On Tuesday night, FX premiered “Fargo,” its 10-episode limited series, which is an adaptation of the 1996 Coen Brothers feature film.
While the series features an all-new “true crime” story following a new case and new characters, the humor, murder and “Minnesota nice” that made the film a classic are still there.
Joel and Ethan Coen had no involvement in the series besides reading a script and receiving an executive producer credit, but creator Noah Hawley found a way to pay tribute to their work while creating something completely new. Here are five things “Fargo” fans will recognize in the TV adaptation.
The bumbling salesman
In the series, Martin Freeman stars as insurance salesman Lester Nygaard, a parallel to the film’s car salesman Jerry Lundegaard, played by William H. Macy. Both are beleaguered husbands struggling in their jobs who serve as punching bags for those around them — as seen in the pilot when Lester’s encounter with an old high school bully sees him walk away with a self-inflicted broken nose.
The smart female cop
Filling in for the film’s iconic Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) character is newcomer Allison Tolman, who plays police deputy Molly Solverson. Both are sharp, with an eye for detail necessary for solving murders — and, like Marge, Molly finds herself leading the investigation after Police Chief Vern Thurman (Shawn Doyle) is killed in the pilot.
The bleak setting
Most of the film’s action takes place in Minneapolis, while the TV series is set in the small town of Bemidji, Minn. (In both, Fargo, ND, merely refers to a hotbed of criminal activity.) But the snow-covered landscape will look familiar — as will the parka-clad characters.
The ‘Minnesota nice’ sensibility
As in the film, the “Fargo” characters play into the mild-mannered, understated stereotype of the region. The Minnesota accent (Ya, you betcha!) is also carried over, though not exaggerated as much as it was in the film.
“The accent is there, but we underplay it,” Hawley told The Post.
“The movie takes place in ’87, and ours takes place in 2006, and the whole world is becoming Southern California, accentwise. So maybe older characters would have a stronger accent, younger characters less of one.”
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The opening scene
The pilot opens with the same “true crime” disclaimer as the film: “This is a true story . . . At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.” The image of a single car driving down a snowy road is also borrowed — this time driven by drifter Lorne Malvo, played by Billy Bob Thornton.
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