WIG STUDY: ALL MEN’S WIGS ON TV ARE TERRIBLE.
Another award show is upon us, this time for TV! Technically, the hairstyling awards were already given away last week to Hairpray Live! which I did give a favorable review to here so amen but there is so much more to discuss with the current state of affairs of TV wigs.
As we all know, we are living in another golden age of television - so much so that even this wig hater can’t keep up with watching all the wigs that this much TV has gifted us with. But are all TV wigs gifts? If you’ve been reading this blog: absolutely not. Though occasionally, some wigs are ok (they can’t all be bad?) But there is one common denominator that became all too clear this year: EVERY SINGLE WIG ON A MAN ON A TV SHOW IS TERRIBLE. Let’s discuss.
Season 3 of Fargo was terrible in many ways, but mainly terrible was that we were promised a double dose of Ewan McGregor, only to be given these two idiotic characters in terrible and even more terrible wigs.
McGregor’s wig as Emmit Stussy, the successful brother, is a confounding hodgepodge of possible perms and would-be mullets. The result is an upsetting tumbleweave of nonsense.
McGregor’s wig as Ray Stussy, the sadsack unsuccessful brother, is clearly a leftover remnant from a Lord of The Rings or Harry Potter wizard, cut to shoulder length and lacefronted into place with a bottle of haunted spirit glue. The result is not unlike the cryptkeeper from Tales of the Crypt, with the main difference being that that TV show was watchable. NOPE.
When Better Call Saul first premiered, I hailed the wigs, which transform Bob Odenkirk into a vaguely younger version of himself, as some of the best on TV. But age has not been kind and perhaps there were some budgetary cuts but suddenly these wigs are terrible!
The main issue with men’s wigs (and any short wig) is that the back of the wig has a tendency to jut out from the back of the neck, creating an unnatural distance that makes a wig clear to spot. It is rare that this issue can be fixed - with the exception of the fabulous wigs from Key & Peele which were mainly glued follicle by follicle to their heads (way to commit - and WIN). Earlier seasons of Better Call Saul somehow didn’t have this issue either but suddenly it’s jutting out! No!
And the texture is much more dried out. I realize that this show takes place in the plains of New Mexico but there’s no way hair would get this thirsty. NOPE.
Orange is the New Black’s flashback wigs have a long and storied history of being terrible but it’s rare to get a dude flashblack on this show. But with the flashback of awful Piscatella, we were given this terrible terrible dude wig. Just about everything about it is terrible, but that whole neck jutting out issue is culprit #1. NOPE.
One of the worst parts of the Twin Peaks return was Bad Dale Cooper and his bad bad bad bad wig. This thing is a ghostmare of ashes, ash people, thirsty locks, black lodge dye, and, yes - a friggin half pony tail.
You can read my full encyclopedia of a review of this show here, but sufficed to say - this thing is BAD. NOPE.
Game of Thrones was released too late this year to make it eligible for the Emmys but not too late for me to READ IT FOR FILTH as the progenitor of the worst wigs on television. Most of the wigs belong to the ladiezzz but the Hound is here to disassemble your gendered view of wigs and get hisself a bad wig too! So there! Obviously, he should just be wearing a hat, and also maybe consult Samwell on facial scar surgery now that Sam operates on skin (sure?) but this wig is truly a mess to behold, in keeping with all wigs on this show. I’m sure they actually cost a fortune comparatively (but not comparatively to Dragon CGI which gets much more $$$). Still, all of the wigs on this show have the uniformity of bad curls, dry texture, and questionable seamwurq. NOPE.
In conclusion, dude wigs are very very terrible always. Especially on TV.