6 December, 2022 Siobhan Marie Day 0 Comments 3 categories

“Inspired By The True Story Of How America Got Hooked On A Lie”
– Dopesick

ADDICTED TO THE LIE…

Dopesick is an American biographical drama limited series that was created by Danny Strong for Hulu. The ten-episode miniseries is based on the non-fiction book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy. The limited series premiered on October 13, 2021, with the first three episodes, and concluded on November 17, 2021, with the eighth episode.

Genre: Drama, Created by Danny Strong, Based on "Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America" by Beth Macy, Starring: Michael Keaton, Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg, Will Poulter, John Hoogenakker, Kaitlyn Dever, Rosario Dawson, Composer: Lorne Balfe, Country of origin: United States, Original language: English, No. of episodes: 8, Executive producers: Danny Strong, John Goldwyn, Warren Littlefield, Karen Rosenfelt, Barry Levinson, Beth Macy, Michael Keaton, with Cinematography by Checco Varese, and Editors Douglas Crise, C. Chi-Yoon Chung, and Matthew Barber, Running time: 57–65 minutes, Production companies: Danny Strong Productions, John Goldwyn Productions, The Littlefield Company, and 20th Television, Original Network: Hulu. (2021)

Creator Danny Strong attends the special screening and Q & A event for Hulu's "Dopesick" at El Capitan Theatre on June 14, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

Photo Credit: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

A Hulu limited series inspired by the New York Times bestselling book by Beth Macy.

Journalist Beth Macy's definitive account of America's opioid epidemic "masterfully interlaces stories of communities in crisis with dark histories of corporate greed and regulatory indifference" (New York Times) -- from the boardroom to the courtroom and into the living rooms of Americans.

In this extraordinary work, Beth Macy takes us into the epicenter of a national drama that has unfolded over two decades. From the labs and marketing departments of big pharma to local doctor's offices; wealthy suburbs to distressed small communities in Central Appalachia; from distant cities to once-idyllic farm towns; the spread of opioid addiction follows a tortuous trajectory that illustrates how this crisis has persisted for so long and become so firmly entrenched.

Beginning with a single dealer who lands in a small Virginia town and sets about turning high school football stars into heroin overdose statistics, Macy sets out to answer a grieving mother's question-why her only son died-and comes away with a gripping, unputdownable story of greed and need. From the introduction of OxyContin in 1996, Macy investigates the powerful forces that led America's doctors and patients to embrace a medical culture where overtreatment with painkillers became the norm. In some of the same communities featured in her bestselling book Factory Man, the unemployed use painkillers both to numb the pain of joblessness and pay their bills, while privileged teens trade pills in cul-de-sacs, and even high school standouts fall prey to prostitution, jail, and death.

Through unsparing, compelling, and unforgettably humane portraits of families and first responders determined to ameliorate this epidemic, each facet of the crisis comes into focus. In these politically fragmented times, Beth Macy shows that one thing uniting Americans across geographic, partisan, and class lines is opioid drug abuse. But even in the midst of twin crises in drug abuse and healthcare, Macy finds reason to hope and ample signs of the spirit and tenacity that are helping the countless ordinary people ensnared by addiction build a better future for themselves, their families, and their communities.

"An impressive feat of journalism, monumental in scope and urgent in its implications." -- Jennifer Latson, The Boston Globe

Published August 7, 2018

Photo Credit: Google Images

Reporter and author Beth Macy attends the premiere of Hulu's "Dopesick"at Museum of Modern Art on October 04, 2021 in New York City.

Photo Credit: Roy Rochlin/WireImage

Michael Keaton in the first episode titled, "First Bottle"(2021)

Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

Rosario Dawson in the second episode titled, "Breakthrough Pain"(2021)

Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

Kaitlyn Dever in the third episode titled, "The 5th Vital Sign"(2021)

Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

Will Poulter in the eighth episode titled, "The People vs. Purdue Pharma"(2021)

Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

The limited series Hulu Original was well received by critics with mostly favorable reviews, in particular to the cast and their performances, most notably of those were Kaitlyn Dever and Michael Keaton. At the 74^th Primetime Emmy Awards, the miniseries received fourteen nominations, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, and acting nominations were earned for Keaton, Dever, Will Poulter, Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Mare Winningham, with Michael Keaton winning the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Anthology Series or Movie. In addition to his Primetime Emmy win, Keaton also won Lead Actor at the 79^th Golden Globe Awards, 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards, and 20^th Critics’ Choice Television Awards.

Kaitlyn Dever in the fifth episode titled, "Black Box Warning"(2021) Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

Michael Keaton in the fourth episode titled, "Psudo-Addiction"(2021) Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

The Hulu Original limited series "Dopesick" earned 14 nominations at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022.

Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

Michael Keaton was nominated for the Hulu Original limited series "Dopesick" for "Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Series" at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022.

Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

Kaitlyn Dever was nominated for the Hulu Original limited series "Dopesick" for "Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Series" at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022.

Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

Will Poulter was nominated for the Hulu Original limited series "Dopesick" for "Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series" at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022.

Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

Peter Sarsgaard was nominated for the Hulu Original limited series "Dopesick" for "Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series" at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022.

Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

Michael Stuhlbarg was nominated for the Hulu Original limited series "Dopesick" for "Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Series" at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022.

Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

Mare Winningham was nominated for the Hulu Original limited series "Dopesick" for "Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Series" at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022.

Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

The Hulu Original limited series "Dopesick" earned 14 nominations and won two Emmy Awards at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022. Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

Michael Keaton won the Primetime Emmy for the Hulu Original limited series "Dopesick" for "Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Series" at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022. Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

Michael Keaton accepts the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie award for "Dopesick" on stage during the 74th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022. Photo Credit: Chris Haston/NBC via Getty Images

Winning in the category of "Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Series" for "Dopesick", Michael Keaton won an Emmy at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater on Monday, September 12, 2022. Photo Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Michael Keaton with his Golden Globe in 2015 for "Birdman" ***(The 79th Golden Globes were boycotted that year and did not ai r Live on NBC with guests in attendance, so there is no picture with him winning for "Dopesick") Creator: Maarten de Boer Photo Credit: Maarten de Boer/Getty Images

Michael Keaton accepts the award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series for "Dopesick" during the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards at Barker Hangar on February 27, 2022 in Santa Monica, California. Photo Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for WarnerMedia

Michael Keaton, winner of Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series for Dopesick, poses in the press room during the 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at Barker Hangar on February 27, 2022 in Santa Monica, California. Photo Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Michael Keaton accepts the Best Actor in a Comedy award for 'Birdman' onstage during the 20th annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at the Hollywood Palladium on January 15, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. Photo Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Michael Keaton poses at the 20th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards at Hollywood Palladium on January 15, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.

Photo Credit: Steve Granitz/WireImage

Dopesick centers around “the epicenter of America’s struggle with opioid addiction” across the United States, it focuses on how individuals and families are affected by it, the miniseries also looks at the alleged conflicts of interest involving Purdue Pharma and various government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), and all of this takes place on the backdrop of the legal case against Purdue Pharma and their development, testing, and marketing of the drug OxyContin.

Friends and family members of people who have died during the opioid epidemic protest against a bankruptcy deal with Purdue Pharmaceuticals that allows the Sackler family to avoid criminal prosecution and to keep billions of dollars in private wealth, on August 9, 2021 outside the Federal courthouse in White Plains, New York. For decades the Sackler family, which owned Purdue, knowingly marketed highly addictive painkillers, including Oxycontin.

Photo Credit: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

The opioid addiction support group Truth Pharm builds a memorial for people who have overdosed from opioids to mark International Overdose Awareness Day on August 21, 2021 in Binghamton, New York. Family members of the dead gathered to grieve their lost loved ones and to call for drug reform policies and the prosecution of the Sackler family which manufactured and marketed Oxycontin.

Photo Credit: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

Michael Keaton and in the Hulu Original Series "Dopesick" (2021)

Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

Michael Stuhlbarg and Darin Toonder in the Hulu Original Series "Dopesick" (2021)

Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

Department of Justice inscription is seen on at the headquarter's building in Washington, D.C., United States on October 20, 2022.

Photo Credit: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

A picture of the Black Box Warning and Purdue Pharma name on their addictive opioid marketed to treat pain without habit forming side effects, OxyContin.

Photo Credit: Google Images

The characters in the limited series are fictional and composite characters, except for Rick Mountcastle, Randy Ramseyer, and the members of the Sackler family, who are the only main characters based on real people.

John Hooganakker as real Department of Justice lawyer, Randy Ramseyer in the Hulu Original limited series "Dopesick" (2021)

Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

Peter Sarsgaard as real Department of Justice lawyer, Rick Mountcastle in the Hulu Original limited series "Dopesick" (2021)

Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

John Hoogenakker, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Ramseyer, attorney Rick Mountcastle, and actor Peter Sarsgaard attend the Washington, DC premiere of "Dopesick" at The Aspen Institute on October 07, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Photo Credit: Shannon Finney/Getty Images

Michael Stahlbarg as Perdue Pharma CEO and creator of OxyContin, Richard Sackler in the Hulu Original limited series "Dopesick" (2021)

Photo Credit: Hulu/20th Television

Purdue Pharma CEO and creator of OxyContin, Richard Sackler at a deposition in the legal car against his family in regards to the opioid epidemic.

Photo Credit: Google Images

Dopesick is the Featured Television Blog for the month of December, therefore I will provide a Critique of the Sackler family and the Purdue Pharma legal case and their development, testing, and marketing of OxyContin, there will also be a Recommendation for the non-fiction book the miniseries was adapted from, Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy published August 7, 2018, then you will also be able to read a Review for the limited series, Dopesick, as well as an Interview with Michael Keaton and Collider on Dopesick and why this was an important story to tell, and finally as with all my other Featured Blogs on this site, I commemorate them with a Top Ten List from the genre of the featured film or television series, for Dopesick I have compiled my Top Ten Favorite TV Medical Dramas. But before we get to all of that, as usual, I first provide you with the Official Trailer for the Featured Blog being discussed on Movies to History and then hope you decide to watch Dopesick tonight!