Category: TV Dramas (Page 172 of 235)

Showtime has it goin’ on

July 31, 2007 /

Over the last several years, Showtime has developed original programming in the same vein as HBO (edgy content in compact seasons), only the network doesn’t get nearly as much publicity.

I can heartily endorse three Showtime series that are now out on DVD, making them a great option for those waiting for the traditional fall season to start. “Weeds” stars the ever-sexy Mary Louise-Parker as Nancy, a suburban widow forced to sell marijuana in order to keep up her family’s lifestyle. Kevin Nealon and Elizabeth Perkins co-star as residents in her tract-housing neighborhood. The show is reminiscent of “American Beauty,” only funnier, and with a lot more cannabis. Justin Kirk is hilarious as Andy, Nancy’s irresponsible brother-in-law.

“Dexter” is a cop show unlike any other. No procedures, just the title character (played by Michael C. Hall, formerly of “Six Feet Under”), who is – get this – a serial killer who only kills serial killers. Over the course of the first season, we learn about how Dexter was “born,” and dive deep into his past as he wrestles with his demons. It’s a compelling and unique take on the crime drama.

Fans of “The Wire” or “The Black Donnellys” should check out “Brotherhood,” the story of two Irish brothers on the opposite side of the law in Providence, Rhode Island. One is an influential state congressman, while the other is moving up in organized crime. As the first season wears on, their lives become more and more intertwined. Most of the members of the fine ensemble cast aren’t well known, but the lovely Annabeth Gish plays the unhappy and secretive wife of the congressman.

Lastly, “The Tudors” (which just wrapped the first season and is not yet out on DVD) stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers as a young King Henry VIII who tries to extract himself from his marriage (in order to be with his love, Anne Boleyn). Not unike HBO’s “Rome,” the first season shows how the personal lives of royalty and politicians can affect the course of a country. The ensemble cast is anchored by Sam Neill, who portrays the powerful and ambitious Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. By the end of the season, I was scouring Wikipedia for information about the characters; it’s not a bad way to learn a bit of history.

August 13th is the premiere of the promising “Californication,” a dramedy that stars David Duchovny as a single writer who must balance his career with his daughter, his ex-wife and his appetite for beautiful women.

They say you can’t outfox a fox, but with HBO staples “The Sopranos,” “Six Feet Under,” “Deadwood” and “Rome” going off the air, and “The Wire” soon to follow, Showtime just might be out-HBO’ing HBO.

It’s not TV. It’s Showtime.

External Entertainment, External TV, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas, TV DVDs

TCA Press Tour: SET VISIT – “The Closer” / “Heroes”

July 26, 2007 /

Maybe some of the other TCA members are just jaded old hands, but one of the most shocking things I heard during the course of the entire 2+ weeks of the press tour came on the day that we were invited to tour the sets of various TV shows. We’d just finished being given a tour of the “Heroes” set by the stars of the show – mine was mostly hosted by Greg Grunberg, but Ali Larter, James Kyson Lee (Ando), Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah), and series creator Tim Kring were all along for the ride – and were provided the opportunity to have access to the entire cast for several minutes worth of Q&A, and we were sitting on the bus, and, suddenly, I hear someone say, “Well, I don’t know why we had to waste time with that set tour; I’d much rather have had more opportunities for one-on-one interviews.”

Are you kidding me? I’m sorry, but, to be perfectly blunt about it, that shit was awesome! Even if I’d been given the opportunity to do so, I’d totally have passed on more one-on-one time in favor of the set tour! I mean, I stood in Isaac’s studio, right on top of the painting of the apocalypse that’s on the floor. I was in Mohinder’s pad and saw the actual string-laden map on the chalkboard. Are you telling me that’s worth trading away?

RIDICULOUS!

Ahem.

So, anyway, yeah, we went on a bunch of set visits. First up was TNT’s “The Closer,” and…well, look, I don’t know about any of ya’ll, but I’ve never been on the set of a TV show, and, personally, I was astounded at the level of detail. Yeah, I know, you see the stuff on the screen when you’re watching the show, but, somehow, I just didn’t think it would look so…I dunno…real.

I got a few minutes with J.K. Simmons and G.W. Bailey; the former talked about he’d been pitched the idea of playing J. Jonah Jameson by Sam Raimi while they were working on “The Gift” together, while the latter was in the midst of reminiscing about a guest shot he did on “Benson” when he kiddingly reprimanded another writer for tapping the bobblehead – one of himself, as it happens – on his desk. (That event, by the way, led him into a lengthy discussion about the evolution of his character’s ongoing quirk of despising anyone putting anything on his desk.) Kyra Sedwick was definitely in the house, but she was so swarmed by writers that I didn’t get to talk to her solo; I did, however, lean in and get a few quotes as she responded to other people’s questions. Accordingly, she was in her character’s office as she fielded their questions, and, as I walked out the office door, I walked right into Raymond Cruz, who plays Detective Sanchez. I introduced myself, and we chatted for a couple of minutes…and when I referred to Bullz-Eye as “the guys’ portal to the web,” he immediately decided that, with a title like that, he was going to have to check it out.

I continued to wander ’round the set, walking past Corey Reynolds (Sgt. Gabriel), Robert Gossett (Commander Taylor), Jon Tenney (Agent Fritz Howard), Anthony John Denison (Det. Andy Flynn), and Michael Paul Chan (Detective Mike Tao), all in conversations with various writers, but before I could really get into conversation with anyone else, we got the call-up to head out. On our way out the door, we were provided with…well, I’ll hold off on discussing the swag I scored, mostly because I’m planning to do a whole piece about the stuff I scored during the course of the tour. But, still, it was nice stuff.

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Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, Fall TV Preview, Heroes, News, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

TCA Press Tour: No, we don’t know why they didn’t call it “Canterbury’s Tales,” either…

July 26, 2007 /

I’ve always liked Julianna Margulies. She was great on “E.R.,” of course, but she’s also done brief guest-starring turns on shows from “Scrubs” to “The Sopranos” where she managed to make an impact in only a very few episodes. And, of course, let us not forget her role as spunky stewardess…sorry, flight attendant…Claire Miller in “Snakes on a Plane.” But, at least on the surface, I’m not getting a whole lot off “Canterbury’s Law” that makes me think, “This will be Margulies’ triumphant return to television!”

I mean, it’s a lawyer show. There are already a lot of lawyer shows. Will this really stand out? I mean, Marguilies’ character – Elizabeth Canterbury – is described as “a rebellious female defense attorney who puts her career on the line to take on risky and unpopular cases,” and it was also mentioned during the panel that Canterbury has a tortured past. So, what, it’s “House” as a female lawyer rather than a male doctor…? Because you know I won’t be the only critic who makes that comparison…

The one thing that’s particularly eye-catching…beyond Juliana herself, of course…is the fact that Denis Leary is one of the show’s producers. Given his success with the critically-acclaimed “Rescue Me,” it’s fair to say that he has a certain amount of experience with blending humor and drama, so maybe I’m being too hard on the show. Producer Jim Serpico says on Leary’s involvement that “he’s not involved day-to-day on set or looking at the sets and locations, but he’s involved in the stories and big-picture casting decisions.” So that’s uplifting news, at least.

Beyond that, I call it wait-and-see…as in, “I’ll have to wait and see the pilot.”

I will, however, close by throwing out a few revelations dropped by Marguilies during the panel:

* She never, ever had any intention of going back to “E.R.,” not in any capacity. “I’m not one to retrace my steps,” she says.

* She would, however, love to work with George Clooney again. “We’ve been talking about that from the day we left ‘ER,’ she admits. “We both said one day, we’ll do a movie together. We needed enough time away so there has to be at least 10 years in between Doug and Carole for anyone to see us other than that. So I trust him. He’s going to find something. Hopefully, he’ll direct it, and we’ll, you know, do something funny together.”

* She was a little surprised that the producers of “The Sopranos” didn’t bring her character back for the last season. “After the last episode from last season, the one with me and Michael Imperioli, they said, ‘We want her back,'” she revealed. “So they put me on hold for awhile. So we thought it would be a sort of a bigger storyline, but I totally understand. I was actually really impressed how they used me. It was so brief, but it was an important moment, I think, for James Gandolfini’s character just to, you know, have part of that whole storyline come to an end. I wish…please, I wish I had been on every episode. That was one of the best jobs I’ve ever had.”

You know how you can tell how tired we’re getting? No-one asked her what she thought of the last episode of the show.

Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, Interviews, News, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Dramas

TCA Press Tour: “House” remains a very, very, very fine “House.” (Surely you saw that coming.)

July 26, 2007 /

I’m not sure if Dr. House is actually an anti-hero, given that, even with his terribly irascible manner, he still manages to save the day far more often that not. Still, he’s a drug addict with a nasty temper who makes decisions based less on a will-the-patient-live-or-die mindset and more of a I-just-want-to-know-if-I’m-right mindset, and that’s not exactly the kind of guy who find yourself rooting for, per se. In fact, it’s a minor miracle that it took a full three seasons for his team of doctors to abandon him out of sheer frustration with his methods.

As the show enters its fourth season with a few Emmy nominations in hand, it sounds as though things are going to continue to go great guns. At the very least, it looks like everyone’s back in tow to some extent: although their characters had all tendered their resignations by the end of Season 3, Omar Epps, Jennifer Morrison, and Jesse Spencer were all on the panel.

Producer Katie Jacobs admitted, “We struggled with how to sort of do exactly this. The truth is, everybody is back eventually, and everybody is back having changed and in different capacities. And, you know, it’s also sort of organic, so we only know where it’s going to a point. For us, for me, it’s the most exciting season we’ve started off so far because it feels very organic. You know, the last two seasons we’ve done an arc — season 2, season 3 we started out with arcs that involved other characters as a way to explore more deeply House’s character. But I think that their three-year fellowship, and all in different ways, has sort of naturally come to an end.

“In the first episode,” she explains, “House is alone, and House is trying to solve cases by himself. Of course, Cuddy is pissed and Wilson thinks he’s losing his mind. And Cuddy will insist that he hire a new team…but he will do it in a very House-ian way. Over the first bunch of episodes. he’s going to call in all the candidates, all the resumes on his desk — 40, I think it is, a large number — and we’re going to see who survives. We’re going to play a ‘House’ version of “Survivor” and see what candidates really will make the best part of House’s team. And House is going to give all the candidates numbers; because he can’t remember their names, they’re actually going to wear running numbers!”

Meanwhile, the trio of actors formerly known as House’s team remained pleased to be on the show, even if they really have no idea where they stand at the moment.

Morrison says that they found out about their characters shuffling off the show when “they told us all that they wanted to talk to us over lunch one day, which does feel a little bit like being called into the principal’s office. But they were fantastic and let us know what they were planning on doing.

Spencer corrected her. “Well, they didn’t actually know, though, did they? Well, I mean, they told us that we were coming back, but they didn’t know at that time in what capacity we were actually going to come back. And we are still not entirely sure. (But) we know we are back.”

Jacobs hinted, however, that just because we see them doesn’t mean they’re actually there. “(House) thinks he sees them. And Wilson is saying, ‘You know, you’re just feeling guilty, and you’re out of your mind.’ And Chase is working in Arizona in a hospital and Cameron’s with him. And Foreman is at Mercy Hospital running his own diagnostic
department. And we have fun with that as well. I definitely don’t mean to be coy, but I don’t want to spoil it for you entirely.”

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Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, Fall TV Preview, Interviews, News, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Dramas

New Sitcom Pulls Back The Envelope

July 26, 2007 /

Man, I love The Onion.

LOS ANGELES—Fox network executives excited about the ground-mending situation comedy Family House, which will debut this fall, told reporters Monday that the program has pulled back the envelope on modern television, and is sure to give viewers a “30-minute Ferris-wheel ride.”

“Unbuckle your seat belts, America, we’re already here,” said cocreator and executive producer Kimberly Hodge, who touted the show’s traditional three-camera setup and nuclear-family cast as “as nothing you’ve never seen before.” “Our team of veteran writers is committed to bringing you only the kinds of basic conflicts, wildly predictable twists, and fast, easy resolutions you’ve come to expect from network television.”

Hodge added that executives are equally pleased with their new action drama, Crime Unit, whose formulaic structure and conservative cinematography has kept test audiences “on the backs of their seats.”

External TV, Humor, TV, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

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