But the 2010 documentary Public Speaking - much more at home in HBO’s curated, elitist landscape than this new series is on the cluttered, populist Netflix platform - was filmed mostly at The Waverly Inn whereas this was shot in the bar room at the Players Club, so it’s totally different.Īctually, Public Speaking was a bit more of an introduction to Lebowitz, her life and the particular set of circumstances that led to her transition from columnist/essayist to live appearance magnate. Here’s where you’re perhaps thinking, “But wait, didn’t Martin Scorsese and Ted Griffin already do a documentary where they accompanied Fran Lebowitz to her myriad Q&As and then conducted a separate and extensive interview in an exclusive New York City dining room?” You’re remembering correctly. Even the places the series lags a bit are more a product of exhaustion from spending that amount of time with any other person, a sentiment I’m fairly confident Lebowitz would acknowledge. Pretend It’s a City is a tribute to two things Scorsese loves, Fran Lebowitz and New York City, and that affection is contagious for much, if not quite all, of its running time. To be in the presence of Fran Lebowitz is to defer to Fran Lebowitz, even if you are an Oscar-winning storyteller yourself - and surely if you’re watching a seven-part docuseries on Netflix. In both instances, the thing viewers will be struck by is how deferential these celebrity interviewers are of Lebowitz. Lebowitz recounts this breakfast across two conversations, one a stage Q&A with Spike Lee and the other a documentary interview with Pretend It’s a City director Martin Scorsese and executive producer Ted Griffin. Interestingly, this is only the second-best Charles Mingus story featured in the show, but the point of the tale is that Lebowitz was struck at that breakfast by how deferential Mingus, a man of impeccable confidence and stature, was in Ellington’s presence. One of Fran Lebowitz’s finest stories in Netflix’s Pretend It’s a City - like Cole Porter songs, Agatha Christie mysteries and Barry Bonds home runs, it’s a long list - involves a breakfast she shared with jazz legends Charles Mingus and Duke Ellington.

Songs from the movie players club