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Fosse/Verdon Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
8 Episodes 2019 - 2019
Episode 1
Life Is a Cabaret
Tue, Apr 9, 201952 mins
Bob has just completed his first feature film directing job, that for Sweet Charity (1969), which, somewhat outside his control doesn't star Gwen who originated the role of Charity on Broadway to great acclaim. Unlike the success Bob and Gwen enjoyed on Broadway with Charity, Bob doesn't get the same reception for the movie, which ends up being a flop, both commercially and critically. That failure seems to seal the fate of not getting the job to direct the movie version of Cabaret (1972). Manipulating the system by going over Cy's head, Bob does get the job much to Cy's chagrin. However, Cy has been given the task of overseeing the production on location in Munich. Cy and Bob end up butting heads on the production, Cy who has always viewed the project as a standard musical, while Bob wants to do something a little more realistic. Although Gwen has stayed at home during production to show the world that she still has a professional life outside of Bob, Bob, in his insecurity, ends up calling her in for the production, despite the fact of Bob being Bob in having his extramarital fling on set.
Episode 2
Who's Got the Pain?
Tue, Apr 16, 201945 mins
In light of Bob and Gwen's marital problems, they vacationing in Majorca in order to deal with those problems away from the sources of the issues themselves, their early relationship is presented. Gwen has just won her first Tony Award, and Hal has long signed her for what will be their respective next show, Damn Yankees. Despite that, Gwen feels that Hal hiring up and coming choreographer Bob, who Gwen only knows as "the hat guy", for the show, and Gwen and Bob's initial meeting will be Gwen having to audition for the role for Bob for which she's already been hired. While that initial meeting between Bob and Gwen is one where they seem to need to one up the other, they quickly find that they truly understand each other professionally, especially important in being joint forces whenever problems arise in the production. But as that professional relationship starts to veer into the personal, it causes issues of its own in that both are already in high profile relationships, in Bob's case a marriage.
Episode 3
Me and My Baby
Tue, Apr 23, 201942 mins
Professionally, Bob has gone into editing for Cabaret, a process going in over which he does not have much control much to his chagrin. Gwen is in the running for the lead in another Broadway show, this one a play i.e. no singing, no dancing. Personally, Gwen and Bob are no longer living together. While Bob tries to pull Gwen back in in wanting her expert eyes in the editing, Gwen uses passive aggressive tactics to show Bob her anger. Those tactics may soften as Gwen herself, who does get the play, is having problems in not being the director Joe's first choice for the role, and as such needs her own emotional support in working through the play. In the process, Nicole becomes an unwitting pawn between her parents. One specific incident may become a breaking point in relations between Gwen and Bob in Gwen hearkening back to specific painful issues from her past.
Episode 4
Glory
Tue, Apr 30, 201944 mins
Cabaret (1972) has just opened to commercial and critical success. That success allows Bob to write his own ticket in whatever his current and upcoming projects, two in the current category being Pippin on Broadway which he can re-imagine to his own sensibilities, and a television special with Liza. These three projects alone result in Oscar, Tony and Emmy nominations galore not only for the projects themselves, but for Bob individually, they and he ultimately winning a plethora of them. And he uses his power and success to parlay that into the bedroom, any woman he wants he seemingly can have, that is except for Gwen. Conversely, Gwen has a commercial and critical flop in Children Children!, which closes the day after opening night, the show having had been gutted in the lead up to that opening. Despite Gwen's urging for Bob's help to fix it, those pleas landed on deaf ears. Her team has finally obtained the rights to Chicago, she again turning to Bob to commit to the show in she needing a professional success, that request again falling on deaf ears. And she has been a constant presence at Joan's bedside, the latter who realizes that she will never leave the hospital in soon succumbing to her illness. With these issues, Bob and Gwen outwardly are heading in different directions, Bob up and Gwen down, which may not quite be reality.
Episode 5
Where Am I Going?
Tue, May 7, 201960 mins
It's been three months since Bob checked himself out of Payne Whitney after a six day stay following his breakdown, that decision to leave against the advice of the doctors there, and seven weeks after Joan's passing. Bob has rented a large beach house in Southampton and is hosting a gathering largely to support Neil in his time of grief. The other attendees are Paddy, Ann who seems to be holding as a steady girlfriend for Bob, Gwen who is bringing Ron, and Nicole, who is the only minor among a group of often irresponsible adults absorbed in their own issues. While Joan's passing is openly addressed as the reason for the gathering and as much younger Ann and much younger Ron in Bob and Gwen's respective lives is a point of needling between the spouses, there are many elephants hovering over the gathering which may or may not come to light by the time they disperse. One issue with which they will have to address is Nicole, who secretly pushes the boundaries concerning the adult vices she constantly sees around her.
Episode 6
All I Care About Is Love
Tue, May 14, 201944 mins
It's two weeks until the scheduled release date of the yet uncompleted Lenny (1974), the status due to Bob being unhappy with the editing. Bob's focus on the movie has taken away any work on his part on Chicago. But not having taken a break from work since his doctors at Payne Whitney advised - their advice of at least a one year respite - leads to Bob suffering a heart attack. Gwen's response to Bob's health issue shows her dedication to the professional and personal entity of Fosse/Verdon.
Episode 7
Nowadays
Tue, May 21, 201957 mins
Four months later, Bob has returned to Chicago following his heart attack, Gwen having arranged for everyone involved with the show to be accommodated financially during the hiatus. Beyond Bob feeling like he has lost his edge in being cut off from his vices, especially drugs, most specifically Dexedrine, Bob continues to have a different vision for the show than Gwen. While Gwen has always wanted to stay true to the way it was originally envisioned as a comedy, Bob wants to delve into what he sees as the true nature of the characters who are murderers and liars. But what Bob probably has the most issue with is Gwen herself, who he feels is at least ten years, if not more, too old to play the role of an ingenue, let alone being physically able to handle the choreography he has in mind. Gwen challenges Bob in who between the two actually "owns" the show. The critics and public may be the arbiters in the end. With these problems between Bob and Gwen, two earlier periods in the entity that is Fosse/Verdon are shown, the first of Gwen first learning of Bob's infidelity, and the second during their decision to have a child.
Episode 8
Providence
Tue, May 28, 201958 mins
Two key periods in the respective professional lives of Bob and Gwen are told. The first is in the late 1970s. With dancing roles fewer and farther between, Gwen demonstrates with a professional decision how tied she is to Bob, much to Ron's chagrin. With the names changed, Bob is in production on a movie loosely or not so loosely depicting his life - what would become All That Jazz (1979) - which may hit a little too close to home, not only with Bob himself, but with Ann and Nicole, who Bob is considering hiring to play "their" characters. The added stress in this situation stems from the fact that Bob and Ann have now split romantically, and Nicole is struggling with trying to find her place in her parents' respective lives. The second is the early 1980s. Bob is suffering what is considered his first film failure in Star 80 (1983) since his first film, Sweet Charity (1969). But another project brings his and Gwen's professional collaboration full circle, it which highlights the sweet spot in their lives together.
