Wow. Every minute of the six hours that make up State of Play is totally riveting. It begins with the seemingly unrelated murders of a scared kid and a young woman and unfolds into a tale of betrayal, government conspiracies and the kind of tense, exciting journalistic drama that (surprisingly) rarely makes it onto television.

Paul Abbott's script is vibrant, but the casting is absolutely sublime. Relative unknown (in the US) John Simm (Life on Mars, which did play on BBC America) is convincingly earnest as a reporter and David Morrissey (who unwisely chose to make his American debut in Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction) is wonderful as his old friend and the politian at the center of Parliamentary scandal. The always adorable Kelly MacDonald plays another feisty reporter; lovely Polly Walker (HBO's Rome) is the politician's wife; but–and this is where it really gets good–Bill Nighy is at his absolute most charming and fantastic (which is saying very much indeed) as the editor, AND (casting heaven!) James McAvoy is his smart aleck son.

Aired in 2003, State of Play drew comparisons to the Ian Richardson House of Cards series and the classic Edge of Darkness (which next on my list to watch); and while nothing will ever be quite as great as the first installment of Prime Suspect, I'd say another BBC masterpiece in suspense was made.

It's being adapted into a Hollywood movie with a Hollywood cast including Ben Affleck and Russell Crowe, who came on after Brad Pitt bailed out. I'd like to think they'll adhere to the quality of the source material but I'm already deeply unhappy that there will be no Nighy, and I?think you know how I feel about our friend Affleck. Still, if they manage to retain even a portion of the excitement and excellence of this series, it will certainly be better than most Hollywood junk.

See more: TV Shows

Be the first to leave a comment →
Posted on June 16, 2008

If I were ever murdered, Dayle Hinman is the type of profiler I would want working on my case (and you all know to hire Chuck Chambers as the private eye, right?) When Jim and I were thinking of the greatest women currently on TV when a related conversation arose, it was Hinman that we first though of. On her show Body of Evidence: From the Case Files of Dayle Hinman, with a calm, kind and gentle demeanor, she helps local authorities bring murderers to justice.

She is always careful to give credit to the local police in the investigation, and prefers to be humble about her own involvement. She explains her conclusions with the sort of voice that should be either teaching children to become wonderful adults or putting people into a state of deep hypnosis. She also has a great set of gams that she tastefully hides beneath professional attire.

See more: TV Shows

Be the first to leave a comment →
Posted on June 2, 2008

Cranford is a delight. Now airing on Masterpiece (they have omitted the “theater” in a ditch effort to seem cool, way too late) it boasts a huge ensemble cast of mostly older talented women. Dame Judy Dench, Eileen Atkins, Julia Sawalha, Imelda Staunton, Lesley Manville, and Julia McKenzie – even if the names are not familiar, their faces will be.

The quaint town of Cranford is the main character in this miniseries based on the 1851 novel by Elizabeth Gaskill. It is an idyllic rural village of English ideals. Cranford is settled very away from the scandalousness and constant change of London and?the women who reside there like it that way.

It is nice sometimes to watch a show about nice people, but before you concern yourself that this is just fluff for grandmas, it is also funny, and full of all the melodrama that comes with simple village life. There is death, romance, and most importantly, wonderful characters.

The first series has just finished airing on PBS, but it is available on DVD. Perhaps Masterpiece would get more viewers if It both advertised it's shows, and replayed them from time to time.

See more: TV Shows

Be the first to leave a comment →
Posted on May 19, 2008

My mom grew up with the gentle kindness of Miss Frances and her show “The Ding Dong School“. Episodes of the black and white, live show can be viewed on youtube. She is reminiscent of the mellow and likable Mr. Rogers, and was probably a huge influence on the that show and others.

It was the first show of it's kind, a quality kids program, that at one time had reportedly 95% of the preschool population watching.

Frances was an uncompromising woman, who according to wikipedia “resign(ed) from NBC in protest of what she felt was commercialism over education, she would never advertise products a child could not use and would never advertise toys glorifying violence at all.”

See more: TV Shows

Be the first to leave a comment →
Posted on May 5, 2008

I'm sure nostalgia has more than something to do with the fact that we've spent the last several nights content to watch a couple hours of the Rankin/Bass classic Thundercats (season one, part two) on DVD before falling asleep. But beyond just the nostalgic value, this awkwardly drawn and often super far out cartoon from the golden age of afternoon television produced in Japan is totally mesmerising.

And it's pretty crazy too–there's a bizarre back story that I wasn't even aware of when I watched theses as a kid. Fortunately, Mike, Jim and wikipedia filled me in on the details: the Thundercats fled their dying planet of Thundera just before it exploded, but many of the other fleeing spacecrafts were destroyed by long time enemies the Mutants of Plun-Darr. Lion-O, the chosen one, was a boy of twelve when they escaped, but he aged due to a malfunction in his capsule and is now a man of 24 with only the experiences of a kid. That's why he needs a nurse maid (the questionably lovable Snarf) and why he can be a bit of a brat at times.

His loyal companions, who uphold the code of Thundera (Justice, Truth, Honor, and Loyalty) are pretty sweet. Panthro is my favorite personality wise and Tygra and Cheetara are babes, but they're frequently given too little, and there's little character development. It would have been awesome if they really played up Tygra as a hot single dad to Wiley Kit and Wiley Kat (it's implied).

But the greatest scene chewer and the ultimate reason to watch this show is, of course, Mumm-ra the Ever living!!!!! The late Earl Hammond's voice work is hilarious, fantastic and truly awe-inspiring. His schemes, which tend to involve deceptive shape shifting, illusions and/or hypnotism, are devised solely to rid Third Earth of all things good and pure, particularly the Thundercats. Poor Mumm-ra, he doesn't realize it that if he just left them alone, Lion-O would nap all day and he and the Thundercats wouldn't even cross paths–mainly because they live on different hemispheres. What a hassle being an irrational being of pure evil must be, although Mumm-ra's an optimist: time and again his plans come to nought, and time and again he just knows that the next plot will prove to be the one that truly causes the undoing of Lion-O.

It's great fun to revisit this childhood favorite, now conveniently available on DVD (though not super easy to find locally–we finally tracked down a a box at Circuit City which, I'd like to add, is one of the worst places to spend time at in the Union Square area).

See more: TV Shows

Be the first to leave a comment →
Posted on April 21, 2008