The cast and executive producer of the Max Original political dramedy series “The Girls on the Bus” talked camaraderie, political ideologies and journalistic authenticity on a press junket this past Wednesday.
The 10-episode series premiered on March 14 and follows four women journalists with vastly different reporting styles on the campaign trail covering a fictional presidential election. The title is an ode to Timothy Crouse’s classic 1973 book on campaign-trail journalists, “The Boys on the Bus,” but with a fem-centric twist.
The focus of the show is on Sadie McCarthy (Melissa Benoist), an optimistic reporter for the New York Sentinel— a likely parallel to the New York Times. McCarthy’s reputation took a hit in the previous campaign cycle when her tears at the loss of the woman candidate went viral, symbolizing her subjective reporting. She returns to the campaign trail to report on the woman front-runner candidate after convincing her editor Bruce Turner (Griffin Dunne) that she’s learned from her mistakes.
Turner’s character influenced by New York Times columnist David Carr, who guided executive producer Amy Chozick in finding her voice to write her 2018 book “Chasing Hillary: Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns and One Intact Glass Ceiling,” which also served as inspiration for the series.
“I love journalism, but I think when I wrote my book, I was able to write more in my own voice,” Chozick said. “My mentor at the New York Times, my late mentor, David Carr would say you have to go to a magical place where writers live. You have to put that journalism language out of your head and I think I liked that magical place.”
This was Benoist’s second time acting as a journalist, first playing Kara Danvers on the CW’s “Supergirl” for six years. Benoist said she “barely skimmed the surface” of what journalism entails while playing Danvers because her character’s superhero escapades always interrupted her reporting.
“I just digest my news differently than I ever have,” Benoist said. “I take so much more consideration into who’s bringing me my news, and I have so much more respect for it. I think I romanticize it now, the way that Sadie does because it is a front-row seat to history, and we should be paying attention to the truth.”
McCarthy reunites with her best friend Grace from the last campaign cycle, a veteran reporter with a reputation for breaking captivating stories in the rival paper the Washington Union, a stand-in for the Washington Post. The liberal-leaning pair look down on a Republican broadcast reporter Kimberlyn (Christina Elmore) who works for Fox-esque Liberty News. Grace takes a particular dislike for campaign trail newcomer Lola (Natasha Behnam), a Gen-Z influencer who uses TikTok to support an AOC-like socialist candidate (Tala Ahe).
In fact, most of the candidates on the campaign trail aren’t named and are instead announced in a manner similar to “The Bachelor” contestants as archetypes — The Geriatric, The Freshman, The Hot White Guy, etc. The fictional candidates bear a resemblance to real politicians — Fake Pete Buttigieg (Scott Foley), Fake Arnold Schwarzenegger (Mark Consuelos), Fake Joe Biden (Richard Bekins) and Fake Hillary Clinton (Hettienne Park).
While the journalists don’t see eye to eye on their political views or the candidates they support, as the show progresses they begin to rely on each other for advice and favors.
“When people talk about how different all the characters are, and that they still find friendship. I think it’s because of the bus they were forced together,” Chozick said.
The cast has seen a similar bond form between them as Gugino and Elmore recall filming on the “smelly” bus for up to 14 hours at a time wasn’t the glamorous Hollywood experience, but it brought them together nonetheless.
The lively and inspiring political landscape depicted in “The Girls on the Bus” contrasts the upcoming contentious, albeit one of the most significant, presidential election years in recent history.
While mostly lighthearted, the show throws in serious topics like abortion and sexist inequities in media while referring to the current state of electoral politics. However, it leaves out references to the massive media layoffs and increasing distrust in the media impacting this election cycle.
Critics see the show as an alternate reality that misses the mark on what campaign reporting is really like, but others appreciate that it offers a much-needed distraction from the current political sphere. In terms of accuracy to life on the campaign trail, the cast heavily relied on Chozick’s background as a political journalist.
“Every single one of these four actors here were kind of obsessed with ‘wait a minute, is this what I would actually do or not?’ and we and we had the resource to go to, so it was a lot on Amy’s shoulders,” Gugino said.
The show undoubtedly glamorizes the reporting experience. While interviews play a significant role in news gathering, much of the process involves sending emails, making phone calls and doing research— all things that if portrayed on screen could be visually monotonous and make audiences change the channel. Focusing on the excitement of breaking a story and working with secret sources makes sense as it translates better on screen. While it may not entirely capture the authentic reporting experience on the campaign trail, it’s important to remember that the show is a dramedy, not a docuseries.
Interested viewers can hop aboard the soapy ride on Max with one new episode weekly through May 9.