#1 New York Times Bestselling Author & TV Producer
Like a white knight
strong and hopeful
lives by his code
proud and noble
Spenser For Hire
Rough and Tumble
He’d gladly risk his life to save humanity
he still believes in chivalry
on ABC
Those are just some of the cringe-inducing lyrics of this inane song cooked up by ABC to promote the premiere of SPENSER FOR HIRE…
I liked Ken Levine’s observation about the Los Angeles Times’ coverage of the WGA Strike:
Good news! The LA TIMES has begun its Oscar coverage with a weekly
special section called THE ENVELOPE. Meanwhile, strike coverage has
been relegated to the Business Section. I somehow can’t see THE DETROIT
FREE-PRESS not running stories about an auto strike on page one. But
then again GM doesn’t own the DETROIT FREE-PRESS.
The Times is owned by Tribune, which also owns KTLA, one of the major affiliates of CW, one of the TV networks hit by the strike.
I just watched TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES and it’s one of the most entertaining pilots I have ever seen. It totally captures the feel of the first two movies on a dramatically lower budget. It picks up where TERMINATOR 2 left off and goes in a new direction that’s consistent with the dramatic line of the movies. It was a fun hour — everything BIONIC WOMAN wants to be and isn’t — but I don’t kn0w what they are going to do week-to-week. I’ll certainly be tuning in to see.
As much as I enjoyed it, there was one false, truly unbearable cliche: apparently Sarah and her son are going to be relentlessly pursued by the FBI agent obsessed with their capture (yet another rehash of Inspector Gerard. Why is it TV can’t resist ripping off THE FUGITIVE again and again and again and again???)
Genevieve Bujold was supposed to be the star of STAR TREK VOYAGER, but a week into shooting, she was fired…or she quit… and was replaced with Kate Mulgrew. I’ve always wondered why. Thanks to the miracle of YouTube, the mystery is solved. You can see how uncomfortable she was in the role. Here is a scene with Bujold and then the same scene re-shot with Mulgrew (catch it now before it’s inevitably yanked).
Here is another scene with Bujold.
I’ve been so busy over the last few months that I’ve missed a lot of TV crime shows. Today I indulged myself and caught up on the first four episodes of DEXTER. Wow. What a great series. It’s wonderfully directed, well-written, and pitch-perfect in tone.
That’s not to say there aren’t problems (the mean, overly political lieutenant, the angry black cop, and the Asian lab guy are drawn way too broadly, past cliche and into caricature), but the pluses far outweigh the minuses. Michael Hall is amazing in the role, walking a very delicate balance and pulling it off every time.
I’ve read DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER, the book that inspired the series, and I admire showrunner Clyde Phillips’ shrewd decision to stretch the novel’s central plot over the entire first season while still doing nearly standalone episodes. You’ll notice I said nearly. Although there’s a strong, narrative arc, the individual episodes are still satisfying on their own, while still largely open-ended story-wise. (The series is very loyal to the book and yet its one of the rare cases in which the TV series is far better than the original work that inspired it).
Although DEXTER is on Showtime, it could easily be mistaken for a USA Network series..if it wasn’t so bloody and dark. It’s got the quirky, socially-awkward, single-lead detective with psychological problems and a keen eye for detail (MONK, PSYCH) who had a strange childhood (MONK, PSYCH) that strongly shaped who he is…memories of which are revealed in flashbacks with his father (PSYCH). It’s also got a sunny, beachy locale (MONK, PSYCH, BURN NOTICE).
I hope the rest of the episodes are as great as the first four. If the first season ends the way the book did, I’ll be curious to see if they can find their creative footing again in the second season.
TELL ME YOU LOVE ME is supposed to be oh-so-racy, raw and edgy…but the show is so ponderously dull and heavy-handed that even the sex scenes are boring. A very clever friend of mine had the best comment about the sex scenes:
They’re so bad I can watch them with my wife.