'K Street' is stranger than fiction

The many facts and fictions in `K Street' are so bound together as to be indivisible. It is set in a (fictional) Washington political consulting firm run by (real) yin-and-yangsters Mary Matalin and James Carville.

By Matthew Gilbert, Globe Staff, 9/16/2003

K Street
On: HBO
Time: Reairs tomorrow at 8:30

These days, it's harder than ever to tell fact from fiction on TV. Unscripted shows are being passed off as "reality," even if they've been directed and choreographed and their cast members have been "coached." News outlets edit the truth into narrative arcs ("More at 11"), something we saw too often during the peaks of the war in Iraq. And scripted series such as "Law & Order" twist headline stories to suit their own dramatic purposes.

Well don't expect "K Street" to help matters. In fact, the new HBO reality-fiction series deliberately puts another dollop of mud into the mix as it blends the facts of the current presidential campaign -- and guests such as Governor Howard Dean and Senator Rick Santorum -- with made-up situations and a set of fictional characters. It is a new reality hybrid that's insidious and potentially dangerous, even if it only serves as a parlor game for insiders and as a vanity series for Mary Matalin and James Carville, of whom we have already seen too much.

The show's many facts and fictions are so thoroughly bound together as to be undividable. The half hour is set in a (fictional) Washington political consulting firm run by (real) yin-and-yangsters Matalin and Carville. The couple are playing themselves, sort of, but then they're surrounded at the firm by professional actors Mary McCormack, John Slattery, and Roger Guenveur Smith, who play invented characters.

In this week's episode, which reairs tomorrow night at 8:30, Carville agrees to do (real) debate prep with Dean for last week's (real) debate in Baltimore. We see Dean in the prep session, also attended by (real) political adviser Paul Begala and (fictional) consultant Tommy Flannegan (Slattery). Later, we see Dean use their Trent Lott joke during the actual debate.

Meanwhile, Matalin is furious Carville took the Dean job, and she and (fictional) co-worker Maggie Morris (McCormack) do damage control with the (fictional) firm's offended Republican clients, including (real) senators Don Nickles and Santorum. "Dean is not just a Democrat," cries Matalin. "Dean is a Democrat who has interests or positions exactly contrary to clients we have sitting on the fence." This plot is probably there to keep Republican viewers from defecting from "K Street" based on one Dean-heavy episode.

The show aims for the verite texture of the sitcom "Curb Your Enthusiasm," in which Larry David and guest stars such as Jason Alexander play versions of themselves. Like "Curb," "K Street" uses hand-held cameras and improvised dialogue, including the ums and ahs of natural conversation. Also, it is filmed and edited during the week before it airs, with timely references that add to the documentary flavor.

But compared to "Curb," the improvised realism on "K Street" is amateur. Matalin does project a composed tension that is amusing and believable. "He's a freak, he can't be stopped," she says of her husband in a deadpan. But Carville is as awkward as can be, and his improvised scenes with Slattery have a forced casualness to them. The two have trouble conveying even basic exposition. The guest politicians are far more natural performers -- but that's no surprise.

Also, the purely fictional elements in the show aren't promising. McCormack's character is yet another Washington woman sacrificing her personal life to her workaholism. And the Republican-Democrat tug-of-war between Matalin and Carville, which threatens their fictional firm, is old news. Only Smith as Francisco Dupre, a newcomer to Washington whom Matalin thinks is "mysterious" and Carville thinks is "odd," has some appeal. He's very "Twilight Zone."

Ultimately, "K Street," which is executive produced by George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, and others, will probably just become another pit stop for the candidates. This week's episode gives Dean the opportunity to show not only that he's nervy enough to appear on a newfangled TV series, but that he has a sense of humor. Doing "K Street" was probably a positive move for him, unless there are those surprised to learn that candidates don't actually invent all their own lines.

But "K Street" will have to behave itself in order to continue to lure the likes of Dean. And good behavior would cut into its goal of being a gritty look at American politics. And that's a fact.

Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com.