‘Gaslit’ & ‘The White House Plumbers’: TV Takes on Watergate in 2022 | Entertainment

Fifty years after the infamous 1972 break-in of Democrats’ headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, DC, two very different series chronicle the scandal that led to the historic resignation of disgraced President Richard Nixon.

Below we take a look.

gas lit

The facility: Centered on Unlikely Whistleblower Martha Mitchell, the anthology drama series adapts its eight-episode first season from the Slate podcast Slow Burn.

Of the Producer of … US psychological thriller Mr. Robot from 2015-19.

Power Player: Julia Roberts (above left) plays the brash socialite, wife of Nixon reelection campaign chairman John Mitchell (Sean Penn).

Find the metaphor! Martha was violently silenced by the administration. Then her husband helped launch a smear campaign portraying her as mentally ill.

The White House plumbers

The facility: The five-episode limited series, which focuses on burglar masterminds G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt, is adapted from insider Egil Krogh’s memoir Integrity.

Of the Producer of … HBO’s 2012-19 Emmy-winning political satire Veep.

Power Player: Woody Harrelson (above right) and Justin Theroux play the clumsy heads of the White House Special Investigations Unit.

Find the metaphor! These fixers, who called themselves plumbers because their job was to stop leaks, sent their careers to the toilet.

gas lit, TBA, Starz

The White House Plumbers, TBA, HBO

This is an excerpt from the 2022 preview issue of TV Guide Magazine. You can find more insider information about the TV and streaming offerings for the new year in the kiosk edition.