AVERAGE

Inspired by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s 2013 prosecution of hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen, this series portrayed a cat-and-mouse game on Wall Street between Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti), an ambitious man with a taste for BDSM role play, and Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis), a ruthless billionaire. Rhoades’s wife (Maggie Siff) was caught in the middle, since she worked for Axelrod as a performance coach; in later years, a vicious new entrepreneur (Corey Stoll) with presidential ambitions stepped into the arena. The series was known for including a prominent transgender character (Asia Kate Dillon), as well as dialogue peppered with frantic pop-cultural references, shaped for a male pub-quiz audience. Cold and smug at first, but more sophisticated and compelling in its last seasons; Giamatti was always first-rate. 

2016-2023:U.S. 84 episodes. Color. Created by Brian Koppelman, David Levien, Andrew Ross Sorkin. Cast: Paul Giamatti (Charles ”Chuck” Rhoades, Jr.), Damian Lewis (Bobby ”Axe” Axelrod, 16-21, 23), Corey Stoll (Mike Prince, 20-23), Maggie Siff (Wendy Rhoades), David Costabile, Asia Kate Dillon (17-23), Condola Rashad, Jeffrey DeMunn, Kelly AuCoin, Toby Leonard Moore (16-21), Malin Åkerman (16-19), Daniel Breaker (20-23), Sakina Jaffrey (22-23).

Quote: “What’s the point of having fuck-you money if you never say fuck you?” (Lewis)