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“All’s Fair,” the latest series from television mogul Ryan Murphy, is getting positively panned by critics. With a 6 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, “All’s Fair” has been called “fascinatingly, existentially terrible” (The Guardian), “unforgivably dull” (The Hollywood Reporter), and even “the worst TV show of the year” (USA TODAY). After all the bad press, the show’s director, Anthony Hemingway, encouraged audiences not to “come at [‘All’s Fair’] with such a critical or literal frame of mind.” During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on Wednesday, Nov. 5, Hemingway said that series creator Murphy wanted “All’s Fair” to be a form of escapism. “Something that was important to Ryan was fulfilling fantasies. [He was] wanting people to see what they may not be able to obtain, but can escape into and live out through an entertainment space,” Hemingway explained. “[He wanted to] give some wish fulfillment and light to this world.” Hemingway, whose previous directing credits include “True Blood” and “Shameless,” also teased that “All’s Fair” will “evolve over time” and “get more human.” The first three episodes hit Hulu on Wednesday, but the remaining episodes will drop weekly. “Hopefully opinions will change. But if they don’t, then they don’t. What we are all doing excites us, and we stand by it,” Hemingway said. “I think the show holds a mirror up to each person who watches it. It’s just about: Can you connect to it or relate to it, and see yourself? It may be out of your league, it may not be anything you can connect to, and I think that goes for anything that gets presented on screen.” READ MORE: NASA reacts to Kim Kardashian’s moon landing conspiracy theory “All’s Fair” follows a group of high-powered female divorce attorneys. The all-star cast includes Kim Kardashian (Allura Grant), Naomi Watts (Liberty Ronson), Niecy Nash-Betts (Emerald Greene), Teyana Taylor (Milan), Sarah Paulson (Carrington Lane), and Glenn Close (Dina Standish). Kardashian, known more as a reality TV star than an actress, has unsurprisingly gotten her fair share of negative criticism for “All’s Fair.” The Hollywood Reporter’s Angie Han described her as “stiff and affectless without a single authentic note,” while USA Today said Kardashian’s “complete lack of acting skill” might be to blame for the rest of the cast’s “detached” performances. Hemingway defended the “Kardashians” star during his interview with the Hollywood Reporter, calling her an “exceptional” person. “I love Kim Kardashian, I’m just going to say that,” he said. “She wasn’t as experienced of an actor as everyone else. She came in knowing that, but she came in so open and wanting to deliver a great job, and that’s [the person] I met daily.” Hemingway added that Kardashian consistently showed up to set with all her lines memorized, ready to work. “It was phenomenal to observe and watch. She’s just a fun human being,” he said. “We found fun in doing the work, and that was, to me, a reflection of who she is as a human being.” New episodes of “All’s Fair” premiere on Hulu on Tuesdays at 3 a.m. ET.
