Tag: FX (Page 2 of 4)

Do yourself a favor — check out “Louie” on FX

July 21, 2010 /

Louis C.K. is a rising star in the world of comedy, or is rising as much as a 43-year-old journeyman comic can. He first landed on my radar on the 2006 HBO series “Lucky Louie,” which was shot in front of a live audience in three-camera format. The show built a fan base, but wasn’t well-regarded by the critics, which led to its cancellation.

I then heard an interview of the HILARIOUS Patton Oswalt (about a year ago?) in which the interviewer said that he was the funniest standup working today. Oswalt quickly dismissed the compliment and said that Louis C.K. was the best.

So now it’s 2010 and he has a half-hour single-camera sitcom on FX. The standards are looser than network programming, but are tighter than HBO, which keeps its star in check somewhat (probably to his benefit). Not unlike Larry David, he basically plays himself — a comedian who is also a divorced father of two.

The show intermixes his day-to-day life with bits of his standup act shot in clubs around New York City. He goes to the doctor (Ricky Gervais), meets with his therapist, goes out on awkward dates, attends a PTA meeting, stuff like that. And he finds a way to make it all funny.

There isn’t much in the way of a season-long story arc, so there’s no harm in catching the latest episode and going from there.

External TV, Humor, Reviews, TV Comedies

“Justified” kicks ass

March 17, 2010 /

Pardon the crude title, but there just isn’t any other way to say it. After watching last night’s premiere, it’s clear that “Justified” is poised to become the next great FX series.

One part “The Shield,” one part “Sons of Anarchy” and one part “True Blood,” “Justified” follows Raylen Givins (Timothy Olyphant) a somewhat disgraced (yet badass) Deputy Marshall who is assigned to Eastern Kentucky (and his hometown of Harlan) after losing his plum assignment in Miami over a shooting he deemed “justified.” The series is based on a short story by Elmore Leonard.

The antagonist — at least for the first episode — is Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins, who you’ll recognize from his role as Shane Vendrell on “The Shield”), an Aryan criminal with a propensity for blowing things up.

There’s also Raylen’s ex-girlfriend, Winona (Natalie Zea), and Ava (Joelle Carter), who would like to be his new squeeze.

The first episode was about bad blood between Raylen and Boyd, but it looks like each week, Raylen will be working on a different assignment, ranging from witness protection to prison transfer to hunting down criminals. Olyphant was terrific in the role of sheriff on “Deadwood,” so he’s not going to have any problem carrying this series — he already owns this part.

If you miss “The Shield” and like “Sons of Anarchy,” give “Justified” a shot. It’s well worth the time.

External Entertainment, External TV, Reviews, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

Bendis’s collaborator for FX’s “Powers” pilot revealed

January 22, 2010 /

Who says persistence doesn’t pay off?

On Sunday, I spoke with John Landgraf, FX’s President and General Manager, to get the latest update on the network’s attempts to transition Brian Michael Bendis’s “Powers” from comic book to the small screen. Not only did he confirm that the pilot was indeed still in the works, he also let slip that Bendis was now collaborating with an outside writer, describing this other individual as “a really, really good writer who got really excited about the project. The new writer and Brian have got a good take on it. They came in about two months ago and pitched what they were doing, and it was great.” What Landgraf did not tell me was the name of this writer, as he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to release the information yet, but he assured me that he would get in touch with me once he could.

Well, he just did…and, frankly, I couldn’t be much more excited about it. Bendis’s collaborator is none other than Kevin Falls, the man behind NBC’s late, great “Journeyman.” Given how well Falls kept the mythos and storylines of “Journeyman” weaving in and out, he seems like an excellent pick to work on such a complex series as “Powers” is likely to be. I’ve already dropped a line to Mr. Falls’ folks, in hopes of chatting with him about the gig, so keep your fingers crossed just as tightly this time as you did last time. (It worked pretty well, after all.)

What say you? Are you as jazzed as I am…?

External Entertainment, External TV, Journeyman, News, TCA Blog 2010, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

TCA Tour: Damages

January 21, 2010 /

I loved the first season of “Damages,” but time constraints kept me from following the second season of the series as closely as I would’ve liked. Still, my dedication to the show was such that, when I heard there was going to be a panel for its third season, I wanted to make sure that I’d checked out the screener of the season’s first two episodes before it took place, so that I’d be fully prepared for the event. What I hadn’t realized, though, was that I would be so caught up in those episodes that my first task upon returning home from the tour would be to immediately put Season 2 into the DVD player and watch it immediately. Yes, my love of “Damages” is back with a vengeance…which, given the theme of the series, is absolutely apropos.

There’s only one problem when it comes to discussing Season 3 of “Damages” and it’s this: a key event occurs in the season premiere that I can’t possibly give away. As such, I’m forced to dance around it…which sucks, because, man, I reeeeeeeally want to talk about it with someone.

What we can talk about, at least, is the general premise of the season, which revolves around a suspiciously-familiar concept: a high-profile financier who turns his wealth management business into a massive Ponzi scheme that defrauds thousands of investors of billions of dollars. But, c’mon, this panel took place before an audience of intelligent critics (and, no, that’s not a contradiction in terms, thank you very much), so no one was going to ask, “So, is it a coincidence that this resembles the whole Bernie Madoff situation?” The better question, obviously, was whether or not any other news stories were in competition for use as the thrust of Season 3.

“Well, I don’t know if I’d call it competition,” said executive producer Daniel Zelman, laughing. “But there were several stories we were looking at, not just the Madoff case. There was an attorney named Marc Dreier who fascinated us. You may have seen; he did an interview on “60 Minutes.” But he had perpetrated some $700 million con essentially. And also, a businessman named Allen Stanford had basically created a bank in Antigua that supposedly had billions of dollars in it, but had nothing in it. So we were really drawn to all of these stories, and we’re using elements of all these stories in the story that we’re telling, although coming through the front door, it’s sort of more around the Madoff scenario.”

Continue reading »

External Entertainment, External TV, Interviews, News, TCA Blog 2010, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Dramas

More “Powers” talk with FX’s John Landgraf

January 17, 2010 /

You may remember that, back in August, I spoke with John Landgraf, FX’s President and General Manager of FX, to get the latest update on the network’s attempts to transition Brian Michael Bendis’s “Powers” from comic book to the small screen. At the time, he could only reconfirm that it was in development, adding, “We’ve seen a draft of the script, we’ve given the notes on it, and we’re waiting on another draft.”

So what’s the latest update? Is “Powers” dead at FX?

It is not.

“We have a new writer who came in and who’s working with Brian Bendis,” Landgraf confirmed. “He’s a really, really good writer who got really excited about the project. He came in, and they pitched us a new take. Because part of what you’re trying to do with ‘Powers’…and I think I said this to you when I talked to you before…is that you have a great property, a really robust property, but it has to be adapted to become a weekly television series. So you’re asking yourself the question, ‘What stays and what goes?’ For example, the Retro Girl murder story: should that whole story be told in the pilot, or do we introduce it and tell it later? But the new writer and Brian have got a good take on it. They came in about two months ago and pitched what they were doing, and it was great.”

Unfortunately, you may have noticed the same thing I did: Landgraf’s pointed avoidance of revealing the name of this “really, really good writer.” Alas, he’s unable to reveal said writer’s name at present, but he assured me that, when he’s able to do, he’ll be in touch. Yeah, I know, that’s what they all say, but since he remembered our discussion from August, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my continued enthusiasm will result in getting the information, so watch this space!

External Entertainment, External TV, Interviews, News, TCA Blog 2010, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

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