It seems the ambitions of “George and Tammy,” a new limited series about two real-life people in the entertainment industry, is to replicate the success of another show.
In its structure and scares, the series feels as if it owes a debt to “Fosse/Verdon,” the excellent 2019 FX series about two creative and romantic partners attempting love and art, both together and apart. Like “Fosse/Verdon,” “George & Tammy” is based on the memories of his subjects’ daughter; This new series measures the lives and work of country singers George Jones and Tammy Wynette at various key moments. But while he brings out the basic notes in the music resume, he can’t find the spark or soul that characterizes the best country songs.
Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain star here; The series begins with George as an established name, and Tammy seeking a break that will bring her out of obscurity. After a chance encounter, they are drawn to each other both as artists and as lovers, and Shannon and Chastain take advantage of their attraction to illustrate the potency of their bond from the start. The musical side of things is a hard sell: Shannon acquits himself well, but Chastain’s voice isn’t, perhaps, the best fit for the simultaneous sensitivity and power of Wynette’s beat. (There’s more than a little other Tammy, the Oscar-winning role of Tammy Fay Packer, in the mix here.)
Country music is about storytelling, and Jones and Wynette lived the kind of lives you could really write a sad song about, from the highs of lust and career success to the lows of addiction, health struggles, and marital strife. This makes it even more confusing because there is no transformative or transcendental aspect to this show through the realities of the central couple’s lives. John Hillcoat, who directs the story, brings the story along at a somewhat languid pace: Over and over, an event happens, and we sit with the latest triumph or setback for a long time before moving on to the next thing. George and Tammy are two people to whom a lot has happened. But they lack the tapestry of excellent characters.
The series, the first episode to air on Showtime and the Paramount Network, features a double feature State of the Red with “Yellowstone,” which will lead to Paramount. It seems to be based on name recognition subjects and stars alike. The very thing that turns mediocre or worse projects like “Bohemian Rhapsody” into smashes is proof here: If you want to spend six hours watching two movie stars sing great songs, you’re in luck. (Not a country fan myself, I found myself looking for Tammy Wynette’s music in between episodes.) What’s missing here, though, is the “Fosse/Verdon” thing pulled from Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams as they craft a similar rooftop dance of love and hate, It is a sense of why the story is being told, to the wider world or even to the people on screen.
“George & Tammy” will premiere simultaneously on Showtime and Paramount Network on Sunday, December 4 at 9pm EST/PT. The remainder of the season will be exclusively on Showtime, with new episodes airing on Fridays and airing Sundays at 9 p.m.
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