Category — Drama

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.

Alan Ball, the creator of “Six Feet Under”, has a new HBO show about vampires living openly in the present day called “True Blood”.

From Alan Ball’s interview on HBO.com:
“It’s based on a series of books written by Charlaine Harris, and it takes place in a world where vampires have made their presence known to humans. They’ve come out of the coffin, so to speak, because of the development by a Japanese biotech firm of synthetic blood for medical purposes, which the vampires claim fulfills all of their nutritional needs. So they’ve organized, and they’re struggling for assimilation and for equal rights.”

The series focuses though on Anna Paquin’s character, Sookie Stackhouse. She’s a telepathic waitress who befriends one of these newly outed vamps in a small Louisiana town. Hmm, I guess that could prove interesting. However, those faux TruBlood beverage ads confused the heck outta me until I realized it was plugging HBO’s new show. Will viewers be able to tell when Ball is being serious or funny? Will he be able to balance the horror elements with the satire of society?

All I know for sure is vampires are no stranger to the television series format, see “Angel”, “Forever Knight”, or CBS’s now cancelled “Moonlight”. Thus, I’m sure a few fans of the genre will be tuning in on September 7th when the series premieres to weigh in on Ball’s take on the vampire mythology.

I missed the first season of “Mad Men,” but this week after it became difficult to avoid the hype, I succumbed. Now I’m hooked.

The series reveals more plot and character development with each episode. It has the kind of story arc you just can’t get in a movie. I also love that it really educates me on how the Golden Age of Advertising got its beginning. The shift was away from account execs running the show to an emphasis on creative. The Volkswagen “Think Small” campaign led the way. It broke all the rules and made new ones.

The show also focuses on how the roles of men and women were just about to change. Non-conformity was going mainstream. “Mad Men” is well written and well acted.

One tip: don’t download it from the web. The Japanese subtitles are distracting and the picture quality doesn’t do justice to its critically acclaimed attention to fashion and style detail. Do the right thing. Rent or buy the DVD.

Watch it on Sundays at 10pm on AMC.

A&E’s “The Cleaner” premiered a few weeks ago, and I finally watched the first episode this week on my TiVo.

The tv show is based on real life interventionist, William Banks, played by Benjamin Bratt. Banks has a team full of former addicts who help him locate the person they’ve been hired to essentially kidnap and force into rehab. The cops give them a pass on these extreme tactics, so as long as Banks throws a drug bust their way. Grace Park (”Battlestar Galactica”) plays Akani, the street smart temptress that loves working for Banks but refuses to follow all his rules. Gil Bellows (”Ally McBeal”) plays Banks’ best friend Mickey, a body builder/trainer who used to be addicted to heroin but has since cleaned up for his family. I barely recognized him in character, almost the exact opposite of his bumbling lawyer character on Ally. Last but not least, newcomer Esteban Powell plays Arnie the resident slacker and complainer of the bunch.

By the end of the pilot episode, some pretty serious stuff goes down as they try to locate a 15 year old kid named Zach who’s hooked on oxycontin. This television show is gritty, engaging, and doesn’t soften up the predicament of drug abusers. Think of it as a dramatization of “Intervention” crossed with the crime melodrama of “The Shield”. Banks is a more sympathetic character than Vic Mackey by far. But he still is a former addict, and thus, he still has demons that he struggles with each day. Not to mention, chasing addicts doesn’t leave a lot of time for your family. I think Banks balancing his time between work and home will become a huge story arc in the show.

Watch new episodes on A&E at 10pm on Tuesdays. “The Cleaner” may just have washed away that bad taste in my mouth from Benjamin Bratt’s previous tv show, “E-ring”.

At Comic-Con this weekend, the producers of “Lost” revealed some exciting news and spoilers to the crowd of Hall H. They even answered a few of the fans’ burning questions. To kick things off, they showed a “video [which] consisted of Lindelof and Cuse talking about how, in these new DVDs, they will present all of the flash-forwards as an extra and in the correct time sequence.”

Say what now? All those crazy flashforwards will be edited together for my viewing pleasure? That’s definitely an extra feature that could prove useful! “Lost” is such a complicated show, I mean most viewers have to watch each episode twice to know what the heck is going on! This flash-forward compilation feature could finally resolve all of those dangling clues that are mixed up in my head.

The only catch is the 5-disc box set doesn’t come out until December 9th! I guess in the meantime, I’ll have to watch the other three seasons to pass the time.

Find more coverage of the “Lost” panel at TV Squad.

The folks over at F/X and AMC are probably dancing a jig right now since “Mad Men” and “Damages” got record breaking Emmy nominations today.

“Mad Men”

“Damages”

The noms are certainly is well-deserved, and probably will open the door for more basic cable series.

Don’t forget about the “Mad Men” marathon this Sunday on AMC.

Yahoo Entertainment AP

In the summer, many channels schedule marathons and reruns to fill up those empty blocks. Holidays and warmer weather create significant drops in viewership, which leads to less advertising dollars. Thus, networks can be more creative with the schedule.

There is the new trend of showing smaller budgeted shows during the summer as mid-season or summer only programs. I’ve discovered quite a few gems during this so-called down period like “Burn Notice”, “Mad Men”, “Eureka”, “Weeds” and “In Plain Sight”. As you may have noticed, mostly cable network or premium channels can so freely funnel money into summer shows, since you have to pay to see those channels anyway.

Here’s a list of reruns, premieres and marathons for July:
“Burn Notice” - Season 2 premiere on July 10th, 10pm (mini marathon on July 3rd)
“Weeds” - Season 4 already up and running, Mondays on Showtime at 10pm
“Mad Men” - Season 1 marathon on July 20th at noon, Season 2 premiere on July 27th (Thanks Whitney for the heads up!)

“Eureka” - Season Premiere on July 29th, 9pm (watch reruns online here)
“Supernatural” - Season 3 encore, Thursdays at 9pm
“Rescue Me” minisodes started on Tuesdays on F/X, but you can catch them online as well at Crackle.com

Don’t waste the day away in your sofa hammock, stay cool and catch up on all that great tv you missed earlier in the year.