# Blunt Talk
**Blunt Talk** is an American half-hour television comedy that aired on Starz from August 22, 2015 to 2016, starring [Patrick Stewart](https://www.edgepedia.org/patrick-stewart) as Walter Blunt, a British expatriate journalist who moves to Los Angeles to host a nightly cable news talk show of the same name while his personal life unravels behind the scenes[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/blunt_talk). The series was created by [Jonathan Ames](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonathan-ames), the author and screenwriter behind *Bored to Death*, and was set in motion by executive producer [Seth MacFarlane](https://www.edgepedia.org/seth-macfarlane)[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-patrick-stewart-20151229-story.html). It ran for two seasons of ten episodes each and was rated TV-MA[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/blunt_talk).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Network and run | Starz, August 22, 2015 to 2016; two seasons of 10 episodes each; canceled after season 2[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/blunt_talk) • [3](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/blunt-talk/bJt14KdM7zXXWCGXq5Og3/where-to-watch/) |
| Format | Half-hour live-action comedy, TV-MA rating[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-patrick-stewart-20151229-story.html) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/blunt_talk) |
| Creator and producers | Created by Jonathan Ames; executive producers include Ames, Seth MacFarlane, Stephanie Davis, and Tristram Shapeero[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/blunt_talk) |
| Lead role | Patrick Stewart as Walter Blunt, his first starring role in a comedy, earning him a third Golden Globe nomination[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-patrick-stewart-20151229-story.html) |
| Main cast | Adrian Scarborough as manservant Harry Chandler; Jacki Weaver as Rosalie Winter; Timm Sharp, Dolly Wells, Karan Soni, and Romany Malco in supporting roles[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/blunt-talk/season-1/) |
| Critical reception | Season 1 Metascore of 56 (mixed or average) from 25 critic reviews; user score of 6.2[5](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/blunt-talk/) |
## Premise
Walter Blunt is a well-intentioned but personally dysfunctional British newscaster who has moved to Los Angeles to conquer the American cable news market. As the series opens he is at a crossroads: a third divorce behind him, his relationship with his young son in question, his drinking out of control, and his ratings in decline[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/blunt-talk). In the pilot he is arrested for patronizing a prostitute and drunk driving, landing him in gossip columns around the world[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/blunt-talk).
Blunt's chief support comes from Harry ([Adrian Scarborough](https://www.edgepedia.org/adrian-scarborough)), his heavy-drinking, devoted manservant and best friend, and from Rosalie Winter ([Jacki Weaver](https://www.edgepedia.org/jacki-weaver)), his right-hand woman[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/blunt_talk) • [6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/blunt-talk). Reviewers singled out the Stewart-[Scarborough](https://www.edgepedia.org/scarborough) pairing as an offbeat, co-dependent duo whose mutual affection anchors the show[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/blunt-talk/season-1/).
The show's comedy comes from the gap between Blunt's public role, dispensing wisdom on how Americans should live and think, and his private chaos of alcohol, substances, ex-wives, and misguided decisions[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/blunt_talk). Stewart described the contrast as the point of the character: on air, Blunt is a serious and committed journalist who believes in the power of media to change the world; off air he cannot get his life right[7](https://time.com/4001156/patrick-stewart-interview-blunt-talk/).
## Origin and development
Seth MacFarlane conceived the series as a vehicle for Stewart, telling Ames he wanted ideas for a show built around the actor before Stewart himself knew of the plan[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-patrick-stewart-20151229-story.html). Stewart had worked with MacFarlane for nearly twelve years, having played Deputy Director Bullock on the animated series *American Dad!*, and agreed to the half-hour live-action comedy at a single lunch meeting with essentially no further discussion[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-patrick-stewart-20151229-story.html) • [7](https://time.com/4001156/patrick-stewart-interview-blunt-talk/).
For roughly two years before production, Stewart and Ames met every couple of weeks at a Brooklyn coffee shop and traded life stories over several large cups of coffee, a process Stewart credited with shaping Walter Blunt into a complex individual whose lifestyle and professional ambitions are out of sync[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-patrick-stewart-20151229-story.html). Stewart set one condition: the character should not be funny in the conventional sense, with no gags, jokes, or routines[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-patrick-stewart-20151229-story.html).
To prepare for the role, Stewart spent a full production day as a fly on the wall with [Jon Stewart](https://www.edgepedia.org/jon-stewart) at *The Daily Show* and with [Rachel Maddow](https://www.edgepedia.org/rachel-maddow), sitting in on their meetings and observing how an evening news show is assembled[7](https://time.com/4001156/patrick-stewart-interview-blunt-talk/).
## The character and its inspirations
Like [Piers Morgan](https://www.edgepedia.org/piers-morgan), Walter Blunt is a British expatriate working in American news, and the British-born Morgan was one inspiration for the character. Stewart nevertheless insisted he was not playing the real journalist; after Morgan accused him of portraying him at a restaurant one morning, the two met the next day and Morgan spoke openly about being a British journalist on an American news program, which Stewart found useful[8](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/patrick-stewart-blunt-talk-post-sex-scene-inspiration-newsman-character/) • [9](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/bit-brit). Stewart, a self-described news junkie, also cited *CBS This Morning* co-host [Charlie Rose](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlie-rose) among his inspirations, and drew on a period in his own youth when he worked at a newspaper, covering events by phone or invention until an editor gave him an ultimatum to clean up or leave[8](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/patrick-stewart-blunt-talk-post-sex-scene-inspiration-newsman-character/).
The role marked a late-career turn for Stewart, whose best-known parts, Captain Jean-Luc Picard in *Star Trek: The Next Generation* (from 1987) and [Professor X](https://www.edgepedia.org/professor-x) in the *X-Men* films, are largely serious figures[8](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/patrick-stewart-blunt-talk-post-sex-scene-inspiration-newsman-character/) • [7](https://time.com/4001156/patrick-stewart-interview-blunt-talk/). He called the show's comedy outrageous and said the part allowed him to investigate a quality of silliness that had always been there[2](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-patrick-stewart-20151229-story.html). It also gave him his first televised post-coital scene, preparation for which involved emailing three actress friends to ask what was acceptable on camera; the scene, with guest star [Elisabeth Shue](https://www.edgepedia.org/elisabeth-shue), was played with a sweetness he found unexpected for a MacFarlane production[8](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/patrick-stewart-blunt-talk-post-sex-scene-inspiration-newsman-character/) • [7](https://time.com/4001156/patrick-stewart-interview-blunt-talk/).
## Reception
Season 1 scored 56 on Metacritic, labeled mixed or average, from 25 critic reviews, against a user score of 6.2 from 35 ratings[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/blunt-talk/season-1/). Critics divided sharply. IndieWire's review at 91 praised the show's distinct voice and Stewart's magnetism; the Los Angeles Times at 80 found a tenderness running through the series; [Entertainment Weekly](https://www.edgepedia.org/entertainment-weekly) at 75 called the media satire sly and stale by turns and thought the show found itself as a comedy about redemption by its third episode[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/blunt-talk/season-1/). At the other end, Variety at 40 judged the series to rely too heavily on Stewart's antics and indistinct supporting players, and TV Guide Magazine at 20 called it a perversely unpleasant workplace comedy[4](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/blunt-talk/season-1/).
Common Sense Media's review noted that the show takes a show-don't-tell approach to characterization, sketching Blunt's decline and his struggle to hold on to relevance through vintage pop-culture references and reactions rather than exposition, and highlighted a split-screen sequence in the pilot in which Blunt interviews himself[6](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/blunt-talk).
## Context in Stewart's career and the series' end
Stewart framed the role as a continuation of the comic register he first explored voicing Bullock on *American Dad!*, where playing an obnoxious, self-obsessed character had opened opportunities he had not previously had[7](https://time.com/4001156/patrick-stewart-interview-blunt-talk/). The series ran two seasons before its cancellation, and later availability has been limited to digital purchase on platforms such as Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home, and Amazon Video[3](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/blunt-talk/bJt14KdM7zXXWCGXq5Og3/where-to-watch/).
## References
1. [Blunt Talk | Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/blunt_talk)
2. [Patrick Stewart uses 'Blunt Talk' to hone his character in his first turn as a comedy lead, Los Angeles Times (December 29, 2015)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-patrick-stewart-20151229-story.html)
3. [Blunt Talk - Where to Watch, Stream, Rent, or Buy | Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/blunt-talk/bJt14KdM7zXXWCGXq5Og3/where-to-watch/)
4. [Blunt Talk season 1 Reviews - Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/blunt-talk/season-1/)
5. [Blunt Talk Reviews - Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/blunt-talk/)
6. [Blunt Talk - Parents' Guide & TV Review | Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/blunt-talk)
7. [Patrick Stewart On 'Blunt Talk's 'Outrageous' Comedy and Why He Loves Twitter, TIME (August 20, 2015)](https://time.com/4001156/patrick-stewart-interview-blunt-talk/)
8. [Sir Patrick Stewart on "Blunt Talk," sex scene and inspiration for newsman character, CBS News (August 20, 2015)](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/patrick-stewart-blunt-talk-post-sex-scene-inspiration-newsman-character/)
9. [Bit by Brit | Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/bit-brit)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Sitcom and comedy series › American sitcoms and comedy series › 2010s cable and streaming comedies*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license