‘White House Plumbers’ Review: The Watergate Incident Turns Into a Crazy Comedy

HBO strikes once again with more and more prestige television. In this opportunity, the prestigious network goes into the realm of comedy for a miniseries that feels like one of the strangest projects the network has ever tackled, as a strange mix of real-life events with black comedy and social commentary. HBO has always managed to come up with very strange but, in the end, excellent combinations to maintain their brand. Can this strange comedy manage to do it again? HBO’s White House Plumbers will certainly try to.

White House Plumbers is a satirical political drama created by Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck. The series also counts on the intervention of David Mandel, who serves as a director in each episode. Mandel was the driving force behind Veep, one of the most successful comedies in all of HBO’s history. The series stars Woody Harrelson, Justine Theroux, Domhnall Gleeson, Lena Headey, and Kiernan Shipka. The series tells the story of Richard Nixon’s task force that stopped leaks from coming out.

Of course, if you know just a bit about the Watergate Scandal, you can infer that this special task force didn’t do its job well. In fact, you could say that they were so bad at their jobs that they allowed the scandal to happen in the first place. This level of stupidity in the upper government management feels then like the perfect source for what could be a very crazy story. Thus, White House Plumbers chooses to become a satire from the first few seconds of its runtime. And just like with any comedy, the jokes can be very hit or miss.

This is a very “American” story, as it deals with very “American” topics, but thanks to the great cast, there is clearly something here to watch for all people around the world. However, White House Plumbers have become very hard to recommend. Not because it is a bad show but because its audience seems to be very specific. We are dealing with a story that will only attract a certain sector of the audience in a genre that can sometimes feel very smart and some other times very stupid. There is definitely a lot to like here, but choosing to become satire might close more doors than it opens.

Why? Because as the show starts, the series decides to tell us that we are about to see real-life events, but then the characters are such caricatures, and the events are so dumb that they are hard to believe. It is well-known that in real life, people can be severely dumb at every waking hour, but to portray the characters in such a dumb way feels like a bad choice. This decision purges all sense of tension from every action they take. The characters are acting dumb all the time, so it stands to reason that their actions will lead to some dumb mistakes.

There is no surprise or tension, so while some moments are funny enough to make a chuckle, we wouldn’t say that the show is hilarious or groundbreaking. Veep worked inside the same context because there was a clear contrast between the characters being dumb and them doing dumb things. With Veep, we understood that these characters would make mistakes and that we should laugh about it. The demeanor of the character also told us we were in a comedy. Here in White House Plumbers, the characters seem mostly delusional, hurting the show.

So, we can conclude that when it comes to the tone, this show won’t be for everybody. The story is another matter. To learn about how these people worked is truly entertaining, and while so many names and organizations can get a bit confusing at times, the story moves at a nice pace, and we are always learning new details about what this strange job consisted of as well as getting revelations from our main characters. Of course, this is only possible thanks to having an amazing cast of actors playing each of these eccentric characters.

Woody Harrelson has become a staple HBO actor over the years, and here he brings what he does best. We see him playing what could be said to be a very exaggerated version of his character in True Detective Season 1. His companion, Justin Theroux, has also been part of several HBO productions, including the fantastic, The Leftovers. Here, in White House Plumbers, Theroux goes back to more of his goody roles, like the ones he played in Maniac and even Mute.

White House Plumbers also offers the traditional standard for HBO production values. All the sets, costumes, and even the makeup are of fantastic quality. You really feel like the characters and we, the audience, are being transported to this time when America’s history was changing from one that was defined by optimism into something that was definitely a bit more skeptical. It is wonderful to see that HBO’s production quality never goes down, even in these very strange shows.

In the end, White House Plumbers feels like a strange and niche show that might get some recognition when award season comes around, but this won’t be a ratings-breaking show. The actors are all doing an amazing job, the story is quite interesting, and the production values are great. However, the show’s satirical elements take all the stakes off the table, and what is left are comedy bits that are very hit or miss. The show will definitely find its audience, but this miniseries is more a curiosity than a must-watch event.

SCORE: 6/10