Tag: Emmys

Breaking Bad – Getting Away With it Since 2008

Today I would like to celebrate the programming prowess of AMC – it’s so much more than a channel showing classic american movies.

If you’ve got your finger on the pulse of entertainment buzz you should already know of, and be avidly watching, AMC’s first breakout original progam Mad Men. I would like to now boldly declare that cool cat Don Draper isn’t the only compelling character ruling the airwaves – he’s got stiff competition in the form of  an Albuquerque  high school chemistry teacher. “Wha, wha, what?” you may be asking yourself. Stay with me, there’s more to the story. This particular teacher shaping young minds by day has a moonlighting gig: cooking and dealing crystal meth. Meet the shades-of-grey “hero” of Breaking Bad, Walter White.

Bryan Cranston imbues Walter with the same kind of intense, nuanced bad guy gravitas that James Gandolfini brought to Tony Soprano which has netted him two well-deserved Emmys in the process and deftly made Breaking Bad a show worthy of taking up The Sopranos mantle. The crux of the series is not only following but ultimately feeling for someone introduced as an innocent everyman who chooses to navigate down a conscience-corrosive road of crime all the while maintaining a deluded end-justifies-the-means attitude.

Amazing character development plus the high stakes inherant in dealing with the dangerous underbelly of drug trafficking makes for a series that cannot be missed. Take six minutes to watch a recap of the last two years bringing the uninitiated viewer up-to-speed for tonight’s explosive season three premiere.

Reminisce and Revisit: Greatest 30 Rock Series Moment

"I only act out 'cause I want your love. DY-NO-MITE!"

Lady, just because I’m an ignorant black man and you paid me a nickel to bust up your chiffarobe doesn’t give you the right to call me ridiculous just ’cause I’m proud of my son.”

I’m no linguist, logophile whathaveyou, but many times while watching comedies just a single word in a joke will create a reaction so strong it affects me for long after the moment has ended. Such is the case with “chiffarobe.” Those who watched this week’s Family Guy will remember it as one of many words used in the extended “you know a person is old when they use this to mean this” gag at the end of last night’s episode “Brian’s Got a Brand New Bag.”

While the Family Guy joke was probably the best in that particular episode, hearing “chiffarobe” evoked a memory from when this word was used as an even better comedic device in a scene from the second season episode of 30 Rock “Rosemary’s Baby,” a scene that I believe to be the best in the series’ still-in-process history. Not only is Alec Baldwin’s sizeable talent on full display playing five(!) characters within a character (which was undoubtedly the reason he nabbed a second straight Emmy win for Best Actor in a Comedy that year) but the fact that the 30 Rock writing team crafted both a Good Times and a To Kill a Mockingbird reference all in two and a half minutes is staggeringly amazing.

And for your viewing pleasure…

Jumping on this Damages Bandwagon

Damages on FXHot casting news from contributor, and fellow TV fanatic, Jackie Boy: Critic and awards-darling Damages is about to get a dose of comedy, kinda. Coming into its third season, the FX drama will welcome veteran comic actors Martin Short and Lily Tomlin as series regular and guest star, respectively. The plot will pit Emmy-winner Glenn Close’s Patty Hewes against a family led by Tomlin, her son (played by Campbell Scott) and their high-powered attorney (Short).

martinshortShort seems a left-field choice to join the tense legal thriller, but the show has previously used another actor known mostly for comedy, Ted Danson, to embody one of the best TV villains of recent years.

Production of the show’s 13-episode season three is set to begin tomorrow in New York City for a January premiere on FX.

Who’s the American Helen Mirren?

NBC’s track record with adapting international series for American audiences has been rather hit or miss (Highs: The Office. Lows: Coupling. New Lows: Kath & Kim.) so the recent news that the peacock is set to adapt the groundbreaking UK drama series Prime Suspect is a bit…suspect.

Prime SuspectThe original ran in seven parts from 1991 to 2006 and starred Helen Mirren as lady-of-a-certain-age chief homicide detective Jane Tennison, a role that made waves when the series debuted as it was the first to feature a woman as the head of a murder investigation unit. A hit with critics, it earned Mirren two Emmy awards for lead actress in a miniseries and made her a household name in the US when it aired as part of PBS’s Mystery series.

With such a stellar pedigree, NBC should take measured steps to ensure that their Prime Suspect will have its own tone that sets it apart from workhorse Law & Order procedurals (no L&O: Across the Pond, thank you). The crux of the show’s success will be in casting the lead. Considering such an acclaimed and formidable actress originated the role, someone award-winning caliber must come on board to give the US version some clout in standing up (and out) to the plethora of other crime-centered dramas scattered around the dial, especially ones with strong female characters (NBC’s own Emmy-winning Mariska Hargitay, for example). American producers will no doubt want to sex up the role, which means skewing the age range down, considering the hesitancy to cast women over 40 in high-profile leads. This actress age-ism is a shame because, like a fine wine, the best only get better with time, and this kind of role demands someone who’s been around the block.

Jean Smart as Martha Logan on Day 5 of "24"Topping my “For Your Consideration” list would be Jean Smart. While most well-known for comedy – first gaining recognition on Designing Women, but racking up 3 Emmy wins in the last decade for her guest role on Frasier and one for supporting actress playing Christina Applegate’s martini-swilling mother on Samantha Who? – she’s also proven a knack for the dramatics, and earned rave reviews, with her portrayal of the president’s unstable, whistle-blowing wife on the fifth season of 24.

Opening the forum for discussion: Who else is an ideal contender to take up the American “Queen” of police mantle?

The ‘Mad’ness Continues

 Mad Men on AMC

Don Draper is pouring a celebratory mid-day drink and lighting up a Lucky Strike after the news earlier today that AMC has renewed Mad Men for a fourth year after only three episodes into its third season. Showing ratings increase from its second season, healthy media exposure, continued critical acclaim and a slew of Emmy awards (its freshman year took home Best Drama, and is a front-runner to repeat this year) it was a no-brainer that the cabler would extend our time in the world of Sterling Cooper.

Last season, over 30 million viewers watched Mad Men on-air, on video-on-demand as well as on iTunes. The series continues to deliver the strongest concentration of upscale adults 25-54, more than any other original drama series on basic cable, and consistently ranks at the top of the iTunes TV charts.