A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV series)

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, or simply A Series of Unfortunate Events, is an American black comedy-drama web television series from Netflix, developed by Mark Hudis and Barry Sonnenfeld, based on Lemony Snicket’s children's novel series of the same name. It stars Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Warburton, Malina Weissman, Louis Hynes, K. Todd Freeman, and Presley Smith with Lucy Punch, Avi Lake, and Dylan Kingwell joining the cast in the second season.

The first season, which premiered on January 13, 2017, consists of eight episodes and adapts the first four books of the series. The second season was ordered in March 2017 and released on March 30, 2018. A Series of Unfortunate Events was renewed for a third season in April 2017, which will consist of seven episodes and adapt the remaining four books.

Premise
When a mysterious fire kills their parents, the Baudelaire children are informed of this terrible news by their executor Arthur Poe and are placed into the care of their distant relative Count Olaf, an actor who is determined to claim the family fortune for himself. Following Olaf's failed attempt and his plot being exposed, the Baudelaires set out to elude Olaf and his followers while uncovering the mystery behind a secret society from their parents' past.

Main

 * Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf, an actor determined to claim the Baudelaire fortune for himself. He has one eyebrow and a tattoo resembling an eye on his left ankle, which is frequently used to identify him when he is disguised.
 * Patrick Warburton as Lemony Snicket, the narrator tasked with explaining the events during the lives of the Baudelaires.
 * Malina Weissman as Violet Baudelaire, the eldest Baudelaire sibling and an inventor talented in mechanics.
 * Louis Hynes as Klaus Baudelaire, the middle Baudelaire child, interested in literature and books.
 * K. Todd Freeman as Arthur Poe, the family banker and executor of the Baudelaire parents who is in charge of placing the Baudelaires in the care of a suitable guardian.
 * Presley Smith as Sunny Baudelaire, the infant child of the Baudelaires with unnaturally strong teeth. Tara Strong provides Sunny's babbling sound effects, the meaning of which is often translated in subtitles.
 * Lucy Punch as Esmé Squalor, a wealthy financial advisor, who becomes an ally and love interest for Count Olaf.
 * Avi Lake as Isadora Quagmire, Duncan and Quigley's sister who loves writing poetry.
 * Dylan Kingwell as Duncan Quagmire, Isadora's brother. Duncan is a keen journalist.

Recurring

 * Will Arnett as Father, a man who is trying to return home to his three children.
 * Cobie Smulders as Mother, a woman who is trying to return home to her three children.
 * Usman Ally as the Hook-Handed Man, a member of Count Olaf's theatre troupe with hooks instead of hands.
 * Matty Cardarople as the Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender, another member of Count Olaf's theatre troupe.
 * Cleo King as Eleanora Poe, Arthur Poe's wife and the editor-in-chief of The Daily Punctilio, who loves pursuing sensationalist headlines.
 * John DeSantis as the Bald Man, a large bald-headed man who is another member of Count Olaf's theatre troupe.
 * Jacqueline and Joyce Robbins as the White-Faced Women, two elderly twins who are members of Count Olaf's theatre troupe.
 * Sara Canning as Jacquelyn, Mr. Poe's standoffish assistant and a member of the Baudelaire family's secret society. She possesses a spyglass.
 * Patrick Breen as Larry Your-Waiter, a member of the Baudelaire family's secret society who is seen working as a waiter at various establishments the Baudelaires visit including the Anxious Clown, Prufrock Preparatory's cafeteria, and Café Salmonella.
 * Sara Rue as Olivia Caliban, a librarian at Prufrock Preparatory School who later enlists as a member of the Baudelaire family's secret society when she becomes invested in the Baudelaires' plight and even becomes the latest Madame Lulu.
 * Nathan Fillion as Jacques Snicket, the dashing adventurer brother of Lemony Snicket who enlists Olivia Caliban to help the Baudelaires.

Introduced in season 1

 * Joan Cusack as Justice Strauss, a judge and Count Olaf's neighbor who helps the Baudelaires and is hopeful to adopt them.
 * Luke Camilleri as Gustav Sebald, a member of the Baudelaire family's secret society and Monty's former assistant who made some films that had certain codes in it.
 * Aasif Mandvi as Montgomery "Uncle Monty" Montgomery, a distant relative of the Baudelaires and enthusiastic herpetologist who claims to have spent his childhood with their late parents. He is a member of the Baudelaire family's secret society and possesses a spyglass.
 * Alfre Woodard as Aunt Josephine Anwhistle, a distant relative of the Baudelaires at Lake Lachrymose who has many rational and irrational fears since the loss of her husband Ike and a love of grammar. She is a member of the Baudelaire family's secret society.
 * Don Johnson as Sir, the cigar-smoking owner of Lucky Smells Lumbermill.
 * Catherine O'Hara as Georgina Orwell, an optometrist and Count Olaf's ex-girlfriend who hypnotizes the Lucky Smells Lumbermill workers so they never leave, also causing them to believe the Baudelaire parents set fire to Paltryville. O'Hara previously portrayed Justice Strauss in the 2004 film adaptation.
 * Rhys Darby as Charles, Sir's partner who is friendly towards the Baudelaires.
 * Timothy Webber as Jimmy, a worker at Lucky Smells Lumbermill.
 * Chris Gauthier as Phil, an optimistic worker who befriends the Baudelaires during their stay at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill.
 * Loretta Walsh as Norma Rae, a worker at Lucky Smells Lumbermill.
 * Trent Redekop as Cesar, a worker at Lucky Smells Lumbermill.

Daniel Handler cameos as a fish head salesperson at Lake Lachrymose. Barry Sonnenfeld does a picture cameo as the late Ike Anwhistle in "The Wide Window" and appears as him in a flashback scene in "The Carnivorous Carnival" Pt. 1.

Introduced in season 2

 * Barry Sonnenfeld as the voice of Mr. Tammerlane, a person that Arthur Poe talks to on the phone.
 * Roger Bart as Nero Feint, the violin-playing vice-principal of Prufrock Preparatory School and struggling musician with an egotistic personality, a talent for mimicking what someone says in a high voice, and a love for excessive punishments.
 * Kitana Turnbull as Carmelita Spats, an obnoxious, tutu-wearing student at Prufrock Preparatory School.
 * Bronwen Smith as Miss Tench, Prufrock Preparatory School's gym teacher who is replaced in the post by a disguised Count Olaf while on her way back to Prufrock Preparatory School with the pep squad and the sports team.
 * Malcolm Stewart as Mr. Remora, a teacher at Prufrock Preparatory School who specializes in teaching his personal anecdotes and is always seen eating a banana.
 * BJ Harrison as Mrs. Bass, a teacher at Prufrock Preparatory School who specializes in measuring objects. She later becomes a bank robber.
 * Tony Hale as Jerome Squalor, the timid husband of Esmé Squalor.
 * Ithamar Enriquez as Hector, a skittish handyman and citizen of the Village of Fowl Devotees who befriends the Baudelaires.
 * Mindy Sterling as Elder Anabelle, a member of the Village of Fowl Devotees' Council of Elders who often quotes "silence" when a non-police officer and/or a non-banker consultant attempts to violate the "No one may talk while on the platform" rule.
 * Carol Mansell as Elder Jemma, a soft-spoken member of the Village of Fowl Devotees' Council of Elders.
 * Ken Jenkins as Elder Sam, a gruff-speaking member of the Village of Fowl Devotees' Council of Elders.
 * Lossen Chambers as Mrs. Morrow, an inhabitant of the Village of Fowl Devotees that wears a pink robe.
 * Kevin Chamberlin as Mr. Lesko, an inhabitant of the Village of Fowl Devotees that wears plaid pants.
 * John Bobek as the bearded leader of the Volunteers Fighting Disease.
 * Lauren McGibbon as the perky member of the Volunteers Fighting Disease.
 * Kerri Kenney-Silver as Babs, the Head of Human Resources and Hospital Administration at Heimlich Hospital.
 * David Alan Grier as Hal, a visually-disabled file clerk who is employed in the Library of Records at Heimlich Hospital.
 * Robbie Amell as Kevin, an ambidextrous "freak" who works at Caligari Carnival.
 * Kevin Cahoon as Hugo, a hunchbacked "freak" who works at Caligari Carnival.
 * Bonnie Morgan as Colette, a contortionist "freak" who works at Caligari Carnival.
 * David Burtka as Mr. Willums, a heckler with a pimpled chin who attends Caligari Carnival. He is based on The Man With Pimples On His Chin from "The Carnivorous Carnival" book.
 * Jill Morrison as Mrs. Willums, the wife of Mr. Willums.
 * Harper and Gideon Burtka-Harris as Trixie and Skip Willums, the children of Mr. Willums.
 * Allison Williams as an as-yet-unidentified woman who arrives to see the Caligari Carnival engulfed in flames.

Season 1 (2017)
The first season adapts the first four books of the novel series: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window and The Miserable Mill.

Season 2 (2018)
The second season adapts books five through nine of the novel series: The Austere Academy, The Ersatz Elevator, The Vile Village, The Hostile Hospital, and The Carnivorous Carnival.

Season 3
The third season will adapt the final four books of the novel series in seven episodes: The Slippery Slope, The Grim Grotto and The Penultimate Peril will be adapted into two episodes each, and The End will conclude the series with a longer single episode. Barry Sonnenfeld will direct the episodes for The Penultimate Peril. Liza Johnson and Jonathan Teplitzky will also direct episodes in the season.

Development
The thirteen A Series of Unfortunate Events novels, written by Daniel Handler under the pen name Lemony Snicket from 1999 to 2006, achieved success in young adult fiction around the same time as the Harry Potter novels. As such, the Snicket books had been optioned to be filmed before they were published. This led to the development of a 2004 feature film, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, which covered the narratives of the first three novels in the series. Barry Sonnenfeld, who has expressed his love for the series, was originally slated to direct the feature film, and had hired Handler to write the screenplay. About 10 months into production, shortly after the casting of Jim Carrey as Olaf, there was a "big crisis", according to Handler, which caused producer Scott Rudin to walk away and Sonnenfeld left the production under unclear terms. With the film's completion in flux, its producing studios Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks fired Handler. While the film was eventually completed and released, sequels which would adapt the other novels in the series became unlikely due to "corporate shakeups" within DreamWorks, according to Handler, and the child actors that portrayed the Baudelaire children grew too old to star in a sequel.

In November 2014, Netflix, in association with Paramount Television, announced its plans to adapt the novels into an original television series, with the author of the series, Daniel Handler, serving as executive producer.

In September 2015, it was announced that Barry Sonnenfeld and Mark Hudis had agreed to helm the series. Hudis would serve as showrunner, Sonnenfeld as director, and both as executive producers, with Handler writing some of the scripts along with working with the series' writing team. However, in January 2016, Netflix announced that Hudis had left the project, with a replacement showrunner not named at the time.

The first season consists of eight episodes, with two episodes adapting each of the first four books of the series. Handler considered this more in line with how he had written the books in the manner of a serialized melodrama, citing The Perils of Pauline as one of his influences in writing the book series. In January 2017, Handler revealed that he was writing the series' second season, to consist of ten episodes adapting the fifth through ninth books of the series. A third season would adapt the remaining novels of the series, which Handler hoped "to get the go-ahead to do" since "given how quickly young actors age and change, we're trying to film everything as quickly as possible." In March 2017, Netflix revealed the series had been renewed for a second season by releasing a video on their social media pointing to a viral marketing website, where a letter written by Snicket revealed the decision. A month later, the series was "quietly" renewed for a third season, which Harris confirmed would be the final one for the series.

Casting


On December 3, 2015, an open casting call was announced for the roles of Violet and Klaus Baudelaire. In January 2016, Netflix announced that Neil Patrick Harris had been cast as Count Olaf and Malina Weissman and Louis Hynes were cast as Violet and Klaus. Handler had first considered Harris for the role of Olaf after seeing him perform the opening number "It's Not Just for Gays Anymore", at the 65th Tony Awards in 2011, noting "I just immediately saw someone who could pull off a million things at once" as was necessary for the character of Olaf, who utilizes various disguises and accents in his quest to steal the Baudelaire fortune.

In March 2016, K. Todd Freeman was cast as Mr. Poe, followed shortly after by the casting of Patrick Warburton as Lemony Snicket, and Aasif Mandvi as Uncle Monty. In September 2016, it was revealed that Dylan Kingwell and Avi Lake were cast as the Quagmire siblings, Duncan and Isadora, respectively. In November 2016, Handler revealed Catherine O'Hara, Don Johnson, and Alfre Woodard had been cast as Dr. Georgina Orwell, Sir, and Aunt Josephine, respectively; O'Hara had previously portrayed Justice Strauss in the 2004 film adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events. It was also revealed that Presley Smith would play Sunny Baudelaire, whose quasi-nonsensical lines are voiced by Tara Strong, and Rhys Darby would play Charles, Sir's partner.

Filming
Production began in May 2016 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and in August 2016 several cast members expressed through social media that filming had finished. Filming for the second season began in April 2017. The third season began filming on January 5, 2018.

One aspect of the series of books that the production team wanted to be captured in the series was the notion of a lack of specific time period or geography for the settings; Handler stated that he wrote enough for establishing set pieces, but purposely left more specific details vague "in order for young readers to fill in the blanks themselves." Sonnenfeld wanted to capture that same sense of ambiguous time and place, and he and his team worked to try to define a set of subjective rules of what elements could be included. Sonnenfeld brought on Bo Welch, production designer for Edward Scissorhands, which Handler considered to capture the same sense of a "familiar but completely imaginary" suburban setting he had in mind for his books. While the production team used computer-generated imagery where needed, they attempted to avoid this use where possible, such as by using large painted backdrops, by key scenic artist John E. Wilcox, rather than employing green screen filming.

Music
In April 2016, Nick Urata was initially reported to be composing music for the series. Once the first season was released, it was revealed that Urata collaborated with Daniel Handler to compose the main title theme, "Look Away", as well as various original songs that appear throughout the series, with Handler contributing the lyrics. The first season's original score was composed by James Newton Howard, with his frequent collaborators Sven Faulconer and Chris Bacon filling in to score certain episodes. In the second season, Jim Dooley joined the production as composer and subsequently wrote the music for all ten episodes.

"Look Away", the theme song for the opening titles of the series, is performed by Neil Patrick Harris. In keeping with the tone of the book series, the song warns the viewer against continuing to watch the unpleasant story any further. The lyrics of one verse of the song change for each pair of episodes, comprising a brief synopsis of those episodes' premise.

Visual effects
Zoic Studios created visual effects for the series, including the effects for many of Sunny Baudelaire's actions. Tippett Studio also did work on the series, including the effects for the destruction of Josephine's house, landscape shots of Lake Lachrymose and some of the more movement heavy Sunny Baudelaire shots.

Release
All eight episodes of the first season of A Series of Unfortunate Events were released worldwide on Netflix on January 13, 2017, in Ultra HD 4K. The second season was released on March 30, 2018.

Marketing
On July 5, 2015 a video titled "An Unfortunate Teaser" was uploaded to YouTube by a user named "Eleanora Poe". Netflix quickly released a statement saying "This was not released from Netflix." Media outlets were almost unanimous in agreement that the trailer was fan-made. However, Caitlin Petrakovitz of CNET argued that the trailer may be real and that Netflix's carefully worded denial was a marketing campaign, noting the user name "Eleanora Poe" being the same as a character from the series, and that a vinyl record seen in the trailer was of The Gothic Archies, a band who provided the theme music for the audio books of A Series of Unfortunate Events. The trailer was later revealed to be a spec promo, similar to a spec script, by an independent commercial director, whom Netflix contracted to make a title sequence for the series after the video's popularity, though they did not go ahead with the concept.

In October 2016, Netflix released the first teaser trailer for A Series of Unfortunate Events, where Warburton narrates the events of the series as Lemony Snicket. A trailer, featuring footage from the series and Neil Patrick Harris's character, Count Olaf, was released by Netflix in November 2016, followed shortly by the first full trailer. The second trailer was released in December 2016, followed by a "holiday-themed" trailer from Count Olaf leading fans to a viral marketing website for the fictional Valorous Farms Dairy, which featured four holiday e-cards for download.

Audience viewership
As Netflix does not reveal subscriber viewership numbers for any of their original series, Symphony Technology Group compiled data for the first season based on people using software on their devices that measure television viewing by detecting a program's sound. According to Symphony, 3.755 million viewers age 18-49 were watching an episode of A Series of Unfortunate Events over the average minute in its first weekend of release.

Season 1
The first season of A Series of Unfortunate Events received critical acclaim. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the season an approval rating of 94% based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Enjoyably dark, A Series of Unfortunate Events matches the source material's narrative as well as its tone, leaving viewers with a wonderfully weird, dry, gothic comedy." On Metacritic the season has a score of 81 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Erik Adams of The A.V. Club awarded the season a B and praised it for treating "mature themes like grief, loss, and disappointment with sardonic honesty." Adams compared the program positively to the Adam West Batman series, calling it "kids stuff with adult sophistication, driven by two-part stories, outrageous visuals, and the scenery-chewing of big-name guest stars". Ben Travers of Indiewire gave the series an A-, saying that it "proves as inspirational and endearing as it claims to be forlorn and heartbreaking". Brian Lowry of CNN praised the showrunners for "infusing the show with a lemony-fresh feel, conjuring a series similar to the fantastical tone of Pushing Daisies". Lowry wrote that "the show proves a good deal of fun" and that "Harris dives into his over-the-top character with considerable gusto." He also argued that the series improved upon the 2004 film.

Several critics praised the television series as a better adaptation of the books than the 2004 feature film, which starred Jim Carrey as Count Olaf. Kelly Lawler of USA Today felt the television format gave the stories more room to develop, the addition of Warburton as the fourth wall-breaking Snicket helped to convey some of the wordplay humor used in the books, and Harris's portrayal of Olaf was "much more dynamic, and creepier" than Carrey's version. The Verge Chaim Gartenburg said that the show follows the books much more faithfully than the film, and "nails down the tone that made the stories so special". Los Angeles Times writer Robert Lloyd felt that the backgrounds of Sonnenfeld and Welch made them "the right people for this job, set in a milieu that is hard to fix in time, except to say it is not now", in capturing the tones of the book compared to the feature film.

Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com, on the other hand, gave the series a negative review, calling it "an unfunny parody of sadness" that is "never as clever as it wants to be" and would only appeal to fans of the books. Caroline Framke of Vox Media praised the series for its unique and weird visuals, but found the show's tone, pacing and performances to be haphazard and considered the show to be "literally, a series of unfortunate events".

Season 2
As with the first season, the second season received critical acclaim. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the second season an approval rating of 100% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Season two of A Series of Unfortunate Events is as gothic, twisted and absurd as the first, to the delight of moody tweens of all ages." Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent praised the show as one that "essentially deals with thoughtful, intelligent young people battling to speak up against an illogical world." While observing that the "show may revel in the miserable", she opined "that the purpose of its own morbidity is to offer the assurance that hope lives in even the darkest of places." Loughrey also credited the show's expanded storyline for the Baudelaires' adult allies for "plumping up" the episodes' narrative arcs and deepening the show's emotional impact.

Tristram Fane Saunders of The Telegraph awarded the second season four out of five stars. He described the show as a "gothic treat [that] also offers a wicked line in absurdist humour, and the most gorgeously toybox-like set designs you’ll find anywhere outside a Wes Anderson film." Radio Times reviewer Huw Fullerton praised the series for its faithfulness to the original novels. While praising the improved CGI used to make Presley Smith's character Sunny Baudelaire react better to situations, he criticized the addition of supporting "good" characters such as Nathan Fillion's Jacques Snicket and Sara Canning's Jacquelyn for "undercutting the bleakness and loneliness that characterized the novels."

Rohan Naahar of the Hindustan Times described A Series of Unfortunate Events as "one of the most lavish originals in Netflix's bottomless catalogue, created by fans, for fans." He also praised Neil Patrick Harris' performance as Count Olaf. The Den of Geek reviewer Michael Ahr praised tortoise-shell 'amphibiophones' and stone marimbas score for giving the television series its primal sound. IGN reviewer Jonathon Dornbush criticized the second season's formulaic plot structure and lack of the insightful observations compared to the first season. He also praised several of the second season's episodes particularly "The Ersatz Elevator", "The Hostile Hospital", and "The Carnivorous Carnival" for smartly twisting the story formula and deepening the novel series' mythology. Dornbush also praised the performance of guest stars such as Lucy Punch and Patrick Warburton and awarded the second season 7.2 stars.