Television:

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The Pacific – HBO’s Ten Part Miniseries Recreates the Pacific Theater of WWII -- Premieres Mar. 14th

By Rick Grant   TV Commentary

After the phenomenal success of HBO’s “Band of Brothers,” which was a well researched recreation of the European Theater in WWII, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks decided to recreate the bloody Pacific campaign to take key Japanese held islands. The result is a mind altering recreation of WWII action.

This shoot was complex and required the actors to actually go through a brutal nine day boot camp. The words “movie,” “film,” or “actors” were never uttered on the sets. The battle action is meticulously recreated based on actual war footage and first hand accounts.
From the first shoot under realistic and loud battle scenes, the actors forgot they were making a movie and became their characters. They endured the same conditions as their characters. There were no air-conditioned trailers or other fancy amenities.

The grueling ten episode shoots were shot like documentaries, honoring the surviving veterans of the Pacific campaign. No expense was spared to accurately re-imagine the island battles from Guadalcanal through the rain forest of Cape Gloucester and the fierce battles of Peleiu and on to Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Each island presented new challenges for the filmmakers, who had realistic sets built and used the natural topography of their locations in Australia to paint their canvass of deadly war violence. As WWII veterans say, the Pacific campaign was hell on Earth.

The cast’s weapons were restored authentic firearms in working order,  firing blanks with tracers to simulate real combat conditions. Restored old tanks and landing craft were brought in for realistic effects, as well as real aircraft flying overhead. The fear and dirt on the actors faces was real.

The miniseries focuses on three U.S. Marines–Robert Leckie, John Basilone, and Eugene Sledge. Robert Leckie’s war diary, “My Pillow” and Eugene Sledge’s book “With the Old Breed” chronicled their war experiences on which the writers based their scripts.

However, the main characters are the pathfinding Marines offering the audience identifying characters as they join their brothers, invading each heavily fortified island. The characters, although well developed, are part of a vast cast of re-enacters, paying homage to their living counterparts.

For producers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, making these WWII movies serve as a recreated historical record, honoring the sacrifice of the men who gave their lives for the just cause.

The real war footage and these movies are living memorials to the brave young men who never got the chance to live out their lives. They willingly gave up their lives so we could live in peace. We must never forget them. These incredibly realistic re-enactments help us relive the horror of what they went through. 

On the HBO website, “The Making of The Pacific” is required viewing for viewers who are anticipating this quality miniseries. Like “Band of Brothers.” “The Pacific” will stand as the most authentic, accurate, and realistic recreation of the WWII on film.

 

Southland-- New Season Premieres on March 2nd on TNT 

By Rick Grant TV Commentary

When the dumbass CEO of NBC decided to run Jay Leno at 10:00 pm, the gritty new cop drama “Southland” was axed.  Arguably, the show didn’t deserve cancellation and soon TNT picked it up, re-running the entire first season. As it turned out, Leno goes back to the Tonight Show at 11:35 pm and TNT gained a quality series.

The series is shot from the cops and criminals point of view, on the mean streets of Los Angeles. The two central characters are John Cooper, (Michael Cudlitz) a street savvy veteran police officer and his rookie trainee, Ben Sheman (Ben McKenzie).

Sherman comes from an affluent background but really wanted to be a cop. He learned to shoot at the Beverly Hills Gun club. In an early episode, Ben saves his partner’s life by shooting and killing a suspect with a shot right between the3 perp’s eyes. This impresses Cooper who thinks Sherman will make an excellent police officer.

The series was created by Chris Chulack with John Wells and Ann Biderman on board as cod-executive producers. The story lines are gritty and realistic involving dangerous criminals, victims, and their families. The aftermath of crime is fully explored from the actual criminal act to the effect on victims.

The second season premiere opens with a wealthy Beverly Hills big shot who is the victim of a home invasion gang. The chief send in the homicide detectives to help with this series of vicious crimes, that are escalating to murder.

The celebrity victim is beaten but his daughter is left alone. She just happens to be having an affair with rookie Sherman. It’s against police policy to have relationships with victims. But Sherman does it anyway.

Cooper and Sherman are the gatekeepers to each serious crime and then the focus shifts to the homicide detectives including Det. Lydia Adams (Regina King) Her partner is Det Russell Clarke (Tom Everett Scott) who is estranged from his wife.

On the gang task force that works closely with homicide is Det. Daniel “Sal” Salinger. He oversees fellow gang unit detectives Nate Loretta (Kevin Alejandro) and Sammy Bryant (Shawn Hatosy). Arija Bareikis plays patrol officer Chickie Brown, who is a single mom who want to be the first woman to join SWAT.

Det. Lydia Adams is a primary caregiver to her mother. She struggles to make ends meet but is a dedicated police officer. She comes home one day to find her house was burglarized. Even police officers are not immune from the high crime rate in L.A. Life on the street is so dangerous, regular police officers are paid $90 grand a year to keep them on the job.

The series harkens back to Barry Levinson’s “Homicide: Life on the Street” which was a paradigm shift in cop shows in that it dealt with not only their professional lives but their personal problems. In this series the characters are developed on the fly, as things happen rapidly, like in real life police work.

Los Angeles is such a vast area with hundreds of different neighborhoods, from Malibu to East L.A., cops stay busy keeping up with escalating crime and murder.

“Southland’s” second season debuts on Tuesday, March 2nd on TNT at 8:00 pm ET.

How to Make it in America HBO’s New Drama about Making It in New York City

By Rick Grant TV Commentary

HBO’s launched a new thirty minute drama last weekend involving two twenty- something hustlers,  trying to make a name for themselves in the viciously competitive fashion scene in New York City. These gutsy entrepreneurs plunge into the big city insecurity with confidence that they have the right stuff to make it.

Cam Calderon (Victor Rusk) and Ben Epstein (Byran Greenberg) are street savvy and smart, but they rely on small business loans from a loan shark, Rene Calderon, (Luis Guzman) Cam’s cousin, to finance their ideas. The two business partners use their inside connections to seize opportunities that may or may not exist.

Ben works in a men’s store and Cam hustles with his cousin’s money. Their walk-up has stacks of boxes of unsold merchandise such as skateboards that depended on a schizophrenic skater who disappeared. Ben already owes his cousin money.

Everyday, the two friends come up with new ideas to make it big. Their latest scheme is a new energy drink called Rasta-Monsta. Then they conjure up the latest trend in jeans hoping to get ahead of the curve.

Meanwhile, Ben’s ex-girlfriend, Gingy Wu (Shannyn Sossamon) has sunk her savings into a photographer’s work, who happens to be her latest flame. She has organized an exhibit and needs to sell all of his paintings to break even. She enlists the help of Ben and Cam to help her setup the exhibit. Ben is still not over his last squeeze.

The series uses fast track shots of the Bronx as Ben and Cam’s “business” territory, as they hustle to get through each day. They see the mean streets as endless opportunities for scoring big with a new idea. The problem is they have no resources to fall back on. On the positive side,  their youthful exuberance sustains them and they do not get discouraged. Ah youth! They haven’t yet been beaten down by too many failures.

In the pilot episode, Ben meets an old high school buddy, Dave “Kappo” Kaplan (Eddie Kaye Thomas)  who has made it big on the stock market. The chance meeting may prove to be a good thing for Ben and Cam. But the partners are not into being hangers on to get handouts from their rich friend. Just how he will fit into their orbit is an interesting question in the story arc.
Ben’s ex-girlfriend, Rachel (Rene Lake Bell-“Boston Legal”) is still in the picture and will be a reoccurring character. This will add some romantic suspense to the story because Ben still carries a torch for her.

The series is executive produced by Mark Wahlberg, Stephan Levinson, Rob Weiss, and Ian Eldeman, with Julian Farino, and Jada Miranda. The episodes are directed by Julian Farino, Josh Marston, Jonathan Levine, and Danny Leiner. The cinematography is fast paced and gives the viewer the feel of the hustle and bustle of NYC streets.

Because there is no real precedent for this concept, it’s original and unpredictable, which makes the series an exciting program to watch. It takes guts and confidence to survive in NYC on your wits and ideas alone. These guys have the moxie to make it one day. In the meantime, they live each day to the fullest.

“How to Make It in America” runs Sunday nights at 10:00 pm on HBO.

 

The Marriage Ref–Jerry Seinfeld’s New Reality Show a Platform for Ad Lib Comedy

By Rick Grant    TV Commentary

“Seinfeld” left the air in 1996. Since then, Jerry had been away from television until last year when he appeared on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” in a story arc that involved the reunion of “Seinfeld.” Of course, Larry David’s semi-ad-lib style story-line sank the reunion with a set of hilarious circumstances in which he screwed up.

Now Jerry is back with a new reality show–that’s right--a reality show featuring Jerry doing a short monologue with seasoned stand-up host, Tom Papa as the Referee. The show has been casting real married couples who have issues with each other that escalate into marital discord. Indeed, marriage means discord!.

The idea of the show is to use real marriage disharmony as a live platform for comedy in front of a live audience. Jerry has posted some preview videos of the show on NBC’s website. It’s very funny.

Jerry said that he’s been married ten years and he’s been in serious combat like in Afghanistan. People who live together are only playing paint ball. Marriage is a serious battleground. As the years go by, the couple gets on each other’s nerves.

Little things can set off an argument. Jerry went on to say that he used his marriage to write volumes of new comedic material, as he looks at these marital spats as comedy situations.
The producers of the show, including Jerry, are still casting lens-friendly couples who love each other but have obnoxious habits that cause discord. Couples argue about parenting, pets, fashion, money, in-laws, weight, housework, chores, jealousy, sex. Any little thing, however trivial, can set off an fight.

Yes, sex is a biggie. The problems with sex in a marriage are innumerable. One partner wants too much sex, or too little sex, or uses sex as a weapon to get back at the other person by withholding sex. One thing is for sure, married couples never agree on how much sex they need or want. It’s fertile ground for comedy.

Jerry and Tom will never let the situation get to the level of Jerry Springer, with couples fist fighting or throwing chairs around the studio. The theme is always making these disagreements funny.
When the couple reaches an impasse, Tom steps in as the Ref to decide who is right and who is wrong like in a basketball game.

Jerry Seinfeld’s new venture into prime time network television is a logical step, since “Seinfeld” was about a group of single friends in NYC. Jerry said he was 45 when he got married and he never dreamed it would be so eventful and full of comedy material.

“The Marriage Ref” will debut Thursday, March 4th at 10:00 pm on NBC. A preview of the series will air on Feb. 28th right after the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics. 

 

Past Life
Fox’s New Detective Series with a Reincarnation Twist

By Rick Grant   TV Commentary

Fox’s new series “Past Life” is a detective story featuring a psychologist, Dr. Kate McGinn (Kelli Giddish) and a former NYC homicide detective, Price Whatley (Nicholas Bishop) working together to solve mysteries. Kate sees patients with serious deja vu episodes or unknown traumas. She regresses them back to a past life to uncover their trauma.

In some cases, her patient sees who killed him, or in the premiere episode case, the boy was a little girl in a past life. Then Price, a skeptic, investigates the cold case and uses the boy’s past life testimony to help solve the murder.

Kate’s cases are complex and cause Price to reexamine his doubt about reincarnation. Price still looks for logical explanations for Kate’s assertions of past life conclusions. 

The writer-creator of the series, David Huggins (“Friday Night Lights”) assumes viewers have either accepted the idea of reincarnation or have suspended their disbelief to enjoy the show. In either case, the dramatic elements of Kate’s cases are greatly enhanced by adding the extra dimension of reincarnation and isolating the trauma that is now affecting her patients.

Price is impressed by Kate’s regression therapy, but still keeps an open mind about finding the truth. Kate and Price work together to get to the bottom of each person’s problem and help them deal with these powerful  deja vu experiences.

Each episode starts out with a troubled patient seeking Kate’s help. She deals with each person individually, and doesn’t always use regression therapy. But, the patient’s trauma opens the story, and Price starts researching the person’s background and the circumstances of his or her problem. If a murder is involved, Price digs up the cold case file.

Kate and Price use different methods to get to the truth. Ultimately, that is their goal. Price is a former NYPD detective who suffers from lingering grief and guilt from losing his wife in an accident. Price is fascinated by Kate’s methods and believes she is working on the cutting edge of psychology. It can be a volatile relationship as Price and Kate investigate her patients cases.

Clearly, writer David Huggins is using the time tested conflict device to create the drama of his show. This yin-yang–push-pull by Kate and Price gives the series two points of view which will resonate with viewers. This chemistry between the two co-stars will make or break the series. From what I’ve seen, it works to stimulate conflict and debate–important dramatic elements.

Kate and Price work with their colleagues, Dr. Malachi Talmadge (Richard Shiff) who’s Kate’s mentor and leader in cognitive research. Also on the team is Dr. Rishi Karna (Ravi Patel) who is an enthusiastic MD and new to this field of Kate’s research.

Delving into the fields of reincarnation and the paranormal are popular concepts in today’s television with shows like A&E’s “Psychic Kids,” “Paranormal State,” and “Paranormal Cops,” SyFy’s “Ghost Hunters,” and “Ghost Hunters International.” Viewers are now more intelligent and open to paranormal activity, the after life, and Earth-bound spirits.

This show has the feel of Fox’s popular “Fringe” but with a new twist–reincarnation. A preview showing of “Past Life” will happen on Feb. 9th at 9:00 pm ET and the pilot episode with premiere on Feb. 11th at 9:00 pm ET.

The preview I viewed was intriguing and held my interest. Viewers do not have to believe in reincarnation to enjoy the mystery aspects of the series.

The Deep End – ABC’s New Sexy Lawyer Series

By Rick Grant TV Commentary

“Oh no, not another series based on a law firm,” I thought when I heard about ABC’s new hour-long drama “The Deep End.” Then I watched the pilot on ABC’s website and I was impressed by the snappy, intelligently written dialogue and intricate dramatic elements built into the story.
The cast is comprised of veteran and young actors, starring Billy Zane as the managing partner, Cliff Huddle. The story involves a trio of young lawyers recruited as the brightest legal minds of their generation–in principle!

The newbie lawyers start out with high minded ideas and principles, but they are shocked at the backbiting office politics and the reality that the firm is about making money, even if it means crossing ethical and moral lines.

They have to quickly adapt to  the complex human interaction and curry favor with the bosses if they expect to get ahead. They quickly become disillusioned.

It doesn’t take long for the newbies to run afoul of the hierarchy-- founder and lead partner, Hart Starling (Chancy Brown) and managing partner, Cliff Huddle.

In addition to the office politics the young lawyers learn who is having sex with whom. So navigating the tricky social and professional situations drains their energy away from doing the job, which involves tact and great social skill.

Then among the newbie group, sexual tension develops that further complicates their jobs. The stories are told through the eyes of the three new lawyers at Sterling.

Abby Fisher, played by Tina Majoring (“Napoleon Dynamite,” “Big Love”) is a brilliant young mind, but she’s a bit too eager to please. Her Midwestern upbringing has shielded her from the harsh realities of being a lawyer. She’s naive and can’t believe what she has encountered at the firm  as she competes for attention among the newbie group.

Malcolm (Mehcad Brooks–“True Blood”) is new to the firm as the only African-American. He was hired outside the firm’s traditional process when his prestigious federal clerkship ended. He’s glib, wry, aloof but funny. 

The third first year associate is Dylan Hewitt (Matt Long) who was top of his class. He’s smart, but tends to buck the system. Long’s character is featured in the pilot episode as he tests the authority of Cliff and loses.

Dylan came from a working class background and was raised by a single mom who died right before he graduated from law school. Thus, Dylan has empathy for the pro bono clients and Cliff uses this to improve their record of helping poor clients. This gives the firm street credibility.

Overall, the show is fast paced and with plenty of sexual interludes. The acting and  writing is high caliber making this series well worth watching. In reality, I doubt there is such a high level of drama in a real law firm, but this fictional firm, Sterling Associates, is dripping with intrigue, sexual tension, and conflict–all elements that make for exciting television.

“The Deep End” runs Thursdays on ABC at 8:00 pm ET