Russian Doll is an American comedy-drama streaming television series, that received 4 Primetime Emmy Awards.
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- Russian Doll is an American comedy-drama streaming television series.
- It was created by Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, and Amy Poehler.
- It premiered on February 1, 2019, on Netflix.
- The series follows Nadia Vulvokov (Lyonne), a game developer who repeatedly dies and relives the same night in an ongoing time loop and tries to solve it, leading to her finding Alan Zaveri in the same situation (portrayed by Charlie Barnett).
- It also stars Greta Lee, Yul Vazquez, and Elizabeth Ashley.
- The song “Gotta Get Up” by American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson was used as the “reset” song each time the character Nadia dies and is resurrected
- . Lyonne explained to The New York Times that in choosing the song she was struck by the “buoyant doomsday quality” of Nilsson’s life.
- Other contenders for the reset song included “Not Tonight” by Lil’ Kim, “Crazy Feeling” by Lou Reed and “No Fun” by The Stooges.
- Though Netflix finally obtained the usage rights to Nilsson’s song, the cost of using it so many times took up a significant portion of the music budget.
- His estate also limited how many times the song could be used.
- According to music supervisor Brienne Rose, the production was able to “find a balance between the maximum number of uses and what the budget would allow.”
- The “reset” song utilized for the character Alan was Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 4 In G Major”.
- The series was created by Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler, and Leslye Headland, all of whom also serve as executive producers. Headland wrote the first episode.
- She and Lyonne also serve as writers for the series. Production companies involved with the series consist of Universal Television, Paper Kite Productions, Jax Media, and 3 Arts Entertainment.
- Alongside the initial series order announcement, it was confirmed that Lyonne would star in the series.[5] Alongside the premiere announcement, it was confirmed that Greta Lee, Yul Vazquez, Elizabeth Ashley, and Charlie Barnett had joined the main cast and that Chloë Sevigny, Dascha Polanco, Brendan Sexton III, Rebecca Henderson, Jeremy Bobb, Ritesh Rajan, and Jocelyn Bioh would make guest appearances.
- In March 2021, Annie Murphy was cast for the second season in an undisclosed role and capacity while Carolyn Michelle Smith joined the cast in a recurring role.
- In April 2021, Sharlto Copley and Ephraim Sykes joined the cast in an undisclosed roles and capacity for the second season.
- Principal photography for season one began on February 22, 2018, in New York City.
- On June 11, 2019, Netflix renewed the series for a second season.
- In March 2020, filming for season two was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Production began one year later in March 2021.
- Co-created by Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne and Amy Poehler. According to Lyonne, they pitched it to Netflix as a three-season series, making two more seasons possible if it was a success with viewers.
- Like her character, Natasha Lyonne is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors.
- The song that plays in the beginning and when Nadia “resets” is “Gotta Get Up” by American singer Harry Nilsson from his 1971 album “Nilsson Schmilsson.”
- The show was brought to life using an all-female team of creators, writers and directors
- The last name of protagonist Nadia Vulvokov, played by Natasha Lyonne, is a play on the word “vulva” and is not a real Russian surname. The name Nadia is short for Nadezhda and means “hope” in Russian.
- In Elizabeth Ashley character’s home there’s a picture of her and real life second ex-husband George Peppard on the mantle.
- According to an interview with costume designer Jennifer Rogien, most characters are dressed in muted colors to create an unsettling atmosphere.
- Strong colors are used to convey symbolic meanings: the scarlet blouse Nadia wears if she survives the first night “projects the sense of a strange warmth in a very cold world,” and with the exception of Maxine’s outfit, the color blue was deliberately avoided because it “connotes a calm and tranquility that is not present in ‘Russian Doll.'”
- The series features a similar premise to Groundhog Day (1993) and premiered on February 1, 2019, the day before Groundhog Day, which is every February 2. “Groundhog Day” itself premiered February 4, 1993.
- Alan’s music is Beethoven’s piano concerto no.
- Many scenes take place around and inside a bar on 7th St and Ave B in New York. This is a popular filming location, noticeable by the two red doors on the corner. This bar also appears in The Godfather Part II.
- In the flashback to 1991, you can clearly see the signage for Sunny and Annie’s. This bodega did not open until 1997, which shown on the other side of the sign that the viewer cannot see
- Its first season received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Lyonne.
- In June 2019, the series was renewed for a second season.
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