News

Marge Gunderson, the pregnant police chief Frances McDormand played in Fargo the movie, does not appear in Fargo the show. Not in the flesh, anyway. In spirit, she’s all over FX’s hit anthology series — reincarnated into a new body each season, her famous Minnesota gumption worn like a badge. Allison Tolman played the show’s first, most obvious Gunderson proxy. Since then, we’ve seen a gender-flipped Gunderson in Patrick Wilson’s nice-guy deputy and a double dose of Gunderson in the intersecting Stussy cases investigated by Carrie Coon and Olivia Sandoval. Last season even delivered a kind of evil Gunderson, with Jessie Buckley putting a malevolent spin on McDormand’s Midwest folksiness as a psychotic 1950s nurse.

“The rule in ‘Fargo’ is: It doesn’t have to be true, it just have to feel true.”

Noah Hawley, the showrunner, writer, director, and creator of FX’s scripted adaptation, often cites this edict. After all, it’s an important clarification. Each episode of his award-winning anthology starts with the title card, “This is a true story” — even though what follows is not. Just like the film it’s based on, each season of “Fargo” is a work of fiction, but it’s grounded in a distinctly American reality, from the snowy Midwestern plains to the passive-aggressive politeness.

Typically, that truth extends to a simple form of symbolism. Amid the many shady criminals running around “Fargo,” there was always one beacon of light fighting an imminent force of darkness. Police Chief Marge Gunderson (played by Frances McDormand) represents goodness in the Coen brothers’ movie, just as Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) embodies the encroaching evil.

Actor and filmmaker Pat Healy seems to pop up everywhere, but a corporate office ceiling is a new surprise — even for him. Hot off a bit reporter part in Steven Spielberg’s “The Post,” Healy lends his oddball comedic talents to “Man in Ceiling,” a short film that turns office mundanity into the loopy stuff of surreal comedy. Healy stars as a disgruntled office worker shirking his responsibilities by hiding in the ceiling above his desk.

It’s the kind of role Healy excels in; that ubiquitous face practically screams disheveled corporate renegade. A filmmaker in his own right, Healy recently brought his madcap sensibilities to “Take Me,” which he directed and starred in opposite Taylor Schilling (“Orange is the New Black”).

Read More:Juno Temple and Jon Bass ‘Meet Cute’ In Twisted New Short Film About Romance Gone Totally Awry — Watch

“Man in Ceiling” also stars Olivia Sandoval (“Fargo”) and comedian Matt Porter,...

“Fargo” is more than a place; it’s a Midwest state of mind. Mention as much to Carrie Coon, a Midwesterner from the eastern end of the region (Ohio) now living in its heart (Illinois), and she’ll rattle off an impressive list of accurate ideological descriptors.

“The ethos of that place,” she said in a recent interview with IndieWire. “That particular brand of stoicism and emotional restraint; the belief that bad things won’t happen to good people and that you have some control; this idea that we can make meanings in our lives, even though the reality is that we have very little control over anything.”

Read More:The 15 Best TV Performances of 2017 (So Far)

All of these things are built into “Fargo,” but there’s one other characteristic that stands out to Coon above all the rest.

“There’s a kind of Protestant work ethic,” Coon said. “We...

The Performer | Danielle Brooks

The Show | Orange Is the New Black

The Episode | “Sing It, White Effie”

The Performance | The 2017 Emmy Awards are still months away, but after seeing Brooks’ triumphant work in the prison dramedy’s fifth season, we’re already thinking ahead to the 2018 Emmy cycle. Anyone who’s watched Episode 5 is likely doing the same.

When Taystee emerged from Litchfield’s barricaded entrance, the press was at first less concerned with her than the well-being of Martha Stewart stand-in Judy King. But ultimately, it was Poussey’s best friend, a ball of pent-up anger over her murder,...

Got a scoop request? An anonymous tip you’re dying to share? Send any/all of the above to askausiello@tvline.com

Question: So, what’s the deal with Quantico Season 3? Is ABC completely overhauling the show? —Justine

Ausiello: I don’t know about a complete overhaul, but it’s certainly going to be a significant one. I’m told the network — in conjunction with the drama’s new, Tbd leadership — is looking to streamline the series in the hopes of making it more accessible to viewers. That means more self-contained storylines (although sources insist Quantico is not becoming a...

Each week you and I meet here in this virtual space to talk about Fargo, to compare notes and (sometimes) even find amusement in my struggles to make funny -- we've all got our hobbies -- but before we get rolling, I want to acknowledge that this might be the smartest episode of television I've ever watched. Did I hook you? Well, it's true. Creator Noah Hawley and writer Robert De Laurentiis have pulled together all the little threads and bits of nothing from this too-short season of Fargo to remind us that they're pretty good at this TV show-making thing. They still have a few hole cards left to turn over next week, but this next-to-last episode is a master class in character, plot, and mood.

We open on a quiet Minnesota residential street threatening to escape winter, the trees still flocked with snow. A man in a robe...

Last Year’s Winner: Regina King, “American Crime”

Still Eligible: Yes.

Hot Streak: Regina King won two years in a row for her roles in “American Crime.” ABC cancelled the well-reviewed but low-rated anthology series after its third season.

Fun Fact: No one has won more than twice in this category, though Kathy Bates holds the record for most nominations with seven total nods.

Perhaps the most intriguing competition within this category is internal. “Big Little Lies” offers a few options in supporting actresses, primarily Laura Dern and Shailene Woodley. Dern is a five-time nominee (and two-time Oscar nominee) and beloved within the community. (She’s reportedly up for the presidency of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.) Woodley could’ve been positioned as a lead, given her role’s prominence, and that could work for or against her in this category.

Read More:Laura Dern Speaks the...

The third season of “Fargo” has seen its fair share of strange connections. Some have been carefully orchestrated, others happy accidents, and still more entirely inexplicable. So when Noah Hawley joined director John Cameron and cast members Michael Stuhlbarg and Mary McDonnell for a post-screening panel session at the Atx TV Festival, the man who improbably built an award-winning TV series out of an untouchable Oscar-winning film was ready to identify his intentions.

Below, we’ve outlined the various connective tissue between scenes, characters, and themes of Season 3 with what Hawley said inspired them.

Read More: ‘Fargo’ Review: A Brutal Episode 8 Brings a Character Back From the Dead for Two Very Different Goodbyes

[Editor’s Note: The following article contains spoilers for “Fargo” Season 3, up to and including Episode 8.]

Season 1

First up, the return of Mr. Wrench.

The deaf hitman introduced in Season 1 made a surprising return at the end of Episode 6 in Season 3. Sitting next to Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Nikki Swango on a prisoner transport bus,...

[Editor’s Note: The review below contains spoilers for “Fargo” Season 3, Episode 8, “Who Rules the Land of Denial?”]

Immediate Reaction

“My name is Emmit Stussey. I want to confess.”

“Well, Mr. Stussey, it’s a little too late, but we’ll hear you out.”

No, you didn’t miss an after-credits sequence where Gloria Burgle (Carrie Coon) responded to the corrupt Stussey brother’s abrupt announcement. That’s just what we imagine she’d say, if she was being as honest as we’re about to be.

Last Week’S Review: ‘Fargo’: Carrie Coon Fights the Mashed Potato Theory, and Season 3 Gets Turned Upside Down

Even if Emmit can finally fess up and say an honest goodbye to Ray, “Fargo” remains in a bit of a pickle. Emmit’s list of moral crimes are as lengthy as his most atrocious legal foley is serious. He already stood by while his consigliere and friend was drugged into a coma; he helped frame an innocent woman for murdering his brother,...

In traditional Hollywood Westerns or TV crime dramas, the sheriff, the marshal, or the local police are depicted as the unassailable line between good and evil, a safe zone if you will. Regardless of the type or scale of danger, you could always feel secure standing behind a lawman... although maybe not directly behind them, because bullets will inevitably fly. Not so on Fargo; creator Noah Hawley seems to hold the police (as an institution) in contempt -- he portrays the law as consistently corrupt, weak, or incompetent to varying degrees.

Interestingly, each season of Fargo also focuses upon a lone, incorruptible officer who won't back off, who faces down fear, and who (maybe) restores sanity to otherwise insane circumstances. Gloria (Carrie Coon) is willing to throw her career in the can -- on Christmas Eve, no less -- to see her case through. She conspires with perhaps the only other honest cop,...

Emmy voters were courted by the cast and crew of FX’s “Fargo” on Thursday night, and Gold Derby was on the red carpet at the Saban Media Center in North Hollywood. We snagged interviews with stars Ewan McGregor, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Olivia Sandoval, as well as creator Noah Hawley, director John Cameron, and executive producer Warren Littlefield. This season of […]...

“Carrie, I’m not familiar with your work prior to ‘Fargo,'” Damon Lindelof said to Carrie Coon. “I’ve heard you’re an excellent actress.”

This, obviously, is a boldfaced lie. Back in 2014, Lindelof was one of the first people in Hollywood to notice Coon’s immense talent when he cast her in HBO’s drama, “The Leftovers.” But he wasn’t about to say as much while moderating a For Your Consideration panel for her other show, FX’s anthology series, “Fargo.”

And neither was “Fargo” creator Noah Hawley.

“When I first saw Carrie — in a movie,” Hawley said, pointedly, before adding, “Maybe another show…” The showrunner trailed off, allowing the audience to fill in the blank.

Read More: ‘Fargo’ Episode 4 Review: A New Ewan McGregor is Unveiled, As A Voice From the Past Tells a Fairy Tale for the Future

And they did! At that moment,...

Need to catch up? Check out our previous Fargo recap here.

Things started to unravel in a hurry for both Stussy boys this week on Fargo, while Gloria got a new clue in Ennis’ murder — and a new friend!

Ray’s latest get-rich scheme is to impersonate his brother Emmit, shaving his mustache and putting on a curly wig to go down to Emmit’s bank and open that safe-deposit box. “Emmit” tells the bank manager he lost his key, and when he threatens to take his money elsewhere, the manager scrambles to get the box opened with a drill.

Every so often, Fargo drops a reference to a character, location or plot-point from the Coen brothers-based source material – a satchel full of Carl Showalter's loot here, a namedropping of Stan Grossman there. But more than anything, what the TV show's taken from the film are its ideas. Each season has followed the interconnected lives of three main types: a sweet-natured, capable cop; a weaselly businessman who deals with the wrong people; and a darkly powerful nemesis with a well-articulated philosophy of amorality. This is life in and around icy Minnesota,...

Another one of our favorite shows is back this week, as the whole of Master of None’s Season 2 hits Netflix, and one of the most hopeful new series of the year, Amazon’s I Love Dick, makes its leap from pilot to full first season the same day. There’s also the end of the first season of Riverdale, more Fargo and Better Call Saul, a must-see installment of Saturday Night Live, reason to check out the new sitcom Great News, and why we’re paying attention to the MTV Movie Awards this year.

To help you keep track of the most important programs over the next seven days, here’s our guide to everything worth watching, whether it’s on broadcast, cable, or streaming for May 7–13 (all times Eastern):

SUNDAY2017 MTV Movie and TV Awards (MTV, 8pm)

Yeah, it’s MTV, and yes they still have awards like “Best Kiss,” but...

Ewan McGregor in ‘Fargo’

Two of the best series on television return this week as HBO brings back Veep and FX debuts another season of Fargo. Additionally, there are anticipated fiction and nonfiction shows as well as a new HBO biopic we’re excited about, at the same time we’re set to say goodbye to other favorites, either for the year or forever. To help you keep track of the most important programs over the next seven days, here’s our guide to everything worth watching, whether it’s on broadcast, cable, or streaming for April 16–22:

(All listed times are Eastern)

SUNDAYVeep (HBO, 10:30pm)

This show is back for the first time since the election, and fans are surely wondering how the political humor will reflect the new administration. Probably not at all, considering it was never a reaction to current events before. Instead, the focus on the first episode of season six, “Omaha...

We may as well call this season of “Fargo,” “Feud: Ray and Emmit” — to borrow another FX’s naming convention.

In the first look featurette below, the cast of “Fargo” Season 3 dive deeper into the issues that their characters will be facing this year. Ewan McGregor, who plays Ray and Emmit Stussy, discussed the crux of the brothers’ enmity: “Ray feels that Emmit hoodwinked him out of his fortune and that he deserves to have some of it back.”

Read More: ‘Fargo’ Review: Season 3 Remains a Masterful Midwestern Drama, But You’ll See It in a Terrifying New Light

Also, hearing McGregor pronouncing “Nikki Swango” with his real accent is another gift in this video.

The majority of plot details have been kept under wraps for “Fargo” Season 3. As with the previous season’s Gerhardt crime family, it looks like bad blood relationships are at the heart of what...

Olivia Sandoval (Medium) has booked a key recurring role on the upcoming third season of FX’s Fargo. The new installment is set in 2010 and features Ewan McGregor (in dual roles), Carrie Coon, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and David Thewlis. In Season 3, Emmit Stussy (McGregor), the Parking Lot King of Minnesota, sees himself as an American success story, whereas his slightly younger brother Ray (also McGregor) is more of a cautionary tale. Forever living in his brother's…...