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“The First Lady” is Showtime’s new TV series, an anthology looking into the country’s first ladies. The first season stars Viola Davis, Gillian Anderson and Michelle Pheiffer, focusing on the stories of Michelle Obama, Eleanor Roosevelt and Betty Ford.
In a virtual panel at the Television Critics Association’s press tour, showrunner and producer Cathy Schulman and Susanne Bier talked about the future of the show, and the possibility of having a season centered on Melania Trump, one of the most controversial first ladies in American history.
The panel was attended by the showrunner, producer and the show’s stars, where they were asked questions about the show and they teased possibilities for its future. “I would be very intrigued to depict Hillary Clinton because I think that her position was so complicated… I think that would be incredibly interesting,” said Bier. Schulman added, “If we could figure out a way to do Jackie Kennedy that didn’t tell the same old story again—particularly the latter part of her life— I’m fascinated by that.”
A reporter asked if they’d consider doing a season centered on Melania Trump, which made them all laugh, yet they didn’t shut down the idea. “I think the series could do with a fun season, so let’s talk about that,” said Bier. Gillian Anderson said, “I think the hope is that there’s going to be future seasons so they’ll have the opportunity to have more First Ladies represented. So maybe not just four but maybe 104.”
Other first ladies that were mentioned include Wilson, wife of Woodrow Wilson, which, according to Schulman, occupied an interesting position, “not only did she run the country, nobody knew she was running the country.” She also said she was currently “obsessed” with Washington, since she was the first, and was “intrigued about how it all began.”
“The First Lady” has a lot of expectations on it. When speaking about her portrayal of Michelle Obama, Viola Davis said “Let me tell you something, not only does the thought [of Michelle Obama watching the show] come to mind, it keeps me up at night.” The series was created by Aaron Cooley and it premieres this April 17th.
