Tiger King

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness (titled onscreen as simply Tiger King) is a 2020 American true crime documentary miniseries about the life of zookeeper Joe Exotic.[1] It was released on Netflix on March 20, 2020.[2] The series focuses on the small but deeply interconnected society of big cat conservationists such as Carole Baskin, owner of Big Cat Rescue, and collectors such as Exotic, whom Baskin accuses of abusing and exploiting wild animals. A special hosted by Joel McHale was released on April 12, 2020, with McHale interviewing several of the stars about Exotic and the series itself.

Tiger King
Promotional poster
GenreTrue crime
Documentary
Directed by
StarringJoe Exotic
Carole Baskin
Bhagavan Antle
John Finlay
Rick Kirkham
John Reinke
Kelci "Saff" Saffery
Jeff Lowe
Erik Cowie
Howard Baskin
Travis Maldonado
Dillon Passage
Tim Stark
Composer(s)
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of episodes7 (+1 special)
Production
Executive producer(s)
CinematographyDamien Drake
Editor(s)
  • Doug Abel
  • Nicholas Biagetti
  • Dylan Hansen-Fliedner
  • Daniel Koehler
  • Geoffrey Richman
Running time41–48 minutes
DistributorNetflix
Release
Picture format4K (Ultra HD)
Audio formatStereo
Original releaseMarch 20 (2020-03-20) –
April 12, 2020 (2020-04-12)
External links
Netflix

The series received positive reviews from critics, and according to Nielsen ratings, was watched by 34.3 million people over its first ten days of release, ranking as one of Netflix's most successful releases to date.

Summary
Big cats, like this tiger seen at Florida's Big Cat Rescue in 2012 run by activist and conservationist Carole Baskin, cannot be ethically released to the wild and instead spend the rest of their lives in cages.

The series explores the deeply interconnected society of big cat conservationists and collectors in America, and the private zoos and sanctuaries they have set up for these unusual and deadly animals. The primary subject is Joe Exotic, the eccentric owner of the G.W. Zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, and his bitter years-long feud with Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida.[3] Baskin presents herself as an animal rights activist whose mission is to provide a sanctuary for big cats raised in captivity, but Joe Exotic maintains that she is simply a rival zookeeper whose aim is to eliminate her competition. The two exchange threatening videos, legal allegations, protests, and targeted harassment campaigns, in which PETA and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service become involved. Joe Exotic goes so far as to allege that Baskin murdered her second husband Don Lewis, who has been missing since 1997.

Joe Exotic's personal life becomes a subject of interest, particularly his unofficial three-way same-sex marriage to Travis Maldonado and John Finlay and his subsequent relationships with them and future husband Dillon Passage. His 2016 run for President of the United States and 2018 run for Governor of Oklahoma are documented with the assistance of his campaign manager, Joshua Dial. Producer Rick Kirkham recounts the rise and fall of "Joe Exotic TV", a sort of podcast that Kirkham was hoping to develop into a TV series until his footage is mysteriously destroyed. The series then records the events leading up to Joe Exotic's conviction under federal murder-for-hire statutes when it comes to light that he paid a hitman to murder Baskin; his conviction also includes violations of the Lacey Act and Endangered Species Act, and results in a 22-year federal prison sentence.

Other characters from the exotic animal community are introduced, including Bhagavan Antle, an animal breeder accused of leading a personality cult; Mario Tabraue, a former drug lord who became a federal informant and is now involved in animal trafficking; Jeff Lowe, a Las Vegas playboy to whom Joe Exotic turns over his zoo for legal reasons; and James Garretson, who became a confidential informant for the federal government and a key figure in making the case against Joe Exotic. Former G.W. Zoo employees such as manager John Reinke and animal wrangler Kelci "Saff" Saffery conclude the series by commenting that the animals themselves were forgotten amongst all the interpersonal fighting, and that no party has truly come out victorious.[4]

Episodes
No.TitleDirected byOriginal release date
1"Not Your Average Joe"Eric Goode & Rebecca ChaiklinMarch 20, 2020 (2020-03-20)
2"Cult of Personality"Eric Goode & Rebecca ChaiklinMarch 20, 2020 (2020-03-20)
3"The Secret"Eric Goode & Rebecca ChaiklinMarch 20, 2020 (2020-03-20)
4"Playing with Fire"Eric Goode & Rebecca ChaiklinMarch 20, 2020 (2020-03-20)
5"Make America Exotic Again"Eric Goode & Rebecca ChaiklinMarch 20, 2020 (2020-03-20)
6"The Noble Thing to Do"Eric Goode & Rebecca ChaiklinMarch 20, 2020 (2020-03-20)
7"Dethroned"Eric Goode & Rebecca ChaiklinMarch 20, 2020 (2020-03-20)
8"The Tiger King and I"Eric Goode & Rebecca ChaiklinApril 12, 2020 (2020-04-12)
Special after-show hosted by Joel McHale.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 89% based on 75 reviews, with an average rating of 7.88/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "A bizarre true crime story you have to see to believe, Tiger King is a messy and captivating portrait of obsession gone terribly wrong."[5] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score to reviews from mainstream publications, the series has an average score of 75 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6]

Variety magazine's Caroline Framke called the series "messy yet compelling" and that for "those who love Netflix's particular flavor of true crime and docuseries, [...] Tiger King will undoubtedly scratch a particular itch."[7] Joshua Rivera at The Verge said that "[e]very minute of Tiger King yields some new surprise, an unbelievable turn or charismatic stranger with incredible stories to tell."[8]

Audience viewership

According to Nielsen, the series was watched by 34.3 million people over its first 10 days of release, ranking as one of Netflix's most successful releases to date.[9] It has been suggested that its viewership success was aided by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, which caused many global viewers to be restricted to their homes around the time of its release.[10] At their Q2 report meeting in July 2020, Netflix reported the series had been viewed by 64 million households over its first month of release.[11]

At an April press conference regarding the coronavirus, U.S. President Donald Trump was questioned about the possibility of pardoning the series' key subject, Joe Exotic.[12]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2020
 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series Chris Smith, Fisher Stevens, Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin Pending [13]
Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program Eric Goode & Rebecca Chaiklin (for "Cult of Personality") Pending
Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score) Mark Mothersbaugh, John Enroth and Albert Fox (for "Not Your Average Joe") Pending
Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming Doug Abel, Nicholas Biagetti, Dylan Hansen-Fliedner, Geoffrey Richman and Daniel Kohler (for "Cult of Personality") Pending
Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming (Single or Multi-Camera) Ian Cymore, Rachel Wardell and Steve Griffen (for "Cult of Personality") Pending
Outstanding Sound Mixing for Nonfiction Program (Single or Multi-Camera) Jose Araujo, Royce Sharp, Jack Neu and Ian Cymore (for "The Noble Thing to Do") Pending

Response from those depicted

Celebrities

As a result of the show, multiple sportspeople who had previously owned exotic pets were questioned about their actions.[14] Retired boxer Mike Tyson said that he was "foolish" and "wrong" to have kept two tigers in his home in the 1990s.[15] Retired professional basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, who appears in the show saying he bought two tigers from Joe Exotic, said in an interview after the show's release that he had "never had any business dealings with him".[16]

Carole Baskin
As a result of Tiger King, several Internet memes targeted Carole Baskin for her speculated involvement in the disappearance of Don Lewis, her second husband.[17]

Carole Baskin and her husband felt betrayed by filmmakers, stating she was told the discussion of Joe Exotic and Baskin's missing husband were just for context.[18] In a post on the Big Cat Rescue website, Baskin said that the show "has a segment [in the third episode] devoted to suggesting, with lies and innuendos from people who are not credible, that I had a role in the disappearance of my husband Don 21 years ago" and that the series "presents this without any regard for the truth".[19] Baskin has never been charged with anything related to Don's disappearance and has always denied having anything to do with it.[20] In partial response to Baskin, director Goode stated while he felt Baskin had the right intention, he questioned if "it was fair to keep these tigers in cages", adding that the tigers "pace neurotically" and that "Sometimes you wonder whether or not one should humanely euthanize these cats instead of [letting them] suffer in cages".[21] Baskin preemptively answered that "... our goal is to end having them in cages and have no need for a sanctuary like ours. Our federal bill, the Big Cat Public Safety Act, would stop the cub petting that drives the breeding and end ownership as pets in back yards."[21] Goode and Chaiklin said that Baskin "wasn't coerced" to answer questions about her husband.[22]

The Independent's Kathleen Walsh posited that the show’s treatment of, and the public reaction to, Baskin has been misogynistic: "The series provides example after example of Exotic's violence, cruelty, and narcissism, while the evidence against Baskin (compelling enough as it is framed in the series) is circumstantial. Maybe Baskin did kill her husband—and the third episode of the series is devoted to the evidence pointing to this conclusion—but so far there is little more than speculation to say that she did. Meanwhile, the series shows clips from Exotic's erstwhile YouTube series in which he poses alongside a blow-up doll, Baskin in effigy, shoving a dildo into its mouth and shooting it in the head."[23] Elle noted that Baskin was portrayed as hypocritical for keeping the tigers in captivity instead of releasing them without explaining that doing so was not an option—being captive-bred from mixed stock, as well as in-effect domesticated, meant they were unsuited to either survive in the wild or rebuild regional populations. Elle also noted that Baskin was the only source in the series explaining why keeping the wild animals was abusive.[24]

"Goode brings to Tiger King the intellectual rigor and social responsibility of ... a nightclub and hotel developer", Peter Frick-Wright, who had produced Cat People, a podcast series covering the American big-cat industry, wrote in Outside. He found the series particularly unfair to Baskin, pointing that in focusing on her husband's disappearance so much it failed to distinguish her from Exotic and Antle, barely mentioning that Big Cat Rescue only accepts tigers confiscated by law enforcement or from owners who could no longer handle them, owners who had to sign a contract with heavy financial penalties if they owned another big cat or were even photographed with one, a proviso not mentioned in the series. Baskin also forbids volunteers or staff from touching the animals; they are fired for doing so, Frick-Wright wrote. The series also minimized Baskin's efforts to lobby Congress for stricter legislation on animal trafficking.[25]

Kelci "Saff" Saffery

Hawaii-born Saffery, a veteran who served in both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, worked as a manager for Joe Exotic's Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park for almost ten years. In 2013, the then-27 year old was bitten by one of the tigers as he mistakenly put his arm into its cage, and opted to have an amputation of his left forearm and return to work within a week, instead of undergoing a two-year series of surgeries. He is hoping to get a prosthetic, as of March 2020.[26] In 2018, Saffery disconnected from the zoo and everyone involved.[27]

Following the release of the Netflix series, Robert Moor, the creator of an earlier podcast about Joe Exotic, posted a tweet stating "Saff, the person who got mauled by the tiger, told me repeatedly that he is trans, prefers to be called Saff, and uses he/him pronouns. So please do likewise."[28] Media outlets criticized the series for misgendering and deadnaming Saffery.[29][24][30] LGBTQ Nation contrasted Netflix's treatment of Saffery with their recent collaboration with GLAAD, an LGBTQ media watchdog group, on a campaign raising "transgender visibility in the entertainment industry".[31] Saffery clarified to Esquire,

On a daily basis, I am called 17 different things. I never really took it to heart. [...] [F]or context, my conversation with Rob was that he asked me, 'What do you prefer? Saff or Kelci?' And of course, I said Saff because that’s what I've been called for the past 20 years. I was in the Army prior to the park and they always use last names. So, Saff was my preferred name. And I've always gone by him since I could say that out loud. My family was always very supportive—it was never an issue.[28]

Regarding whether he identified as a trans man, Saffery stated to Out magazine, "I don't know that that describes me. You know, nothing was done. I really just have lived this lifestyle. And, you know, my family knows this. And obviously, people closest to me know. This is how I've lived my entire life. I don't know anything else."[29]

Subsequent media

A limited series adaptation is in development, headed by Universal Content Productions. It will be based on the second season of Wondery's Over My Dead Body podcast, with Kate McKinnon set to executive-produce and portray Carole Baskin. No other castings, network or streaming platform attached have been announced yet.[32]

On April 6, 2020, it was announced that a series titled Investigating the Strange World of Joe Exotic will premiere on Investigation Discovery.[33]

On April 8, 2020, Deadline Hollywood reported that Ryan Murphy is in talks to produce a film or limited series for Netflix with Rob Lowe starring as Joe Exotic.[34]

On May 4, 2020, Variety reported that Nicolas Cage had been cast to portray Exotic in an eight-episode television series based on a Texas Monthly article about Exotic. The series is produced by Imagine Entertainment and CBS Television Studios, and Dan Lagana will serve as writer, showrunner, and executive producer.[35]

gollark: Ah yes, a "Lightweight Qt5 plain text editor for Linux".
gollark: When osmarks.tk used caddy that had a ton of restrictions on filesystem access and stuff configured, but I think the nginx install I use now is... mostly just isolated by being a random user nobody likes.
gollark: Although they tend to run under lots of privilege limiting these days.
gollark: What about for specific network programs like webservers?
gollark: Much more flexible than just having hardcoded user-annoying programs.

References
  1. Miller, Julie (March 19, 2020). "Netflix's Wild Tiger King Is Your Next True Crime TV Obsession". Vanity Fair. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  2. "Tiger King". Netflix. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  3. Borden, Taylor. "5 husbands, 176 tigers, and one murder-for-hire plot: Meet Joe Exotic, the 57-year-old star of Netflix's smash hit 'Tiger King'". Business Insider. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  4. Kaplan, Michael. "Everything you need to know about Netflix's new Joe Exotic doc, 'Tiger King'". New York Post (March 19, 2020). NYP Holdings, Inc. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  5. "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  6. "Tiger King: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  7. Framke, Caroline (March 20, 2020). "Netflix's 'Tiger King': TV Review". Variety. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  8. Rivera, Joshua (April 1, 2020). "Tiger King is a show about how the internet eats us all". The Verge. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  9. Spangler, Todd (April 7, 2020). "'Tiger King' Nabbed Over 34 Million U.S. Viewers in First 10 Days, Nielsen Says (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  10. Alexander, Julia (April 3, 2020). "Tiger King is a viral success because Netflix rules the jungle". The Verge. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  11. Patten, Dominic (July 16, 2020). "Netflix Reveals Strong Viewership Numbers For Mindy Kaling's 'Never Have I Ever' & Spike Lee's 'Da 5 Bloods' In Earnings Report". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  12. Schwartz, Ian. "Reporter Asks Trump About Possible Pardon". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  13. "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  14. Varley, Ciaran (April 2, 2020). "Tiger King: Memphis Depay not the first athlete to post picture with exotic animal". BBC Sport. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  15. Hamdani, Adam (April 1, 2020). "Tiger King: Why Mike Tyson regrets his past owning exotic animals". The Independent. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  16. Harvey, Josephine (March 31, 2020). "Shaquille O'Neal Explains That Controversial 'Tiger King' Cameo". HuffPost. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  17. Crystal Bonvillian (March 31, 2020). "'Tiger King': Sheriff seeking leads in 1997 disappearance of Carole Baskin's 2nd husband". KIRO 7. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  18. "Carole and Howard Baskin say 'Tiger King' makers betrayed their trust". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  19. "Tiger King: Carole Baskin rejects Netflix documentary's portrayal". BBC News. March 27, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  20. Baskin, Carole (March 31, 2020). "Refuting Netflix Tiger King". Big Cat Rescue.
  21. Spencer, Samuel (April 1, 2020). "'Tiger King' director responds to Carole Baskin's criticism of Netflix documentary". Newsweek. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  22. "Tiger King's Carole Baskin "wasn't coerced", says producer". Radio Times. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  23. Walsh, Kathleen (March 31, 2020). "Opinion: Nobody is talking about the misogyny of Tiger King so I will". The Independent.
  24. Wahi, Sukriti (April 7, 2020). "'Tiger King' Is Worth Talking About, But The Conversation We're Having Is All Wrong". Elle. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  25. Frick-Wright, Peter (April 9, 2020). "'Tiger King' Is a Wild Ride. And Largely Misleading". Outside. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  26. Freedman, Adrianna (March 25, 2020). "Here's What Happened to Kelci Saffery after 'Tiger King'". Men's Health. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  27. "EXCLUSIVE: Tell All Interview With Saff From Netflix Series Tiger King". HIT 92.9. April 7, 2020.
  28. Storey, Kate (April 3, 2020). "Saff Saffery Discusses His Life After 'Tiger King' and Why He Left the Zoo Business Behind". Esquire. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  29. Street, Mikelle (April 1, 2020). "'Tiger King's Saff Still Wants the Best for the Animals". Out. Retrieved April 12, 2020. I don't know that that describes me. You know, nothing was done. I really just have lived this lifestyle. And, you know, my family knows this. And obviously, people closest to me know. This is how I've lived my entire life. I don't know anything else.
  30. Marr, Rhuaridh (April 3, 2020). "Netflix's 'Tiger King' portrays trans man as lesbian". Metro Weekly. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  31. Browning, Bil (March 31, 2020). ""Tiger King" presents a trans man as a butch lesbian during the entire show". LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  32. Andreeva, Nellie (March 27, 2020). "'Joe Exotic' UCP Limited Series Starring Kate McKinnon As Carole Baskin Becomes Hot Commodity With Success Of Netflix's 'Tiger King'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  33. "ID Greenlights Sequel to "Tail" of Big Cats and Criminal Acts in "Investigating the Strange World of Joe Exotic"". The Futon Critic. April 6, 2020.
  34. Hipes, Patrick; Andreeva, Nellie (April 8, 2020). "Rob Lowe & Ryan Murphy Mulling Joe Exotic Scripted Project To Star Lowe". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  35. "Nicolas Cage to Play 'Tiger King's' Joe Exotic in Scripted Series From 'American Vandal' Showrunner (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. May 5, 2020.
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