A TV series called “Wild Things,” based upon the podcast “Wild Things: Siegfried & Roy” is coming to Apple TV+.
You probably don’t have Apple TV+, but “The Studio” is on there, so you should.
The podcast made renowned magicians Siegfried & Roy interesting again for a minute, so the series should be illuminating. The series stars Jude Law and Andrew Garfield and there’s a good chance these popular actors will French kiss, so there’s that.
“Wild Things” will be executive produced by John Hoffman.
The series will have eight episodes, just one short of the number of lives cats have, ironically.
The legendary run of Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn came to an abrupt end on Oct. 3, 2003 (after 5,750 performances at the Mirage) when Horn tapped a mic on a tiger’s nose and got a life-altering lesson in what the kids call “FAFO.”
Mom, “FAFO” stands for “Fool Around and Find Out.” Probably.
The tiger’s name was Montecore, which translates from Middle Persian as “maneater.” Given all the polarization in the world today, we’re surprised anyone in Persia is in the middle.
One of the horseshit tales floated by Siegfried & Roy (or their people) was the tiger bit Roy because it was trying to protect him. And King Joffrey was just trying to keep Eddard Stark from having to purchase hats.
The eight episode “Wild Things” podcast got a lot of buzz back in 2022.
The podcast did a good job of covering just how weird these guys were. They were also beloved and became the de facto image of Las Vegas for decades. One Las Vegas is still trying to shake, cheesewise.
The podcast grappled with the complex tragedy of the fact Siegfried & Roy had to stay closeted for their entire professional lives due to homophobia and the fear being openly gay would hurt ticket sales.
In one episode of the podcast, a gay activist named Jonathan Katz said, “[There’s] no question to me that the more outlandish the denial, the more actually pleasurable it was for a homophobic, straight culture to watch. There’s a great pleasure in seeing a kind of queer minstrelry, which is really what Siegfried and Roy really were. A pleasure that manifestly queer people are being forced to deny their identity, their subjectivity, for the pleasure a straight audience.”
Only the dimmest of people didn’t know Siegfried & Roy were gay. Their favorite band was ZZ Bottom. It’s not rocket science.
But back to the limited series on Apple TV+, here’s the skinny: “The eight-episode, hourlong series tells the wild ride relationship tale of two of the greatest showmen-magicians in history who, along with their white tigers, are tasked with turning Sin City into a family-friendly destination. The duo push the concept of illusion versus reality to the extreme, personally and professionally, until tragedy reframes and opens a mystery surrounding their last fateful Las Vegas show. Law will star as Siegfried and Garfield will star as Roy, and the series is set to go into production this fall.”
Prediction: Andrew Garfield’s accent is going to make Don Cheadle’s abomination in “Ocean’s 11” look like it should’ve garnered an Oscar.
Justin Theroux, whoever that might be, will play Steve Wynn in what we trust will be a balls-out performance.
Brian Grazer will executive produce “Wild Things” for Imagine Entertainment. Grazer is best known for “Beautiful Mind,” “Apollo 13,” “Splash” and his inability to find a comb.
The name we expected to see involved with the production is Bernie Yuman, who was the personal manager and promoter of Siegfried & Roy back in the day. He’s currently one of the producers of “Awakening” at Wynn. Yuman’s contribution to “Awakening,” the old-school magic tricks, fall a bit flat in the high-tech production, but he could add a lot of insight and first-hand knowledge to “Wild Things.” We’ll hook you up, Apple TV+; he’s a mensch.
Siegfried Fischbacher died at 81 on Jan. 13, 2021 and Roy Horn (born Uwe Ludwig Horn) died at 75 on May 8, 2020.
Apple TV+ hasn’t announced an air date for “Wild Things,” but we can’t wait to see it. It’s expected to air in late 2026 or early 2027.
Our fingers are crossed the series won’t handle Siegfried & Roy with kid gloves. The podcast treated them respectfully, but also didn’t shy away from the awkward.
Siegfried & Roy existed in a bizarre alternate reality, surrounded by sycophants and the trappings of fame and wealth, but never able to publicly talk about their romantic relationship.
Their presentational lives are woven into Las Vegas lore, and while their Secret Garden has closed at Mirage (as has the resort), their legacy lives on, for better or worse.
Stay tuned.
