Category — Crime Drama

Check out the latest tv promo for the next season of “Damages”:

FX Network just announced that the second season premieres on January 7th (10pm/9pm EST). Besides the obvious return of Glenn Close as duplicitous Patty Hewes and Rose Byrne as the now vengeful Ellen Parsons, there are a slew of new characters for the new season. We’ve got Timothy Olyphant (hotness!), Marcia Gay Harden, and Mario Van Peeples just to name a few. I’m pretty stoked for the new season since it ended on such a cliffhanger.

However, I’m not sure if the new promo will win any new fans by its contents alone. It’s a bit flashy, sorta like “Nip/Tuck” as TV Squad points out. And oh boy, do I not want another show to jump the shark like “Nip/Tuck”! That show became the shark! But back to “Damages”, I think the second season has a good outlook, fresh story line and new relevant to the plot characters. Plus, those Emmy awards can’t hurt either.

Catch up on season one of “Damages” on dvd before the January premiere. Otherwise, you’ll seriously have no idea what’s going on. There are way too many double-crosses, blackmailing schemes, and secret alliances to be adequately represented on this here blog.

Showtime just announced that they ordered two more seasons of their hit show, “Dexter”. The fourth season begins filming the next twelve episode run in Spring of 2009.

Yay! I love me some Michael C. Hall (even more than Nefertiti, the other tv revival contributor, does! ), so I’m glad he’s continuing to get work. When I first watched the first season of “Dexter”, I worried that I couldn’t separate Hall’s performance of David Fisher on “Six Feet Under” from his new character. But after seeing Dexter slice up a few corpses and dump them in the bay, I got over it. =)

Buy (or netflix) the first two seasons of “Dexter” today. It’s so worth it! Watch the rest of season three currently airing on Showtime on Sundays at 10/9c.

Source: /Film and Pajiba

Nathan Fillion of “Serenity” and now “Desperate Housewives” fame, stars in ABC’s newest midseason replacement, “Castle”. Yes, it’s another cop procedural. Yes, it’s a story of opposites attract. And if you ask me, it totally ripped it’s premise from the pages of Basic Instinct: mystery novelist’s books scarily similar to actual murder cases. Lucky for us, it’s a comedy drama, so it has a lighter tone and considerably better acting!

Check the television pilot trailer:

Source: Pop Candy

Sunday nights are fast becoming my busiest TV night of the week. My DVR’s red “recording” light was already winking at me for a good chunk of the evening before, thanks to my old love “Mad Men,” my new love “True Blood,” plus all the old standbys like “60 Minutes” and “American Dad.” But as of last week, “Dexter” has returned to Showtime with new episodes. Consider the ante upped.

I’ve been a fan of this show since its beginning two seasons ago. It doesn’t spare on the high concept premises and story lines, but is still written elegantly enough to avoid becoming a joke. Michael C. Hall has proven his acting mettle beyond my expectations in his portrayal of Dexter Morgan, considering how hard it is to believe that this is the same man who played David Fisher all those years not so long ago.

Tune in to Showtime Sunday nights at 9pm to check out “Dexter.” I like the show so much it’s actually inspired me to read the book on which this series is based, called “Darkly Dreaming Dexter,” by Jeff Lindsay. I know right? I’m going to read an actual book! With pages and everything!

I fear I may have blasphemed by daring to mention the “B” word– book– on the interweb, and on a blog about teevee, at that. As an act of contrition, I’ll subject myself to a new reality show, get drunk and rant about it on here, later.

Oh, dear. “Paris Hilton Is My New BFF” started this week. Sounds like a fresh batch of hate stew a-brewin’.

I finally watched the premiere of “Fringe” and I will admit it’s piqued my interest.

SPOILER ALERT!
At first I wasn’t into Anna Torv’s performance, but by the end of the episode she grew on me. She was a little too wooden in those love scenes. And how obvious was it that her FBI secret boyfriend was gonna die?! The moment he said “I love you”, I knew that spelled J.J. Abrams style doom. Pacey Peter (Joshua Jackson) was a tad whiny at times, but overall he made the ‘Creek’ proud. I totally understand the TV Whore’s concerns though about whether Jackson can pull off scientific smarts, but I’m willing to let that one pass. They hired Lance Reddick who was awesome on “The Wire” and thus will continue to be that way on “Fringe”. When the man speaks, I can’t help but shut up and take him seriously! =)

And since I’m an avid “Alias” fan (Sydney and Vaughn forever!), the scene with the shared memory/dream was totally stolen from season 3 of “Alias”! Remember when David Cronenberg played that hippie scientist who uses LSD on Sydney to retrieve her lost memories of when she was bad? Dr. Walter Bishop (played excellently by John Noble) used to work in secret for a university just like Cronenberg’s character. And Bishop even jokes about LSD in the same way as the “Alias” doc character. “Let’s make some LSD”. I guess that line makes it all okay. Still, I swear that lab (which so conveniently was up in running in a few hours) was constructed out of the same set used in those “Alias” episodes. Nevertheless, on both shows, said dream sequences were very intriguing, especially since the information learned in this fluid state was pivotal to each character. Sydney’s freedom and Olivia’s boyfriend’s life are hanging in the balance!

I have to say what is gonna keep me watching are the awesome special effects! How scary was that plane crash with all the passenger’s skins melting. And then building upon that scene later when they pan over the coma-induced, Agent Scott, really wow-ed me. His translucent skin and decaying organs were displayed quite crisply on my plasma television set. Uber-creepy to say the least!

So yeah, some the plots aren’t the most original but I suppose I’ll keep tuning in so I can figure out what this crazy “pattern” is all about.

The word on the street is TNT’s “The Closer” is getting a spinoff.

And that’s not the only show to catch the spinoff madness from “CSI” and “Law & Order”. Showtime’s “The L Word” is developing a spin-off for the Alice character, which is played by Leisha Hailey.

SciFi Channel’s 2009 schedule is chock full of spin-offs as well. First you got the Battlestar Galactica prequel, “Caprica”. And just last week I read that the creators of “Stargate: SG1″ are ending “Atlantis” next season to free up space for a new series called “Stargate: Universe”. The new show will follow a brand new crew that traverses multiple universes.

As a true television lover, I understand that sometimes you can’t get enough of your favorite show. I guess these producers are simply giving the viewers what they want: more airtime for the characters we already know and love.

Source: Pop Candy via The Hollywood Reporter

The last act of “The Shield” premieres next month and I’m still two seasons behind!

I know this may be sorta sacrilegious for a supposed television revivalist, but my favorite television anti-hero is Vic Mackey on “The Shield” . Most people say Tony Soprano (HBO’s “The Sopranos”), but Tony S. just doesn’t do it for me. Obviously I recognize that “The Sopranos” is an excellent drama that I love to watch, but if we’re talking comparisons here, I’m simply more entertained and impressed with FX network’s cop drama.

I love “The Shield’s” gritty realism, with its handheld camcorder style and episode writing that repeatedly pushes the envelope. To me, “The Sopranos” focuses more on its own microcosm of mob and familial issues. “The Shield” does all of that AND raises issues of society. It jumps into that dark realm of ambiguity and examines the effectiveness of politicians and the entire criminal system.

Plus, Vic Mackey is such an amazing character to watch evolve over these last 6 seasons. At times, he scares the crap out me when he so willfully crosses the line. While other times, I end up rooting for him to do just that in the name of justice. I seriously need to finish those last few season 5 dvds and buy “The Shield” season 6, since it came out today! There’s no way I can jump into the final act without being prepared.

Sure, they’re only characters from TV shows, but you do come to feel you know them if you watch them long enough. It’s hard to limit the list to five, but here are top picks—at least for today. It’s subjective, of course, and I may change my mind tomorrow, but at least two of these—Pembleton and Columbo–would make any list I compile.

Today’s Top Five:

1. Detective Frank Pembleton

Deftly played by Andre Braugher, the brooding Frank Pembleton was a departure from the less philosophical lawmen we usually saw on the telly. He and Richard Belzer brought something to “Homicide: A Life on the Streets” that was gritty and compelling. Pembleton captured the essence of being a cop when he said that he speaks for the dead because there is no one else to speak for them.

2. Lieutenant Columbo

Peter Falk was actually the third actor to play Columbo, but he was easily the most captivating. By the time the Falk “Columbo” series started though, those earlier incarnations of the character would be long forgotten. The series itself was often filled with clichés of the genre, but Falk’s shuffling Columbo brought such an originality to the series that it didn’t matter. Much of it was in the incredible timing he used when delivering his lines. BTW, the wardrobe (those trench coats and cigars) were Falk’s own.

3. Detective Lennie Briscoe

Jerry Orbach’s arch comments (Van Buren: “What about Dr. Hampton? Any man in her life?” Briscoe: “Yes, but his name is Fluffy and he’s been neutered. Other than that, her social calendar is pretty light.”) made me never want to miss an episode of “Law and Order,” the longest running cop show in television history. He was the anchor of the show while he was on it—until his untimely death. I miss him.

4. Dana Scully

Gillian Anderson’s tough, loner FBI agent lent a gravitas to “The X-Files” it wouldn’t otherwise have had. The cynical counter to her male partner, Fox Mulder, who is less skeptical. In one episode, she contracts cancer and she begins contemplating her own mortality and makes it less maudlin than the same subject usually seems on hospital shows. The show may have been far out, but Scully brought it down to earth—in a good way.

5. Detective John Munch

Back to “Homicide: A life on the Streets” for my fifth pick. Richard Belzer, previously known as a somewhat successful stand-up comic, proves he’s got some acting chops. He has also shown up in the “Law and Order” and “The Wire.” Actually, some of the lines he delivers as munch wouldn’t be entirely out of place in a comedy routine. But they work a lot better in context. Check out this line: “If a murder is committed in Baltimore and no homicide detective takes the call, did that homicide actually occur?”

If I missed your favorite gumshoe in my top 5, let me know in the comments.

What ever happened to Dennis Franz? His portrayal of Detective Norman Butz in “Hill Street Blues” is etched so deeply into my cerebral cortex that I was stunned to learn that his character appeared in only 16 episodes. (Earlier in the series, he played dirty cop Sal Bendetto in a few episodes but I barely recall Frantz in that role.)

Veronica Hamel as Joyce Davenport and Daniel Travanti as Capt. Frank Furillo were certainly memorable, but they starred in 98 and 99 of the 146 episodes to lodge themselves into my memory. Franz takes up more space in my brain, and he did it with many fewer minutes onscreen.

In a largely unanticipated move for television,  Steve Bochco was given creative freedom that allowed him to push the envelope. With the series’ debut in 1981 (it ran through 1987) they let him experiment with each episode, the series almost resembled a portfolio:

• A story arc that covered anything from several episodes to several seasons
• A grittier more realistic feel than previous cop dramas
• The use of hand-held cameras that gave the show a documentary feel
• The language used was more “real” and seemed less “scripted” than what he had been used to before
• Episode takes place over a single day, anticipating “24” and other later shows

The dialogue was so crisp, I wasn’t surprised to learn that one of America’s premier playwrights, David Mamet, wrote some episodes. I want to go back and watch the show again after writing this. It was a true “disruptive” bit of programming. There would have been no “NYPD Blue” (also a Bochco project), “Homicide,” or even “ER” without the earlier popularity of HSB. I t may be just about the right time to get to where it all began.

“The Riches” may be the best television series nobody’s seen. Minnie Driver is better in it than any movie I’ve seen her in and Eddie Izzard looks better in civilian clothes than in drag.

But that’s not the point. It’s the plot and the spiky dialogue that gets you. Like many good novels it’s about the American Dream—the one we sell through advertising. But the Malloy family doesn’t get there through hard work or by being born with a silver key in hand. Instead, they are a family of “travelers,” (think gypsies or tinkers) who break away from their larger “family,”which was a wandering band of scam artists who live outside the law.

The Malloys stumble upon the Riches family, who have been killed in a car wreck. So what do they do? They discover the very well off Riches are about to move into an elegant home they have purchased, site unseen, over the Internet—and they simply step into their lives. Then, the fun really begins.

Start your Tivo or pick up the first season DVD. Remember, as Bob Dylan said, “To live outside the law, you must be honest. But then he hadn’t met the Riches when he wrote that.