Chuck Seniorisms by the Dozen, Part III

A Baker’s Dozen…and Then Some

You should know by now from my ‘Chuck Seniorisms by the Dozen’ Part I and Part II that Charles Rhoades Senior is one of my favorite characters on Billions. He is played by the extraordinary actor Jeffrey DeMunn, who comes from a theatrical family no less! Buffalo News reported in March 2019 that DeMunn’s father Jim DeMunn and stepmother Betty Lutes DeMunn were two cardinal figures for many years in the local Buffalo theater.

Continue reading “Chuck Seniorisms by the Dozen, Part III”

What To Expect When We Are
Expecting Billions Season 5

They are shooting episode 5 or 6 of Billions Season 5 in New York, and our favorite show is returning to Showtime on May 3, 2020 at 9pm ET/PT. And now that they have dropped the official teaser for Season 5, I am in such a Billions state of mind that I just sat down and wrote about what to expect when we are expecting Billions Season5!

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Five Years with Damian Lewis

Hello everyone!

Fan Fun with Damian Lewis is five years old today!

Here we are, a bunch of inspired fans, 1826 days,  1,017 blog posts and over    1.7 million views from 221 countries later… absolutely thrilled and totally beaming about how far we have come!

Time flies.

I vividly remember the conversation I had with Lewisto as I was trying to decide, in the last weeks of 2014, whether it would be worth keeping an online fan diary about Damian Lewis. Lewisto told me he knew I would do a fantastic job but I should do it only if I believed I could make a commitment for two years. Continue reading “Five Years with Damian Lewis”

Top Damian Lewis Moments 2019: On The Moment with Brian Koppelman

source: @briankoppelman Twitter

When he’s not running a show, co-creator of Billions, Brian Koppelman hosts a podcast called The Moment. Each hour-long session is a conversation about the creative process and pivotal moments in creative careers. Koppelman talks to people in various forms and stages of their creative lives about inflection points, the moments they sensed something shifted for them in their careers. Having listened to several of these conversations in his archive, its always a treat to hear how people get to live their professional dreams, be they restaurateurs, musicians, writers or actors. Back when he first publicized the podcast, I had this twee Twitter exchange with him. Continue reading “Top Damian Lewis Moments 2019: On The Moment with Brian Koppelman”

“From the Trader’s Desk”:
Bobby Axelrod – a Man and his Music *UPDATED*

**UPDATED**

There are many things that Bobby Axelrod and I have in common: New York born and bred; working class backgrounds; very non-traditional road to Wall Street; our love of gambling lead us to our career paths. However, the one thing that has always been my favorite commonality is our love for heavy metal bands and their music. Heavy Metal is not the most well known genre of music, so let’s explore Bobby Axelrod and his music, and what it says about him.

In each season of Billions, at least one episode has featured a song and a t-shirt of a metal band that must be Axe’s favorites. The writers of Billions don’t do anything just to do it, so we know that these choices are there to tell a story, shine light on who the character is, and to set a tone.

Metal is very misunderstood: devil worship, drugs, biting the heads of bats, or just screeching guitars may come to mind if you say the words “heavy metal”. But, it is so much more than that! Last season, I used Black Sabbath lyrics to open (and in some cases close) my “From the Trader’s Desk” recaps. In most cases, if I hadn’t referenced it to Sabbath, you’d have wondered what philosopher or poet I was quoting. Metal lyrics are some of the best I have ever heard; they tell stories of pain, loss, confusion, success, etc. – lyrics that would certainly resonate with a young man from Yonkers whose Dad has up and left, and whose home life is full of conflict. Continue reading ““From the Trader’s Desk”: Bobby Axelrod – a Man and his Music *UPDATED*”