Black Monday (TV series)

Black Monday is an American period dark comedy television series created by Jordan Cahan and David Caspe that premiered on January 20, 2019, on Showtime. The series stars Don Cheadle, Andrew Rannells, Regina Hall, and Paul Scheer and follows the employees of second-tier Wall Street trading firm the Jammer Group in the year leading up to "Black Monday", the day when international stock markets crashed in 1987. In April 2019, the series was renewed for a second season that premiered on March 15, 2020.[1][2]

Black Monday
Genre	Dark comedy
Created by	Jordan Cahan David Caspe
Starring	Don Cheadle Andrew Rannells Regina Hall Paul Scheer
Composer(s)	Kris Bowers
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	20
Production
Executive producer(s)	David Caspe Jordan Cahan Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg James Weaver Don Cheadle
Producer(s)	Steven Yell Andrew Rannells Regina Hall
Cinematography	James Laxton Carl Herse
Editor(s)	Eric Kissack Ryan Brown
Running time	29–35 minutes
Production company(s)	Shark vs. Bear Jordan Productions Point Grey Pictures Sony Pictures Television Showtime Networks
Release
Original network	Showtime
Original release	January 20, 2019 (2019-01-20) – present (present)
External links
Official website

Premise

Black Monday is described as taking the audience "back to October 19, 1987 — aka Black Monday, the worst stock market crash in Wall Street history. To this day, no one knows who caused it—until now. It's the story of how a group of outsiders took on the blue-blood, old-boys club of Wall Street and ended up crashing the world’s largest financial system, a Lamborghini limousine, Don Henley’s birthday party and the glass ceiling."[3]

Plot

The first season follows Blair Pfaff, an aspiring stockbroker on Wall Street. Through a series of farcical events, he ends up working for Maurice Monroe, a veteran stockbroker. Blair endures workplace hazing and fights to prove he's tough enough for the high-stakes environment. Simultaneously, he tries to preserve his strained engagement to spoiled heiress Tiffany Georgina. Monroe plans to use Blair to execute an underhanded business deal that involves buying out Tiffany's family company, Georgina Jeans.

Dawn Darcy, the only woman among her coworkers, is running out of patience when it comes to Monroe's unwillingness to recognize her value in the workplace. Her husband wants to have children, leading to a crossroads in their marriage. Keith, an employee who takes delight in bullying Blair, is a closeted homosexual who carries on an affair with a Broadway performer. Monroe, meanwhile, struggles with the internal turmoil of reaching the high standards he sets for himself, as well as living under a false identity.

The resulting backdoor deals, personal conflicts, and the journey of a particular pin create an increasingly convoluted mess as Black Monday approaches.

Cast and characters

Main

• Don Cheadle as Maurice Monroe
• Andrew Rannells as Blair Pfaff
• Regina Hall as Dawn Darcy
• Paul Scheer as Keith Shankar

Recurring

• Casey Wilson as Tiffany Georgina
• Horatio Sanz as Wayne
• Yassir Lester as Yassir X
• Ken Marino as Larry and Lenny Leighman
• Kadeem Hardison as Spencer
• Eugene Cordero as Ronnie
• Julie Hagerty as Mrs. Georgina
• Phil Reeves Mr. Georgina
• Dannah Feinglass as Agent Mills
• Danielle Schneider as Agent Fox
• Bruce Dern as Rod "The Jammer" Jaminski
• Kurt Braunohler as Ty Daverman
• Melissa Rauch as Shira
• Tuc Watkins as Congressman Roger Harris

Guest

• Michael James Scott as Chad ("365")
• Hugh Dane as Calvin ("365")
• Paul Rust as Brandt ("364")
• Teresa Ganzel as Trisha ("364")
• Vanessa Bell Calloway as Ruth ("339")
• Tim Russ as Walter Darcy ("339")
• Tim Heidecker as Not Milken #1 ("243")
• Fred Melamed as Not Milken #2 ("243")

Episodes

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired
	1	10		January 20, 2019 (2019-01-20)	March 31, 2019 (2019-03-31)
	2	10		March 15, 2020 (2020-03-15)	July 19, 2020 (2020-07-19)

Season 1 (2019)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	1	"365"	Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg	Jordan Cahan & David Caspe	January 20, 2019 (2019-01-20)[lower-alpha 1]	0.327[5]
2	2	"364"	Charles Stone III	Jessi Klein	January 27, 2019 (2019-01-27)	0.334[6]
3	3	"339"	Charles Stone III	Jim Brandon & Brian Singleton	February 10, 2019 (2019-02-10)	0.288[7]
4	4	"295"	Reginald Hudlin	Laura Kittrell	February 17, 2019 (2019-02-17)	0.275[8]
5	5	"243"	Reginald Hudlin	Matteo Borghese & Rob Turbovsky	February 24, 2019 (2019-02-24)	0.242[9]
6	6	"122"	Leslye Headland	Story by : Jordan Cahan Teleplay by : Dannah Phirman & Danielle Schneider	March 3, 2019 (2019-03-03)	0.294[10]
7	7	"65"	Leslye Headland	Story by : Teresa Hsiao Teleplay by : Travon Free	March 10, 2019 (2019-03-10)	0.313[11]
8	8	"7042"	Justin Tipping	Yassir Lester	March 17, 2019 (2019-03-17)	0.283[12]
9	9	"2"	Justin Tipping	Laura Kindred & Syreeta Singleton	March 24, 2019 (2019-03-24)	0.264[13]
10	10	"0"	Nisha Ganatra	Enzo Mileti & Scott Wilson	March 31, 2019 (2019-03-31)	0.297[14]

Season 2 (2020)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)
11	1	"Mixie-Dixie"	Payman Benz	Daniel Libman & Matthew Libman	March 15, 2020 (2020-03-15)	0.081[15]
12	2	"So Antoine"	Iain B. MacDonald	Amelie Gillette	March 15, 2020 (2020-03-15)	0.066[15]
13	3	"Idiot Inside"	Iain B. MacDonald	Dipika Guha	March 22, 2020 (2020-03-22)	0.191[16]
14	4	"Fore!"	Payman Benz	Yassir Lester	March 29, 2020 (2020-03-29)	0.156[17]
15	5	"Violent Crooks and Cooks of Books"	Nzingha Stewart	Bridger Winegar	April 5, 2020 (2020-04-05)	0.127[18]
16	6	"Arthur Ponzarelli"	Tiffany Johnson	Morenike Balogun	April 12, 2020 (2020-04-12)	0.145[19]
17	7	"Who Are You Supposed To Be?"	Tiffany Johnson	Janelle James	June 28, 2020 (2020-06-28)	0.091[20]
18	8	"Lucky Shoes"	Nzingha Stewart	Laura Kindred & Ean Weslynn	July 5, 2020 (2020-07-05)	0.082[21]
19	9	"At That Time"	Payman Benz	Amelie Gillette & Matthew Libman & Daniel Libman	July 12, 2020 (2020-07-12)	0.093[22]
20	10	"I Don't Like Mondays"	Payman Benz	Jordan Cahan & David Caspe	July 19, 2020 (2020-07-19)	0.100[23]

Production

Development

In 2013, Showtime began to develop the production, then titled Ball Street, but did not end up moving it beyond the developmental stage. In the fourth quarter of 2016, following the purchase of a pilot by David Caspe and Jordan Cahan, the project was put back into development with Caspe and Cahan in charge.[24]

On September 7, 2017, it was announced that Showtime had given the production a pilot order. The pilot script was written by Caspe and Cahan, both of whom were also expected to act as showrunners. The pilot was set to be directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the pair of which were also to serve as executive producers alongside Caspe and Cahan. Production companies involved with the pilot included Sony Pictures Television.[24]

On June 14, 2018, it was announced that Showtime had given the production, now titled Black Monday, a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes.[3] On October 19, 2018, it was reported that the series would premiere on January 20, 2019.[25]

On April 29, 2019, Showtime renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on March 15, 2020.[1][2]

Casting

Alongside the pilot order announcement, it was confirmed that Don Cheadle and Andrew Rannells had been cast in the series' lead roles.[24] On February 12, 2018, it was announced that Regina Hall, Paul Scheer, Kurt Braunohler, and Eugene Cordero had joined the pilot's cast. Additionally, it was reported that Casey Wilson would guest star in the pilot with the potential to become a recurring cast member if the pilot was picked up to series.[26]

Alongside the series order announcement, it was confirmed that Yassir Lester and Michael James Scott had joined the cast and that Ken Marino would make a guest appearance.[3] On September 20, 2018, it was announced that Kadeem Hardison had been cast in a recurring role.[27] On October 16, 2018, it was reported that Bruce Dern, Melissa Rauch, Horatio Sanz, Julie Hagerty, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Tim Russ and Jason Michael Snow would appear in guest starring roles.[28]

Filming

Principal photography for the pilot was expected to begin in mid-February 2018 in Los Angeles, California.[26] Filming for the rest of season one began on September 28, 2018, at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles.[29][30]

Release

Marketing

In September 2018, the first teaser trailer for the series was released,[31] followed in October by the official trailer.[25] In December 2018, a second teaser trailer was released.[32] On December 28, 2018, the first episode of the series was released early through Facebook, YouTube, and Showtime's streaming applications.[4] The program's marketing, rather than using the current "SHO" disc logo utilized by Showtime, used the wordmark version used from 1984 to 1997 to tie the series to its time period.

Premiere

On January 14, 2019, the series held its world premiere at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Those in attendance included David Caspe, Jordan Cahan, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Don Cheadle, Regina Hall, Jon Hamm, Horatio Sanz, Paul Scheer, Yassir Lester, Ken Marino, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Elia Cantu, Kadeem Hardison, Kurt Braunohler, Jennifer Zaborowski, Xosha Roquemore, David Krumholtz, David Nevins, and Amy Israel.[33]

Reception

Critical response

The series was met with a mixed response from critics upon its premiere, but Cheadle's performance was widely praised. As of June 2020, the series' first season holds a 56% approval rating with an average rating of 6.08 out of 10 based on 45 reviews on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. The website's critical consensus reads, "Black Monday zips with irrepressible style and a seductively stacked cast of charismatics stars – but this Wall Street odyssey is too preoccupied with flash to ferment its needed substance."[34] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 57 out of 100 based on 29 critics' reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[35]

The second season was met with a mixed to positive response from critics. As of August 2020, the series' second season holds a 80% approval rating with an average rating of 5 out of 10 based on 4 reviews on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.[36]

Ratings

Season 1

Viewership and ratings per episode of Black Monday

No.	Title	Air date	Rating (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total viewers (millions)
1	"365"	January 20, 2019	0.1	0.327[5]	0.105	0.432[37]
2	"364"	January 27, 2019	0.1	0.334[6]	0.171	0.505[38]
3	"339"	February 10, 2019	0.1	0.288[7]	0.160	0.448[39]
4	"312"	February 17, 2019	0.1	0.275[8]	0.180	0.455[40]
5	"278"	February 24, 2019	0.1	0.242[9]	0.151	0.393[41]
6	"122"	March 3, 2019	0.1	0.294[10]	0.173	0.467[42]
7	"65"	March 10, 2019	0.1	0.313[11]	0.191	0.504[43]
8	"7042"	March 17, 2019	0.1	0.283[12]	0.159	0.442[44]
9	"2"	March 24, 2019	0.1	0.264[13]	0.165	0.429[45]
10	"0"	March 31, 2019	0.1	0.297[14]	0.146	0.443[46]

Season 2

Viewership and ratings per episode of Black Monday

No.	Title	Air date	Rating (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total viewers (millions)
1	"Mixie-Dixie"	March 15, 2020	0.0	0.081[15]	TBD	TBD
2	"So Antoine"	March 15, 2020	0.0	0.066[15]	TBD	TBD
3	"Idiot Inside"	March 22, 2020	0.0	0.191[16]	TBD	TBD
4	"Fore!"	March 29, 2020	0.0	0.156[17]	TBD	TBD
5	"Violent Crooks and Cooks of Books"	April 5, 2020	0.0	0.127[18]	TBD	TBD
6	"Arthur Ponzarelli"	April 12, 2020	0.0	0.145[19]	TBD	TBD
7	"Who Are You Supposed To Be?"	June 28, 2020	0.0	0.091[20]	TBD	TBD
8	"Lucky Shoes"	July 5, 2020	0.0	0.082[21]	TBD	TBD
9	"At That Time"	July 12, 2020	0.0	0.093[22]	TBD	TBD
10	"I Don't Like Mondays"	July 19, 2020	0.0	0.100[23]	TBD	TBD

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2019	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Don Cheadle	Nominated	[47]
2020	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series		Pending	[48]

Notes

1. The first episode of the series was released early through Facebook, YouTube, and Showtime's streaming applications on December 28, 2018.[4]

References

1. Nemetz, Dave (April 29, 2019). "Black Monday Renewed for Season 2". TVLine. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
2. Ramos, Dino-Ray (January 13, 2020). "Showtime Sets Season Premiere Dates For 'Billions', 'Black Monday', 'The Chi', 'Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels' And 'Vice'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
3. Petski, Denise (June 14, 2018). "Don Cheadle-Andrew Rannells Wall Street Comedy 'Black Monday' Lands Series Order at Showtime". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
4. Petski, Denise (December 28, 2018). "'Black Monday': Showtime Offers Timely Free Sampling of Wall Street Comedy Premiere Amid Stock Market's Wild Ride". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
5. Metcalf, Mitch (January 23, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 1.20.2019". ShowBuzz Daily. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
6. Metcalf, Mitch (January 29, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 1.27.2019". ShowBuzz Daily. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
7. Metcalf, Mitch (February 12, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 2.10.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
8. Metcalf, Mitch (February 20, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 2.17.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
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24. Andreeva, Nellie (September 7, 2017). "Showtime Picks Up 'Ball Street' Comedy Pilot; Don Cheadle & Andrew Rannells Star". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
25. Roots, Kimberly (October 19, 2018). "Black Monday: Don Cheadle's '80s Wall Street Satire Gets Premiere Date at Showtime — Watch First Trailer". TVLine. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
26. Petski, Denise (February 12, 2018). "'Ball Street': Regina Hall & Paul Scheer Join Showtime Comedy Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
27. Nickolai, Nate (September 20, 2018). "Kadeem Hardison Joins Showtime's 'Black Monday' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
28. Petski, Denise (October 16, 2018). "'Black Monday': Bruce Dern, Melissa Rauch & Horatio Sanz Among Guest Stars Set For Showtime Comedy". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
29. "Friday, Sept. 28 Filming Locations for Uncut Gems, Suits Spin-Off, Runaways, Shameless, & more! - On Location Vacations". On Location Vacations. September 27, 2018. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
30. Steves, Ashley (September 28, 2018). "L.A. Now Filming: Showtime's 'Black Monday' and ABC's 'For the People'". Backstage. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
31. Pedersen, Erik (September 28, 2018). "'Black Monday': First-Look Teaser For Showtime's Wall Street Comedy Starring Don Cheadle, Andrew Rannells & Regina Hall". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
32. Yang, Rachel (December 14, 2018). "TV News Roundup: Natasha Lyonne's 'Russian Doll' Sets Netflix Premiere Date". Variety. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
33. Sippell, Margeaux (January 15, 2019). "Don Cheadle, Andrew Rannells Talk Snorting 'Coke' on 'Black Monday'". Variety. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
34. "Black Monday: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on June 27, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
35. "Black Monday: Season 1". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
36. Black Monday: Season 2, retrieved 2020-08-07
37. Pucci, Douglas (January 25, 2019). "Live+3 Weekly Ratings: Schitt's Creek More Than Triples its Fifth Season Premiere Telecast on Pop Among Adults 18-49". Programming Insider. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
38. Pucci, Douglas (February 1, 2019). "Live+3 Weekly Ratings: Vikings Leads All Scripted Cable Telecasts in Raw Overall Gains". Programming Insider. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
39. Pucci, Douglas (February 15, 2019). "Live+3 Weekly Ratings: The Walking Dead Winter Premiere the Dominant Cable Leader (and Seventh-Ranked Among TV Overall) in Adults 18-49 Raw Gains". Programming Insider. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
40. Pucci, Douglas (February 22, 2019). "Live+3 Weekly Ratings: Project Blue Book the Runner-Up Scripted Cable Telecast in Raw Viewer Gains". Programming Insider. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
41. Pucci, Douglas (March 1, 2019). "Live+3 Weekly Ratings: True Detective Season Finale Places Third for Scripted Cable Among Raw Gains in Adults 18-49 and 25-54". Programming Insider. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
42. Pucci, Douglas (March 8, 2019). "Live+3 Weekly Ratings: Suits Season Finale Leads Scripted Cable in Viewer Percentage Lifts". Programming Insider. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
43. Pucci, Douglas (March 15, 2019). "Live+3 Weekly Ratings: 'Shameless' Season Finale (Emmy Rossum's Last Episode) Runner-Up in Demo Lifts Among Scripted Cable". Programming Insider. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
44. Pucci, Douglas (March 22, 2019). "Live+3 Weekly Ratings: 'Project Blue Book' Season Finale Runner-Up in Overall Raw Lifts Among Scripted Cable". Programming Insider. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
45. Pucci, Douglas (March 29, 2019). "Live+3 Weekly Ratings: 'Into The Badlands' Season Premiere Runner-Up in Raw Viewer Gains Among Scripted Cable". Programming Insider. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
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External links

• Official website
• Black Monday on IMDb