The Business (2003 TV Series)

The Business is an American-British-Canadian drama sci-fi television series that satirises the inner workings of modern American media industry. The series debuted on August 20, 2003 on CBS and features Peter Capaldi as Stephen Baratheon, the CEO and Founder of the fictional entertainment and technology conglomerate Baratheon Industries, alongside an ensemble supporting cast that includes, William Fitchner, Marcia Gay Harden, Bill Irwin, Sullivan Stapleton, Daniel Cudmore, Derek Luke, Reg E. Cathey, James Harvey Ward, Joely Richardson, Tim Blake Nelson, and Rob Lowe.

The writers researched local California politics for the show, and consulted with urban planners and elected officials. Capaldi's character of Stephen Baratheon underwent minor changes after the first season in response to audience feedback that he seemed unintelligent and "violent". The writing staff tried to incorporate current events into their episodes, such as a government shutdown in New York inspired by the real-life global financial crisis.

The Business received generally mixed reviews during its first season. However, after a reapproach to its format and tone, its second and subsequent seasons received much higher critical acclaim. The Business has received several awards and nominations, including a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series, four Emmy nominations for Capaldi, Irwin, Lowe's performances, and a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama. In Time's 2012 year-end lists issue, The Business was named the number one television series, On May 13, 2009, CBS announced that the show ended after six seasons.

Cast and characters

 * Stephen Baratheon (Peter Capaldi) - Season 1-present - The aggressive, profane, deadly and feared Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Baratheon Industries. He serves two main roles: acting as the President's enforcer to ensure the cabinet ministers all follow the party line, and managing the government's crisis management PR - usually in the form of spin. He regularly uses rumours, smears, or threats of extreme violence to achieve his ends. He is usually seen talking to various people on his mobile.
 * Frank Simmons (Mark Addy) - Season 1 - Simmons was the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Baratheon Industries until he was killed by human majority protesters in Season 1 Episode 12 (Conspiracy Theory). Following his death, Marc Talbot was promoted to COO in the following episode (Bad Patriot).
 * Martin "Axel" Axelton (William Fichtner) - Season 1-present - Axel is an ex-business guru and Stephen's corporate rival, is a softly spoken adviser to the President. His close relationship with the PM and blue-sky thinking means he is often in conflict with Stephen. In the Specials, he was in charge of the President's Legacy project.
 * Margaret Mountford (Marcia Gay Harden) - Season 1-present - Margaret is promoted to Secretary of State for Social Affairs and Citizenship in a government reshuffle in the run up to a general election. Generally well-meaning but ostensibly unfit for the political game, she has a complex relationship with Stephen throughout Season 3 and 4 during which he is at times supportive and at times prone to sabotaging her leadership. She is first compromised by him when he demands that she either tell her husband James to resign from his job or send her daughter Ella to a comprehensive school, rather than her preferred choice of an independent school. Her husband works for a PFI company called Albany, who were heavily involved in the government's prison rebuilding policy.
 * Hugh Mostow (Bill Irwin) - Season 1-present - Hugh is an investor in Baratheon's entertainment industry fund. A long-standing friend of Stephen's since the campaign days, he acts as his chief adviser. He is generally politically adept, often being a voice of sense within the series, although due to his age is often ignored and emasculated by younger members of staff.
 * Helen Hatley (Kathryn Hahn) - Season 1-present - Helen is Marc's special adviser. She was always Marc's first choice as a special adviser, but only joined her team once she became Leader. She is skeptical of Stephen, and even makes the mistake of questioning his loyalty to the party.
 * John Duggan (Steven Van Zandt) Season 1-7 - The put-upon night editor is seen desperately attempting to write a coherent editorial from the conflicting stories leaking from Halifax. He eventually decides to write a piece about the "Night of Spin", naming those who have annoyed him as the night's "losers". In the first episode of season 8 (The Wideawake Project), Marc reveals that Duggan, alongside Azazel, were both killed by DEA soldiers hired by Cal during the Project Manhattan Scandal.
 * Thomas "Tom" Linsberger (Sullivan Stapleton) - Season 1-present - Tom is the equivalent of Stephen for President-in-waiting Worthington. However, he was made to look disloyal to Tom via a series of schemes implemented by Marc in Season 4 Episode 13 (Indefinite Access). He had considered himself a candidate for the Baratheon's Director of Communications, but lost out when the job was given to Marc again.
 * Kurt Hendricks (Josh Holloway) - Season 1 - Kurt was an inept press officer prone to making inappropriate comments, whose big fringe is supposedly there to "hide the lobotomy scars." He was killed by Stephen very early in the series in Season 1 Episode 6 (Amateur Marijuana Typhoons) while trying to point out that he was going to over take the professional marijuana sales.
 * Glenn Tucker (Daniel Cudmore) - Season 1-present - Stephen's sarcastic and underachieving subordinate, who eventually begins to consider leaving his city hall job to pursue his own entrepreneurial interests.
 * Simon Boyd (Derek Luke) - Season 2-6 and 8-present - Boyd managed to perfect the art of the strategic resignation in Season 2 Episode 1 (Signs And Portents). He was thought to be standing as a candidate for party leadership but instead supported Tom Linsberger. He remains unseen in Series 7, but Axel's "Cabal" was said to be gathering momentum against the President. In Series 11, Boyd is deputy to Hugh, who is Leader of the Party. After Boyd forces Azazel to resign, Boyd becomes the interim leader of the Opposition.
 * Cal Richards (Tim Blake Nelson) - Season 8-present - Stewart's fearsome boss, a half-human half-obsidian government official nicknamed "The F**ker" by his colleagues, is much more like Stephen in his style, only even more aggressive, muderous and profane. Tom describes him as 'pure poison'. He can absorb any energy he touches and release it in a powerful stomp or a to the ground, or a powerful blast of energy. In his brief appearance he appears uncouth and probably psychotic, screaming wanton abuse at the policy team and threatening to sack Stewart.
 * Dan Miller (John Corbett) - Season 2-present - Miller managed to perfect the art of the telecom tactics in Season 1 Episode 12 (Conspiracy Theory) (in which Corbett made a guest appearance). He was thought to be standing as a candidate for party leadership but left the competition to join the Genesis Corporation staff.
 * Cliff Lawton (Bruce Davison) - Season 1 - Cliff Lawton is forced to resign as the CEO of Baratheon by Marc Talbot in pilot episode of the series. He is later referenced as bearing a grudge against Talbot, although it is unclear if this is simply Stephen's spin. Bitter about his treatment, he later appears in the specials as Jamie's stalking horse during the leadership contest. Jamie unceremoniously ditches him after Cliff's identity is leaked to Stephen.
 * Peter Mannion (Reg E. Cathey) - Season 1-present - One of the "old guard" of Opposition MPs, Peter was "around in the 80s" and is thus very resistant to spin doctor Stewart Pearson's new management jargon style of public relations. He antagonises Pearson by refusing to accept his advice and his "no tie" policy. Mannion challenged the modernising party leader, JB, in his party's leadership election, which Mannion believes is the reason for Stewart's poor treatment of him. Mannion was dubbed "Cheater Mannion" by the press during a sex scandal with a former researcher during the mid-1990s and once served as a Junior Minister at DEFRA, responsible for fisheries. He also displays a greater reluctance than most in the Opposition to use personal information against the Government, demonstrated by his refusal to use a personal story concerning Murray's daughter against her.
 * Azazel (Jason Flemyng) - Season 1-7 - A mysterious red-skinned man with teleporting abilities and strong telepathy. In the first episode of season 8 (The Wideawake Project), Marc reveals that Azazel, alongside John Duggan, were both killed by DEA soldiers hired by Cal during the Project Manhattan Scandal.
 * Oliver Reeder (Lewis Black) - Season 1-present - Reeder is a special adviser to Hugh Mostow. An Oxbridge graduate, he is arrogant but inexperienced, and is often inadvertently the cause of departmental mistakes. However, the minister often takes his ideas believing them to be vote-winners. A large part of Oliver's character is his self-centredness and cowardice, being described as 'morally bankrupt' and 'spineless'. In the specials Glenn makes a reference to having originally found Oliver working in Pennsylvania. Oliver was seconded to Wall Street after he slept with an opposition party worker and was told to use his relationship to gather information on opposition party policy.
 * James "Jamie" MacDonald (James Harvey Ward) - Season 1-present - Jamie is Stephen's unofficial second-in-command, part of the "Caledonian mafia" leading the Number 10 press office. He performs a similar role to Stephen with an even higher level of aggression towards all. Jamie is very similar to Stephen in his mannerisms; aggressive, foul-mouthed and frequently violent to his workmates, being described as a 'psychopath' and the 'crossest man in Denver' by his coworkers. Despite his alienating personality, he seems to be the closest thing Stephen has to an actual friend, as they are seen talking amicably in some scenes and is the only one who can get away with insulting or standing up to Stephen.
 * Stewart Pearson (Luke Bracey) - Season 5-present - The eco-friendly, media-savvy, new-school spin man for the opposition. While Stewart is forceful and manipulative, his style is very different from Stephen, and he struggles to exert control and influence over Mannion, who refuses to take him seriously. Stephen has demonstrated an ability to negotiate with him when it would serve both sides to do so. He is passively aggressive toward Mannion and openly afraid of Cal Richards.
 * Buck (portrayed by Morris Chapdelaine; voiced by Terry Notary) - Season 7-present - Buck is an Ewok technician assigned to the Daedalus. He is tasked with operation of the transporter and hyperdrive engine, working primarily with Lindsey Novak. Buck mutters to himself when he is displeased with the crew's demands, although his Ewok language is actually normal English played backward. The producers gave him "a little bit of an attitude problem", being an angry foreigner utterly convinced of his own brilliance above those around him.
 * Teresa Jessica "Terri" Coverley (Juliette Lewis) - Season 1-present - Notionally responsible for press relations at DoSAC, Coverley was headhunted from convenience store chain 7-Eleven where she was once Head of Press. She has also worked in the press office at Walmart. Professional but prudish, she is often left to "mop up" the bad press garnered by the department. She is reluctant to do anything outside of the remit of her job, and resents staying late. She has a sister who lives in Hastings. By the time series 4 begins she wants to be made redundant so she can get away from the Coalition, and plans to use her redundancy money in order to take over a teashop in Albany. She was divorced and has a daughter, and during Season 4 is reportedly trying to get her dog on America's Got Talent. She is in a relationship with Glenn.
 * Fergus Smith (Andy Buckley) - Season 1-11 - Fergus was Hugh's chief adviser and friend. He appeared on Late Show with David Letterman after swearing at a member of the public who confronts Mannion. He managed the transition to remain as Senior Advisor when Marc becomes Baratheon's COO. He fell out with Tom after he inadvertently thwarted his plan to stand as an MP because his association with her was considered 'too divisive'.
 * Marc Talbot (Rob Lowe) - Season 1-present - Talbot is the excessively positive and extremely health-conscious Baratheon Industries COO. Lowe, who plays Talbot, left his starring role on The West Wing during the fourth season of that show to join The Business.

Media releases
Paramount Home Entertainment released the complete series on DVD.