Pilot 

Richie Finestra considers selling his struggling record company; Richie takes a detour to an unplanned reunion with Lester Grimes; Richie orders his A&R department to find new acts; Richie ... See full summary »

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Writers:

Terence Winter (teleplay by), George Mastras (teleplay by)

Stars:

Bobby Cannavale, Paul Ben-Victor, P.J. Byrne

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Bobby Cannavale	...	Richie Finestra
Paul Ben-Victor	...	Maury Gold
P.J. Byrne	...	Scott Levitt
Max Casella	...	Julie Silver
Ato Essandoh	...	Lester Grimes
James Jagger	...	Kip Stevens
J.C. MacKenzie	...	Skip Fontaine
Jack Quaid	...	Clark Morelle
Ray Romano	...	Zak Yankovich
Birgitte Hjort Sørensen	...	Ingrid
Juno Temple	...	Jamie Vine
Olivia Wilde	...	Devon Finestra
Andrew Dice Clay	...	Frank 'Buck' Rogers
Ian Hart	...	Peter Grant
Susan Heyward	...	Cece

Storyline

Richie Finestra considers selling his struggling record company; Richie takes a detour to an unplanned reunion with Lester Grimes; Richie orders his A&R department to find new acts; Richie jeopardizes his relationships with his wife and children.

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Plot Keywords:

bare chested male | bare breasts | smoking in bed | smoking after sex | building collapse | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 February 2016 (USA)

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television, Cold Front Productions, Home Box Office (HBO)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Mercer Arts Center (where the New York Dolls are performing near the end of the show's pilot) really did collapse. It collapsed on Friday, August 9, 1973. However, the New York Dolls were not performing there at the time of the disaster. The collapse is obviously being used metaphorically here.

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Goofs

When Richie goes to see Buck at his house, Buck goes on a tirade where he mentions Lyme Disease coming from Connecticut. The disease wasn't associated with Lyme,CT until 1975.

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Quotes

Johann von Kinkel: Mr. Finestra, is there a problem with the document?
Richie Finestra: American.
Johann von Kinkel: I beg your pardon?
Richie Finestra: My company's name is American Century. You dropped the American.
Zak Yankovich: [whispers to Richie] The money they're paying, call it "Nazi World". Who gives a fuck?

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Connections

References The Devil in Miss Jones (1973)

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Soundtracks

Give it Up or Turn it Loose
Written by Charles Bobbitt
Performed by James Brown

User Reviews

Pilot

The pilot episode of Vinyl is an overlong affair. It is directed by Martin Scorsese who now has got to the habit of giving his movies superfluous running times.

Vinyl is also produced by Mick Jagger which explains how his son has a major role in the series, he certainly did not get the part through talent.

We are at a grungy, grainy 1970s. Part gangster, part Spinal Tap and part the fallen ruins from the hedonism of the 1960s but with a great soundtrack and some stylish scenes, especially if they involve music.

Record executive Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale) sits downhearted in his car, drunk, on drugs when the he sees some excited teens going to a club and he follows. He see the proto punk band The New York Dolls who certainly bring the roof down.

We have flashbacks to Finestra in the 1960s making his way to the top, trying to find acts that could make it big, he likes blues artists but they do not sell records unless they conform to pop sounding hits.

In the present he is trying to sell his record company to a big German corporation but they are only interested if Finestra signs Led Zeppelin but manager Peter Grant is having none of Finestra's crap.

Also his personal life is collapsing and there is a dead body to get lid off when an altercation gets too hot headed.

Scorsese in the pilot episode wants to unveil an epic saga, but outside of the music it was just not interesting enough. The episode mixes fact with fiction as you see Finestra talking to Zeppelin and then fake acts.

Violence, drug use, sex, corporate shenanigans (and modern vocabulary). We have the wild hedonism of the early 1970s, an interesting performance from Cannavale but it did not drag me in.