document_title: Causes of the French Revolution

question_text: what was an immediate cause of the french revolution

text: Causes of the French Revolution

text: The revolutionary situation[edit]

text: The essence of the revolutionary situation which existed in France in the 1780s was the bankruptcy of the king, and hence the state. This economic crisis was due to the rapidly increasing costs of government and to the overwhelming costs incurred by fighting two major wars: the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War.[4] These costs could not be met from the usual sources of state revenue. Since the 1770s, several attempts by different ministers to introduce financial stability had failed.[5] The taxation system was burdensome upon the middle class and the more prosperous peasants, given that the nobles were largely able to exempt themselves from it. As a result, there was "an insistent demand" for reform of these abuses of privilege, for an equitable means of taxation and for improved government processes.[6] David Thomson argued that the bourgeoisie and peasantry had "something to lose, not merely something to gain" in their demands for a fairer society and this fear too was a major factor in the revolutionary situation.[7]

text: Social inequality[edit]

text: The population of France in the 1780s was about 26 million, of whom 21 million lived in agriculture. Few of these owned enough land to support a family and most were forced to take on extra work as poorly paid labourers on larger farms. There were regional differences but, by and large, French peasants were generally better off than those in countries like Russia or Poland. Even so, hunger was a daily problem which became critical in years of poor harvest and the condition of most French peasants was poor.[8]

text: The fundamental issue of poverty was aggravated by social inequality as all peasants were liable to pay taxes, from which the nobility could claim immunity, and feudal dues payable to a local seigneur or lord. Similarly, the destination of tithes which the peasants were obliged to pay to their local churches was a cause of grievance as it was known that the majority of parish priests were poor and the contribution was being paid to an aristocratic, and usually absentee, abbot.[9] The clergy numbered about 100,000 and yet they owned 10% of the land. The Catholic Church maintained a rigid hierarchy as abbots and bishops were all members of the nobility and canons were all members of wealthy bourgeois families. As an institution, it was both rich and powerful. As with the nobility, it paid no taxes and merely contributed a grant to the state every five years, the amount of which was self-determined. The upper echelons of the clergy had considerable influence over government policy.[9]

text: Dislike of the nobility was especially intense. Successive French kings and their ministers had tried with limited success to suppress the power of the nobles but, in the last quarter of the 18th century, "the aristocracy were beginning once again to tighten their hold on the machinery of government".[10]

text: Enlightenment ideas[edit]

text: A growing number of the French citizenry had absorbed the ideas of "equality" and "freedom of the individual" as presented by Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Denis Diderot and other philosophers and social theorists of the Age of Enlightenment.[11] The American Revolution demonstrated that it was plausible for Enlightenment ideas about how a government should be organized to actually be put into practice. Some American diplomats, like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, had lived in Paris, where they consorted freely with members of the French intellectual class. Furthermore, contact between American revolutionaries and the French troops who served in North America helped spread revolutionary ideas to the French people.[12]

text: Material strengths[edit]

text: France in 1787, although it faced some difficulties, was one of the most economically capable nations of Europe. The French population exceeded 28 million; of Europe's 178 to 188 millions, only Imperial Russia had a greater population (37 to 41 million).[13] France was also among the most urbanized countries of Europe, the population of Paris was second only to that of London (approximately 500,000 vs. 800,000),[13] and six of Europe's 35 larger cities were French.[14][15]

text: Other measures confirm France's inherent strength. France had 5.3 million of Europe's approximately 30 million male peasants.[16] Its area under cultivation,[16] productivity per unit area,[17] level of industrialization, and gross national product [18] (about 14% of the continental European product, excluding Russia, and 6% to 10% above the level elsewhere in Europe [19]) all placed France near the very top of the scale. In short, while it may have lagged slightly behind the Low Countries, and possibly Switzerland, in per capita wealth, the sheer size of the French economy made it the premier economic power of continental Europe.[20]

text: Debt[edit]

text: Historian John Shovlin states, "It is a truism that the French Revolution was touched off by the near bankruptcy of the state."[21] It was the burden of the national debt that led this to the long-running financial crisis of the French government.[22] Before the revolution, the French debt had risen from 8 billion to 12 billion livres. Extravagant expenditures on luxuries by Louis XVI, whose rule began in 1774, were compounded by debts that were run up during the reign of his even-more-profligate predecessor, Louis XV (who reigned from 1715 to 1774). Heavy expenditures to conduct losing the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), and France's backing of the Americans in their War of Independence, ran the tab up an even further 1.3 billion livres [23]

text: Louis XV and his ministers were deeply unhappy about Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War and, in the years following the Treaty of Paris, they began drawing up a long-term plan that would involve constructing a larger navy and building an anti-British coalition of allies. In theory, this would eventually lead to a war of revenge and see France regain its colonies from Britain. In practice, it resulted in a mountain of debts.

text: On the advice of, what many believed was, his mistress, the Marquise de Pompadour, the king supported the policy of fiscal justice designed by d'Arnouville. In order to finance the budget deficit, which amounted to 100 million livres in 1745, Machault d'Arnouville created a tax of 5% on all revenues (the vingtième), a measure that affected the privileged classes as well as the rest of the population. Still, expenditures outpaced revenues.[24]

text: Ultimately, Louis XV failed to overcome these fiscal problems, mainly because he was incapable of harmonizing the conflicting parties at court and arriving at coherent economic policies. Worse, Louis seemed to be aware of the anti-monarchist forces that were threatening his family's rule, yet he failed to do anything to stop them.[25]

text: Under the new king, Louis XVI, radical financial reforms by his ministers, Turgot and Malesherbes, angered the nobles and were blocked by the parlements who insisted that the king did not have the legal right to levy new taxes. So, in 1776, Turgot was dismissed and Malesherbes resigned. They were replaced by Jacques Necker, who supported the American Revolution and proceeded with a policy of taking large international loans instead of raising taxes.

text: France sent Rochambeau, Lafayette and de Grasse, along with large land and naval forces, to help the Americans. French aid proved decisive in forcing the main British army to surrender at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.[26] The Americans gained their independence, and the war ministry rebuilt the French army. However, the British sank the main French fleet in 1782, and France gained little, except for the colonies of Tobago and Senegal, from the Treaty of Paris (1783) that concluded the war. The war cost 1.066 million French livres, a huge sum, that was financed by new loans at high interest rates, but no new taxes were imposed. Necker concealed the crisis from the public by explaining only that ordinary revenues exceeded ordinary expenses, and by not mentioning the loans at all.[27]

text: When Necker's tax policy failed miserably, Louis dismissed him, and replaced him, in 1783, with Charles Alexandre de Calonne, who increased public spending in an attempt to "buy" the country's way out of debt. This policy also failed; therefore, Louis convened the Assembly of Notables in 1787 to discuss a revolutionary new fiscal reform proposed by Calonne. When the nobles were told the extent of the debt, they were shocked; however, the shock did not motivate them to rally behind the plan – but to reject it. This negative turn of events signaled to Louis that he had lost the ability to rule as an absolute monarch, and he fell into depression.[28]

text: Britain, too, was heavily indebted as a result of these conflicts; but Britain had far more advanced fiscal institutions in place to deal with it. France was a wealthier country than Britain, and its national debt was no greater than the British one. In each country, servicing the debt accounted for about one-half the government's annual expenditure; where they differed was in the effective rates of interest. In France, the debt was financed at almost twice the interest rate as the debt across the Channel. This demanded a much higher level of taxation and less flexibility in raising money to deal with unforeseen emergencies. (See also Eden Agreement.)

text: Edmund Burke, no friend of the revolution, wrote in 1790: "the public, whether represented by a monarch or by a senate, can pledge nothing but the public estate; and it can have no public estate except in what it derives from a just and proportioned imposition upon the citizens at large." Because the nobles successfully defended their privileges, the king of France lacked the means to impose a "just and proportioned" tax. The desire to do so led directly to the decision in 1788 to call the Estates-General into session.[29]

text: The financial strain of servicing old debt and the excesses of the current royal court caused dissatisfaction with the monarchy, contributed to national unrest, and culminated in the French Revolution of 1789.

text: Taxation[edit]

text: Louis XVI, his ministers, and the widespread French nobility had become immensely unpopular. This was a consequence of the fact that peasants and, to a lesser extent, the poor and those aspiring to be bourgeoisie, were burdened with ruinously high taxes levied to support a wealthy monarchy, along with aristocrats and their sumptuous, often gluttonous lifestyles.[30]

text: France raised most of its tax revenue internally, with a notable deficit regarding external customs tariffs.[31] Taxes on commerce consisted of internal tariffs among the regions of France. This set up an arbitrary tax-barrier (sometimes, as in Paris, in physical form) at every regional boundary, and these barriers prevented France from developing as a unified market. Collections of taxes, such as the extremely unpopular salt tax, the gabelle, were contracted to private collectors ("tax farmers"), who, like all farmers, preoccupied themselves with making their holdings grow. So, they collected, quite legitimately, far more than required, remitted the tax to the State, and pocketed the remainder. These unwieldy systems led to arbitrary and unequal collection of France's consumption taxes. (See also Wall of the Farmers-General, Jean Chouan, Octroi, Claude Nicolas Ledoux, and the Indian salt tax.)

text: Peasants and nobles alike were required to pay one-tenth of their income or produce to the church (the tithe). Peasants paid a land tax to the state (the taille),[32] a 5% property tax (the vingtième). All paid a tax on the number of people in the family (capitation), depending on the status of the taxpayer (from poor to prince). Further royal and seigneurial obligations might be paid in several ways: in labor (the corvée), in kind, or, rarely, in coin. Peasants were also obligated to their landlords for: rent in cash (the cens), a payment related to their amount of annual production (the champart), and taxes on the use of the nobles' mills, wine-presses, and bakeries (the banalités). In good times, the taxes were burdensome; in harsh times, they were devastating.[citation needed] After a less-than-fulsome harvest, people would starve to death during the winter.

text: Tax collection was farmed out (privatized) to "fermiers", through a system of public bidding.[33] Public officials bought their positions from the king, sometimes on an annual basis, sometimes in perpetuity. Often an additional tax, called "paulette" was paid by the holders of an office to upgrade their position to one that could be passed along as an inheritance. Naturally, holders of these offices tried to reimburse themselves by milking taxpayers as hard as possible. For instance, in a civil lawsuit, judges required that both parties pay for the costs of the trial (called the épices, the spices);[34] this, effectively, put justice out of the reach of all but the wealthy.

text: The system also exempted the nobles and the clergy from taxes (with the exception of a modest quit-rent, an ad valorem tax on land). The tax burden, therefore, devolved to the peasants, wage-earners, and the professional and business classes, also known as the third estate. Further, people from less-privileged walks of life were blocked from acquiring even petty positions of power in the regime. This caused further resentment.

text: Failure of reforms[edit]

text: During the reigns of Louis XV (1715–1774) and Louis XVI (1774–1792), several ministers, most notably Turgot and Necker, proposed revisions to the French tax system so as to include the nobles as taxpayers, but these proposals were not adopted because of resistance from the parlements (provincial courts of appeal). Members of these courts bought their positions from the king, as well as the right to transfer their positions hereditarily through payment of an annual fee, the paulette. Membership in such courts, or appointment to other public positions, often led to elevation to the nobility (the so-called Nobles of the Robe, as distinguished from the nobility of ancestral military origin, the Nobles of the Sword.) While these two categories of nobles were often at odds, they both sought to retain their privileges.[35]

text: The need to raise taxes placed the king at odds with the nobles and the upper bourgeoisie, he appointed as his finance ministers, "rising men" (to use François Mignet's insightful term), usually of non-noble origin. These commoners, Turgot, Chrétien de Malesherbes, and Jacques Necker lobbied for reforms in taxation and other moves toward moderation, such as Necker's attempts to reduce the lavishness of the king's court. Each one failed. Instead, the "Parkinson's law" of bureaucratic overextended waste prevailed, to the detriment of the gentry and other non-seigneurial classes. In contrast, Charles Alexandre de Calonne, appointed finance minister in 1783, restored lavish spending reminiscent of the age of Louis XIV. By the time Calonne brought together the Assembly of Notables on 22 February 1787 to address the financial situation, France had reached a state of virtual bankruptcy; no one would lend the king money sufficient to meet the expenses of the royal court and the government. According to Mignet, the loans amounted to 1.64 billion livres, and the annual deficit was 140 millions.[36]

text: Calonne was succeeded by his chief critic, Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne, archbishop of Sens, but the fundamental situation was unchanged: the government had no credit. To address this, the Assembly of Notables sanctioned "the establishment of provincial assemblies, regulation of the corn trade, abolition of corvées, and a new stamp tax", but the assembly dispersed on 25 May 1787 without actually installing a longer-term program with prospects for success.[37]

text: Deregulation and hunger[edit]

text: Before the revolution[edit]

text: In Ancien Régime France, bread was the main source of food for poor peasants and the king was required to ensure the food supply of his subjects, the king was affectionately nicknamed le premier boulanger du royaume ("prime baker of the kingdom").[38] During this period, the role of the royal police was far more involved than simply upholding the law. Police held responsibility over many systems in society, even street sweeping, it also exercised a strict control over food supply.[39] In order to maintain social order, the grain market was submitted to harsh rules to ensure the quality of the bread and its availability at all time and for the entire population. Grain merchants were viewed with suspicion, they were called "the most cruel enemies of the people" because they were suspected to mix flour with other products (such as chalk or crushed bones) or to hoard grains to raise artificially the prices of this vital commodity. The Ancien Régime favoured a "moral economy" where cupidity was moderated by strict regulations. The police controlled the purity of the flour and made sure that no one would hide grains to drive up prices. Food scarcity was common in the 18th century, but the grain police would forbid exportations from regions facing bad harvests and would import grain from regions enjoying overproduction. It could also force a merchant to dump the price of his flour (he was later compensated for his loss in times of abundance).[40]

text: Deregulation of the grain industry[edit]

text: During the Age of Enlightenment, the physiocrat school of economy emerged. The physiocrats, or économistes as they called themselves, had a great impact on Turgot, Louis XVI's Controller-General of Finances. Their opinion on what government economic policy should be was summarized in the term Vincent de Gournay laid claim to: "laissez faire, laissez passer", meaning leave it alone and let it pass, also known as the "invisible hand" notion. Turgot passionately defended Gournay's belief in "laissez-faire" economic principles in his writing "Éloge de Gournay". Accordingly, Turgot abolished police regulations and established free trade in grain on 13 September 1774.[41]

text: Results of the revolution[edit]

text: During the period before the spring harvest of 1775, the cereal reserves were exhausted while new crops had not yet arrived. In spring 1775, famine arose in this new context: before Turgot's edict, every region faced its own shortages, so that some would have suffered a genuine famine while others would have been totally spared and supplied through stable prices; a royal intervention would have been requested, and without a doubt obtained, to assure the supply of the regions most affected. With liberalization, owners of grain started to speculate by storing grain. They also tend to buy en masse in areas of good harvests to sell in areas of bad harvests where profits could be greater, causing significant price increases and shortages all over and affecting more people more quickly. Changes to grain and bread supply had serious implications, and was met with disorder. This conflict was known as the Flour War of 1775. Reports from those that controlled the flow of grain stated there were problems with the grain harvest which caused shortages and less grain availability. The price of grain also increased, and became hard for some to afford. News of a grain shortage was met with skepticism and frustration rose from higher prices.[42] Those in opposition of the reform rioted, and seized grain that came in on shipments. They offered what they felt was the "just price" for it. This demonstrated a way in which the people took some power back into their own hands. This practice was known as "taxation populaire", or popular taxation.[42]

text: While there were documented efforts to deal with the grain shortage problems, such as increasing shipments from foreign countries, beliefs that the famine was intentionally orchestrated by Louis XVI, through the "Pacte de Famine", emerged.[42] Turgot repressed the riots and restored controls over the grain market. The idea of free trade of grain was discredited and the economic experiment distanced the masses from the government in Versailles. The Flour War can be seen as a prelude to the French Revolution.[43]

text: The fear of famine became an ever-present dread for the lower strata of the Third Estate, and rumors of the "Pacte de Famine" to starve the poor were still rampant and readily believed.[44] Mere rumors of food shortage led to the Réveillon riots in April 1789. Rumors of a plot aiming to destroy wheat crops in order to starve the population provoked the Great Fear in the summer of 1789. The hunger and despair of the Parisian women was also the original impetus for the Women's March on Versailles in October 1789, they wanted not just one meal but the assurance that bread would once again be plentiful and cheap.[45]

text: The two years prior to the revolution (1788–89) saw meager harvests and harsh winters, possibly because of a strong El Niño cycle [46] caused by the 1783 Laki eruption in Iceland.[47] The Little Ice Age also affected farmers' choices of crops to plant; in other parts of Europe, peasant farmers had adopted the potato as its staple crop. The potato had been introduced to France during the 16th century and despite resistance had largely supplanted the turnip and rutabaga in France.[48] Despite encouragement from individuals like Antoine Parmentier and Louis XVI, grain was still a much more popular staple crop in France. This was partially because potatoes were seen as more difficult to transport and store than grain.[49]

text: Transparency[edit]

text: H. F. Helmolt argued that the issue was not so much the debt per se, but the way the debt was refracted through the lens of Enlightenment principles and the increasing power of third-estate creditors, that is, commoners who held the government's paper.

text: Properly speaking, the people ought to have been accustomed to the fact that the French government did not fulfill its financial obligations, for since the time of Henry IV, that is, within two centuries, it had failed to meet its obligations fifty-six times. In earlier days such catastrophes had not been announced and publicly discussed. Now all France, which for two generations had been worked upon by the party of rationalism, shared the outcry against the financial situation.[50]

text: The struggle with the parlements and nobles to enact reformist measures displayed the extent of the disintegration of the Ancien Régime. In short order, Protestants regained their rights, and Louis XVI was pressured to produce an annual disclosure of the state of his finances. He also pledged to reconvene the Estates-General within five years. Despite the pretense that France operated under an absolute monarchy, it became clear that the royal government could not successfully implement the changes it desired without the consent of the nobility. The financial crisis had become a political crisis as well,[50] and the French Revolution loomed just beyond the horizon.

text: Notes[edit]

text:
Jump up ^ Dorinda Outram, "The Enlightenment", 2013, p.45
Jump up ^ John Hardman, "The Life of Louis XVI", 2016
Jump up ^ James B. Collins, "The Ancien Régime and the French Revolution", 2002, p.23 : "The Physiocrats denounced government interference in the economy, and sponsored free market ideas. These ideas had some currency in France in the 1760s: the government briefly created a free market in grain and abolished the state monopoly of the West India Company in 1769. The free market in grain led to riots (...) Turgot's deregulation of the grain trade, enacted on the eve of a widespread grain shortage, led to riots so severe they are known as the Flour War."
Jump up ^ Peter McPhee (2015). The French Revolution. Melbourne U. p. 34.
Jump up ^ David Thomson, Europe Since Napoleon (1957) pp. 24–25.
Jump up ^ Thomson, pp. 25–26.
Jump up ^ Thomson, p. 25.
Jump up ^ Hibbert, p. 29.
^ Jump up to: a b Hibbert, p. 30.
Jump up ^ Hibbert, p. 31.
Jump up ^ Vincenzo Ferrone, The Enlightenment: History of an Idea (Princeton UP, 2015).
Jump up ^ R.R. Palmer, The age of the Democratic Revolution: a political history of Europe and America, 1760–1800 (2nd ed. 2014) pp. 177–213
^ Jump up to: a b Bairoch 1989, p. 941
Jump up ^ Bairoch 1989, p. 943
Jump up ^ Bernard Lepetit, The Pre-industrial Urban System: France 1740–1840 (Cambridge UP, 1994).
^ Jump up to: a b Bairoch 1989, p. 945
Jump up ^ Bairoch 1989, p. 946
Jump up ^ Bairoch 1989, p. 949
Jump up ^ Bairoch 1989, pp. 959–963
Jump up ^ Ralph W. Greenlaw, ed., The economic origins of the French revolution: poverty or prosperity? (Heath, 1958).
Jump up ^ John Shovlin (2007). The Political Economy of Virtue: Luxury, Patriotism, and the Origins of the French Revolution. Cornell UP. p. 9.
Jump up ^ Eugene Nelson White, "The French Revolution and the politics of government finance, 1770–1815." Journal of Economic History 55#2 (1995): 227–55.
Jump up ^ Stacy Schiff (2006). A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America. Macmillan. p. 5.
Jump up ^ Kenneth N. Jassie, "We Don't Have a King: Popular Protest and the Image of the Illegitimate King in the Reign of Louis XV". Consortium on Revolutionary Europe 1750–1850: Proceedings 1994 23: 211–19. ISSN 0093-2574
Jump up ^ The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to Napoleon, (1715–99), a scholarly bibliography by Colin Jones (2002) pp. 124, 132–33, 147
Jump up ^ Jonathan R. Dull, The French Navy, and American Independence: A Study of Arms and Diplomacy, 1774–1787 (1975) ISBN 0-691-06920-4
Jump up ^ On finance see William Doyle, Oxford History of the French Revolution (1989) pp. 67–74
Jump up ^ John Hardman, Louis XVI, Yale university Press, New Haven and London, 1993 p. 126
Jump up ^ The French Revolution. Discoverfrance.net. Retrieved on 2011-11-18.
Jump up ^ Peter Mathias and Patrick O'Brien, "Taxation in Britain and France, 1715–1810. A comparison of the social and economic incidence of taxes collected for the central governments." Journal of European Economic History 5#3 (1976): 601+.
Jump up ^ Jeff Horn, The Path Not Taken: French Industrialization in the Age of Revolution, 1750-1830 MIT 2006 ISBN 978-026208352-2
Jump up ^ The taille was meant to pay for the war effort; nobility was exempted as they considered their physical participation in the war as a "blood tax".
Jump up ^ Louis XV introduced a fixed remuneration scheme for tax collectors in 1769.
Jump up ^ The épices were no bribes, as they did not go to the judge directly, but to a common fund, and served to pay for the costs incurred by the judges, who had to remunerate their auxiliaries - see Albert N. Hamscher, The Parlement of Paris after the Fronde 1653–1673, p. 66.
Jump up ^ Robert D. Harris, Necker: reform statesman of the Ancien Régime (U of California Press, 1979).
Jump up ^ Gilbert Faccarello, "Galiani, Necker and Turgot. A debate on economic reform and policy in 18th Century France." History of Economic Thought 1.3 (1994): 519–50.
Jump up ^ Eugene Nelson White, "Was there a solution to the Ancien Régime's Financial Dilemma?." Journal of Economic History 49.03 (1989): 545–68.
Jump up ^ "Labyrinthe, Numéros 20 à 22", 2005, p. 58
Jump up ^ [Andress, David. French Society in Revolution, 1789–1799. France: Manchester University Press, 1999, pp. 16–18]
Jump up ^ Steven Kaplan,Jean-Philippe de Tonnac, "La France et son pain: Histoire d'une passion" [1]
Jump up ^ Nicolas Bourguinat, "L'État et les violences frumentaires en France sous la Restauration et la Monarchie de Juillet", Ruralia,
^ Jump up to: a b c Andress 17
Jump up ^ Bourguinat, Nicolas. "L'État et les violences frumentaires en France sous la Restauration et la Monarchie de Juillet". Ruralia. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
Jump up ^ Doyle, p. 121.
Jump up ^ Soboul, p. 155.
Jump up ^ Richard H. Grove (1998). "Global Impact of the 1789–93 El Niño". Nature. 393: 318–19. doi:10.1038/30636.
Jump up ^ Wood, C.A., 1992. "The climatic effects of the 1783 Laki eruption" in C. R. Harrington (Ed.), The Year Without a Summer? Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, pp. 58–77
Jump up ^ "Histoires de légumes" by M. Pitrat and C. Foury, Institut National de la recherche agronomoique, 2003, p. 167
Jump up ^ William L. Langer, "American Foods and Europe's Population Growth 1750–1850" Journal of Social History 8#2 (1975) pp. 51–66. in JSTOR
^ Jump up to: a b H. F. Helmolt, History of the World, Volume VII, Dodd Mead 1902, pp. 120–21.

tag: ol

text: Further reading[edit]

text:
Andress, David, ed. The Oxford Handbook of the French Revolution (Oxford University Press, 2015). excerpt
Bairoch (1989). "L'economie francaise dans le contexte european a la fin du XVLLLe siecle". Revue Economique. 40 (6): 939–64.  mirror
Campbell, Peter, and Peter McPhee. "Rethinking the origins of the French Revolution." in Peter McPhee, ed., A Companion to the French Revolution (2013) pp. 1–23.
Campbell, Peter R., ed. The Origins of the French Revolution (2005).
Censer, Jack R. "Historians Revisit the Terror—Again." Journal of Social History (2014) 48#2 pp 383–403
Doyle, William. Origins of the French Revolution (2001).
Hibbert, Christopher (1980). The French Revolution. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0140049459.
Kaiser, Thomas and Dale Van Kley. From Deficit to Deluge: The Origins of the French Revolution (2010)
Maza, Sarah. "Politics, culture, and the origins of the French Revolution." Journal of Modern History 61.4 (1989): 704-723. in JSTOR
McPhee, Peter. Liberty or Death: The French Revolution (2016)
Thomson, David (1957). Europe Since Napoleon. London: Longmans.

text:
[show]

v
t
e

French Revolution

Causes
Timeline
Ancien Régime
Revolution
Constitutional monarchy
Republic
Directory
Consulate
Glossary

[show]
Significant civil and political events by year

1788

Day of the Tiles (7 Jun 1788)
Assembly of Vizille (21 Jul 1788)

1789

What Is the Third Estate? (Jan 1789)
Réveillon riots (28 Apr 1789)
Convocation of the Estates-General (5 May 1789)
National Assembly (17 Jun – 9 Jul 1790)
Tennis Court Oath (20 Jun 1789)
National Constituent Assembly (9 Jul – 30 Sep 1791)
Storming of the Bastille (14 Jul 1789)
Great Fear (20 Jul – 5 Aug 1789)
Abolition of Feudalism (4-11 Aug 1789)
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (27 Aug 1789)
Women's March on Versailles (5 Oct 1789)

1790

Abolition of the Parlements (Feb–Jul 1790)
Abolition of the Nobility (19 Jun 1790)
Civil Constitution of the Clergy (12 Jul 1790)

1791

Flight to Varennes (20–21 Jun 1791)
Champ de Mars Massacre (17 Jul 1791)
Declaration of Pillnitz (27 Aug 1791)
The Constitution of 1791 (3 Sep 1791)
Legislative Assembly (1 Oct 1791 – Sep 1792)

1792

France declares war (20 Apr 1792)
Brunswick Manifesto (25 Jul 1792)
Paris Commune becomes insurrectionary (Jun 1792)
10th of August (10 Aug 1792)
September Massacres (Sep 1792)
National Convention (20 Sep 1792 – 26 Oct 1795)
First republic declared (22 Sep 1792)

1793

Execution of Louis XVI (21 Jan 1793)
Revolutionary Tribunal (9 Mar 1793 – 31 May 1795)
Reign of Terror (27 Jun 1793 – 27 Jul 1794)

Committee of Public Safety
Committee of General Security

Fall of the Girondists (2 Jun 1793)
Assassination of Marat (13 Jul 1793)
Levée en masse (23 Aug 1793)
The Death of Marat (painting)
Law of Suspects (17 Sep 1793)
Marie Antoinette is guillotined (16 Oct 1793)
Anti-clerical laws (throughout the year)

1794

Danton and Desmoulins guillotined (5 Apr 1794)
Law of 22 Prairial (10 Jun 1794)
Thermidorian Reaction (27 Jul 1794)
Robespierre guillotined (28 Jul 1794)
White Terror (Fall 1794)
Closing of the Jacobin Club (11 Nov 1794)

1795

Constitution of the Year III (22 Aug 1795)
Conspiracy of the Equals (Nov 1795)
Directoire (1795–99)

Council of Five Hundred
Council of Ancients

13 Vendémiaire 5 Oct 1795

1797

Coup of 18 Fructidor (4 Sep 1797)
Second Congress of Rastatt (Dec 1797)

1799

Coup of 30 Prairial VII (18 Jun 1799)
Coup of 18 Brumaire (9 Nov 1799)
Constitution of the Year VIII (24 Dec 1799)
Consulate

[show]
Revolutionary campaigns

1792

Verdun
Thionville
Valmy
Royalist Revolts

Chouannerie
Vendée
Dauphiné

Lille
Siege of Mainz
Jemappes
Namur (fr)

1793

First Coalition
Siege of Toulon (18 Sep – 18 Dec 1793)
War in the Vendée
Battle of Neerwinden)
Battle of Famars (23 May 1793)
Expédition de Sardaigne (21 Dec 1792 - 25 May 1793)
Battle of Kaiserslautern
Siege of Mainz
Battle of Wattignies
Battle of Hondschoote
Siege of Bellegarde
Battle of Peyrestortes (Pyrenees)
First Battle of Wissembourg (13 Oct 1793)
Battle of Truillas (Pyrenees)
Second Battle of Wissembourg (26–27 Dec 1793)

1794

Battle of Villers-en-Cauchies (24 Apr 1794)
Battle of Boulou (Pyrenees) (30 Apr – 1 May 1794)
Battle of Tournay (22 May 1794)
Battle of Fleurus (26 Jun 1794)
Chouannerie
Battle of Tourcoing (18 May 1794)
Battle of Aldenhoven (2 Oct 1794)

1795

Peace of Basel

1796

Battle of Lonato (3–4 Aug 1796)
Battle of Castiglione (5 Aug 1796)
Battle of Theiningen
Battle of Neresheim (11 Aug 1796)
Battle of Amberg (24 Aug 1796)
Battle of Würzburg (3 Sep 1796)
Battle of Rovereto (4 Sep 1796)
First Battle of Bassano (8 Sep 1796)
Battle of Emmendingen (19 Oct 1796)
Battle of Schliengen (26 Oct 1796)
Second Battle of Bassano (6 Nov 1796)
Battle of Calliano (6–7 Nov 1796)
Battle of the Bridge of Arcole (15–17 Nov 1796)
The Ireland Expedition (Dec 1796)

1797

Naval Engagement off Brittany (13 Jan 1797)
Battle of Rivoli (14–15 Jan 1797)
Battle of the Bay of Cádiz (25 Jan 1797)
Treaty of Leoben (17 Apr 1797)
Battle of Neuwied (18 Apr 1797)
Treaty of Campo Formio (17 Oct 1797)

1798

French invasion of Switzerland (28 January – 17 May 1798)
French Invasion of Egypt (1798–1801)
Irish Rebellion of 1798 (23 May – 23 Sep 1798)
Quasi-War (1798–1800)
Peasants' War (12 Oct – 5 Dec 1798)

1799

Second Coalition (1798–1802)
Siege of Acre (20 Mar – 21 May 1799)
Battle of Ostrach (20–21 Mar 1799)
Battle of Stockach (25 Mar 1799)
Battle of Magnano (5 Apr 1799)
Battle of Cassano (27 Apr 1799)
First Battle of Zurich (4–7 Jun 1799)
Battle of Trebbia (19 Jun 1799)
Battle of Novi (15 Aug 1799)
Second Battle of Zurich (25–26 Sep 1799)

1800

Battle of Marengo (14 Jun 1800)
Battle of Hohenlinden (3 Dec 1800)
League of Armed Neutrality (1800–02)

1801

Treaty of Lunéville (9 Feb 1801)
Treaty of Florence (18 Mar 1801)
Algeciras Campaign (8 Jul 1801)

1802

Treaty of Amiens (25 Mar 1802)

[show]
Military leaders

 French Army

Eustache Charles d'Aoust
Pierre Augereau
Alexandre de Beauharnais
Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte
Louis-Alexandre Berthier
Jean-Baptiste Bessières
Guillaume-Marie-Anne Brune
Jean François Carteaux
Jean Étienne Championnet
Chapuis de Tourville
Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine
Louis-Nicolas Davout
Louis Desaix
Jacques François Dugommier
Thomas-Alexandre Dumas
Charles François Dumouriez
Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino
Louis-Charles de Flers
Paul Grenier
Emmanuel de Grouchy
Jacques Maurice Hatry
Lazare Hoche
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
François Christophe de Kellermann
Jean-Baptiste Kléber
Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Jean Lannes
Charles Leclerc
Claude Lecourbe
François Joseph Lefebvre
Jacques MacDonald
Jean-Antoine Marbot
Jean Baptiste de Marbot
François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers
Auguste de Marmont
André Masséna
Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey
Jean Victor Marie Moreau
Édouard Mortier, duc de Trévise
Joachim Murat
Michel Ney
Pierre-Jacques Osten (fr)
Nicolas Oudinot
Catherine-Dominique de Pérignon
Jean-Charles Pichegru
Józef Poniatowski
Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr
Barthélemy Louis Joseph Schérer
Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier
Joseph Souham
Jean-de-Dieu Soult
Louis-Gabriel Suchet
Belgrand de Vaubois
Claude Victor-Perrin, Duc de Belluno

 French Navy

Charles-Alexandre Linois

Opposition

 Austria

József Alvinczi
Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Count of Clerfayt (Walloon)
Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg
Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze (Swiss)
Friedrich Adolf, Count von Kalckreuth
Pál Kray (Hungarian)
Charles Eugene, Prince of Lambesc (French)
Maximilian Baillet de Latour (Walloon)
Karl Mack von Leiberich
Rudolf Ritter von Otto (Saxon)
Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich
Prince Heinrich XV of Reuss-Plauen
Johann Mészáros von Szoboszló (Hungarian)
Karl Philipp Sebottendorf
Dagobert von Wurmser

 Britain

Sir Ralph Abercromby
Admiral Sir James Saumarez
Admiral Sir Edward Pellew
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany

 Dutch Republic

William V, Prince of Orange

 Prussia

Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen

 Russia

Alexander Korsakov
Alexander Suvorov

 Spain

Luis Firmin de Carvajal
Antonio Ricardos

[show]
Other significant figures and factions

Society of 1789

Jean Sylvain Bailly
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt
Isaac René Guy le Chapelier
Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau
Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès
Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord
Nicolas de Condorcet

Feuillants
and monarchiens

Madame de Lamballe
Madame du Barry
Louis de Breteuil
Loménie de Brienne
Charles Alexandre de Calonne
de Chateaubriand
Jean Chouan
Grace Elliott
Arnaud de La Porte
Jean-Sifrein Maury
Jacques Necker
François-Marie, marquis de Barthélemy
Guillaume-Mathieu Dumas
Antoine Barnave
Lafayette
Alexandre-Théodore-Victor, comte de Lameth
Charles Malo François Lameth
André Chénier
Jean-François Rewbell
Camille Jordan
Madame de Staël
Boissy d'Anglas
Jean-Charles Pichegru
Pierre Paul Royer-Collard

Girondists

Jacques Pierre Brissot
Roland de La Platière
Madame Roland
Father Henri Grégoire
Étienne Clavière
Marquis de Condorcet
Charlotte Corday
Marie Jean Hérault
Jean Baptiste Treilhard
Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud
Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac
Jérôme Pétion de Villeneuve
Jean Debry
Jean-Jacques Duval d'Eprémesnil
Olympe de Gouges
Jean-Baptiste Robert Lindet
Louis Marie de La Révellière-Lépeaux

The Plain

Abbé Sieyès
de Cambacérès
Charles François Lebrun
Lazare Nicolas Marguerite Carnot
Philippe Égalité
Louis Philippe I
Mirabeau
Antoine Christophe Merlin de Thionville
Jean Joseph Mounier
Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours
François de Neufchâteau

Montagnards

Maximilien Robespierre
Georges Danton
Jean-Paul Marat
Camille Desmoulins
Louis Antoine de Saint-Just
Paul Nicolas, vicomte de Barras
Louis Philippe I
Louis Michel le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau
Jacques-Louis David
Marquis de Sade
Jacques-Louis David
Georges Couthon
Roger Ducos
Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois
Jean-Henri Voulland
Philippe-Antoine Merlin de Douai
Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville
Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas
Marc-Guillaume Alexis Vadier
Jean-Pierre-André Amar
Prieur de la Côte-d'Or
Prieur de la Marne
Gilbert Romme
Jean Bon Saint-André
Jean-Lambert Tallien
Pierre Louis Prieur
Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac
Antoine Christophe Saliceti

Hébertists
and Enragés

Jacques Hébert
Jacques Nicolas Billaud-Varenne
Pierre Gaspard Chaumette
Charles-Philippe Ronsin
Antoine-François Momoro
François-Nicolas Vincent
François Chabot
Jean Baptiste Noël Bouchotte
Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Gobel
François Hanriot
Jacques Roux
Stanislas-Marie Maillard
Charles-Philippe Ronsin
Jean-François Varlet
Theophile Leclerc
Claire Lacombe
Pauline Léon
Gracchus Babeuf
Sylvain Maréchal

Others

Charles X
Louis XVI
Louis XVII
Louis XVIII
Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien
Louis Henri, Prince of Condé
Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé
Marie Antoinette
Napoléon Bonaparte
Lucien Bonaparte
Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph Fesch
Joséphine de Beauharnais
Joachim Murat
Jean Sylvain Bailly
Jacques-Donatien Le Ray
Guillaume-Chrétien de Malesherbes
Talleyrand
Thérésa Tallien
Gui-Jean-Baptiste Target
Catherine Théot
List of people associated with the French Revolution

[show]
Influential thinkers

Les Lumières
Beaumarchais
Edmund Burke
Anacharsis Cloots
Charles-Augustin de Coulomb
Pierre Claude François Daunou
Diderot
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Jefferson
Antoine Lavoisier
Montesquieu
Thomas Paine
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Abbé Sieyès
Voltaire
Mary Wollstonecraft

[show]
Cultural impact

La Marseillaise
French Tricolour
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
Marianne
Bastille Day
Panthéon
French Republican Calendar
Cult of the Supreme Being
Cult of Reason

Temple of Reason

Sans-culottes
Metric system
Phrygian cap
Women in the French Revolution
Symbolism in the French Revolution
Historiography of the French Revolution
Influence of the French Revolution

text: French RevolutionFerme généraleCauses of the French Revolution

text: All articles with unsourced statementsArticles with unsourced statements from December 2017Interlanguage link template link numberArticles containing French-language text


document_title: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV series)

question_text: who plays charles in series of unfortunate events

root

text: Premise[edit]

text: When a mysterious fire kills their parents, the Baudelaire children are informed of this terrible news by their executor Arthur Poe and are placed into the care of their distant relative Count Olaf, an actor who is determined to claim the family fortune for himself. Following Olaf's failed attempt and his plot being exposed, the Baudelaires set out to elude Olaf and his followers while uncovering the mystery behind a secret society from their parents' past as they are placed in the custody of different guardians.

tag: p

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text: Main[edit]

text:
Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf,[4] an actor determined to claim the Baudelaire fortune for himself. He has one eyebrow and a tattoo resembling an eye on his left ankle, which is frequently used to identify him when he is disguised.
Patrick Warburton as Lemony Snicket,[5] the narrator tasked with explaining the events during the lives of the Baudelaires.
Malina Weissman as Violet Baudelaire,[6] the eldest Baudelaire sibling and an inventor talented in mechanics.
Louis Hynes as Klaus Baudelaire,[6] the middle Baudelaire child, interested in literature and books.
K. Todd Freeman as Arthur Poe,[7] the family banker at Mulctuary Money Management and executor of the Baudelaire parents who is in charge of placing the Baudelaires in the care of a suitable guardian.
Presley Smith as Sunny Baudelaire,[8] the infant child of the Baudelaires with unnaturally strong teeth. Tara Strong provides Sunny's babbling sound effects, the meaning of which is often translated in subtitles.[9]
Lucy Punch as Esmé Squalor, a wealthy financial advisor, who becomes an ally and love interest for Count Olaf.[10]
Avi Lake as Isadora Quagmire,[11] Duncan and Quigley's sister who loves writing poetry.
Dylan Kingwell as Duncan Quagmire, Isadora's brother. Duncan is a keen journalist.[11]

tag: ul

text: Recurring[edit]

text:
Will Arnett as Father,[12][13] a man who is trying to return home to his three children.
Cobie Smulders as Mother,[13] a woman who is trying to return home to her three children.
Usman Ally as the Hook-Handed Man,[14] a member of Count Olaf's theatre troupe with hooks instead of hands.
Matty Cardarople as the Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender,[14] a member of Count Olaf's theatre troupe who doesn't have a specific gender.
Cleo King as Eleanora Poe, Arthur Poe's wife and the editor-in-chief of The Daily Punctilio who loves pursuing sensationalist headlines.
John DeSantis as the Bald Man,[15] a tall bald-headed man who is another member of Count Olaf's theatre troupe.
Jacqueline and Joyce Robbins as the White-Faced Women,[14] two elderly twins who are members of Count Olaf's theatre troupe.
Sara Canning as Jacquelyn, Mr. Poe's standoffish assistant and a member of the Baudelaire family's secret society. She possesses a spyglass.
Patrick Breen as Larry Your-Waiter, a member of the Baudelaire family's secret society who is seen working as a waiter at various establishments the Baudelaires visit including the Anxious Clown, Prufrock Preparatory's cafeteria, and Café Salmonella.
Sara Rue as Olivia Caliban, a librarian at Prufrock Preparatory School who later enlists as a member of the Baudelaire family's secret society when she becomes invested in the Baudelaires' plight and even becomes the latest Madame Lulu.[10][16][17]
Nathan Fillion as Jacques Snicket, the dashing adventurer brother of Lemony Snicket who enlists Olivia Caliban to help the Baudelaires.[10]

text: Guest[edit]

text: Introduced in season 1[edit]

text:
Joan Cusack as Justice Strauss,[18] a judge and Count Olaf's neighbor who helps the Baudelaires and is hopeful to adopt them.
Luke Camilleri as Gustav Sebald,[14] a member of the Baudelaire family's secret society and Monty's former assistant who made some films that had certain codes in it.
Aasif Mandvi as Montgomery "Uncle Monty" Montgomery,[19] a distant relative of the Baudelaires and enthusiastic herpetologist who claims to have spent his childhood with their late parents. He is a member of the Baudelaire family's secret society and possesses a spyglass.
Matthew Walker as the Ticket Seller, an unnamed Ticket Seller at Tedia's movie theater who is a friend of Montgomery and a member of the Baudelaire family's secret society. Mark Kandborg portrays him in a flashback seen in "The Carnivorous Carnival" Pt. 1.
Alfre Woodard as Aunt Josephine Anwhistle,[20] a distant relative of the Baudelaires at Lake Lachrymose who has many rational and irrational fears since the loss of her husband Ike and a love of grammar. She is a member of the Baudelaire family's secret society.
Don Johnson as Sir,[21] the cigar-smoking owner of Lucky Smells Lumbermill.
Catherine O'Hara as Georgina Orwell,[22] an optometrist and Count Olaf's ex-girlfriend who hypnotizes the Lucky Smells Lumbermill workers so they never leave, also causing them to believe the Baudelaire parents set fire to Paltryville. O'Hara previously portrayed Justice Strauss in the 2004 film adaptation.
Rhys Darby as Charles,[12] Sir's partner who is friendly towards the Baudelaires.
Timothy Webber as Jimmy, a worker at Lucky Smells Lumbermill.
Chris Gauthier as Phil, an optimistic worker who befriends the Baudelaires during their stay at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill.
Loretta Walsh as Norma Rae, a worker at Lucky Smells Lumbermill.
Trent Redekop as Cesar, a worker at Lucky Smells Lumbermill.

text: Daniel Handler cameos as a fish head salesperson at Lake Lachrymose. Barry Sonnenfeld does a picture cameo as the late Ike Anwhistle in "The Wide Window" and appears as him in a flashback scene in "The Carnivorous Carnival" Pt. 1.[citation needed]

text: Introduced in season 2[edit]

text:
Barry Sonnenfeld as the voice of Mr. Tammerlane, a person that Arthur Poe talks to on the phone.
Roger Bart as Nero Feint, the violin-playing vice-principal of Prufrock Preparatory School and struggling musician with an egotistic personality, a talent for mimicking what someone says in a high voice, and a love for excessive punishments.[10]
Kitana Turnbull as Carmelita Spats, an obnoxious, tutu-wearing student at Prufrock Preparatory School.[23]
Bronwen Smith as Miss Tench, Prufrock Preparatory School's gym teacher who is replaced in the post by a disguised Count Olaf while on her way back to Prufrock Preparatory School with the pep squad and the sports team.[17]
Malcolm Stewart as Mr. Remora, a teacher at Prufrock Preparatory School who specializes in teaching his personal anecdotes and is always seen eating a banana.[17]
BJ Harrison as Mrs. Bass, a teacher at Prufrock Preparatory School who specializes in measuring objects. She later becomes a bank robber.[17]
Tony Hale as Jerome Squalor, the timid husband of Esmé Squalor.[10]
Sage Brocklebank as Doorman, an unnamed doorman who works at 667 Dark Avenue.
Ithamar Enriquez as Hector, a skittish handyman and citizen of the Village of Fowl Devotees who befriends the Baudelaires.[16]
Mindy Sterling as Elder Anabelle, a member of the Village of Fowl Devotees' Council of Elders who often quotes "silence" when a non-police officer and/or a non-banker consultant attempts to violate the "No one may talk while on the platform" rule.[17]
Carol Mansell as Elder Jemma, a soft-spoken member of the Village of Fowl Devotees' Council of Elders.[17]
Ken Jenkins as Elder Sam, a gruff-speaking member of the Village of Fowl Devotees' Council of Elders.[17]
Lossen Chambers as Mrs. Morrow, an inhabitant of the Village of Fowl Devotees that wears a pink robe.
Kevin Chamberlin as Mr. Lesko, an inhabitant of the Village of Fowl Devotees that wears plaid pants.
Serge Houde as Milt, the shopkeeper of the Last Chance General Store in the Hinterlands.
Gabe Khouth as Lou, the newspaper delivery boy who brings the Daily Punctilio's newspapers to the Last Chance General Store.
John Bobek as the bearded leader of the Volunteers Fighting Disease.[17]
Lauren McGibbon as the perky member of the Volunteers Fighting Disease.
Kerri Kenney-Silver as Babs, the Head of Human Resources and Hospital Administration at Heimlich Hospital.[17]
David Alan Grier as Hal, a visually-disabled file clerk who is employed in the Library of Records at Heimlich Hospital.[24]
Robbie Amell as Kevin, an ambidextrous "freak" who works at Caligari Carnival.[25]
Kevin Cahoon as Hugo, a hunchbacked "freak" who works at Caligari Carnival.[17]
Bonnie Morgan as Colette, a contortionist "freak" who works at Caligari Carnival.[17]
David Burtka as Mr. Willums, a heckler with a pimpled chin who attends Caligari Carnival. He is based on The Man With Pimples On His Chin from "The Carnivorous Carnival" book.[26]
Jill Morrison as Mrs. Willums, the wife of Mr. Willums.
Harper and Gideon Burtka-Harris as Trixie and Skip Willums, the children of Mr. Willums.[27]
Allison Williams as an as-yet-unidentified woman who arrives to see the Caligari Carnival engulfed in flames.[28]

text: Episodes[edit]

text: SeasonEpisodesOriginally released18January 13, 2017 (2017-01-13)210March 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)

tag: table

text: Season 1 (2017)[edit]

text: The first season adapts the first four books of the novel series: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window and The Miserable Mill.[29]

text:
No.overallNo. inseasonTitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date11"The Bad Beginning: Part One"[a]Barry SonnenfeldDaniel HandlerJanuary 13, 2017 (2017-01-13)
Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire receive the news that their parents have perished in a house fire from well-meaning but inept banker Arthur Poe. While exploring the ruins, Klaus finds a broken spyglass with an insignia of an eye embedded on the front. Shortly afterwards, they are sent to live with their distant relative Count Olaf, a cruel and vain amateur actor, who forces them into servitude. One night, the siblings prepare puttanesca for Olaf's theatre troupe only for him to demand roast beef upon arriving home. The children state that they were never asked to prepare roast beef, angering Olaf and prompting him to slap Klaus across the face when he protests about the sleeping arrangements. Meanwhile, a mother and father are held against their will by a mysterious captor.
22"The Bad Beginning: Part Two"[a]Barry SonnenfeldDaniel HandlerJanuary 13, 2017 (2017-01-13)
The Baudelaires attempt to convince Mr. Poe of Olaf's actions, only to be sent away when Poe dismisses their claims. When Olaf gives Violet the starring role in his latest theatrical production, which ends with the two main characters being married, the siblings realize that Olaf intends to acquire their fortune by marrying Violet for real. Klaus confronts Olaf, who threatens to kill Sunny if Violet doesn't follow through with his plans. At the very last minute, however, Violet signs the marriage certificate with her left hand, invalidating the proceedings due to the fact that she is right-handed. Mr. Poe's mysterious secretary Jacquelyn reveals they were intended to be put in the care of their distant relative Montgomery Montgomery. Meanwhile, Jacquelyn's ally Gustav is mysteriously drowned, after being hit by a poisoned dart.
33"The Reptile Room: Part One"Mark PalanskyDaniel HandlerJanuary 13, 2017 (2017-01-13)
The Baudelaires are sent to live with their herpetologist uncle Montgomery Montgomery, who has recently come across a reptile he calls the Incredibly Deadly Viper. While attempting to learn more about Montgomery, Klaus discovers that the hedge maze in Montgomery's garden is exactly the same shape as the tattoo on Olaf's ankle. Olaf poses as Montgomery's new assistant Stephano and attempts to kidnap the Baudelaires, but Monty assures the Baudelaires that he recognizes Stephano as a threat. The four arrive at a movie theatre, where Monty deciphers a code sent for him through the subtitles of the film, using a spyglass identical to Klaus'. The message instructs him to bring the children to Peru. He fires Stephano shortly afterwards, believing him to be a spy sent to steal his research.
44"The Reptile Room: Part Two"Mark PalanskyEmily FoxJanuary 13, 2017 (2017-01-13)
Immediately after dismissing "Stephano," Montgomery notices that the door to his Reptile Room is ajar and investigates, only to be attacked by an unseen figure. The next day, the Baudelaires discover Olaf standing next to Montgomery's corpse. Olaf threatens to kill Sunny unless the siblings accompany him to Peru, but is prevented from carrying out his plan when Mr. Poe accidentally crashes into their car when they are trying to leave. Olaf's theatre troupe then arrives disguised as police and nurses, and claim Monty was killed by the Incredibly Deadly Viper, despite Monty's claim of it being completely harmless. While searching for proof of the snake's innocence, Klaus discovers a statue in Monty's hedge maze, and a photograph of Monty, both of them carrying spyglasses identical to Klaus'. Violet proves Olaf to be the murderer; however, he escapes via the hedge maze with Klaus' spyglass. While pursuing him, the Baudelaires meet Jacquelyn, who is posing as a statue. She tells them to seek answers on the spyglasses from their Aunt Josephine while she hunts down Olaf via underground passageways.
55"The Wide Window: Part One"Barry SonnenfeldDaniel HandlerJanuary 13, 2017 (2017-01-13)
Mr. Poe takes the Baudelaires to live with their Aunt Josephine, an irrationally frightened woman who lives in a dilapidated house overlooking Lake Lachrymose. She refuses to answer questions about their parents, so the siblings pursue answers themselves around her house, and discover their parents were members of a secret organization, with spyglasses being used as useful devices. They are also shocked to find out that Josephine was once fierce and formidable, and developed her phobias after the death of her husband. Olaf, who has followed the Baudelaires, disguises himself as a sailor named Captain Sham before pretending to fall in love with Josephine. Despite the siblings' warnings, Josephine accepts his invitation to take her out for a fried egg sandwich. Later that night, the siblings discover that Josephine has jumped out the library's bay window and left a note informing them that "Captain Sham" is their new guardian.
66"The Wide Window: Part Two"Barry SonnenfeldDaniel HandlerJanuary 13, 2017 (2017-01-13)
As Mr. Poe prepares to hand the Baudelaires over to "Captain Sham," the siblings discover the note has several grammatical errors, something Josephine would never do since she was obsessed with proper grammar. Mr. Poe takes the children to a restaurant and prepares to complete the transfer, but allows the siblings to leave after Larry, a waiter secretly a member of their parents' organization, triggers their allergy to peppermint. After returning to the house, the siblings decipher Josephine's suicide note and discover she is still alive moments before a hurricane sends the house teetering over the cliff. Escaping with a photograph of their parents standing in front of a lumber mill, the siblings find Josephine at a nearby cave, only to be confronted by Olaf, who abandons Josephine to be eaten alive by the leeches that inhabit Lake Lachrymose. Upon returning to shore, Olaf escapes after being unmasked in front of Mr. Poe while the Baudelaires sneak away and set out to find the lumber mill in the photograph.
77"The Miserable Mill: Part One"Bo WelchJoe TraczJanuary 13, 2017 (2017-01-13)
Upon arriving at the Lucky Smells Lumber Mill, the Baudelaires are forced to work by the owner Sir, who blames their parents for starting a fire that destroyed the entire town. While investigating the workers' unnaturally happy behavior, Klaus' glasses are broken by the Hook-Handed Man posing as Foreman Flacutono, and he visits local optometrist Georgina Orwell, who puts him into a hypnotic trance. Later that day, the siblings learn that two visitors are waiting to see them. Believing that their parents are still alive, the three are shocked to instead find Orwell and her receptionist "Shirley St. Ives," who is a poorly-disguised Olaf. Meanwhile, the mother and father who were previously held captive are revealed to be the parents of the Quagmire triplets, with whom they are reunited.
88"The Miserable Mill: Part Two"Bo WelchTatiana Suarez-PicoJanuary 13, 2017 (2017-01-13)
The Baudelaires discover the entire mill is under a hypnotic trance, ensuring they do not leave their jobs. Orwell and Olaf use a still-hypnotized Klaus to murder Sir's aide Charles, but Violet figures out how to break everyone's trance in the nick of time. The workers then storm the mill, causing Orwell to fall into the furnace and die. Sir escapes in the chaos while Count Olaf and the Hook-Handed Man get away. Charles reveals the truth about the Baudelaires' role in the town, where they actually helped to fight the fire. The three siblings are reunited with Mr. Poe, and Jacquelyn sends Klaus the broken spyglass that Olaf stole from him. Poe then sends the three siblings to a dreary boarding school, which two of the three Quagmire siblings are also sent to, due to their house being burnt down by an unknown woman. The Quagmires' parents are revealed to be members of the organization. In the final scene, Lemony Snicket, Count Olaf, the Baudelaires and Mr. Poe sing the song "That's Not How the Story Goes."

text: Season 2 (2018)[edit]

text: The second season adapts books five through nine of the novel series: The Austere Academy, The Ersatz Elevator, The Vile Village, The Hostile Hospital, and The Carnivorous Carnival.[32]

text:
No.overallNo. inseasonTitle [b]Directed byWritten byOriginal release date91"The Austere Academy: Part 1"Barry SonnenfeldDaniel HandlerMarch 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
The Baudelaires are introduced to life at Prufrock Preparatory School, an unpleasant institution run by an unpleasant vice-principal named Nero and terrorized by an equally unpleasant student named Carmelita Spats. The school's only redeeming qualities are its friendly librarian Olivia Caliban and the surviving Quagmire triplets Duncan and Isadora. During a lunch break, Klaus and Isadora discover that they are holding two halves of the same spyglass. The newfound friends quickly realize that they must track down a book on secret organizations to find the answers they seek—a book Jacquelyn sent Larry to give them, but which he carelessly misplaced. Meanwhile, Count Olaf and his troupe lurk around the grounds of the school, unable to enter the front doors due to an advanced computer system programmed by Nero to detect Olaf's presence. However, with Carmelita's help, Olaf finally gains entry and locks Larry in the cafeteria's walk-in refrigerator. He then dons his latest disguise: the school's new turban-wearing gym teacher named Coach Genghis.
102"The Austere Academy: Part 2"Barry SonnenfeldJoe TraczMarch 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
Olaf is able to convince Nero to put the Baudelaires under a grueling exercise program, making the siblings run endless laps at night to prevent them from scheming against him, while also causing them to perform poorly in class from lack of sleep. Due to their slumping grades, Nero threatens to expel the Baudelaires if they fail a comprehensive exam to be given in front of the entire school, but because they must still exercise under Olaf's program, they know they will likely fail. The Quagmires offer to help, and that night take their place during exercises; however, their identity is discovered, and while hiding in the library, they find the copy of the book on secret organizations and read up on the purpose of the spyglass before they are caught by the Hook-Handed Man. The next day, with Mr. Poe in attendance, the Baudelaires readily pass the exam, and through it reveal Olaf's identity. Olaf and his gang then escape with the Quagmires, who try to shout the initials "V.F.D." from the backseat of Olaf's car. Meanwhile, Larry is rescued from the refrigerator with the help of Lemony's brother, Jacques, while Olivia walks off with the book on secret organizations that the Quagmires left behind.
113"The Ersatz Elevator: Part 1"Bo WelchDaniel HandlerMarch 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
While a citywide manhunt for Count Olaf is underway, Mr. Poe takes the Baudelaires to the penthouse of Jerome Squalor and his trendy financial advisor wife Esmé. While being introduced to the Squalors, they find Olaf has already arrived, posing as a foreign auctioneer named Gunther. The Baudelaires theorize that Olaf is trying to kill Jerome so that he can marry Esmé and become their legal guardian again. They search the penthouse for the Quagmires to no avail, but Klaus becomes suspicious of an extra elevator that only seems to serve the penthouse. Meanwhile, Olivia tries to convince Mr. Poe about Olaf's scheme, which leads Jacquelyn to contact Jacques, who enlists her into their society. Esmé suggests they go out for lunch at a fashionable salmon-themed restaurant Cafe Salmonella, where Larry works to prolong their visit, giving Jacques and Olivia time to search the Squalor's building for the Quagmires. When the Baudelaires manage to sneak away and examine the second elevator, they learn that it is merely an empty shaft. With a makeshift parachute, they descend it to find the Quagmires locked in a cage at its bottom.
124"The Ersatz Elevator: Part 2"Bo WelchDaniel HandlerMarch 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
The Baudelaires do not have the tools to free the Quagmires, so they ascend the shaft by turning the parachute into a hot-air balloon. They try to warn Esmé of Olaf's scheme, but learn too late that she is in cahoots with him and that they are planning to smuggle the Quagmires out of the city. Esmé pushes them down the elevator shaft, where they are caught in a net midway down. Sunny helps them to escape safely, and afterwards they find a secret passage that leads to the ashen ruins of their home. At the auction in Veblen Hall, the Baudelaires start a bidding war on a box labeled "V.F.D.", which they believe contains the Quagmires. Though they win the item, they find the box contains only doilies. In the aftermath, Olaf and his troupe escape with the Quagmires, who are hidden inside a red herring statue. The Baudelaires ask Jerome to help track down Olaf, but he is far too timid to do so, and gives up his guardianship of them. Mr. Poe tells the children that a village with the initials "V.F.D." is willing to raise them.
135"The Vile Village: Part 1"Barry SonnenfeldSigrid GilmerMarch 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
Mr. Poe drops the Baudelaires off at the Village of Fowl Devotees, where the whole community will care for them collectively. The Baudelaires take up residence with Hector, a kindly handyman prone to fainting spells who is secretly building a self-sustaining hot-air mobile home. The Baudelaires soon begin finding clues written by the Quagmires themselves. Olaf, Esmé, and the troupe also arrive at the village, with Esmé disguising herself as the town's new chief of police. Jacques and Olivia also arrive and detain Olaf at the local jailhouse; the next day, the villagers learn of Olaf's capture and hold a town hall meeting, where Olaf appears in the disguise of Detective Dupin, tricking everyone into believing Jacques is Olaf. Jacques is sentenced to death, but Olivia convinces Esmé to free her and Jacques in exchange for the location of the Sugar Bowl, an object with ties to Esmé's past. Jacques stays behind to confront Olaf; however, the villain is unfazed by Jacques' offer of a truce, and he and Esmé incapacitate and kill him. The next morning, as the Baudelaires try to break into the jail to rescue Jacques, they are informed that "Olaf" has been murdered.
146"The Vile Village: Part 2"Barry SonnenfeldSigrid GilmerMarch 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
The disguised Olaf and Esmé quickly convince Mr. Poe and the town that the Baudelaires murdered Jacques/"Olaf," and they are promptly condemned to be burned at the stake. While in jail, the children instruct Hector to prepare his hot-air mobile home to help them escape. While Violet creates a battering ram to weaken the jail wall, Klaus deduces from their clues that the Quagmires are hidden inside a crow fountain in the village square. Larry and Jacquelyn arrive on the scene to distract the villagers long enough for the children to escape via a fire truck and follow Hector. The Baudelaires cover for the Quagmires as they use the truck's ladder to climb aboard the mobile home. As they do so, Olaf, Esmé, and the villagers arrive, and Esmé begins damaging Hector's home with a harpoon gun. Realizing their danger, the Baudelaires tell Hector to escape with the Quagmires. In thanks, the Quagmires try to throw their friends their notes about the secrets of V.F.D., but Esmé shoots them with a harpoon, scattering the pages and harming a crow. While the villagers accost the disguised villains over the injured bird, the Baudelaires collect as many of the ruined pages as they can and make their escape.
157"The Hostile Hospital: Part 1"Allan ArkushJoshua ConkelMarch 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
The Baudelaires hitch a ride with volunteer singing candy stripers heading to Heimlich Hospital. They learn that there is a Library of Records that collects and stores esoterica. After sneaking past the hospital's administrator Babs, they meet Hal, the man who runs the library. He welcomes their help, but forbids them to read material in storage. While Hal shows them the ropes, a film reel labeled "Snicket" arrives and catches the children's attention. Meanwhile, believing the Sugar Bowl to be in the hospital, Olaf and his troupe infiltrate the building. Desperate for answers, the children are forced to steal Hal's keys to access the library, where they find the film. It contains a debriefing of Jacques by a V.F.D. volunteer, with Jacques informing the interviewer that someone has survived a fire, which may or may not be the one that killed the Baudelaire's parents. However, before they can watch any further, they are interrupted by Esmé; as they try to escape, the library is ruined. Violet is captured by Olaf while Klaus and Sunny hide in a chute, in possession of the film.
168"The Hostile Hospital: Part 2"Allan ArkushJoshua ConkelMarch 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
Olaf and Esmé hide Violet under a false name; to find her, Klaus disguises himself as "Dr. Faustus," with Sunny hidden in a sling underneath his coat. They eventually deduce which room Violet is in, but this is a trap laid by Olaf, who forces Klaus to operate on Violet inside an operating theater. Esmé promises to call off the scheme if Klaus can give her what he stole from the Library of Records, and he does so—only, it's not the Sugar Bowl that she has been searching for. Olaf, however, is interested in the Snicket film, and dashes off to watch it to learn its secret. Furious at its revelations, he burns the film, which also starts a fire in the hospital. The Baudelaires successfully evacuate the hospital and realize that their only chance to escape safely is in the trunk of Olaf's car. Hal is left depressed over the loss of the Library of Records. Elsewhere, an unknown person recovers the Sugar Bowl from the burning hospital.
179"Carnivorous Carnival: Part 1"[c]Loni PeristereJoe TraczMarch 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
A flashback to a masked ball at the V.F.D. headquarters shows Lemony trying to warn Beatrice about Olaf. In the present, Olaf and his troupe arrive at the Caligari Carnival to speak with its fortune-teller, Madame Lulu, about the fire's survivor. Lulu, who is really Olivia in disguise, tells them to wait for the answer in the morning. The Baudelaires overhear this, and hoping to speak to Lulu as well, assume the identities of circus freaks, with Violet and Klaus as a two-headed person and Sunny as a wolf child. After calling V.F.D., Olivia is able to tell Olaf the next day that one of the Baudelaire parents did indeed survive the fire. Olaf then presents a freak show that proves disastrous, so he sets off to find a pack of roaming lions to help attract a larger crowd. This gives an opportunity for the children to sneak into Lulu's tent, where they discover films, books, and disguises belonging to the Volunteer Fire Department—the secret organization their parents and guardians belonged to. Olivia then appears and reveals her true identity to them.
1810"Carnivorous Carnival: Part 2"[c]Loni PeristereJoe TraczMarch 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
Olivia explains to the Baudelaires that "Madame Lulu" is an alias used by V.F.D. agents to gather information. While Olivia admits she had to lie to Olaf about one of the children's parents surviving the fire, Jacques had asserted that there was a survivor, and they should head to the V.F.D. headquarters in the Mortmain Mountains to find them. Meanwhile, Olaf plans to throw one of the freaks into a pit filled with the hungry lions he has corralled, while Esmé connives to have Lulu killed. The next day, Olaf selects Violet and Klaus for the pit. When Olivia is told to push the children to the lions, she instead pushes them to safety, and is sent tumbling into the pit by Olaf for her troubles. As the children try to collect the V.F.D. materials from Lulu's tent, Olaf arrives and forces them to burn the tent down. Then, after placing Violet and Klaus in a towed caravan and taking Sunny in his car, Olaf has the other freaks cut the towing rope on a steep mountain path. At the same time, the last operative to pose as Madame Lulu arrives at the burning carnival as Lemony Snicket claims that she is someone he knows.

text: Season 3[edit]

text: The third season will adapt the final four books of the novel series[32] in seven episodes: The Slippery Slope, The Grim Grotto and The Penultimate Peril will be adapted into two episodes each, and The End will conclude the series with a longer single episode.[35] Barry Sonnenfeld will direct the episodes for The Penultimate Peril.[35] Liza Johnson and Jonathan Teplitzky will also direct episodes in the season.[36][37][38]

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: The thirteen A Series of Unfortunate Events novels, written by Daniel Handler under the pen name Lemony Snicket from 1999 to 2006, achieved success in young adult fiction around the same time as the Harry Potter novels. As such, the Snicket books had been optioned to be filmed before they were published.[39] This led to the development of a 2004 feature film, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, which covered the narratives of the first three novels in the series. Barry Sonnenfeld, who has expressed his love for the series, was originally slated to direct the feature film, and had hired Handler to write the screenplay.[40] About 10 months into production, shortly after the casting of Jim Carrey as Olaf, there was a "big crisis", according to Handler, which caused producer Scott Rudin to walk away and Sonnenfeld left the production under unclear terms.[39] With the film's completion in flux, its producing studios Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks fired Handler. While the film was eventually completed and released, sequels which would adapt the other novels in the series became unlikely due to "corporate shakeups" within DreamWorks, according to Handler, and the child actors that portrayed the Baudelaire children grew too old to star in a sequel.[40]

text: In November 2014, Netflix, in association with Paramount Television, announced its plans to adapt the novels into an original television series, with the author of the series, Daniel Handler, serving as executive producer.[41]

text: In September 2015, it was announced that Barry Sonnenfeld and Mark Hudis had agreed to helm the series. Hudis would serve as showrunner, Sonnenfeld as director, and both as executive producers,[42] with Handler writing some of the scripts along with working with the series' writing team.[32] However, in January 2016, Netflix announced that Hudis had left the project, with a replacement showrunner not named at the time.[4]

text: The first season consists of eight episodes,[5] with two episodes adapting each of the first four books of the series.[29] Handler considered this more in line with how he had written the books in the manner of a serialized melodrama, citing The Perils of Pauline as one of his influences in writing the book series.[43] In January 2017, Handler revealed that he was writing the series' second season, to consist of ten episodes adapting the fifth through ninth books of the series. A third season would adapt the remaining novels of the series, which Handler hoped "to get the go-ahead to do" since "given how quickly young actors age and change, we're trying to film everything as quickly as possible."[32] In March 2017, Netflix revealed the series had been renewed for a second season by releasing a video on their social media pointing to a viral marketing website, where a letter written by Snicket revealed the decision.[44] A month later, the series was "quietly" renewed for a third season,[45] which Harris confirmed would be the final one for the series.[46]

text: Casting[edit]

text: On December 3, 2015, an open casting call was announced for the roles of Violet and Klaus Baudelaire.[47] In January 2016, Netflix announced that Neil Patrick Harris had been cast as Count Olaf and Malina Weissman and Louis Hynes were cast as Violet and Klaus.[4][6] Handler had first considered Harris for the role of Olaf after seeing him perform the opening number "It's Not Just for Gays Anymore", at the 65th Tony Awards in 2011, noting "I just immediately saw someone who could pull off a million things at once" as was necessary for the character of Olaf, who utilizes various disguises and accents in his quest to steal the Baudelaire fortune.[48]

text: In March 2016, K. Todd Freeman was cast as Mr. Poe,[7] followed shortly after by the casting of Patrick Warburton as Lemony Snicket,[5] and Aasif Mandvi as Uncle Monty.[19] In September 2016, it was revealed that Dylan Kingwell and Avi Lake were cast as the Quagmire siblings, Duncan and Isadora, respectively.[11] In November 2016, Handler revealed Catherine O'Hara, Don Johnson, and Alfre Woodard had been cast as Dr. Georgina Orwell,[22] Sir,[21] and Aunt Josephine, respectively;[20] O'Hara had previously portrayed Justice Strauss in the 2004 film adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events.[22] It was also revealed that Presley Smith would play Sunny Baudelaire,[8] whose quasi-nonsensical lines are voiced by Tara Strong,[9] and Rhys Darby would play Charles, Sir's partner.[12]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Production began in May 2016 in Vancouver, British Columbia,[49][50] and in August 2016 several cast members expressed through social media that filming had finished.[51] Filming for the second season began in April 2017.[52] The third season began filming on January 5, 2018.[53]

text: One aspect of the series of books that the production team wanted to be captured in the series was the notion of a lack of specific time period or geography for the settings; Handler stated that he wrote enough for establishing set pieces, but purposely left more specific details vague "in order for young readers to fill in the blanks themselves." Sonnenfeld wanted to capture that same sense of ambiguous time and place, and he and his team worked to try to define a set of subjective rules of what elements could be included. Sonnenfeld brought on Bo Welch, production designer for Edward Scissorhands, which Handler considered to capture the same sense of a "familiar but completely imaginary" suburban setting he had in mind for his books. While the production team used computer-generated imagery where needed, they attempted to avoid this use where possible, such as by using large painted backdrops, by key scenic artist John E. Wilcox, rather than employing green screen filming.[43]

text: Music[edit]

text: In April 2016, Nick Urata was initially reported to be composing music for the series.[54] Once the first season was released, it was revealed that Urata collaborated with Daniel Handler to compose the main title theme, "Look Away", as well as various original songs that appear throughout the series, with Handler contributing the lyrics. The first season's original score was composed by James Newton Howard, with his frequent collaborators Sven Faulconer and Chris Bacon filling in to score certain episodes.[55] In the second season, Jim Dooley joined the production as composer and subsequently wrote the music for all ten episodes.[56]

text: "Look Away", the theme song for the opening titles of the series, is performed by Neil Patrick Harris.[55] In keeping with the tone of the book series, the song warns the viewer against continuing to watch the unpleasant story any further.[57] The lyrics of one verse of the song change for each pair of episodes, comprising a brief synopsis of those episodes' premise. [58]

text: Visual effects[edit]

text: Zoic Studios created visual effects for the series, including the effects for many of Sunny Baudelaire's actions.[59] Tippett Studio also did work on the series, including the effects for the destruction of Josephine's house, landscape shots of Lake Lachrymose and some of the more movement heavy Sunny Baudelaire shots.[60]

text: Release[edit]

text: All eight episodes of the first season of A Series of Unfortunate Events were released worldwide on Netflix on January 13, 2017,[18] in Ultra HD 4K.[61] The second season was released on March 30, 2018.[62]

text: Marketing[edit]

text: On July 5, 2015 a video titled "An Unfortunate Teaser" was uploaded to YouTube by a user named "Eleanora Poe". Netflix quickly released a statement saying "This was not released from Netflix." Media outlets were almost unanimous in agreement that the trailer was fan-made.[63][64][65][66] However, Caitlin Petrakovitz of CNET argued that the trailer may be real and that Netflix's carefully worded denial was a marketing campaign, noting the user name "Eleanora Poe" being the same as a character from the series, and that a vinyl record seen in the trailer was of The Gothic Archies, a band who provided the theme music for the audio books of A Series of Unfortunate Events.[67] The trailer was later revealed to be a spec promo, similar to a spec script, by an independent commercial director, whom Netflix contracted to make a title sequence for the series after the video's popularity, though they did not go ahead with the concept.[68]

text: In October 2016, Netflix released the first teaser trailer for A Series of Unfortunate Events, where Warburton narrates the events of the series as Lemony Snicket.[18] A trailer, featuring footage from the series and Neil Patrick Harris's character, Count Olaf, was released by Netflix in November 2016,[69] followed shortly by the first full trailer.[8] The second trailer was released in December 2016,[70] followed by a "holiday-themed" trailer from Count Olaf leading fans to a viral marketing website for the fictional Valorous Farms Dairy, which featured four holiday e-cards for download.[71]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Audience viewership[edit]

text: As Netflix does not reveal subscriber viewership numbers for any of their original series, Symphony Technology Group compiled data for the first season based on people using software on their devices that measure television viewing by detecting a program's sound. According to Symphony, 3.755 million viewers age 18-49 were watching an episode of A Series of Unfortunate Events over the average minute in its first weekend of release.[72]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: Season 1[edit]

text: The first season of A Series of Unfortunate Events received critical acclaim. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the season an approval rating of 94% based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Enjoyably dark, A Series of Unfortunate Events matches the source material's narrative as well as its tone, leaving viewers with a wonderfully weird, dry, gothic comedy."[73] On Metacritic the season has a score of 81 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[74]

text: Erik Adams of The A.V. Club awarded the season a B and praised it for treating "mature themes like grief, loss, and disappointment with sardonic honesty." Adams compared the program positively to the Adam West Batman series, calling it "kids stuff with adult sophistication, driven by two-part stories, outrageous visuals, and the scenery-chewing of big-name guest stars".[75] Ben Travers of Indiewire gave the series an A-, saying that it "proves as inspirational and endearing as it claims to be forlorn and heartbreaking". Brian Lowry of CNN praised the showrunners for "infusing the show with a lemony-fresh feel, conjuring a series similar to the fantastical tone of Pushing Daisies". Lowry wrote that "the show proves a good deal of fun" and that "Harris dives into his over-the-top character with considerable gusto." He also argued that the series improved upon the 2004 film.[76]

text: Several critics praised the television series as a better adaptation of the books than the 2004 feature film, which starred Jim Carrey as Count Olaf. Kelly Lawler of USA Today felt the television format gave the stories more room to develop, the addition of Warburton as the fourth wall-breaking Snicket helped to convey some of the wordplay humor used in the books, and Harris's portrayal of Olaf was "much more dynamic, and creepier" than Carrey's version.[77] The Verge's Chaim Gartenburg said that the show follows the books much more faithfully than the film, and "nails down the tone that made the stories so special".[78] Los Angeles Times writer Robert Lloyd felt that the backgrounds of Sonnenfeld and Welch made them "the right people for this job, set in a milieu that is hard to fix in time, except to say it is not now", in capturing the tones of the book compared to the feature film.[79]

text: Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com, on the other hand, gave the series a negative review, calling it "an unfunny parody of sadness" that is "never as clever as it wants to be" and would only appeal to fans of the books.[80] Caroline Framke of Vox Media praised the series for its unique and weird visuals, but found the show's tone, pacing and performances to be haphazard and considered the show to be "literally, a series of unfortunate events".[81]

text: Season 2[edit]

text: As with the first season, the second season received critical acclaim. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the second season an approval rating of 100% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Season two of A Series of Unfortunate Events is as gothic, twisted and absurd as the first, to the delight of moody tweens of all ages."[82] Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent praised the show as one that "essentially deals with thoughtful, intelligent young people battling to speak up against an illogical world." While observing that the "show may revel in the miserable", she opined "that the purpose of its own morbidity is to offer the assurance that hope lives in even the darkest of places." Loughrey also credited the show's expanded storyline for the Baudelaires' adult allies for "plumping up" the episodes' narrative arcs and deepening the show's emotional impact.[83]

text: Tristram Fane Saunders of The Telegraph awarded the second season four out of five stars. He described the show as a "gothic treat [that] also offers a wicked line in absurdist humour, and the most gorgeously toybox-like set designs you’ll find anywhere outside a Wes Anderson film."[84] Radio Times reviewer Huw Fullerton praised the series for its faithfulness to the original novels. While praising the improved CGI used to make Presley Smith's character Sunny Baudelaire react better to situations, he criticized the addition of supporting "good" characters such as Nathan Fillion's Jacques Snicket and Sara Canning's Jacquelyn for "undercutting the bleakness and loneliness that characterized the novels."[85]

text: Rohan Naahar of the Hindustan Times described A Series of Unfortunate Events as "one of the most lavish originals in Netflix's bottomless catalogue, created by fans, for fans."  He also praised Neil Patrick Harris' performance as Count Olaf.[86] The Den of Geek reviewer Michael Ahr praised tortoise-shell 'amphibiophones' and stone marimbas score for giving the television series its primal sound.[87] IGN reviewer Jonathon Dornbush criticized the second season's formulaic plot structure and lack of the insightful observations compared to the first season. He also praised several of the second season's episodes particularly "The Ersatz Elevator", "The Hostile Hospital", and "The Carnivorous Carnival" for smartly twisting the story formula and deepening the novel series' mythology. Dornbush also praised the performance of guest stars such as Lucy Punch and Patrick Warburton and awarded the second season 7.2 stars.[88]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
Year

Award

Category

Nominee

Result

Ref

2017

Leo Awards

Best Visual Effects in a Dramatic Series

Luis Alejandro Guevara, Bob Habros, Cale Jacox, Ron Simonson, Jeffrey De Guzman

Nominated

[89]

Best Make-Up in a Dramatic Series

Rita Ciccozzi, Krista Seller, Tanya Hudson, Gitte Axen

Won

Best Hairstyling in a Dramatic Series

Julie Mchaffie, Dianne Holme, Jenine Lehfeldt

Won

Best Guest Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series

Sara Canning

Nominated

Saturn Awards

Best New Media Television Series

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Nominated

[90]

Creative Arts Emmy Awards

Outstanding Music Composition for a Series

James Newton Howard

Nominated

[91]

Gold Derby TV Awards

Comedy Actor

Neil Patrick Harris

Nominated

[92]

Hollywood Music in Media Awards

Main Title Theme – TV Show/Limited Series

Nick Urata and Daniel Handler

Won

[93]

Peabody Awards

Children's & Youth Programming

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Won

[94]

69th Primetime Emmy Awards

Music Composition For A Series (Original Dramatic Score)

James Newton Howard

Nominated

[95]

2018

Satellite Awards

Best Actor in a Series - Comedy or Musical

Neil Patrick Harris

Nominated

[96]

70th Primetime Emmy Awards

Outstanding Children's Program

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Pending

[97]

70th Primetime Emmy Awards

Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes

"The Vile Village: Part 1"

Pending

[98]

text: Notes[edit]

text:
^ Jump up to: a b Netflix and critics name the first two episodes as "The Bad Beginning", following the title of the book, while the episode itself displays the name of "A Bad Beginning" after the opening credits.[30][31]

Jump up ^ Netflix names the episodes of the second season as Part 1 and Part 2, while the episodes themselves display the names as Part One and Part Two after the opening credits, following the format of the first season.

^ Jump up to: a b Netflix names the ninth and tenth episodes as "Carnivorous Carnival", while the episodes themselves display the name of "The Carnivorous Carnival" after the opening credits, following the title of the book.[33][34]