Tag Archives: TV

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Guest Post: TV Show Fails and Wins – Replacement actors who made or broke their shows

Hi everyone! Taking a bit of a break from movies, today we have a special TV-related guest post from Lindsay Mcmahon. Her interests are entertainment, television, parenting and health but she is constantly extending her field of view to incorporate interesting news suggested to her by her readers. Her favorite flick is ‘Fight Club’, a great classic combining action and philosophy. When it comes to TV, she’s an absolute Fantasy freak, having ‘Game of Thrones’ sitting at the top. She currently works for Direct2TV.com.

TV shows have the unique problem of cast retention. Unlike most industries, once a TV character is signed onto a show, they are almost required to remain for the entire run of the show. If they do not, or are unable to for some reason, then the TV network must scramble to replace that character. Sometimes, the replacement is able to keep the fans of the show, but in most cases, the show soon ends after the cast replacement.

KutcherThreeAndaHalfMenAshton Kutcher in Two and a Half Men

The most famous replacement in recent years is the replacement of Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men. Two and a Half Men is currently in its 10th season, after starting in 2003. The show followed two brothers, one rich and single, one divorced and with a kid. The series focused on the romantic pursuits of the brothers.

Over the years, Charlie Sheen fell deeper into drug addiction, which eventually led to his being fired from the show at the end of season 8. His replacement was Ashton Kutcher. The show has continued for two years after Charlie Sheen left, and has been able to hold its viewer ratings.

DIckSargentBewitchedDick Sargent in Bewitched

Bewitched is famous for its switch of Samantha’s husband halfway through the series. After the 5th season, Dick York quit the show to pursue other interests. The replacement was Dick Sargent.

Surprisingly enough, the show made no mention of the fact that the husband was now a completely different man. While this bothered many viewers, the show continued to run for an additional 3 years, giving the show a total run-time length of 8 years.

CharlieSheenSpinCityCharlie Sheen in Spin City

Charlie Sheen has had many different projects over the years, and one of them was a replacement for Michael J. Fox on Spin City. It was a show about the mayor’s office in New York, featuring the relationships of the various employees- and specifically Fox’s character.

When Fox started exhibiting severe signs of Parkinson’s disease, he had to leave the show. The series made it look like a regular job switch, and replaced Fox with Sheen. The show ran for a total of 6 years, 4 with Fox and 2 with Sheen. The ratings fell dramatically during the last two seasons.

KristieAlleyCheersKristie Alley in Cheers

Cheers featured a fun cast of several characters who own the bar or visit regularly. The show ran for a total of 11 seasons, and was one of the highest rated shows in the 1980s. During the first 5 seasons, Shelly Long played a waitress at the bar. She left after season 5 and was replaced by Kristie Alley. Alley’s forceful personality and charm gave the show new life, and it was able to continue for 6 additional seasons until 1992.

All of these shows had replacement actors with varying success. The shows that did the best were the ones that replaced characters in a logical way with an actor that had an extremely likable personality. The shows that did worst tried to ignore the difference or replaced the original actor with someone who was much less likable.

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Thoughts about TV’s cast retention dilemma? Are you a fan of any of the shows and/or actors?

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Tube Watch: TV Bad Boys You Can’t Get Enough Of

RobinHoodlogoHappy Tuesday all! I’m not gonna have a Weekend Roundup this week as I’ll do a Monthly recap in a few days. Truthfully, I’m already tired of talking about the Oscars so let’s switch gears and talk TV for today if you don’t mind.

The past weekend I’ve been catching up on BBC’s Robin Hood. I actually have seen a bunch of clips of the show on YouTube, but I figure it’s time to watch it properly. I’ve got to admit I’m much more interested in watching the villain of the series than the heroic English outlaw… most especially the vicious but tormented Guy of Gisborne… played to perfection by Richard Armitage.

Dark. Dangerous. Intoxicating. What is it with certain villains we just can’t get enough of? I talked about Charming Movie Bad Boys a while back, and the TV counterparts share similar irresistible qualities. Ok, so the fact that Guy is dressed in all black leather, broods and glowers like nobody’s business and speak in such a deep, raspy voice are all very fetching stuff… but I have to give props to the show’s creators for writing Guy in such a delish way, a complex character instead of a typical one-dimensional baddie. Best of all, they’ve got the perfect actor to effortlessly stir every hot-blooded woman in the audience.

GuyOfGisborne

As the Sheriff of Nottingham’s second-in-command, Gisborne certainly has done more than his fair share of heinous stuff on the sheriff’s behalf. Murder, lies, torture, robbery, you name it, he’s done them all in the name of power. He’s a loathsome creature but yet, I can’t stop watching and I can’t bring myself to hate him either. Not to mention all that unrequited love stuff between Guy and Marian, the girl he loves who of course is in love with Robin. Power-driven and love-starved, Guy is forever torn by his own emotions and you can’t help but feel for this guy. It’s all very beguiling… I wish this show’s still going on!

GuyMarianBBCRobinHoodI guess I have a taste for damaged characters who think they’re beyond redemption, those tortured souls whose own self-loathing and internal conflicts somehow draw me in instead of pulling me away. With villains like these, who cares about the hero? Characters like Guy is the very reason I kept tuning in and I wish they had focused more on him on the show. I find Jonas Armstrong as Robin Hood so terribly boring by comparison.

Watching him made me think of other great TV bad boys from previous shows I’ve watched. Most recently there’s Frank Underwood in House of Cards, but there have been countless others in the past. Sexy con-man Sawyer from Lost, vile lothario Dr. Christian Troy of Nip/Tux, Lex Luthor in Smallville, Gregory House the acerbic doctor, the narcissistic genius Gaius Baltar of Battlestar Galactica, misogynist jerk-off Richard Fish of Ally McBeal… the list goes on! And though I hardly ever watch the show, surely Made Men‘s Don Draper is one of the most irresistible TV bad boys ever written. Popular shows like Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire actually consist pretty much entirely of bad boys.

So now I’m asking you, readers. Who are YOUR favorite TV bad boys [or girls for that matter]? 

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Tube Watch: Musings on CW’s ARROW’s Pilot

It’s been almost a year since I actually have a TV show to watch on a weekly basis, those I was initially anticipating either got canceled or I simply didn’t have time to watch :( Now, I’ve blogged about ARROW a few times before and I posted the trailer here. I’m even more excited to see the positive reviews, and now that it’s here, I’m happy to report that it was pretty good.

For those of you who aren’t into comic book stuff, Arrow is basically the DC comics’ The Green Arrow. The show revolves around young billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) who was stranded on a deserted island for five years and returns to his hometown Starling City a changed man. There’s not a lot of exposition on his life on the island, in fact, it only showed Oliver, looking very much like Robinson Crusoe being rescued by local fishermen sailing in the South China Sea.

Oliver quickly assumes a vigilante identity, a la Bruce Wayne as Batman, becoming the city’s ‘savior’ as a way to atone for his selfish behaviors of his former life. In fact, someone on Twitter suggested Bruce Wayne making an appearance on the show, as you can see in my tweet, that’d be a geeky girl’s dream!!

According to comicbookmovie site, Torchwood‘s alum John Barrowman’s been hired to guest star, but his role is top secret. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’ll be a DC-crossover thing happening. Fingers crossed!

Now, as a superhero fan, you know why this type of stories appeal to me. But yet there hasn’t been any TV show that keeps my interest because of bad writing/awful acting, etc. [cough Smallville cough] but this one certainly has a lot going for it in the pilot that hopefully would keep me tuning in!

The Good

I definitely like the darker tone of the show. I must say there are a LOT of resemblance to the first hour of Batman Begins as far as Oliver’s journey is concerned, but to be fair, their identities are very similar to begin with,except that Oliver’s mother is still alive [more on that later].  Some reviewers have said this isn’t like in the comic books, but since I didn’t read the comics, I don’t mind the fact that the show’s creator took a lot of liberties, even shortening the name to make it less comic-book-ish. I’m also glad this character has NOTHING to do with the Green Arrow character in Smallville, though they use the same mansion of the Luther estate for the Queen manor.

Canadian Stephen Amell is a perfectly-cast as Oliver: he’s got the tall, dark and handsome thing going on, all good recipes for a superhero, but he’s also got that mysterious quality about him that works for the role. He hasn’t exactly displayed much range, I think he’s charismatic enough as the protagonist. His transformation from up-to-no-good playboy to a brooding, fierce bow-wielding hero who’s not afraid to kill when necessary. The action stuff is done pretty well and Amell’s um, athleticism is in full display. CW certainly makes the most of his washboard abs during Oliver’s training in his dad’s former factory, but who am I to complain? ;) The archery stuff seems pretty authentic to me, Amell had said in interviews that his trainer was adamant in getting the form right. He said the coach started the training by showing him a 45-minute video of all the ways archery has been done badly in film and TV.

Overall I think the quality is an improvement over Smallville, I say that because at least I did not cringe every two seconds like I did on that show, and this coming from a huge Superman fan! The gritty look and well-shot action set pieces are quite fun to watch.

Oh, it’s interesting to see Colin Salmon here though, as a Bond fan I noticed him as one of MI-6 agent in two of Pierce Brosnan’s Bond movies, in fact if he were younger, I’d love to see him play a black James Bond! I hope the producers will give him something worthy to do here, I certainly would love to see more of him on this show!

The not-so-good

Ok this is only the second show on CW I watch, but it has the same weaknesses in that some of the lines are cheesy and the acting is questionable. I’m talking about the supporting cast, especially the guy playing his best friend Colin Donnell, his character is just annoying and it doesn’t help that Donnell is not an experienced actor. I hope they keep his screen time at a minimum. Katie Cassidy fares a bit better as the love interest, but I’m not exactly impressed by her yet.

I talked about that there’s a lot going on in the pilot, now you could say it’s a bit overstuffed. Yes, the mysterious plot definitely opens up to a lot of interesting possibilities, but seems like it could be one twist too many. Even in just one episodes, there are a bazillion thing our protagonist has to deal with… the mysterious death of father, shady mom who marries an even shadier business partner of his late dad, not to mention the love triangle between two sisters, one of which died on the boat that capsized. As if that weren’t enough, the city’s top detective Quentin Lance happens to be the father of the two sisters, so you could imagine he’s not exactly fond of Oliver.

With all the characters not being who they seemed, it feels like a big action-packed soap opera, so I think the producers have to be careful not to overdo it. There seems to be a lot of conspiracies within the Queen family itself, what with the revelation at the end involving his mother. I can’t help but roll my eyes, I mean, another twist?? [face palm]

Is it worth watching?

It remains to be seen but for sure it’s got potential. Of course there are a ton of unanswered questions that I’m hoping will get at least partly answered in future episodes. I mean, how in the heck that nobody ever sailed near that island in the entire 5 years, is it possible that Oliver just didn’t want to be rescued just yet? If so, why?? Then, how did he even train himself archery to the degree of being a professional assassin? What’s up with his dad’s drastic decision on the lifeboat?? That’s just the tip of the iceberg, but so far I’m pretty hooked to find out more!

I think the USA Today review says it best:

“By almost all measures, Arrow is one of the season’s more promising pilots. And yet, fairly or not, it must hurdle a substantial problem most other pilots don’t face, and it can be summed up in two letters: CW. Whether from budgetary restraints or management problems, there’s no company out there, broadcast or cable, with a worse record for turning promising pilots into terrible series.”

Let’s hope CW breaks that pattern. One thing for sure, the show is a hit. Apparently it scores the network’s highest ratings in 3 years so it might be around for a while. I do like what I’ve seen so far, but it really has to be worthwhile over time for me to keep tuning in, Amell’s abs-tastic notwithstanding.

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Anybody else seen this show? Well, what did you think?

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Tube Watch: First Trailer of CW’s ARROW looks quite promising

What is it with archery-skilled heroes that I find intriguing? Legolas, Robin Hood, Katniss Everdeen, and soon Princess Merida in Pixar’s BRAVE … somehow the art of shooting with a bow and arrow just looks so darn cool on screen.

Now, this Fall, the CW network is bringing the show ARROW based on the Comics Green Arrow. It’s odd that they only used the one word title but never mind that, the trailer actually looks pretty good, and I’m not even the targeted CW demographic. The production quality is quite impressive as well. According to HitFix, judging by their 2012-13 upfront presentation to advertisers, this looks like the new show the network is most excited about.

Check out the trailer below:

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Now, I think that scene of him shooting at all the tennis balls to the wall is pretty darn cool, and I like that the vibe of the origins story seems to be inspired by Batman Begins. It also looks a heck of a lot darker and more hard-edged than the ever-so-corny Smallville and Vampire Diaries, thank goodness!

You can read the full synopsis on the show’s main site, but basically, the protagonist Oliver Queen is a billionaire playboy who makes Starling City his home. Just like Bruce Wayne, he lives a dual identity… a hooded vigilante by night and a wealthy, carefree and careless philanderer by day. But he’s a rich, handsome playboy with a purpose of course, and his goal is to right the wrongs of his family, fight the ills of society, and restore Starling City to its former glory.

Canadian Stephen Amell seems well-cast judging from this clip, obviously the extent of his acting skills remains to be seen, but he seems to have the physique that would make even Patrick Bateman jealous ;) He resembles Christian Bale a bit too, which is never a bad thing in my book. He definitely has that dark, brooding look about him, a huge improvement over Justin Hartley as Green Arrow Smallville, glad they didn’t use him here.

Well, I definitely will give the pilot a chance and we’ll see how long it’ll hold my interest. It’s scheduled to air Wednesdays @ 7 PM Central Time before Supernatural.

What do you think of the trailer folks? Does it pique your interest?

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Tube Watch: Bitten by the BBC bug – Sherlock & Spooks

Happy Friday all! 

I’m afraid it’s going to be a short post today as I’m getting ready to post this month’s Five for the Fifth for tomorrow.

I’ve clearly been bitten by the BBC TV bug as I’m so addicted to both these shows! Those who’ve seen at least one episode of either one of these would surely understand. I’m sooo anticipating the arrival of season 2 of Sherlock coming to PBS Mystery this Sunday, yay! Check out the trailer below, as the super detective says… ”I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

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As for Spooks (or MI-5 as it’s called in the US), I’ve mentioned last Tuesday that I’m only going to catch up with Season 7 – 10, or you could say, since Richard Armitage joined the cast, natch! I’ve always loved a good espionage thriller and Spooks definitely delivered. Just like Sherlock, it’s impeccably-written, superbly acted and beautifully-shot. I love that it portrayed London in such a fascinating way, and not just the glamorous side of the city. This is the trailer that got me to finally watch this show, now of course it’d be nice if Rupert Penry-Jones had been around longer to work with Richard, but maybe that’ll be eye-candy overload, ahah.

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There are a quite a few connections between the two shows, well other than airing on the same network. Benedict Cumberbatch apparently had an uncredited cameo in an earlier episode of Spooks back in 2003 (when Matthew Macfadyen was still the lead actor).

As if I need an excuse to post a photo of Richard in all that leather… [yowza!]

And recently, the actress playing Sherlock‘s love interest Irene Adler, Lara Pulver, was actually Richard Armitage’s co-star in BBC’s Robin Hood as Guy of Gisbourne’s sister Isabella. She also has a role in the last season of Spooks as the new Chief of Section D. Wow, she’s one busy girl… and very, very lucky! From what I’ve seen in her clips with Sherlock, she’s certainly poised to juice up the already stimulating show ;)

I think it’s awesome that the main cast of BOTH shows, Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage are ALL going to be in The Hobbit! Man, I’d give anything to work for FREE for just a day on that set!

Anyway, I guess the good thing of being so far behind on TV watching is that I have a wealth of episodes to catch up on. These two shows definitely satisfy my penchant for easy-on-the-eyes British guys and the oh-so-witty writing! :D

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Are you a fan of either of these? And tell me, what show(s) are you completely hooked on lately?

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Tube Watch: Thoughts on JJ Abrams’ ALCATRAZ

All right, after months without a show to get excited about, finally Alcatraz arrives. I blogged about this back in September. Basically it’s a procedural mystery thriller with elements of time travel thrown in… the trailer promises all kinds of twists and turns only JJ Abrams & co. could muster, what with Alcatraz prisoners disappearing from 50 years ago and suddenly showing up on present day and bent on a shooting rampage.

So, is it worth watching?

Well, the short answer is YES. The 2-hour season premiere did its job  trick as based on what I’ve seen so far, I’m hooked. Now, I didn’t watch LOST so I consider that a good thing as I won’t have ‘LOST fatigue’ like some TV reviewers mentioned, and I also won’t be keeping tabs on how the two shows are similar, well apart from the fact that both shows involve an island and a boat load of unexplained scenarios.

What I like about the show:

The Premise

One benefit from not watching hardly any TV is that I’m not burned out by procedural shows. Yes I’m aware there are a plethora of it out there, and that this one involves a police detective trying to figure out the strange killings happening in the city, but the mystery/time travel elements sets it apart from the pack. The contrast setting between the ghostly, eerie atmosphere of retro Alcatraz island and the panoramic Bay City also adds visual interest.

This pilot tells us that each episode will focus on one prisoner (perhaps also the guard?) and how his story will help shed some light to the overall mystery. Just what in the world happened to that night in 1963 and why are they back in the present day? For what purpose?? The two prisoners so far seem to have totally different ‘missions’ if you will, that don’t seem to have any connection with each other. At least that’s how it appears right now.
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The Players

The most intriguing character so far is Sam Neill’s Emerson Hauser, the lead investigator of this whole Alcatraz enigma. He’s been there from the start as he was a young guard back in 1963 when 300 + prisoners and guards vanished from the island. It’s obvious that he knows more than he’s letting on, and so does his sympathetic scientist partner Lucy Banerjee (Parminder Nagra). Meanwhile, Detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) gets unwittingly dragged into Hauser’s team whilst investigating the murder of Alcatraz’s former Deputy Warden E.B. Tiller. With the help of some Google search (isn’t it nice to be living in the 21st Century?), she finds Dr. Diego Soto (Jorge Garcia), a comic book writer/Alcatraz expert who ends up becoming her partner on the case.

So far Garcia gets the best lines like “You’ve built the bat cave under Alcatraz. Why would you do that?” or “Anyone else’s head exploding right now?”, which is a nice balance to Jones’ serious demeanor. I’ve never seen Jorge before but he’s perhaps the most well-known TV actor here because of his role in LOST. I like him right away and he’s funny without being overly quirky (I’m looking at you Masi Oka).

Neill, Jones & Garcia on Alcatraz

It’s quite an eclectic mix of people and you could say the same about the cast. I quite like Neill in this role, a bit prickly but highly mysterious… oh and bad ass, too. At the end of the second episode he doesn’t hesitate to shoot the prisoner’s hand to keep him from shooting people at random. I can see how Neill can have tons of fun with this character if the writers did their job well.

Sarah Jones reminds me a bit of a Battlestar Galactica‘s Katte Sackhoff (Starbuck), but a softer, less tomboy-ish version. She seems believable in the role but lacking a bit in the charisma department (especially against a veteran like Neill). But hey it’s early yet, I’d give her some time.
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The Time-Travel Elements

Time travel movies are inherently intriguing and there are so many possibilities to explore! If there’s anyone who can freshen up a tried and true formula, that’d be Abrams. As proven with the Star Trek movie, good writing can somehow make something you’ve seen before feels new again. Now I’m not saying he’s got the formula down pat yet, it’s still too early to tell, but so far he’s done a good job in making us want to know more what happens next.

The alternating timelines between the 60s and present day keeps it interesting as well as gives us an insight into what each of the disappearing prisoner’s all about. I especially like the Jack Sylvane (Jeffrey Pierce) storyline, ok so Pierce is eye-candy material too, always a nice bonus ;) I think the fact that he was imprisoned for something trivial (stealing at a grocery store) but ended up being jailed on The Rock is just as bizarre as him suddenly waking up in 2012.

I do have an issue with how the disappearing prisoners who suddenly pop up in present time don’t have that much trouble adjusting to 2012. When Jack stepped out of the prison after being awaken by a visiting tourist girl, he seemed disoriented for a while but recovered quickly and went on with his mission. I think it’d be more interesting if the writers explore the discombobulated ‘fish out water’ period a bit more, which is always the most interesting factor about time travel stories.

The Verdict

Well, now that they got me hooked, we’ll see how long it can keep me interested. I have a short attention span with shows, the last TV series I watched was Hawaii Five-0 but Alex O’Loughlin’s hunkyness aside, I got bored with it pretty fast as there is really nothing to look forward to week after week. With this one, there is almost a sense of urgency to find out just what the heck is going on, and with every episode, we (hopefully) get just a little bit closer to the heart of the mystery.

For example, as the first hour ended, we found out that Madsen’s grandfather was actually a prisoner, not a guard as she was led to believe. So there is a personal connection there that makes it all the more intriguing. The premiere ends with a WHOA moment involving Lucy’s character. I definitely didn’t see that coming! Does Hauser know all along that Lucy is the same person as Dr. Lucille Sengupta? Was that why the sniper prisoner targeted Lucy? Well, Abrams’ done the job well as I REALLY want to know the answer to those questions.

I just hope that there are sufficient pay-offs to the build-ups. I think the trouble with these types of shows is that the writers have too much fun thinking of all the twists and conflicts but in the end don’t know how to solve them. I sure hope that won’t be the case here.

So did anybody else watch this pilot? Well, what did you think?

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Tube Watch: 3 new shows I look forward to this Fall

Happy Sunday everyone! The Emmy just wrapped tonight and though I didn’t watch it, it makes me think of some shows that are going to be premiering this Fall. I don’t usually have time to watch more than one TV series a week, but these three shows are intriguing enough I might have to blog less so I can watch these shows. This is in addition to Hawaii Five-O which is my guilty pleasure that’s returning Monday nights on CBS.

As some of these shows are premiering the same week as TCFF, I’d have to catch them the following week. But in any case, I’m quite excited for these:

Person of Interest (CBS, Thursdays 9/8c)

The first time I saw the trailer for this, I have to admit that Jim Caviezel’s casting caught my eye. I think he’s an underrated actor and has admitted that playing Jesus in The Passion of the Christ made Hollywood reluctant to hire him. It’s a pity because he’s a talented and versatile actor and he definitely looks bad ass in this one.

This is one of the 10 newcomers worth sampling posted by AP via Yahoo last month, below is the description from that post:

An obscure software genius and an ex-CIA agent believed to be dead: This is the duo who dedicate themselves to preventing bad things from happening — even without knowing what the bad thing will be. This is an edgy thriller that links the video surveillance that blankets modern life with a computer program that identifies each “person of interest” — someone who, whether as a victim or a perpetrator, is about to be involved in a violent crime. Michael Emerson (Lost) is the obscure man with the software, and he recruits Caviezel, playing an off-the-grid ex-spy, to do his legwork.

Another reason this piqued my interest is the Minority Report-inspired storyline and talents behind it: J.J. Abrams (Lost) and Jonathan Nolan (yep, Chris’ brother who’ve collaborated with him on the screenplay of Memento, The Prestige and The Dark Knight). This is Nolan’s first TV project and he’s apparently been long interested in the idea of information-age overload, which enabled in part by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, that led law-enforcement agencies to take surveillance to a new level. Quoted in USA Today, Nolan says, “The show is about two guys interacting with an all-seeing machine that can’t communicate with them beyond a string of nine numbers… We have all this information, but getting the relevant pieces out of it is tough.”

I hope the folks at CBS give this show some time to develop before they cancel this prematurely.

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Alcatraz (FOX, Mondays 9/8c)

[This one actually doesn't air until Fall mid-season in 2012]

This is another one of J.J. Abrams’ TV projects that has a Lost connection as Jorge Garcia is one of the leads. The plot from EW.com:

Alcatraz follows a San Francisco police detective (Sarah Jones) who teams with an expert on the prison (Garcia) after a murder suspect turns out to be a Alcatraz prisoner who disappeared from the island about 50 years ago. It seems the killer wasn’t the only prisoner to vanish — or the only one to return. And now they must stop the Alcatraz escapees as they re-enter modern society without having aged — and try to solve the mystery of how this is happening, and why.

The trailer looks pretty gripping and I rather like Sam Neill. The networks seem to loooove procedural shows and this one has some of that, but with more puzzles and mysterious twists along with dynamic action stuff. A certain amount of mystery can’t hurt, but hopefully it won’t have too many twists though. I mean the reason I wasn’t too interested in Lost is that it seemed like all the enigmatic buildup gets to be too much that too many questions remained unanswered in the end. This TV.com article said ‘there oughta be a TV genre called “J.J. Abram-edies”‘ as this one has that similar formula.

Anyway, the 60s flashback stuff will be interesting to watch as well as seeing the world’s famous prison cell used as the real filming location. Oh, I hope the guy who plays Jack Sylvane (Jeffrey Pierce) is going to appear in more shows besides the pilot. He’s pretty easy on the eye :)

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PAN AM (ABC, Sundays 10/9c)

The shows above are rather dark, mystifying stuff. So I think this one about the glory days of air travel would be a fun one to end the week. I wasn’t expecting to see Christina Ricci in this but I think she’d add an edgy flair to the show amongst the cookie cutter drop-dead-gorgeous girls on TV.

Set in the ’60s, the drama centers on the loves and lives of stewardesses (led by Christina Ricci) of the iconic titular airline. Although lauded as symbols of sleek, Jet Age glamour, their personal lives are full of turbulence.

This series had a pretty big presence at Comic-con last Summer, at the time I had no idea why there was a faux Pan Am plane in the exhibition hall, that’s when I found out about the series. It reminds me of Catch Me If You Can, the era when working for an airline is such a coveted and cool career and air travel is certainly a heck of a lot more enjoyable :( I like the fact that women are the stars of the show here, and the trailer looks pretty amusing. “Are you wearing your girdle?” Oh boy, in that sense, I’m glad we’ve come quite a long way since then.

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Anybody else interested in any of these shows? Please also share which series (new or returning) you’re looking forward to this Fall.

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9/11: Out of the Blue – Simon Armitage’s Poem read by Rufus Sewell

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, a day I still remember vividly as I was on my way to work that morning. I was listening to my local radio on my commute when they interrupted programming when the first plane hit. I immediately thought it was some pilot error, and that was what the DJ thought too, until the second plane hit the other tower and both the radio folks and I gasped at the same time… and that day, we knew things weren’t going to be the same again.

A couple of years a go, I came across this TV broadcast of a poem written in 2006 by British poet/playwright/novelist Simon Armitage. “I wanted to do something which was both commemorative and elegiac, but not political,” said Armitage in the 2006 Times article. To mark the fifth anniversary of 9/11, the poem was broadcast on BBC with actor Rufus Sewell portraying a fictional British trader trapped in one of the twin towers as the planes strike. It begins with the trader going about his day in downtown New York as if it was just another ordinary day…

Up with the lark, downtown
New York.
The sidewalks, the blocks.
Walk. Don’t Walk. Walk.
 Don’t Walk.

It’s a deeply moving poem, performed brilliantly by Sewell as he’s being filmed against a backdrop of a dealing office. It’s tough to watch however, as actual footage of that fateful day were shown, and the poem itself carries an emotional punch. Armitage takes all those ubiquitous footage splattered all over the media to a mind-numbing point and gives it almost a personal twist by giving the victim a ‘face and a voice’ if you will, offering us a moment to live vicariously through this man and glimpse into the emotion and fears he was facing on the last day of his life. It’s as if we get a view from inside the building, the horror within, a view we rarely get to see.

Here are the clips in four parts:

PART I

PART II

PART III

PART IV

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My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone effected by 9/11. Do you remember where you were 10 years ago today?

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Guest post – Zen Alert: Starts Sunday, July 17 on PBS

Zen Alert! The BBC Detective Series starts Sunday, July 17 on PBS

The excellent three-part BBC series staring British actor Rufus Sewell begins on Masterpiece Mystery! on PBS with the Vendetta episode on Sunday, July 17. Cabal airs on July 24, and the last episode, RatKing on July 31. I reviewed the series in depth earlier this year.

Rufus sums up the professional side of Detective Aurelio Zen this way: “He has a slightly lackadaisical moral code, a sense of wanting to do something good. But he’s not above kicking someone when they’re down. He’s a gray area, and that’s what makes it incredibly fun.” This clip about a suicide note portrays that sentiment perfectly:

And the romantic side of Zen is just as intriguing:

Check out a PBS behind-the-scenes compilation (excerpts from the Extras on the DVD) here and the Vendetta episode trailer from PBS on YouTube. For more than a dozen Zen clips, go to my YouTube channel.

The series is smart, sytlish, sophisticated, and unfortunately, too short. No further episodes are planned… yet. Catch all three for a surprisingly unique, refreshing take on the TV mystery/crime genre. Enjoy the mini Roman holiday… Addio!

Thoughts about the Zen series? Let us know. Grazie!

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Tube Watch: Five Reasons I Watch Hawaii Five-0

Monday nights are actually one of my favorite week nights. Y’know why? ‘Cause it’s time for my favorite show of the season. Yes, I’m not ashamed to admit it, I LOVE Hawaii Five-0! I’ve only seen maybe one episode of the original, so it’s not exactly a nostalgia thing apart from the memorable theme song. Here are five reasons why:

1. The great ensemble cast

If you’d say I have a crush on Alex O’Loughlin, then you wouldn’t be wrong :) His role as Steve McGarrett certainly the main draw for me initially as I was a big fan of Moonlight, but now I love the entire members of Five-0. I adore Scott Caan as Danny ‘Dano’ Williams, his tie-wearing, Jersey-loving attitude is the perfect antithesis to the sports nut and intensely bad-ass McGarrett. I also love the fact that this show had not one but TWO Asian actors in the major roles, LOST’s Daniel Day Kim as the disgraced cop Chin Ho Kelly and Battlestar Galactica alum Grace Park as Kalakaua, who’s also Chin’s cousin, as the youngest Five-0 recruitee. The four of them have a wonderful, dynamic camaraderie and they look like they enjoy each others’ company on the set.
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2. The fun action-packed episodes
The fast-paced script keeps the show moving swiftly — perhaps almost too quick to follow all the details of some of the more complicated cases — that it’s never boring. Though not every episode is created equal, you can always rely on a decent amount of suspense along with the witty banters. The episode where Chin is strapped with a bomb necklace kept me on my toes and was awesome to see the team rally to save their beloved partner. It certainly helps that all of the cast look believably fit for all the physical stuff.
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3. The humor
I love that O’Loughlin and Caan have a great chemistry together. Looks like they’ve been best pals forever when they make the show because their friendship feels natural. Despite the constant teasing — Danny often thinks Steve is a bit of a neanderthal for his brash, shoot-’em-up temper, and Steve always makes fun of uptight dress code as the only cop in Hawaii wearing a tie on the job — y’know they like each other a lot and would probably take a bullet for each other. The witty banter between them are the show’s highlights I always look forward to.
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4. The continuing storyline

O'Loughlin w/ Taryn Manning

Though every episode has its own unique plot, there’s a constant thread of McGarrett’s back-story involving his father’s murder that makes for a good character development. I like how with each episode, we’re given a bit more clues that would hopefully get Steve closer to finding his dad’s killer. There were a couple of episodes of Steve’s visiting relative finding out about the tool box left by their dad that ended up getting her kidnapped. I don’t know if they’re going to bring back Taryn Manning as the straight-talkin’ kid sister in future episodes. I sure hope so, because I think she’s one of the better guest stars on the show (eons better than Rick Springfield!). Oh, I also like the main suspect of the case, a guy by the name of Wo Fat (Mark Dacascos), who proves to be a sinister villain that REALLY gets under McGarrett’s skin.
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Besides Steve’s ongoing case, there’s also the subplot about Danno’s young daughter and ex-wife who live on the island, which keep us guessing whether they’d get back together. The stuff about Chin-Ho’s past and the real reason he’s kicked off the force is pretty intriguing, too.
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5. The gorgeous, escapism island setting

I’d like to think that the island setting itself sort of distinguish Five-0 from the run-of-the-mill crime procedural show. The show might as well double as a Hawaii tourism video as every episode it makes me want to book a trip to that amazing island. The gorgeous beaches, the big waves, the lush mountains… the Hawaiian scenery is practically the star of the show itself. I also love that they use local actors for most of the recurring cast members, my favorite has got to be the big jolly teddy bear of a guy Kamekona, played by amateur sumo wrestler Taylor Wili. He makes me smile every time he appears on screen.

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So there you have it. Five-0 is entertaining, enjoyable,  and fun! What else could you ask for on Monday nights?

Are you a fan of the show? If not, what’s YOUR must-see show(s) this season?