Woody Allen brings more goodness than usual in 2016. The ever-busy 80-year-old filmmaker’s latest, Cafe Society, hit theaters last month, and he’ll shoot his follow-up with Kate Winslet, Justin Timberlake and Jim Belushi later in the fall. But sandwiched in-between is his first mini-series, the Amazon-exclusive Crisis in Six Scenes, which got its premiere date and first sneak peek today, in addition to its official title.
As announced during Amazon’s Television Critics Association panel, Crisis in Six Scenes is a six-part, half-hour mini-series (as the title suggests) set to hit the streaming site in its entirety on September 30. The 1960s-based program, which will only last one season, follows turbulent times in the U.S. as “a middle class suburban family is visited by a guest who turns their household completely upside down.”
Allen wrote, directed and stars in every episode. He’s joined by Miley Cyrus (!), Elaine May (!!), John Magaro and House of Cards‘ Rachel Brosnahan, as reported by Vulture. This is Allen’s first acting appearance since John Turturro’s Fading Gigolo in 2014. It’s also the first time he’s acted under his own direction since 2012’s To Rome with Love, unless you count his narration in the aforementioned Cafe Society. I’m going to take a shot in the dark and guess that Cyrus is the “guest who turns their household completely upside down.” Let’s see if Allen proves me wrong.
In the meantime, Amazon also released our first peak at the mini-series, a barbershop sequence that suggests Allen was influenced by Louie for his first TV outing. There are certainly worse places to find inspiration, and it ultimately proves to be one of the most fruitfully funny scenes in years. I can’t wait for this thing.
