Star-Studded Political Thriller On Max About Bringing Down Real President
The current political climate within the United States has shifted wildly in the past decade or so, with figures such as Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush at the center of many political conspiracies and controversies. In many ways, a number of modern political scandals and the way that the news reports them can be traced back to President Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal, which saw him resign from his position in a historic and unprecedented motion. The Max original series, White House Plumbers, showcases the men who performed the break-ins that ultimately caused Nixon’s presidency to crumble.
Watergate
Though many Americans have grown up hearing about the Watergate scandal, a number of young people today may not know the specific details of the political upheaval. Thanks to the limited series White House Plumbers, the story has been adapted to suit a modern audience while highlighting the patent absurdity of the entire situation. The show was created and written by Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck, who previously served as writers on the HBO political satire series Veep.
From The Minds Behind Veep
While Veep took a number of comedic jabs at the modern state of politics throughout its seven-season run, White House Plumbers depicts the true events of the Watergate break-ins and the bizarre team of would-be spies at the center of the political conspiracy. The show touts an all-star cast of actors, including Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux in the lead roles. Each of the 5 hour-long episodes was directed by Curb Your Enthusiasm‘s David Mandel.
Star-Studded
White House Plumbers also stars Kim Coates, Toby Huss, Ike Barinholtz, Judy Greer, The Patient‘s Domhnall Gleeson, and Game of Thrones’ Lena Headey. The series centers on two disgraced intelligence officers, E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy, who were hired by the Committee for the Re-election of the President due to their unwavering fanatical support of Richard Nixon. Despite their flaws and career black marks, the pair continue to rise through the Committee, eventually leading them to engage in a series of illegal break-ins on the President’s behalf.
Based On The Real White House Plumbers
Hunt and Liddy were nicknamed the White House Plumbers, because they were employed to prevent leaks from within the Nixon administration. In an effort to satisfy their need to be legitimized as successful spies, Hunt and Liddy cooked up a number of schemes to dig up dirt on the Democrats in order to prevent Democratic nominee George McGovern from succeeding. Only one of their schemes was approved by higher-ups in the Nixon administration, which saw them utilizing a team of Cuban ex-patriots to illegally break and enter into the Democratic National Convention, with the express purpose of planting wiretaps and stealing sensitive documents.
Can We Pause And Celebrate Justin Theroux’s Moustache?
In a twist of cruel irony, Nixon won the 1972 presidential election by one of the largest landslides in American history, taking home delegates from every single state in the country except Massachusetts, only to have his entire administration unravel solely due to the acts of the White House Plumbers team. Furthermore, the Watergate break-ins commonly associated with Liddy and Hunt are just the tip of the iceberg, as the show portrays a wide array of bumbling schemes from the pair, along with a number of shocking true details unknown to many members of the general public.
A Supplemental Podcast
White House Plumbers is available to stream on Max today, along with a five-part podcast series that covers interesting behind-the-scenes facts about the making of the show and some political insight into the real-life story. The tale of Watergate is eerily prescient to the modern political landscape in the United States, making the series a perfect binge for this upcoming election season.
