Transparent Information

Transparent is an American comedy web television series created by Jill Soloway for Amazon Studios that debuted on February 6, 2014. The story revolves around a Los Angeles family and their lives following the discovery that the person they knew as their father Mort (Jeffrey Tambor) is transgender. Transparent's first season premiered in full on September 26, 2014, the second season on December 11, 2015. the third on September 23, 2016.

Amazon picked up the series for a fourth season ahead of the premiere of the third.

At the 72nd Golden Globe Awards, the show won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy, while Jeffrey Tambor won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. This is the first show produced by Amazon Studios to win a major award and the first show produced by a streaming media service to win a Golden Globe for Best Series.

Cast

Main cast

• Jeffrey Tambor as Maura Pfefferman (born Morton Pfefferman), a retired college professor of political science who finally opens up to her family about always identifying as a woman.
• Amy Landecker as Sarah Pfefferman, the oldest sibling. She is married and has two children. She leaves her husband for Tammy, a woman she fell in love with in college. She is initially the most accepting of her father's transition.
• Jay Duplass as Joshua "Josh" Pfefferman, the middle sibling. A successful music producer who has troubled relationships with women. He seems to have a hard time accepting his father's transition at first.
• Gaby Hoffmann as Alexandra "Ali" Pfefferman, the youngest sibling. She is perpetually unemployed and has a tendency to be immature for her age. Hoffmann also plays Maura's mother Rose in flashbacks.
• Judith Light as Shelly Pfefferman, Maura's ex-wife and the mother of Sarah, Josh, and Ali. She has been aware of Maura's desire to express her inner femininity for years.
• Kathryn Hahn as Rabbi Raquel Fein (recurring Seasons 1-2, main cast Season 3) Josh's ex-fianc and rabbi at the Pfeffermans' synagogue.

Recurring cast

• Melora Hardin as Tammy Cashman, Sarah's ex-flame.
• Alexandra Billings as Davina, an educator at an LGBT center and Maura's best trans friend.
• Trace Lysette as Shea, an educator at an LGBT center and one of Maura's friends.
• Kiersey Clemons as Bianca, Tammy's daughter from her first marriage.
• Rob Huebel as Len Novak, Sarah's husband and father of Zack and Ella.
• Zackary Arthur as Zack Novak, the son of Sarah and Len.
• Abby Ryder Fortson as Ella Novak, the daughter of Sarah and Len.
• Lawrence Pressman as Ed Paskowitz, Shelly's husband.
• Amin Joseph as Mike
• Emily Robinson as Teenage Ali (Season 1-present)/Young Rose (Season 2)
• Dalton Rich as Teenage Josh
• Kelsey Reinhardt as Teenage Sarah
• Alex MacNicoll as Colton, the son of Josh and Rita
• Brett Paesel as Rita, the Pfefferman kids' former babysitter and Josh's ex-flame.
• Cleo Anthony as Derek
• Carrie Brownstein as Sydney "Syd" Feldman, Ali's best friend.
• Deborah S. Craig as Kristin
• Sawyer Ever as Zack
• Bradley Whitford as Marcy (Season 1)/Magnus Hirschfeld (Season 2)
• Alison Sudol as Kaya, Josh's ex-girlfriend and ex-client.
• Cherry Jones as Leslie, an academic with whom Ali wants to study.
• Anjelica Huston as Vicki, a cisgender woman who forms a connection with Maura.
• Hari Nef as Gittel (born Gershom), Maura's great-aunt who never made it out of Berlin.
• Michaela Watkins as Connie, the wife of a crossdresser (Season 1)/Yetta, Maura's grandmother (Season 2)
• Jason Mantzoukas as Dr. Steve, the Pfefferman kids' marijuana dispenser.
• Tig Notaro as Barb, Tammy's second ex-wife.
• Jiz Lee as Pony (Season 2)
• Luzer Twersky as Mendel
• Richard Masur as Buzz, a synagogue board member

Episodes

Template:Main article

Background

Soloway created the pilot Transparent for Amazon.com, which became available for free streaming and download on February 6, 2014 and was part of Amazon's second pilot season. She was inspired by her transgender father.

The pilot for Transparent was picked up by Amazon Studios. Tambor had previously portrayed transvestite judge Alan Wachtel on the police procedural television show Hill Street Blues in the 1980s. Soloway wrote Hoffmann's role after seeing her performance on Season 3 of Louis C.K.'s show Louie.

Transparent premiered all ten episodes simultaneously in late September 2014. In Canada, where Amazon's video streaming service is not available, the series premiered on the Shomi platform on January 23, 2015.

Production

Soloway has said that she hopes to use the series to explore ideas of gender identity through a "wounded father being replaced by a blossoming femininity" and that she pictured Tambor as Maura when writing the character.

Soloway, the writers, and the cast developed, workshopped, and rehearsed both seasons with consulting producer Joan Scheckel at Joan Scheckel Filmmaking Labs.

As part of the making of the show, Soloway enacted a "transfirmative action program", whereby transgender applicants are hired in preference to cisgender ones. , over eighty transgender people have worked on the show, including Zackary Drucker and Rhyhs Ernst who are transgender consultants and co-producers.

In 2014, Our Lady J was chosen as the first openly transgender person to be a writer for the show. All the bathrooms on set are gender-neutral.

The original pilot made available in February 2014 (with Gillian Vigman in the role of Tammy) was partly reshot after the series was approved.

Reception

Season		Critical response
		Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic
	1	98% (54 reviews)	91 (28 reviews)
	2	97% (36 reviews)	94 (28 reviews)
	3	100% (26 reviews)	90 (15 reviews)

Transparent has received acclaim from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 98% with an average score of 8.8 out of 10 based on 54 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "As much about a change in television as it is about personal change, Transparent raises the bar for programming with sophistication and sincere dedication to the human journey, warts and all." On Metacritic, the first season received an average rating of 91 out of 100 based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Alan Sepinwall from HitFix calls Transparent the best new show of the fall 2014 season, and Amazon's "most impressive volley yet". He added:

"... [The] show looks gorgeous and displays an instant command of both tone and this particular pocket of life in Los Angeles; Soloway is incredibly confident in introducing us to the parts of the show that are more universally relatable (a marriage gone sour, a disappointing child), knowing that we'll then follow her into more unfamiliar territory"?not just with Maura, but the many disreputable behaviors her kids get tangled up in."

The second season of Transparent received even greater acclaim from critics as well as a 2015 Peabody Award. The second season holds a 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 9.2/10. The consensus reads: "Transparent's second season ups its dramatic stakes while retaining the poignancy and humor that have made the series such a consistently entertaining example of the best that modern serial drama has to offer." On Metacritic, the second season received an average rating of 94 out of 100 based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Reviews for the third season have indicated similarly positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 26 reviews and judged 100% of them to be positive. The website's critical consensus reads, "Uniquely its own, and compelling and poignant as ever, Transparent continues to transcend the parameters of comedic and dramatic television with sustained excellence in its empathic portrayal of the Pfefferman family." while Metacritic granted the season an average rating of 90 of 100 based on 15 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

International broadcast

In Australia, the first two episodes of the series premiered on the Nine Network on January 27, 2015, and all subsequent episodes premiered on streaming service Stan upon its launch.

Amazon Video, which was not available in Canada at the time, was launched on the Shomi platform.

Awards

Template:Main article On December 11, 2014, the series was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the category Best TV Comedy. On January 11, 2015, Transparent won two Golden Globe awards for the first season of the series. Tambor dedicated his win for Best Actor in a Comedy Series to the transgender community, while Soloway dedicated her award to the memory of Leelah Alcorn.

Year	Award	Date of Ceremony	Category	Recipients	Result
2014	Golden Globe Awards	January 11, 2015	Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy	Transparent
			Best Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy	Jeffrey Tambor
	GALECA Dorian Awards	January 20, 2015	TV Comedy of the Year	Transparent
			TV Performance of the Year "? Actor	Jeffrey Tambor
			TV Director of the Year	Jill Soloway
			LGBT Show of the Year	Transparent
	Directors Guild of America Awards	February 7, 2015	Outstanding Directing - Comedy Series	Jill Soloway (for "Best New Girl")
	Writers Guild of America Awards	February 14, 2015	Television: New Series	Transparent
			Television: Comedy Series
			Television: Episodic Comedy	Ethan Kuperberg (for "The Wilderness")
	Satellite Awards	February 15, 2015	Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy	Transparent
			Best Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy	Jeffrey Tambor
	GLAAD Media Awards	March 21, 2015	Outstanding Comedy Series	Transparent
	Critics' Choice Television Awards	May 31, 2015	Best Comedy Series	Transparent
			Best Actor in a Comedy Series	Jeffrey Tambor
			Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Judith Light
			Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series	Bradley Whitford
	TCA Awards	August 8, 2015	Program of the Year	Transparent
			Outstanding Achievement in Comedy	Transparent
			Outstanding New Program	Transparent
			Individual Achievement in Comedy	Jeffrey Tambor
	Primetime Emmy Awards	September 20, 2015	Outstanding Comedy Series	Transparent
			Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Jeffrey Tambor
			Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Gaby Hoffmann
			Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	Bradley Whitford
			Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series	Jill Soloway (for "Best New Girl")
			Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series	Jill Soloway (for "Pilot")
			Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series	Eyde Belasco
			Outstanding Costumes for a Contemporary Series, Limited Series or Movie	Marie Schley & Nancy Jarzynko (for "Symbolic Exemplar")
			Outstanding Main Title Theme Music	Dustin O'Halloran
			Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour Or Less)	Cat Smith, Maria Baker & Nya Patrinos (for "The Letting Go")
			Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series	Catherine Haight (for "Pilot")
2015	People's Choice Awards	January 6, 2016	Favorite Streaming Series	Transparent
	Golden Globe Award	January 10, 2016	Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy	Transparent
			Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Jeffrey Tambor
			Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Judith Light
	Critics' Choice Television Awards	January 17, 2016	Best Comedy Series	Transparent
			Best Actor in a Comedy Series	Jeffrey Tambor
			Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Jay Duplass
			Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Judith Light
			Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series	Anjelica Huston
				Cherry Jones
	Producers Guild of America Award	January 23, 2016	Outstanding Producer for Episode Television - Comedy	Jill Soloway, Andrea Sperling, Victor Hsu, Nisha Ganatra, Rick Rosenthal, Bridget Bedard
	Screen Actors Guild Award	January 30, 2016	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series	Jeffrey Tambor
			Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Alexandra Billings, Carrie Brownstein, Jay Duplass, Kathryn Hahn, Gaby Hoffmann, Cherry Jones, Amy Landecker, Judith Light, Hari Nef, Emily Robinson, Jeffrey Tambor
	Directors Guild of America Awards	February 6, 2015	Outstanding Directing - Comedy Series	Jill Soloway (for "Kina Hora")
	Writers Guild of America Awards	February 13, 2015	Television: Comedy Series	Transparent
	Satellite Awards	February 21, 2016	Best Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy	Jeffrey Tambor
	Costume Designers Guild Awards	February 23, 2016	Outstanding Contemporary Television Series	Marie Schley
	GLAAD Media Awards	April 2, 2016	Outstanding Comedy Series	Transparent
	British Academy Television Awards	May 8, 2016	Best International Programme	Transparent
	Primetime Emmy Awards	September 18, 2016	Outstanding Comedy Series	Transparent
			Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Jeffrey Tambor
			Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Gaby Hoffmann
				Judith Light
			Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series	Melora Hardin
			Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	Bradley Whitford
			Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series	Jill Soloway (for "Man on the Land")
			Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series	Eyde Belasco
			Outstanding Costumes for a Contemporary Series, Limited Series or Movie	Marie Schley, Mark A. Summers (for "Kina Hora")
			Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour or Less)	Cat Smith, Macie Vener, Susan Mina Eschelbach (for "Kina Hora", "The Book of Life", "Man on The Land")
2016	Critics' Choice Television Awards	December 11, 2016	Best Actor in a Comedy Series	Jeffrey Tambor
			Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Judith Light
	Satellite Awards	February 19, 2017	Best Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy	Jeffrey Tambor
2017	Golden Globe Awards	January 8th, 2017	Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy	Transparent
			Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy	Jeffrey Tambor