TV Talk: Filmed-in-Pittsburgh ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ debuts 2nd season

PASADENA, Calif. – Paramount+ series “Mayor of Kingstown” filmed its second season in Pittsburgh, and viewers can see the results when season two begins streaming episodes weekly Sunday.

My first impression: Kingstown, Mich., has a lot more bridges in season two than it had in season one, which filmed in Ontario, Canada.

“We just showed them more (in season two),” said “Kingstown” star and executive producer Hugh Dillon. “We just leaned into it.”

Kennywood’s roller coasters also can be seen in the background of some scenes.

Jeremy Renner stars in “Mayor of Kingstown” as Mike McLusky who, with his brother, Kyle (Taylor Handley), are Kingstown, Mich., power brokers in a town whose economy depends on local prisons.

Production on season two wrapped late last year before Renner’s New Year’s Day snowplow accident. Renner has been posting to social media about his recovery, and Dillon has been keeping tabs on his pal.

“I got a text from him less than 20 hours after it happened,” Dillon said. “And he sent me the funniest, most profane video I’ve ever seen in my life. And this guy is in a hospital bed! So instantly I’m relieved. He knows everybody’s going to worry, and he makes me laugh. That guy is unstoppable. He’s a force of nature and he’s a comeback kid.”

As for the move to Pittsburgh, Dillon said he scouted Pittsburgh before season one, but he’s from Kingston, Ontario, where season one filmed.

“We wanted to scale up for season two,” Dillon said. “Pittsburgh had all of these decommissioned prisons. And when I scouted it (again for season two), I just fell in love with it. That place is it. We got 10 seasons mapped out. So yeah, we’re not leaving. ‘Kingstown’ will never leave Pittsburgh.”

Season two picks up in the aftermath of the prison riot that ended the show’s first season. Prisoners are now in an outdoor tent camp that Pittsburghers will recognize was filmed at Carrie Furnace. “Kingstown” also filmed extensively at SCI Pittsburgh and some at SCI Greensburg.

For lake scenes, the crew traveled to Lake Erie, and they’ll use season-one establishing shots of some locations, including the house where Miriam McLusky (Dianne Wiest) lives while the home’s interior was reconstructed on the show’s stages in Warrendale (“Kingstown” was the first non-Netflix show to use those stages).

Other locations include St. Mary’s Ukrainian Church in McKees Rocks, Hartwood Acres Mansion, Station Brake Café in Wilmerding and the City County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh.

“We fell in love with all of those locations,” Dillon said. “They were above and beyond anything that you could ask for in terms of how they look and the cinematic quality.”

He also praised Pittsburgh production workers.

“They are exceptional. All those people are committed; they’re driven,” he said. “This is not an easy show. And they had a sense of humor. They love Jeremy Renner. I love that crew.”

As for the plot of season two, Dillon encourages fans to buckle up.

“It’s so unpredictable and that’s a testament to (series co-creator) Taylor Sheridan,” Dillon said. “It’s uncomfortable. It’s uncompromising. This year, we’re getting a little more intimate with our characters. Last year, we were seeing who they are. This year, we’re dialing into a bit more of the why. Sometimes their actions are disturbing. And that’s what makes for this uncomfortable storytelling, and that’s why it’s the most dangerous show on television right now.”

“Kingstown” maintains its rough edges. In the first two episodes made available for review, characters are shot to death, beaten to death and mauled to death.

While one might imagine challenges in moving five hours south of Toronto to film the show’s second season, Dillon said the bigger hurdle was getting the show made in the first place.

Dillon and Sheridan, the impresario of the “Yellowstone” constellation of shows on Paramount Network and Paramount+, met more than a decade ago. Both were actors with Sheridan serving as Dillon’s acting coach on 75 episodes of the 2008-12 Canadian/CBS series “Flashpoint.”

“The challenge was the 10 years Taylor and I had that (‘Mayor of Kingstown’) script in a drawer,” Dillon said. “And in that 10 years, we wrote episode two, three, four and five, and we built 10 seasons of ideas and where the characters go and what happens and where’s it going to end.”

Neither Sheridan nor “Kingstown” executive producer and Pittsburgh native Antoine Fuqua made it to the Pittsburgh set during the production of season two, but Dillon said Sheridan weighed in remotely.

“Taylor is the last word on everything,” Dillon said. “He’s uncompromising. And he just intuitively knows the show. Everything’s run by him, even costumes, locations. Taylor loved Carrie Furnace. We showed him pictures and intuitively, he’s like, ‘Carrie Furnace, that’s it.’ ”

Sheridan cast Dillon in “Yellowstone” and then killed off his character once “Mayor of Kingstown” got a green light.

“Taylor’s built so much heart and hope into these (‘Kingstown’) characters, in this world,” said Dillon, a former punk rock singer and recovering heroin addict. “That guy’s the most loyal (person) I’ve ever met in my life next to me. And he just taught me so much. And I trust him. And that got me here.”

Kept/canceled

CBS ordered a third season of “Ghosts.”

Paramount+ picked up a second season of “Criminal Minds: Evolution.”

Netflix renewed “Mo” for a second and final season.

Starz picked up season two of “Minx” after HBO Max canceled it.

FX says the upcoming fifth season of “Mayans M.C.” premiering later this year will be its last.

Channel surfing

CBS will import the recent ITV interview with the Duke of Sussex with “Harry: The Interview” (8 p.m. Sunday, KDKA-TV). … Compared to its last telecast in 2021, ratings for Tuesday’s Golden Globes were down 9% in viewers (6.3 million viewers) and down 26% in adults 18-49.