White House Plumbers (miniseries)

Last updated

White House Plumbers
White-house-plumbers-logo-2271x300.png
Genre
Created by
  • Alex Gregory
  • Peter Huyck
Based on
Integrity: Good People, Bad Choices, and Life Lessons from the White House
by
Written by
  • Alex Gregory
  • Peter Huyck
Directed by David Mandel
Starring
Composer Jeff Cardoni
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes5
Production
Executive producers
Running time45–63 minutes
Production companies
  • Fearless Films
  • Hot Seat Productions
  • Perfect Pleasant Productions
  • Genco Pura Olive Oil Company
  • wiip
  • The District
  • Crash&Salvage
  • HBO Entertainment
Original release
Network HBO
ReleaseMay 1 (2023-05-01) –
May 29, 2023 (2023-05-29)

White House Plumbers is an American satirical political drama television miniseries created and written by Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck and directed by David Mandel, based on the 2007 book Integrity by Egil Krogh and Matthew Krogh. [1] [2] The series stars Woody Harrelson, Justin Theroux, Domhnall Gleeson, Kiernan Shipka, and Lena Headey and it premiered on HBO on May 1, 2023. [3]

Contents

Premise

Watergate masterminds and President Richard Nixon's political operatives E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy are part of the "White House Plumbers". Charged with plugging press leaks by any means necessary, they accidentally overturned the Presidency they were trying to protect.

Cast and characters

Main

Guest

Additionally, Robert Redford makes an uncredited voice-only cameo as Bob Woodward, the same role he played in All the President's Men . [4]

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateU.S. viewers
(millions)
1"The Beverly Hills Burglary" David Mandel Alex Gregory & Peter HuyckMay 1, 2023 (2023-05-01)0.216 [5]
In June of 1971, Nixon aide Bud Krogh hires two right-wing zealots: former CIA agent Howard Hunt and former FBI agent G. Gordon Liddy, to form the new Special Investigations Unit in the White House, later called the Plumbers, to discredit Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg and others. FBI official Mark Felt legally taps Ellsberg and his psychiatrist Fielding’s phones but refuses SIU requests for illegal file acquisition and polygraph tests of government officials. Hunt and Liddy fly to Beverly Hills with CIA disguises and cameras and legally photograph Fielding’s office. Hunt’s CIA wife Dorothy immediately hates Liddy for his fondness of Hitler speeches and guns. Krogh and Ehrlichman are impressed enough to approve a break-in using Hunt’s ex-CIA Bay of Pigs guys Bernard "Macho" Barker, Felipe de Diego, and Eugenio "Musculito" Martinez to photograph Ellsberg’s psychiatric files and leave no trace of a break-in, hoping to find Ellsberg’s commie links. The Cubans make a mess breaking in, making it look like junkies doing a burglary, and they find no Ellsberg files. Hunt and Liddy believe they failed, but Nixon is impressed with the Plumbers as men of action, hiring them to sabotage the Democrats, working across the street at CRP, with Liddy as CRP counsel under Jeb Magruder and John Dean replacing Krogh as White House contact. CIA photo-lab guys develop film from returned cameras of Liddy and Hunt in disguise at Dr. Fielding’s office in California.
2"Please Destroy This, Huh?"David MandelAlex Gregory & Peter HuyckMay 8, 2023 (2023-05-08)0.163 [6]
Liddy and Hunt make a pitch, with fancy posters made by CIA artists, to Attorney General John Mitchell at his CRP office, to get one million dollars for their twelve Operation Gemstone dirty tricks operations. Operations included suppressing the black vote, blackmailing Democrats at the Democratic National Convention with hookers and drugs, dressing up bums as Democrats at their convention to embarrass them, kidnapping or killing radical-left hippie activists so they can’t disrupt the Republican National Convention, planting operatives at the DNC and leading Democratic campaigns, and bugging leading Democratic candidates. Mitchell wants better ideas for a lower price. When Attorney General Mitchell is publicly accused by columnist Jack Anderson of accepting a $400k bribe from ITT to fund CRP, in exchange for a favorable anti-trust judgment, Hunt and Liddy are called to make the ITT story go away. Hunt bribes and convinces the key ITT lobbyist to disavow a memo that she wrote detailing the corrupt scheme, which was leaked to Anderson. The Senate investigation of the scheme falls apart, which pleases Mitchell enough to approve one of the Gemstone operations for $250,000 to plant bugs at DNC Headquarters. Magruder foists CRP security chief James McCord on the Plumbers, because he has bugging skills from his work at CIA and FBI, despite him being on the official CRP payroll and Liddy hating him. A team of eight Plumbers: Liddy, Hunt, McCord, and five ex-CIA assets in Cuba: Frank Sturgis, "Macho" Barker, "Musculito" Martinez, Virgilio "Villo" Gonzalez, and Felipe de Diego, meet across the street from the Watergate complex to discuss the operation.
3"Don't Drink the Whiskey at the Watergate"David MandelAlex Gregory & Peter HuyckMay 15, 2023 (2023-05-15)0.195 [7]
On their first DC break-in attempts, Hunt fails to enter the Watergate DNC office and Liddy can’t enter McGovern HQ. All eight Plumbers enter Watergate the next night for a phony Federal Reserve meeting, but Villo can’t pick the DNC lock. Hunt wants to quit, and Dorothy Hunt thinks the operations are crazy, but Liddy convinces Hunt that Nixon needs him. On their third attempt, they have more tools and enter the Watergate garage that McCord, disguised as a delivery man, had taped open earlier. Villo picks the DNC door and they install three bugs and photograph lots of files, and their lookout guy Alfred Baldwin in the Howard Johnson's sets up a radio bug-receiver and recorder. Liddy and Hunt think they’re heroes, but Dean and Magruder report that only one bug works, and all stolen data is useless. Mitchell rejects Liddy’s proposal to pay hippies to piss on McGovern’s hotel carpet. Nixon wants another operation to fix the DNC bugs and photograph Larry O'Brien's files, and Liddy convinces a skeptical Hunt for one last operation, which infuriates Dorothy Hunt. On June 16, McCord’s door tape is removed by the Watergate security guard, so McCord sneaks in again to tape the garage door, and he and the four Cubans enter after hours, with Hunt and Liddy on the lookout across the street. McCord didn’t think to remove the door tape upon entry, so the suspicious guard again finds the garage door taped open, this time calling DC Police, who arrest five "burglars" in the DNC office. Bernard Barker has a letter with Howard Hunt’s name and address.
4"The Writer's Wife"David MandelAlex Gregory & Peter HuyckMay 22, 2023 (2023-05-22)0.172 [8]
Hunt and his teen son Saint John throw his Plumber equipment into the river. Liddy tells Nixon’s new AG Kleindienst that Watergate was a CRP job under Mitchell. McCord is identified by a cop despite his fake ID, while the Cubans stay silent. Bob Woodward calls Hunt about why his name is on Barker’s envelope, and the press report that Hunt and Liddy are CRP staffers who led the burglary. Dean tells Liddy and Hunt to say nothing to the FBI while he and Nixon's new FBI chief Gray stop Mark Felt from investigating White House connections to Watergate and the Ellsberg break-in by calling them national security CIA operations. Howard fantasizes about slipping away to Nicaragua to work for his dictator friend Somoza, but Dorothy forces him to embrace reality and get a lawyer. Howard and Liddy stay silent, hoping for a Nixon pardon, but Dorothy tells Nixon’s lawyer LaRue that either they pay up or Howard will talk. Dorothy picks up regular hush money cash and distributes some to McCord and Liddy, but the payments stop by his federal arraignment on six charges in September 1972 as Howard loses his public relations job and is broke. Howard wants to write a lucrative Watergate book with Liddy, without implicating Nixon, but Liddy refuses, so Howard restarts the cash flow by threatening to reveal Nixon's role in the Ellsberg burglary and who really killed JFK. Dorothy tells Howard she’s divorcing him before getting on a plane that crashes on December 8, 1972.
5"True Believers"David MandelAlex Gregory & Peter HuyckMay 29, 2023 (2023-05-29)N/A
Hunt suspects his wife’s crash was intentional to keep him silent, so he still doesn't cooperate. Liddy sees Hunt is close to cracking so he offers to kill Hunt for Dean to keep him silent, but Dean declines, saying prison will be easy, they’ll get $30k per year and pardons. Liddy warns Dean he’ll be the new fall guy because of his obstruction of justice. Nixon publicly lies that Dean found no White House involvement. Frank Sturgis warns Hunt to not mention their trip to Dallas in 1963. The seven are charged with six federal counts of conspiracy, burglary, and wiretapping. Prosecutors have no evidence of White House involvement because Dean tampered with evidence to only implicate Hunt and Liddy. Judge Sirica and the prosecutor offer cooperation deals, but only McCord accepts, saying it wasn’t a CIA job and they all know more and were pressured to stay silent. McCord goes free, and the others to jail on provisional long sentences with time to cooperate before final sentencing. Sirica inspires Senate Watergate hearings. Hunt sells his home, sending his young son to his godfather. When Dean cooperates with the Senate, Hunt has a stroke, then his daughter convinces him to testify. Hunt and Liddy blame each other for the mess, with Liddy threatening to kill Hunt. Hunt finally testifies to the Senate that White House officials were involved, but he still gets 2.5 years in prison, with Liddy serving 4.5 years.

Production

Development

On December 4, 2019, it was announced that HBO had ordered the five-episode limited series created and executive produced by Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck, David Mandel, Frank Rich, Ruben Fleischer, and David Bernad. Gregory and Huyck were attached to write the miniseries with Mandel directing all episodes. [9] The series premiered on May 1, 2023. [3]

Casting

Alongside the series order announcement, Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux were set to star in lead roles as well as executive produce. [9] In April 2021, Domhnall Gleeson and Lena Headey were cast in main roles. [10] [11] In May 2021, Kiernan Shipka, Ike Barinholtz, Yul Vazquez, David Krumholtz, Rich Sommer, Kim Coates, and Liam James joined the cast in starring roles while Nelson Ascencio, Gary Cole, Toby Huss, Zoe Levin, John Carroll Lynch, Zak Orth, and Tony Plana were cast in undisclosed capacities. [12] [13] In the same month, the following week, Kathleen Turner joined the main cast. [14] In June 2021, Judy Greer was cast in a main role. [15] In July 2021, Corbin Bernsen and Alexis Valdés were cast in undisclosed capacities. [16]

Filming

The series began principal photography on May 3, 2021, and ended on October 21, 2021. Filming took place in Poughkeepsie, New York on Zack's Way, New York City, Albany, New York, Washington, D.C., Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands, [17] Beverly Hills, California, [18] and Redondo Beach, California. [19] On August 5, 2021, production was suspended after an audio recording reportedly captured Mandel berating and threatening the head of props, and the props department walked off the set. [20] Filming resumed on August 12 with additional protocols following the incident. [21]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 70% approval rating, with an average rating of 6.1/10, based on 47 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "White House Plumbers gets clogged up by its overstuffed adherence to real history, but with actors this appealing and material that truly is stranger than fiction, it flushes down easy enough." [22] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, has assigned a score of 62 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woody Harrelson</span> American actor (born 1961)

Woodrow Tracy Harrelson is an American actor. He first became known for his role as bartender Woody Boyd on the NBC sitcom Cheers (1985–1993), for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series from five nominations. He reprised his role in the acclaimed spinoff series Frasier in 1999 for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G. Gordon Liddy</span> American FBI agent, lawyer and Watergate criminal (1930–2021)

George Gordon Battle Liddy was an American lawyer and FBI agent who was convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping for his role in the Watergate scandal during the Nixon administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James W. McCord Jr.</span> American CIA officer (1924–2017)

James Walter McCord Jr. was an American CIA officer, later head of security for President Richard Nixon's 1972 reelection campaign. He was involved as an electronics expert in the burglaries which precipitated the Watergate scandal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White House Plumbers</span> 1971 U.S. government covert group responding to the Pentagon Papers leak

The White House Plumbers, sometimes simply called the Plumbers, the Room 16 Project, ODESSA or more officially, the White House Special Investigations Unit, was a covert White House Special Investigations Unit, established within a week of the publication of the Pentagon Papers in June 1971, during the presidency of Richard Nixon. Its task was to stop and/or respond to the leaking of classified information, such as the Pentagon Papers, to the news media. The work of the unit "tapered off" after the bungled "Ellsberg break-in" but some of its former operatives branched into illegal activities while still employed at the White House together with managers of the Committee to Re-elect the President, including the Watergate break-in and the ensuing Watergate scandal. The group has been described as Nixon's "fixers".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egil Krogh</span> American lawyer involved in the Watergate scandal

Egil "Bud" Krogh Jr. was an American lawyer who became infamous as an official of the Nixon administration and who was imprisoned for his part in the Watergate scandal. He was a Senior Fellow on Ethics and Leadership at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress and Counselor to the Director at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the Watergate scandal</span> Key events in 1970s Nixon administration Watergate scandal

The Watergate scandal refers to the burglary and illegal wiretapping of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, in the Watergate complex by members of President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign, and the subsequent cover-up of the break-in resulting in Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974, as well as other abuses of power by the Nixon White House that were discovered during the course of the scandal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Theroux</span> American actor and filmmaker (born 1971)

Justin Paul Theroux is an American actor and filmmaker. He gained recognition for his work with director David Lynch in the mystery film Mulholland Drive (2001) and the horror film Inland Empire (2006). He also appeared in films such as Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997), American Psycho (2000), Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), Strangers with Candy (2005), Miami Vice (2006), Wanderlust (2012), The Girl on the Train (2016), The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018), On the Basis of Sex (2018), Bumblebee (2018), and Lady and the Tramp (2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Young (Watergate)</span> American lawyer, businessman and academic

David R. Young is an American lawyer, businessman, and academic. He served as a Special Assistant at the National Security Council in the Nixon administration and an Administrative Assistant to Henry Kissinger. He has lived in the United Kingdom since the mid-1970s.

Liam James is a Canadian actor, known for his role as Noah Curtis in the 2009 film 2012, young Shawn Spencer on the USA Network television series Psych, and the lead character, Duncan, in 2013's The Way, Way Back. He also starred as Jack Linden in AMC's The Killing and Adam Warren in ABC's The Family, playing the son of main characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiernan Shipka</span> American actress (b. 1999)

Kiernan Brennan Shipka is an American actress, best known for her roles as Sally Draper in the AMC drama series Mad Men (2007–2015), and Sabrina Spellman in the Netflix fantasy series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018–2020) and the sixth season of The CW series Riverdale (2021–2022).

<i>The Gilded Age</i> (TV series) American historical drama television series

The Gilded Age is an American historical drama television series created and written by Julian Fellowes for HBO that is set in the United States during the Gilded Age, the boom years of the 1880s in New York City. Originally announced in 2018 for NBC, it was later announced in May 2019 that the show was moved to HBO. The first season premiered on January 24, 2022, and the second on October 29, 2023. In December 2023, the series was renewed for a third season and in August 2024, HBO confirmed it will return in 2025, but no specific date of release has been set.

Avenue 5 is a science fiction comedy television series created by Armando Iannucci that premiered on HBO in the United States on January 19, 2020. It stars Hugh Laurie and Josh Gad in lead roles as captain and owner of a fictional interplanetary cruise ship Avenue 5. HBO produced the series in the United States and Sky UK in the United Kingdom. In February 2020, just days before the COVID-19 pandemic led to worldwide lockdowns, the series was renewed for a second season; filming moved forward in late 2021, with a release date of October 10, 2022. In February 2023, the series was cancelled after two seasons.

<i>Gaslit</i> (TV series) American television series

Gaslit is an American political thriller television limited series based on the first season of the podcast Slow Burn by Leon Neyfakh. It stars Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, Dan Stevens, Betty Gilpin, Shea Whigham, and Darby Camp. It premiered on Starz on April 24, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woody Harrelson filmography</span>

Woody Harrelson is an American actor who made his film debut as an uncredited extra in Harper Valley PTA (1978). His breakthrough role was as bartender Woody Boyd on the NBC sitcom Cheers (1985–1993), which garnered Harrelson a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series from a total of five nominations. He would later reprise the character in other television shows, such as Frasier and The Simpsons. In 1992, Harrelson starred opposite Wesley Snipes in White Men Can't Jump. He then appeared in the Oliver Stone-directed Natural Born Killers (1994) alongside Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Downey Jr. For his performance as free-speech activist Larry Flynt in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and an Academy Award for Best Actor. He next appeared in The Thin Red Line (1998).

<i>The White Lotus</i> 2021 American comedy-drama anthology television series

The White Lotus is an American black comedy drama anthology television series created by Mike White for HBO. It follows the guests and employees of the fictional White Lotus resort chain, whose interactions are affected by their various psychosocial dysfunctions. The press release notes that "each passing day, a darker complexity emerges in these picture-perfect travelers, the hotel's cheerful employees, and the idyllic locale itself". The first and second season are set in Maui and Sicily, respectively. The third season is being filmed in Thailand.

Beacon 23 is an American science fiction psychological thriller television series created by Zak Penn. It stars Lena Headey and Stephan James, and is a co-production between Spectrum and Boat Rocker Media. Although originally greenlit by Spectrum Originals and AMC Networks, it premiered on MGM+ on November 12, 2023, in the United States. The second season premiered on April 7, 2024.

References

  1. ↑ "HBO Releases Official Trailer For The Limited Series WHITE HOUSE PLUMBERS, Debuting May 1". Warner Media (Press release). March 30, 2023. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  2. ↑ Krogh, Egil; Krogh, Matthew (2007). Integrity: Good People, Bad Choices, and Life Lessons from the White House (1st ed.). New York: Public Affairs  – via Internet Archive (subscription required). ISBN   978-1-58648-467-5. OCLC   141852377.
  3. 1 2 Bergeson, Samantha (March 30, 2023). "'White House Plumbers' Trailer: Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux Protect Nixon's Presidency". IndieWire. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  4. ↑ Whiting, Amanda (May 22, 2023). "'White House Plumbers Recap: The Watergate Crash': Overnights". Vulture . Retrieved June 4, 2023.
  5. ↑ Salem, Mitch (May 2, 2023). "ShowBuzzDaily's Monday 5.1.2023 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on May 3, 2023. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  6. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (May 9, 2023). "ShowBuzzDaily's Monday 5.8.2023 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  7. ↑ Salem, Mitch (May 16, 2023). "ShowBuzzDaily's Monday 5.15.2023 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  8. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (May 23, 2023). "ShowBuzzDaily's Monday 5.22.2023 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  9. 1 2 Andreeva, Nellie (December 4, 2019). "Woody Harrelson & Justin Theroux To Star In 'The White House Plumbers' HBO Limited Series About Watergate". Deadline. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  10. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (April 27, 2021). "'The White House Plumbers': Domhnall Gleeson To Play John Dean In HBO's Watergate Limited Series". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  11. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (April 29, 2021). "Lena Headey Joins 'The White House Plumbers' HBO Watergate Limited Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on April 29, 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  12. ↑ Petski, Denise (May 12, 2021). "Kiernan Shipka, Ike Barinholtz, Kim Coates, Liam James Among 7 Cast In 'The White House Plumbers' HBO Watergate Limited Series". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  13. ↑ Turchiano, Danielle (May 14, 2021). "Gary Cole, Zoe Levin, John Carroll Lynch Among Eight Added to HBO's Watergate Series (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  14. ↑ Petski, Denise (May 20, 2021). "Kathleen Turner Joins 'The White House Plumbers' HBO Watergate Limited Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on May 20, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  15. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (June 3, 2021). "Judy Greer Joins 'The White House Plumbers' HBO Watergate Limited Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  16. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (July 19, 2021). "'The White House Plumbers': Corbin Bernsen & Alexis Valdés Join HBO's Watergate Limited Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on July 19, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  17. ↑ "The White House Plumbers". Production List. March 22, 2021. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Woody Harrelson is seen filming scenes for his HBO show "White House Plumbers"". Getty Images. October 14, 2021. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  19. ↑ Meyer, Garth (October 20, 2021). "Nixon-era HBO series filming in town". Easy Reader & Peninsula Magazine. Hermosa Beach CA. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021.
  20. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (August 6, 2021). "'The White House Plumbers': HBO Pauses Production To Investigate "Alleged Unprofessional Behavior" On Set". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 15, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  21. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (August 16, 2021). "'The White House Plumbers' Resumes Production With Additional Protocols After Investigation Into "Alleged Unprofessional Behavior" On Set Of HBO Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  22. ↑ "White House Plumbers: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  23. ↑ "White House Plumbers: Season 1". Metacritic . Retrieved May 6, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.