Campers traversed downtown Austin for the last time as 2026’s ATX TV Festival wound to a close Sunday. A handful of panels were offered as most campers filled the Paramount Theatre for the festival’s finale script reading.
Around noon, Christine Wormuth, President and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, moderated “A Nuclear Renaissance on TV: How Atomic Storylines Can Save Us from Armageddon. Discussion focused around TV’s depiction of nuclear warfare and how these moments speak about a real, but often forgotten danger. Wormuth was joined by The Diplomat writer and EP Peter Noah, Madam Secretary writer and EP David Grae, writer Nadra Widtalla of Hulu’s Paradise, and Nick Meyer, director of the 80s TV movie, The Day After.
Wormuth opened asking each panelist their goal when constructing their nuclear narrative. Grae cited the episode “Night Watch” which saw the President and inner circle have to decide whether to initiate the nuclear hair trigger in response to an alleged Russian missile launch. He approached his work as “civics-tainment”, wanting to entertain but have the audience learn something.
Meyer’s hope wasn’t to make an engaging film but a PSA to change minds, specifically President Ronald Reagan’s. The bleak The Day After aired sponsor-less in 1983 and highlighted what nuclear war would look like, “on a good day.” It remains the most-watched TV movie at 150M viewers. Since then, network’s have abstained from Meyer’s idea for a modern remake. He said the biggest problem with nuclear war is nobody wants to think or talk about it, hoping that it won’t happen.
“Hope is not a strategy,” Meyer said stoically.
Noah, who worked on The West Wing, cited the road to The Diplomat’s nuclear storyline was based on Russia’s exceptional underwater artillery, which includes a weapon known as the Poseidon. In making a character seem more nefarious, they connected him to the missing submarine equipped with a nuclear drone meant to capsize a coastal city, like New York City. The results would be a nuclear tsunami.
Paradise’s Widatalla explained how writers didn’t want the world ended by nuclear war, which would have been inevitable after their shows’ climate catastrophe. Instead, they opted for James Marsden’s President Bradford to employ the nuclear football — the EMP shutdown — to display Bradford’s humanity. A reminder that when all fails, we still do have that choice.
The writers detailed their collaborative work with experts for accuracy, mainly around governmental policy and procedures. Boundaries are established to prevent expertise ruining the story being told.
For a more uplifting departure from the festivities, festival founders Emily Gipson and Caitlin McFarland bid farewell with a script reading of I Love Lucy. The classic sitcom celebrated 75 years with Constance Zimmer (Lucy), Wilson Cruz (Ricky), Ever Carradine (Ethel) and Scott MacArthur (Fred) performing two classic episodes.
The event opened with two musical numbers by local artists. Austin musician and host of KUTX’s Horizontes, Alex Marrero, led a band featuring Scotty McIntosh, Isaí Chacón and Jamie Ospina. The multi-instrumentalists filled the theatre with a Latin-infused version of the timeless I Love Lucy theme song.
Next, our lovable cast brought the house to tears with its first episode, “Lucy Does A TV Commercial.” When Ricky lands a huge TV hosting gig, Lucy plots to be the featured actress for the Vitameatavegimen commercial. After multiple takes, the 23% alcohol elixir takes its toll on Lucy’s line delivery with hysterical results.
The second episode, “Ethel’s Birthday,” finds the two best friends at odds after Lucy helps Fred pick Ethel’s birthday gift. Ethel and Lucy famously fallout before tearfully reconciling during the middle of a theatre show.
Photo credit: Madison Dee, Zachary Salas, Miguel Esparza, Manny Pandya