Sterlin Harjo’s new Tulsa-based series received a name change and a premiere date.
Known previously as “The Sensitive Kind,” the series now is titled “The Lowdown” and will premiere Tuesday, Sept. 23 on FX with the first two episodes of an eight-episode season. A new episode will follow on subsequent Tuesdays through the end of the season. Episodes will be available on Hulu the day after they premiere.
The series was previously described only as a Tulsa noir about a man who knows too much. A meatier description of the series accompanied news of the title change and release date.
“The Lowdown” follows the gritty exploits of citizen journalist Lee Raybon, a self-proclaimed Tulsa “truthstorian” played by Ethan Hawke whose obsession with the truth is always getting him into trouble.
Crews film the pilot for “The Lowdown” at Magic City Books in the Tulsa Arts District in April 2024. At that time, the Sterlin Harjo-created series was called “The Sensitive Kind.”
Played by Hawke, Lee lives and works in a rare book store tucked in the heart of Tulsa. The bookstore is a local refuge and unofficial community hub.
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While Lee is no idealist, he’s fiercely committed to exposing corruption and unearthing the city’s hidden rot, even when it puts him at risk. His constant sleuthing pulls him deep into Tulsa’s underbelly — and often away from his 14-year-old daughter, Francis (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), a precocious kid who’s inherited his curiosity and longs to join him on his adventures. His ex Samantha (Kaniehtiio Horn) is exasperated by Lee’s endless digging but still sees the good in him — especially when it comes to Francis, the one thing they’ve never stopped showing up for.
When the publication of Lee’s latest exposé — a deep dive into the powerful Washberg family — is immediately followed by the suspicious suicide of Dale Washberg (played by Tulsa actor Tim Blake Nelson), the black sheep of the family, Lee knows he’s stumbled onto something big.
Ethan Hawke, in character, works on the set of the pilot for “The Lowdown” in April 2024. At that time, it was called “The Sensitive Kind.”
Following a trail of breadcrumbs Dale has left behind, urging someone to dig deeper into the circumstances surrounding his death, Lee does just that. What Lee finds is that grieving widow Betty Jo (Tulsa actress Jeanne Tripplehorn) seems to be more interested in her brother-in-law Donald Washberg (Kyle MacLachlan), a gubernatorial candidate, than her dearly departed. And powerful forces want to prevent Lee from learning anything more.
Lee has also gained the attention of a mysterious stranger who seems to appear whenever Lee least expects it: refined and suave, Marty (Keith David) shares Lee’s appreciation of great literary minds and seems unusually interested in his investigation into the Washberg family.
“The Lowdown” is expected to remain in production in Tulsa and the surrounding area through the end of the month. Harjo, who also shot his award-winning and critically acclaimed series “Reservation Dogs” in the area, is a creator, executive producer, writer and director on “The Lowdown.” Hawke, Garrett Basch and Ryan Hawke also are executive producers.
FX announced premiere dates for two other series. The fourth season of the Emmy-winning series “The Bear” will debut Wednesday, June 25 on Hulu with all 10 episodes available beginning at 7 p.m. “Alien: Earth,” a new drama series from Noah Hawley inspired by the “Alien” film franchise, will premiere Tuesday, Aug. 12, with the first two episodes available to stream on Hulu at 7 p.m. and on the FX linear channel. A new episode of the eight-episode season will become available to stream each Tuesday on Hulu following the premiere.
A series description for “Alien: Earth” said this: When the mysterious deep-space research vessel USCSS Maginot crash-lands on Earth, Wendy (Sydney Chandler) and a ragtag group of tactical soldiers make a fateful discovery that puts them face-to-face with the planet’s greatest threat.
The series is set in the year 2120, when the planet is governed by five corporations: Prodigy, Weyland-Yutani, Lynch, Dynamic and Threshold.
In this corporate era, cyborgs (humans with biological and artificial parts) and synthetics (humanoid robots with artificial intelligence) exist alongside humans. The game is changed when the wunderkind founder and CEO of Prodigy Corporation unlocks a new technological advancement: hybrids (humanoid robots infused with human consciousness). The first hybrid prototype, Wendy, marks a new dawn in the race for immortality. After Weyland-Yutani’s spaceship collides into Prodigy City, Wendy and the other hybrids encounter mysterious life forms more terrifying than anyone could have ever imagined.
