriend Experience' for U.K., Germany, Japan". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  22. ↑ Lambert, David (June 22, 2016). "The Girlfriend Experience - Anchor Bay's Official Press Release for 'The Starz Limited Series'". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.