Mrs. Mike made the comment last week that she thinks a couple of the “Hell’s Kitchen” contestants are “plants.” Meaning, the producers put them in there to say things and act a certain way. Well, after two weeks of this show (and a grueling four episodes I might add), I think I agree. Raj and Sabrina are just certified nuts….and neither appears to really know what they’re doing or know how to get along with people in the kitchen. But I digress…here is a brief recap of last night’s episodes:
To my knowledge, the adjective “Rooker-esque” has yet to take off in any significant fashion, but when Michael Rooker calls you and says that he’s in the midst of driving across the country to get to his next job…I don’t know, it just sounds like exactly the sort of thing you’d expect him to be doing. Although he’s played many a crazy mofo in his career as an actor, Rooker still manages to possess the sort of everyman quality that makes it very easy to accept that he’d take a pass on a plane ride in favor of spending a couple of days taking in the scenery on a cross-country drive. Premium Hollywood had the chance to chat with Rooker in conjunction with the release of his latest film, “Atlantis Down,” directed by Max Bartoli, but we also got a bit of insight into his character on AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” learned about his experiences working on “Mallrats,” “Sea of Love,” and “Slither,” and heard him sing the praises of “JFK.”
Bullz-Eye: So how’s the drive going?
Michael Rooker: Actually, quite good. I’m in a little thunderstorm right now, but I’m just fine. I’m about to get back on the road and have a little chat with you.
BE: Where are you right now?
MR: I’m in Texas, near Odessa. I’m on the 20. I was on the 10, but then 10 and 20 split, and I’m heading basically up toward Dallas. Through Odessa and Midland, and then I’ll get into Fort Worth and Dallas.
BE: I told my wife there was something very Rooker-esque about that fact that you were on the road, driving to your next assignment.
MR: (Bursts out laughing) I do this all the time, and it’s kind of crazy, but I just do. My better half is sort of always wondering, “Why don’t you just fly?” But, you know, it’s nice and relaxing. It helps me get ready and prepare for the job, and then afterwards it helps me defrag on the way home.
BE: Sounds like the perfect combo.
MR: So far, so good. It’s worked thus far…and I’ve got about 280 thousand miles on my vehicle to prove it! (Laughs) I think by the end of this trip I’ll have another 10 thousand on it, so it ought to hit 290 thousand.
BE: I’ve got over 150 thousand on my Hyundai Elantra, but I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen half the things you have.
MR: (Laughs) Still, you guys must do some traveling, huh?
BE: Well, we did a lot more of it before our daughter got here.
MR: For sure, man!
BE: So how did you first get hooked up with “Atlantis Down”? Because I know it’s certainly a labor of love for these guys.
MR: Dude, this was, like, a last-minute phone call…for me, anyway. It was really quick. I was working on a movie, I think it was down in the Wilmington area, and I got the phone call. Then I got the script, and it was kind of cool. But it was really fast. But I just said, “Yeah, you know what, I’m here, I’m on the east coast, and I think I can do it.” I snagged a couple of friends, who read lines with me, and I drove up, did my role all in one day, and came back.
BE: Wow.
MR: (Laughs) It was really quick…and painless, really. It was just a very quick little job that was kind of crazy. I’ve never accomplished my entire role in one day before. It was nuts! I don’t want to do that too often, but it was a crazy experience, and I’m still friends with everyone involved, like Max. Like you said, the whole thing was a labor of love, and I was honored to be a part of it.
BE: Can you speak a little bit about your character in the film without giving too much away?
MR: Well, you know, my guy is… (Hesitates) I’m an alien. I’m an alien being that is having a joyous time playing around with these human creatures, basically. (Laughs) I don’t want to say too much more, so that’s kind of about it, really. I just give ‘em hell. I goof around with their brains and mess around with their thought patterns, what they think they see and what they don’t see. So it’s kind of freaky and weird for them. And, of course, for my character, I obviously didn’t have a lot of time to prepare, so I just went and did it. I learned all the lines real quickly, and then I got there, and Max said, “Ah, forget about the lines. Just say what you would normally say.” And I’m, like, “What?” (Laughs) “Uh, okay, Max, okay…” So, basically, the entire role is improv. We improvised the whole piece. Having the lines as my base, I riffed on them and changed them, thought of new ways to say stuff, used new patterns of putting things together, and…we did it all in one night. It was crazy, dude. Crazy! I still don’t know how the hell we got it…
The producers of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” are not messing around this season. Any chance contestants thought they had to skate through for half the season are gone, and I gotta be honest–I like it. More on that in a bit.
But first, let’s start with the individuals at the ranch and realizing that Aaron, the 400 pound guy who lost the 500-step competition last week, was let in to the ranch by Bob Harper. Somehow the first part of the show was cut off on my DVR, but I’m so glad that they did this. They also had a soft spot for Elizabeth, who had collapsed during the competition last week. But the honeymoon was over in a hurry when they were escorted to the Biggest Loser gym. Bob and Jillian worked them over like crazy, and there was a lot of puking and passing out. 58 year old Tina fell off the treadmill and 54-year old Rick, who is a physical therapist, kept passing out.
For the past few weeks, we’ve witnessed Jimmy O continuously lie to SAMCRO about the whereabouts of Cameron and Abel. Though it initially seemed like he was simply trying to protect the cause while he awaited their next move, it now appears that he isn’t very happy about Father Ashby’s decision to make Cameron’s death public and refuse to return Abel to his family. Jimmy warns Ashby that SAMCRO will eventually arrive in Belfast with guns blazing, but Ashby doesn’t want to use Abel as a bargaining chip, and he seems content to just see how things play out.
What Jimmy doesn’t realize is that this is all a ploy to get rid of him, as he’s recently been recruiting youngsters off the streets to join the IRA, and Ashby doesn’t approve. So if he can convince the Sons that it was Jimmy who’s been lying to them all along, then he may be able to get them to do his dirty work for him without marring their business relationship. He’s even instructed Maureen to contact Gemma and tell her that Abel is in Belfast, so he clearly wasn’t planning on keeping father and son apart forever.
And Jimmy is playing right into Ashby’s hands, calling Jax to inform him that Abel wasn’t with Cameron in Belfast and therefore must still be in Vancouver somewhere. That means that the Canadian adventure is still very much on, but first, Jax and Clay head up to Oregon to pick up Gemma, who’s busy preparing Nathan for his trip to the nursing home. And since just about everybody else is wanted by the police, Gemma asks Nathan to sign over his power of attorney to Tara so that she can tend to his affairs.
“Lone Star,” we hardly knew ye…and we’ll never get to know ye: our ever-faithful friends at Fox have pulled the plug on the freshman series after a mere two episodes, slotting “Lie To Me” as its replacement starting next Monday.
One word, two hyphens, seven syllables: un-fucking-believable.
Except, of course, it really isn’t.
Even though I formally declared it to be the best drama of the fall season, I also made two separate proclamations within Bullz-Eye’s 2010 Fall TV Preview that there was little hope that the show would survive long enough to build an audience, let alone legitimately thrive:
* “Critically, I feel like it’s tracking higher than anything else out there, but it’s a thinking man’s show and it’s on Fox. This is traditionally not a combination that equals ratings success…or a second season.”
* “It’s an intriguing premise for a drama that takes a lot of interesting turns in its first hour, which is probably why it feels way more like an FX series than a Fox series. As such, it hasn’t much hope to make it to the end of the season, let alone beyond.”
You can’t say I didn’t call it. I just wish I hadn’t.
Gosh, it seems like only yesterday that I was sitting in a ballroom in Beverly Hills, listening to the head honchos at Fox talk about their enthusiasm for the series. Kevin Reilly praised creator Kyle Killen’s “singular voice and vision,” saying, “We could not be more impressed with him,” and when asked about the fact that “Lone Star” didn’t feel like a Fox series, Reilly was quick on the draw with a response:
“Well, I think it is a Fox show because I think it’s a noisy conceit. Although many of our biggest hits have had an action component, I mean, you certainly know as you break down our schedule over the years, there’s been plenty of big hits, from ‘Party of Five’ to ‘Ally McBeal.’ We can name many of them, particularly going on the comedy side. I don’t know how much action sustains ‘Glee.’ If you’re talking about just a level of octane, I think that there is a lot of octane in this concept because it is provocative. And it’s going to be provocative both in its central conceit and in terms of the character relationships that you see unfold. And I think they said it very well. It’s going to walk the line. This is not black or white. This is going to be an area of gray area and watching characters make decisions. And I think it’s going to keep people on their toes in terms of how the stories unfold, and that’s what’s going to be exciting about it.”
Hey, it sure kept me on my toes…for two episodes.
As ever, Fox, thanks for very, very little. Next time, maybe take some of that “American Idol” money you’re hoarding and give a show a chance to breathe, huh?
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