Tag: The Shield (Page 2 of 8)

Sons of Anarchy 2.12 – Culling

November 25, 2009 /

If there’s one complaint that I had about last year’s season finale, it’s that most of the good stuff happened the week before. That wasn’t the case last night, however, despite the fact that it sure seemed like it was headed that way. Instead, we got a good tease as to what might just happen when the Sons finally get a little alone time with Ethan Zobelle and AJ Weston. They’ve already started planning for it by gathering everyone’s families and friends at the clubhouse to provide protection, while Sons from all over the state are riding in to help end this thing once and for all. Most noteworthy is Kenny Johnson (late of “The Shield”) as the head (?) of the Tacoma chapter. Though we don’t even know his name yet, we do know that he and Tig have some kind of beef between them. And if our recent interview with Kurt Sutter is any indication, his character will play role in next season as well. (Hell, I’d love it if they brought him on full time).

Before I get any further into my discussion about SAMCRO, however, I need to address a few quick things. First, Chucky is alive and well, and he’s returned to the clubhouse after days of no one hearing from him with news about who burned down Caracara. Of course, the question on everyone’s mind is probably, “What the hell happened to him and Darby?,” but since word on the block is that the scene was cut from a previous episode for time, we might never know. That certainly leaves Darby’s fate up in the air, but now that he’s been screwed by Zobelle twice, I have a feeling he’s going to owe the Sons big time whenever he resurfaces.

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The other major non-SAMCRO talking point was undoubtedly Tara’s face-off with that nosy hospital administrator who seems to have it out for her. After weeks of being treated like shit, Tara finally snapped and put her in a choke hold. When the lady cried “assault,” Tara made the most of it by punching her in the face and then threatening her family if she doesn’t drop the bogus claim. It was certainly a cheer-worthy moment for those wondering just how much more abuse Tara would take from the lady, and though it probably wasn’t the best way to handle things, it was the only way she was ever going to get that lady off her back. After all, Tara’s just trying to her job, and her personal life shouldn’t affect that.

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Sons of Anarchy, TV, TV Dramas

This Tuesday in TV-DVD – Nov. 3, 2009

November 3, 2009 /

* The Rockford Files: Movie Collection, Vol. 1: It’s like I said in my review: if these movies aren’t necessarily up to the standards of the original series – and let’s face it: they often aren’t – it’s so good to see James Garner, Stuart Margolin, and Joe Santos back in their familiar roles that it hardly matters.

* The Shield: The Complete Series Collection: Similarly, I’ll let Jason’s review speak for this set. “From its great ensemble cast and the memorable group of characters they portrayed, to the writing team’s ability to consistently hammer out quality and controversial storylines, ‘The Shield’ is by far one of the best cop dramas ever produced. Nay, one of the best dramas, period. It may not have gotten the attention it deserved during its seven years on the air, but its release on DVD will ensure that the legacy lives on for many years to come. If nothing else, you can expect it to be heavily referenced when the next great cop drama arrives on television, because while ‘The Shield’ may not have invented the wheel, it definitely burned the rubber off the tires enough times for people to take notice.” I have no doubt that he’s right. And one of these days, maybe I’ll even get a chance to sit down and watch it myself.

* Will Ferrell: You’re Welcome, America – A Final Night with George W. Bush: Adam McKay described Ferrell’s one-man Broadway show as “one of those great projects where you really walk in not at all caring about what the critics are going to say.” That’s probably a good thing, given what Jeff Giles, has to say about it. (To be fair, though, even McKay admitted that, although “the director of our special, Marty Callner, did an amazing job, nothing ever matches the live experience. The people who saw it live had a totally different reaction to it.”)

* Mission: Impossible – The Final TV Season: By the time this, the show’s seventh season, rolled around, you needed a formal checklist to cite all of the people whose departure left fans saying that it “hasn’t been the same since.” There’s no Martin Landau, no Barbara Bain…even Leonard Nimoy was gone by this point. But, hey, the big three – Peter Graves, Greg Morris, and Peter Lupus – are still around, with Lynda Day George serving as the season’s predominant femme fatale. Now that the whole series is available, when are we going to get the 1988 revival released on DVD?

* Spin City: Season Three: Shout Factory must’ve blown its whole bonus-material budget for the show on the Season 1 set, because we haven’t seen a single special feature since, but at least the comedy keeps on coming.

* Star Wars: The Clone Wars – The Complete Season One: Your mileage on this show varies by how much you can stand of George Lucas’s prequels, but at the very least, it looks and sounds good.

* Walt Disney Treasures: Zorro – The Complete First Season / Walt Disney Treasures: Zorro – The Complete Second Season: Once upon a time, when Antonio Banderas was merely a twinkle in his father’s eye, Guy Williams was dressed in black and bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase “cutting Z’s.” As usual, you can count on Disney to hook you up with a plethora of classic bonus material.

* Doctor Who: The War Games / Doctor Who: The Black Guardian Trilogy: What the…? Our man Ross has written full-length reviews for both sets? I am shocked. Shocked. Sounds like “The Black Guardian Trilogy” might be pretty good if you just skipped over the middle part of the trilogy. As for “The War Games,” while Ross says it’s “difficult to recommend…to people unfamiliar with it,” it’s a fantastic set for fans, and “the transfer and restoration work are just freaking gorgeous.”

* Fraggle Rock: The Complete Series Collection: Dance your cares away, worries for another day, and let the music play down in Fraggle Rock for as long as you can stand to watch. But given that it’s a Jim Henson production, you can probably stand to watch for a very long time, indeed. Actually, this isn’t the first time we’ve been offered a complete-series set for this show, but as someone who owns the notebook-styled version that came out last year, where the DVDs fall out way too easily, I can assure you that you’ll be a lot better off if you pick up this one instead.

* G.I. Joe: Resolute: I haven’t seen this Cartoon Network series, nor have I seen the new movie, but I don’t think I’m going too far out on a limb to suggest that this might be better than the movie. Or, at least, that’s the buzz, anyway.

Other releases this week:

* Ruby-Spears Superman:
* Here’s Lucy: Season 2:
* The Donna Reed Show: Season 3
* Art 21: Season 5
* Edge of Darkness: The Complete BBC Series

And – ho, ho, ho! – a trio of holiday releases for the kiddies:

* Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure
* Thomas & Friends: Holiday Express
* Merry Sitcom! Christmas Classics from TV’s Golden Age

Doctor Who, External Entertainment, External TV, News, The Shield, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas, TV DVDs, TV Sci-Fi

A visit with “Brothers”

September 25, 2009 /

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I’m no Hollywood insider. Nikki Finke does not rely on me for her tips and I don’t ever expect to attend the Vanity Fair Oscar after party. Nevertheless, there’s one thing I do know about show business: personality goes a very long way in “this town.” And so a few of us press people recently found ourselves the subject of a 50 megaton charm offensive by the four stars of the new Fox sitcom, “Brothers” — C.C.H. Pounder, Carl Weathers, and Daryl “Chill” Mitchell, and one extremely enthusiastic newbie, former New York Giants Defensive End and Fox Sports commentator Michael Strahan. I haven’t seen the show itself yet, which premieres tonight at 8 p.m./7 central, but the visit was certainly a performance I won’t be forgetting.

From long-time writer-producer Don Reo, whose credits run from “M*A*S*H” to “Blossom” and “Everybody Hates Chris,” “Brothers” stars Strahan as a former NFL star who winds up moving in to the house he bought for his parents when a financial reversal puts him in the metaphorical poorhouse. Since this is a sitcom, naturally there will be conflict with his brother, played by Mitchell, and the usual issues with parents Weathers and Pounder. One ace the show will be playing will be guest appearances by some fairly big names playing themselves, including former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, hip-hop star T-Pain, celubutante Kim Kardashian, and the great Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band. Also appearing will be well actress Tichina Arnold from “Chris” and, not playing himself, rap superstar Snoop Dog. Stand-up comic Lenny Clarke will be playing a neighbor on the show.

The show has been getting some additional attention for a perhaps less fortunate reason, in that while African-American actors are featured in more diverse roles these days, it’s the only current show on the networks schedules with a predominantly black cast. That’s largely a reversal of the trend of the past when the vast bulk of decent TV parts for nonwhite actors were on shows like “The Jeffersons” and “Good Times” as well as some of the later, more controversial shows aimed at black audiences like “Martin.”

The first to meet the press were Carl Weathers, perhaps still most famed as Rocky Balboa’s venerable opponent, Apollo Creed, and C.C.H. Pounder, who is taking a break from her usual intense, gravitas-laden, roles on shows like “The Shield” and seems to be enjoying every minute of it. In fact, I’m here to tell you that extremely skilled Ms. Pounder is downright bubbly in person. You heard me, “bubbly” — but in a very smart sort of way.

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The mood was light right off the bat with more than one of us entertainment journos confessing a complete lack of knowledge of sports and Ms. Pounder joining in. Weathers was the exception. “Well, I played for the Oakland Raiders so I hope I know a little bit about football.” And that somehow prompted an impersonation of Butterfly McQueen from “Gone with the Wind” from Pounder. I guess you had to be there.

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Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External Movies, External TV, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

Sons of Anarchy 2.1 – Albification

September 8, 2009 /

Kurt Sutter’s “Sons of Anarchy” was hands-down my favorite new show of last year – not much of a surprise considering my undying loyalty to “The Shield” – but I never actually got around to watching the first episode until a few days after it aired, and as a result, I wasn’t able to blog the series like I had planned. This year is a little different, however, as FX has hooked us up with advance copies of the first few episodes. I probably still won’t be blogging every week, or even as in-depth as my other TV blogs, but I’m going to try to discuss the show in some aspect whenever I can, and tonight’s season premiere is the perfect jumping off point.

A lot went down at the end of Season One, but nothing quite as shocking as the death of Opie’s wife, Donna. Though Clay and Tig are still trying to play off the murder as retaliation from one of their rival gangs, Jax and Piney know the truth behind the botched assassination attempt. Piney wants to take action immediately, and rightfully so, but Jax warns against such hostility because it would only set Clay off and cause further damage. For the time being, they both have to accept Clay’s decision to pin the murder on some unsuspecting Mayan, and Jax even accompanies Opie to help kill the guy lest he learn the real truth. Obviously, this is going to play a huge part in the upcoming season, but I’m betting Sutter will let it just sit there and simmer for a while before acting on it. In fact, considering it’s a subplot that could prove to be a real game changer for the make-up of the series, I wouldn’t completely dismiss Sutter pushing it off until next season. After all, he has plenty to keep the Sons busy for the time being.

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Not only do the Sons have to rethink their gun-running business now that they’re on ATF’s radar, but a new group of Neo-Nazis have arrived in town, and they don’t like that SAMCRO is selling guns to the black and Latino gangs around Charming. Though their attempt to win over the support of Deputy Hale doesn’t go over quite like they imagined (my guess is that he’ll end up helping the Sons more than he’d like), they’ve already stirred up trouble with Clay and Co. by crashing Bobby’s welcoming home soiree. Sure, the leader of the group, Ethan Zobelle (Adam Arkin), seems to be little more than a slimy, Aceveda-esque politician, but his right-hand man, AJ Weston (Henry Rollins), looks like a real force to be reckoned with.

It certainly helps that Rollins plays the guy like an emotionless pit bull that’s been restrained by a heavy-duty chain, but he eventually shows he has a mind of his own when he goes on a rant about how he pulled his son out of Tee Ball after he learned they were encouraging equality by giving trophies to everyone. He then follows that up by telling Darby to cover up his swastika tattoo – not because he should be ashamed of wearing it in front of his Latino workers, but because, get this, he hasn’t earned it yet. Talk about your hardcore skinheads, this guy is pure evil. And as if hasn’t already proven to be a thorn in Clay’s side, he’s about to really heat things up now that he’s kidnapped Gemma and gang-raped her. I’m still not exactly sure what the point of them wearing masks was (other than a cool shout-out to “Halloween”), since he eventually gave up his identity by telling Gemma to pass on a message to Clay, but one thing is for sure: these skinheads are definitely not leaving Charming in anything other than a body bag once Clay catches wind of what they’ve done. Are you paying attention Emmy voters? This is how you start a season off with a bang.

External TV, Sons of Anarchy, The Shield, TV, TV Dramas

TCA Tour: “Lie to Me”

August 12, 2009 /

“Lie to Me” is a series which I would’ve watched a heck of a lot more if it hadn’t always been up against a series that I already had an existing addiction to, but every episode that I did see was enjoyable, so I’ve already got my order in for a copy of the Season 1 set, so that I can be properly prepped for Season 2. There’s also another really good reason to be ready for the show’s sophomore outing: they’ve added Shawn Ryan – a.k.a. the man behind “The Shield” – to the series’ production team.

How did such a thing come to pass? In a nutshell, Samuel Baum asked him to join, and although the two hadn’t really known each other, Ryan was swayed both by a sudden opening in his schedule and the company Baum was keeping.

“I came out and helped out a little bit on the last couple episodes as a favor to the studio,” explained Ryan. “I didn’t really know Sam, but I had a couple of my old ‘Shield’ writers who were over there, and I thought, ‘Well, that will be cool.’ I enjoyed it: I got to meet Tim and the rest of the cast, I dug the show. ‘The Unit’ was unceremoniously dumped by CBS, so I suddenly found myself with a little time, and I thought I could bring something to the show. It was something that excited me. You see the actors here: it’s an incredible cast, and I just want to get to know these characters better. And believe me, there’s enough work on a TV show for both Sam and I. So it really is a very cooperative, very friendly relationship. There was no “All About Eve” sort of situation here. There’s plenty for both of us do. In terms of what I think I might bring to it, I think I’m trying to push it a little bit more in a character direction, add a little bit of adrenaline to the show, but really sort of dig deep.”

So by “adrenaline,” are we talking more explosions, or what?

“No, no, I don’t mean that exactly,” Ryan said. ” Listen, the show is ultimately based on a group of scientists. And Mekhi (Phifer) plays a character who is not a scientist. But the fact is they are people who are diving into the middle of charge cases and accusing people of being liars. That can lead to consequences. So I don’t mean adrenaline in a ‘Shield’ sense or a ’24’ sense, but they are going to put themselves in some emotionally and physically harrowing situations at times. And I think the pace of the show will increase slightly. And we have a lot of story to tell, and I just think there’s some juice that can be added to the show in a fun way.”

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External Entertainment, External TV, Interviews, News, TCA Blog 2009, TCA Press Tour, The Shield, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

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