Though now considered a cult favorite, the creatives behind Lodge 49 had a hard time selling the series until Paul Giamatti came along. Created by Jim Gavin, the comedy-drama series centered on Wyatt Russell’s Dud, an ex-surfer drifting through Long Beach, California struggling to come to terms with his dad’s suicide a year prior to the start of the show. As he nears his rock bottom, Dud comes across the Order of the Lynx, a fraternal order located in the titular building, and takes to bonding with members of the lodge as he hopes to turn his life around with their help.
Alongside Russell, the main cast for Lodge 49 included Brent Jennings, Sonya Cassidy, Linda Emond, David Pasquesi and Eric Allan Kramer, with some recurring stars including Bruce Campbell, Brian Doyle-Murray, Adam Godley, Mary Elizabeth Ellis and Cheech Marin. First premiering on AMC in mid-2018, the dramedy scored major acclaim from critics and audiences alike for its balance of surreal and grounded storytelling, charming humor and the performances of its cast, namely Russell and Jennings. Despite the acclaim, Lodge 49 struggled in its ratings and was cancelled after just two seasons, which may have been foreseen in its development.
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While speaking exclusively with Screen Rant for the show’s UK release, Jim Gavin opened up about his initial struggles to sell his Lodge 49 show to a producer. The creator revealed that Paul Giamatti was a major help in getting the show made, with the actor/producer having “loved” the pilot script and worked hard with producing partner Dan Carey to find it a home. See what Gavin shared below:
“When the script was going around, no one wanted it, no producers wanted it. It got to Paul Giamatti and Dan Carey, who loved it. I think we shared a lot of the same interests and they’re book guys, they’re like big book geeks. I think that aspect of the show spoke to them, so they were on at the very beginning and then we went out with it and, again, no one wanted it, everyone passed immediately. The only person who took a chance was Susie Fitzgerald at AMC, she kind of became our fairy godmother. The creative team at AMC was amazing and we always had Paul in mind and his character comes to the fore in season 2 in a way that was about as much fun to write as anything I will ever do. [Laughs]”
In addition to executive producing, Giamatti would also appear within both seasons of Lodge 49, providing his voice uncredited in season 1 as L. Marvin Metz, an espionage novelist that Brent Jennings’ Ernie Fontaine is obsessed with and frequently listens to his audiobooks. Giamatti would later appear in front of the camera for Lodge 49 season 2 as Metz, who is staying in the mental health clinic Ludibrium that David Pasquesi’s Blaise checks into after his struggles with getting too deep into alchemy. Metz is revealed to also be a Lynx member and joins Dud, Ernie and Blaise on their journey to Mexico to find the mysterious scrolls at the heart of the season’s story.
Given the very surreal nature of the series, it’s likely understandable to most that Gavin had a hard time selling the Lodge 49 show to any producers before Giamatti would come along and help get it made. Though the show may have only lasted two seasons at the network, Gavin’s praise of former network head Susie Fitzgerald for allowing him and his team creative freedom after Giamatti’s efforts to get the series sold is sure to come as a charming look back on the show’s development for fans of the series. Audiences can revisit the entirety of Lodge 49 streaming on Hulu now while UK audiences can look forward to it hitting AMC exclusively on BT TV on July 31.
More: Lodge 49 Season 3 Updates: Will The Wyatt Russell Series Return?
