US TV

Review: The State Within

In the UK: Thursdays, BBC1, 9pm
In the US: BBC America. Premieres in 2007

Here’s new: a co-prod (I want to say cod-prod, but won’t) between BBC America and BBC1. Whatever next? BBC Scotland and BBC Factual? BBC Knowledge and BBC Sport?

Anyway, here’s a show I had high hopes for. Good cast: Jason Isaacs (Brotherhood), Lennie James (Jericho), Sharon Gless (Cagney and Lacey). An interesting premise: a terrorist attack and the UK and US governments’ response to it plus a great big conspiracy underneath the surface.

But tarnation. It was mostly pants.

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Eddie Izzard leaves 24

Eddie Izzard has managed to last only one day of torture at 24. He was supposed to be playing a baddie, but now he’s not and the part is going to David Hunt, another English actor. Depending on whom you talk to, Eddie was either a bit of a diva and got given a push or he couldn’t juggle 24‘s filming requirements with those of his own show, Riches.

Other TV news from last week

Other interesting nuggets of news that popped up last week that weren’t about Doctor Who.

  • Thanks to overwhelmingly fantastic critical reaction, The Wire‘s been picked up for a fifth season, despite getting less than 2 million viewers for its first episode. This final season will look at the mass media; given The Wire‘s co-creator used to be a journalist on the Baltimore Sun, it should at least be authentic.
  • Psych has been picked up for a second season and The Dead Zone‘s back for a sixth
  • Windfall has been cancelled
  • James Cromwell, the ‘dad’ of that adorable pig called Babe, is to be killing-machine Jack Bauer’s dad in 24. There’s versatility for you.
  • FX in the UK has picked up Showtime’s Brotherhood. To counteract people forward-winding through ads, the network plans to create commercials for the show that feature the same image for 30 seconds. Silly plan or not, I do recommend watching Brotherhood if you can. Despite my luke-warm first and third episode reviews, Brotherhood is now firmly on my weekly viewing schedule, thanks to a compelling cast and its look into the shady world of local politics.
  • Thank God CSI doesn’t feature on-screen episode titles, or there are going to be a few raised eyebrows in Britain when Fannysmackin’ airs
  • My prediction that alternative DVD commentaries were going to be a growing market appears to be bearing fruit, judging by the arrival of Quick Stop’s additions to the range.
  • Aaron Sorkin answers critics who suggest that Studio 60 is based on his life by saying they’re right – up to a point. Interestingly, he used to date Kristin Chenoweth, who played the squeaky deputy press secretary in The West Wing and is a devoted Christian.

And finally, just in case you wanted to know what The Hanso Foundation is and what all those numbers mean in Lost, someone’s assembled all the video clips from The Lost Experience (which, my street urchins tell me, is some kind of online game thing). Press the Play button to find out what’s up.

Me and Ricky Gervais: our shared mind

Sometimes I wonder if Ricky Gervais and I have the same brain. Okay, he’s a comedy genius, I’m not. But sometimes he says stuff and I wonder how the words in my brain have managed to come out of his mouth.
Take today’s outpouring at the Extras press launch:

As he considers his first move into drama with his co-writer Stephen Merchant, Gervais said UK broadcasters “just can’t do or don’t do” shows of the calibre of US hits like the Sopranos, 24, The Wire and The Shield.

“I just can’t remember the last time I watched a British drama, probably something like GBH,” said Gervais at today’s press launch of the second series of Extras.

“I don’t give them a go and turn off. They just don’t come into my vision. I only watch about five British shows and they are probably all reality shows.”

Which would be spooky enough as it is. Then this:

Gervais also excluded Paul Abbott’s six-part BBC series State of Play from his assessment – “oh yes, of course, sorry”

Aargh! It’s like having a trapdoor at the back of your head and knowing someone’s been sneaking a peak when you’ve been looking the other way.
Even worse, I can’t make my old observation about how the Discovery channels only show stuff about sharks and the history channels only show stuff about Nazis any more, because Gervais has already used it in his Animals tour. Everyone thinks I’m trying to pass off his jokes as my own. Git.

US TV

Preview: Smith

Ray Liotta and Jonny Lee Miller

In the US: CBS, Tuesdays, 10pm ET/PT. Starts September 19th.

In the UK: Acquired by ITV for ITV4 for 2007; Hallmark has second-run rights

Heat: The Series. Sounds like a great idea, doesn’t it? Well, maybe not, but in the right hands it could be. Are the hands of John Wells, the man who largely messed up The West Wing post-Sorkin, the hands that could take Michael Mann’s classic and turn it into quality television drama?

Surprisingly, almost.

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