Panhandle (TV series) explained

Country:	United States
Language:	English
Num Seasons:	1
Num Episodes:	8
Location:	Savannah, Georgia^[1]
Cinematography:	Giorgio Scali, ASC
Runtime:	40-45 minutes

Panhandle is an American crime comedy-drama television series created by Carla Kettner and Nick Stoller for Spectrum Originals and Roku with Sony Pictures Television Studios.^[2] The show stars Luke Kirby as Bellwether Prescott, an eccentric with a crippling anxiety disorder and a penchant for deduction, and Tiana Okoye as Cammie Lord, a traffic cop from the nearby (fictional) town of Boggsville, Florida. It first premiered on Spectrum on September 26, 2022^[3] before it was later released on streaming in June 2023 on The Roku Channel as a Roku original.

Premise

Rich, eccentric, agoraphobic Bellwether Prescott has been confined to his family mansion and grounds because of a severe anxiety disorder since the death of his wife Vida Perez five years ago, and obsessively investigates local homicides as a hobby. Cammie Lorde, a cop stuck on traffic duty and notorious for handing out speeding tickets, is a recent arrival in the nearby town of Boggsville with her son Tyler and is hiding secrets about her past and true identity.

When a murder occurs on the Prescott property, Bell engages the assistance of a begrudging Cammie, who is unfamiliar with his peculiarities, as they solve crimes and attempt to uncover his wife's killer with the help of a quirky cast of local townspeople. As Bell and Cammie slowly develop a friendship despite their clashing personalities, they may be able to help each other overcome their personal problems.^[4]

Cast and characters

Main

• Luke Kirby as Bellwether "Bell" Prescott,^[5] an old-fashioned eccentric, alcoholic and loquacious polymath who lives alone in his giant house with his mother and pet alligator. He is unable to walk outside his gate or exist in spaces with large number of people and he sees a projection of his dead wife wherever he goes. Bell has a wide range of niche interests and multiple degrees from online university programs, which make him very adept at solving crimes.
• Tiana Okoye as Cammie Lorde, a blunt and pragmatic police officer who is deeply unpopular in Boggsville for frequently awarding speeding tickets. She is a single mother without many friends and claims to be from Detroit, but Bell soon deduces she is not quite honest about her background and reasons for being in Florida.
• Lorenza Izzo as Vida Perez Prescott, who had a volatile marriage with Bell before her mysterious death five years ago. Her Cuban-American family is in the rum business and bought out the Prescott sugar manufacturing plants too. Her unsolved murder is the primary mystery in season 1.^[6]
• Forrest Goodluck as Checotah, a local delivery boy and stoner, who is a friend to Bell and his mother and often gets sucked into their schemes
• Wallace Smith as Dr Otis Wright, a doctor in Boggsville who wants to move away to Atlanta. He helps Bell examine corpses and develops a romantic interest in Cammie.
• Glenn Morshower as the Sheriff of Okaloosa County, Maxwell Grant. He is Cammie's boss and dislikes Bell.
• Lesley Ann Warren as Millicent Prescott, Bell's oddball widowed mother who is often seen wielding a gun. Since Bell's father's death six years ago, she has hardly left the house and has been looking after Bell since his wife's death.

Recurring

• Landon Chase Dubois as Tyler, Cammie's young son
• Melanie Minichino as Darby Hix, local exterminator, former stripper and Bell's childhood friend
• David de Vries as Skramstad, a Scandinavian hacker who regularly plays chess with Bell
• Déja Dee as Bitty, local hairdresser and close friend to Cammie
• Mo Gallini as Alejandro Perez, father to Vida and head of the El Calvero rum distillery
• Paulina Gálvez, as Alicia Perez, Vida's mother

Guest

• Drez Ryan as Marcus Malin, editor of the local newspaper and Cammie's ex-husband who is trying to get back into his son's life
• Angel Luis as Ramon Perez, Vida's gay brother and the only Perez who gets along with Bell
• Jesse Gallegos as Yasiel Perez, Vida's brother
• Erin Ownbey as Urleen, receptionist at the police station

Episodes

Season 1 (2022)

^[7]

Production

On December 5, 2019, it was announced that Nicholas Stoller, Carla Kettner and Sony Pictures TV obtained a put pilot deal from Fox for their one-hour rom-com procedural originally titled Florida Man.^[8] The show was to be a co-production between Sony Pictures TV, under whom Kettner and Stoller had deals, and Fox Entertainment. Stoller and Kettner, as well as Stoller's producing partner Conor Welch, were to receive executive producer credits with Welch's being a non-writing credit.^[9]

The Florida Man pilot was picked up by Charter (Spectrum) on March 27, 2020 after Fox Entertainment passed on it. Kettner, who had previously been an executive producer on Bones, explained that the procedural format was an excellent format to have real drama and comedy, and called the show a "serialized crimedy." By March 1, 2022, when the casting of Luke Kirby, who also came on as a producer, and Tiana Okoye in the lead roles was announced, as well as the news that Emmy-winning director Colin Bucksey had been brought on for the pilot, the project had become a co-production between Spectrum Originals and Roku and been renamed Panhandle.

Kirby said of his experience as an actor and first-time producer: "We started this show coming out of COVID, and all of the restrictions and all of that, and I spent a lot of my time at home watching Columbo and Golden Girls [...] both of them gave me such a degree of comfort just to sort of dive into those realities for a half hour, an hour here and there [...] it made me kind of yearn for something along those lines coming out of it. And so when this came my way, it sort of felt like those two [...] were melding, and I took it as a sign to go for it."^[10]

The series was filmed in Savannah, Georgia, with Myrtle Grove Plantation in Richmond Hill serving as the central location of the Prescott compound.

the series is strongly similar to the French-Belgian series "Balthazar" which follows a forensic doctor haunted by the murder of his wife which he is still investigating and whose ghost he also sees as well

Release

On September 7, 2023, it was announced that Panhandle would be one of 35 shows removed from Roku as a cost-cutting measure.^[11] A second season has not yet been announced.

Notes and References

1. News: Luke Kirby, Tiana Okoye to Star in Spectrum Originals Series 'Panhandle'. March 2022.
2. Web site: Goldberg . Lesley . Porter . Rick . 2022-03-01 . Spectrum Originals Nabs 'Panhandle' Crime Dramedy From Sony . https://web.archive.org/web/20240202235341/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/sony-crime-dramedy-panhandle-spectrum-1235101524/ . 2024-02-02 . 2024-02-02 . The Hollywood Reporter . en-US.
3. Web site: Zee . Michaela . 2022-09-10 . Spectrum Originals Drops Trailer for 'Panhandle,' Sets September Release Date (TV News Roundup) . https://web.archive.org/web/20240203000332/https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/spectrum-originals-trailer-panhandle-release-date-tv-news-roundup-1235366574/ . 2024-02-03 . 2024-02-02 . Variety . en-US.
4. Web site: Otterson . Joe . 2022-03-01 . Luke Kirby, Tiana Okoye to Star in Spectrum Originals Series 'Panhandle' . https://web.archive.org/web/20240203001105/https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/luke-kirby-tiana-okoye-spectrum-originals-series-panhandle-1235192938/ . 2024-02-03 . 2024-02-03 . Variety . en-US.
5. Web site: White . Peter . 2022-03-01 . Luke Kirby & Tiana Okoye To Star In 'Panhandle' From Nick Stoller & Carla Kettner For Spectrum & Roku . https://web.archive.org/web/20231012125346/https://deadline.com/2022/03/luke-kirby-tiana-okoye-panhandle-nick-stoller-1234962138/ . 2023-10-12 . 2023-02-03 . Deadline . en-US.
6. Web site: White . Peter . 2022-04-01 . 'Panhandle': Forrest Goodluck Joins Spectrum & Roku Dramedy As Series Rounds Out Cast . https://web.archive.org/web/20240203001449/https://deadline.com/2022/04/panhandle-forrest-goodluck-lands-lead-role-spectrum-roku-1234992085/ . 2024-02-03 . 2024-02-02 . Deadline . en-US.
7. Web site: Panhandle . The Futon Critic . 9 March 2024.
8. Web site: Petski . Denise . 2019-12-05 . Fox Nabs 'Florida Man' Rom-Com Procedural From Nick Stoller & Carla Kettner As Put Pilot . https://web.archive.org/web/20240203003847/https://deadline.com/2019/12/fox-florida-man-rom-com-procedural-nick-stoller-carla-kettner-put-pilot-1202801330/ . 2024-02-03 . 2024-02-03 . Deadline . en-US.
9. Web site: Thorne . Will . 2019-12-05 . 'Neighbors' Director Nick Stoller Sets 'Florida Man' Put Pilot at Fox . https://web.archive.org/web/20240203004552/https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/neighbors-director-nick-stoller-sets-fox-put-pilot-florida-man-1203426127/ . 2024-02-03 . 2024-02-03 . Variety . en-US.
10. Web site: Lovitt . Maggie . 2023-06-05 . Luke Kirby on How 'Columbo' Led Him to 'Panhandle's Eccentric Armchair Detective . https://web.archive.org/web/20240313015226/https://collider.com/luke-kirby-panhandle-series-interview/ . 2024-03-13 . 2024-03-13 . Collider . en.
11. Web site: Klawans . Justin . 2023-09-07 . 'Panhandle' and 'Reno 911!' Among the 35 Shows Removed by Roku Channel . https://web.archive.org/web/20240203002059/https://collider.com/roku-channel-removes-35-shows-panhandle-reno-911/ . 2024-02-03 . 2024-02-02 . Collider . en.