Tuesday, November 27, 2007

On the road back...

Last night I was snuggling in with my Boogs and watching my new TV love- October Road and guess who showed up? Kevin Weisman aka the greatest gadget man ever, Marshall Flinkman. Yep. He is a new cast member.

October Road is about Nick. Nick left his friends, family, girlfriend Hannah (played by Laura Prepon- formerly of That 70's Show fame)and his small hometown of Knight's Ridge, Massachusetts after high school graduation to conquer New York and become a writer. Basking in the greatness of the big city, Nick becomes an instant literary hit when he publishes his first book- degrading not only his hometown, but using his friends as characters, flaws and all.

After 10 years, Nick returns to Knight's Ridge with a bad case of writer's block and discovers that his friends aren't exactly happy with his success. He also learns that his long lost love, Hannah, has a kid- just about 10 years old. As he struggles to regain his voice and reclaim his friends, Nick fights with the choices he made and the consequences. (Oh, and Nick ain't half bad to look at either!)

Kevin Weisman plays a rivaling writer in the small town. His character may stay around for awhile. Welcome back to TV kid, hope your run lasts longer than Francie's!!

Check out October Road, Monday's at 10pm on ABC.

23 comments:

Page48 said...

KW must have hired a new agent. In recent weeks, he has appeared in 4 eppies of "Moonlight" (which does not star Bruce Willis), 1 eppie of "Chuck", now "October Road" and he currently has several movies in the can.

I caught him on "Chuck", sporting martial arts moves that would have had Sydney Bristow herself on the defensive (I'm guessing stunt double), and I sat through "Moonlight" looking for him, but his run was apparently over by that time. I have noticed "October Road" on the schedule recently but without knowing what it was, I didn't stop to check it out. Next week I will.

On a completely unrelated note, Eva Mendes is absolutely smokin'. I've "endured" her on my TV screen for 2 nights in a row, and, well, I'm just sayin'.

Page48 said...

Like Robetron said, "smooth as satin sheets". I'm referring of course to "Burn Notice". I finally got to the season finale tonight and I must say that this show really beat the crap out of anything the Big Four networks pumped out this year.

The presentation is certainly more comedic and laid-back than "Alias", but not juvenile in the style of "Chuck". It's good natured, but it's not a comedy. Each episode found time to address the bigger story of Michael Weston's quest to find out who burned him and why, which took some of the sting away from the dreaded self-contained format. The 2-hour finale was definitely the heaviest of the season, with the main characters in peril throughout, and the season-ending cliffhanger did an excellent job of setting the table for the next chapter in Weston's new life.

Hopefully Sam and Fee will be back for more next year. They are the perfect hangers-on for a serious guy like Weston, care-free but competent, content to drink beer and live in the moment, but also keen for a little action when the situation calls for it.

Plenty of sunshine, sandy beaches, bikini shots, and lots of spy candy make "Burn Notice" a real easy series to watch. I must say I was unpleasantly surprised to find out the season was only 12 eppies long, though. What is up with that?

If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favour and check it out.

NOW, in the real tradition of "Alias", I can't help but notice that Girlscout, later known as Kiki, then back to Girlscout, is now Kendrah. Good work, GS, you make the agency proud, although if you're captured, we'll deny your existence. We're good that way.

SRM said...

I have to say I feel a sense of pride that you guys seem to be lovin' Burn Notice since I posted about it back before the first season began. :) Sadly, I've never actually watched it since I'm home very rarely (just ask my cat), and don't own a DVR (gasp!) I'm glad it's helping fill the hole left from Alias though, hopefully someday I'll make a point of watching it.

Girlscout said...

It's Kendrah because I have another blog that "Girlscout" doesn't quite fit. But I will always be GS here!

SKlaft said...

I'm totally with you on Burn Notice, Page48. I'd really like ot pass the word around about it so that, maybe, just maybe, the USA Network will give it more time, attention, advertising, budget, and most importantly, episodes.

One thing that is really cool about it, while all the usual shows are on vacation, getting a tan in the summer sun, we can look foreward to more Micheal Westin adventures. It's only one show, once a week, but it can help us get through the season.

(P.S. - I'm honored that you would remember, and quote something I said.)

Page48 said...

JG getting set to renew acquaintances with Ricky Gervais in an upcoming flick "This Side of Truth":

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/
4283233a1860.html

Yeah, yeah, another comedy for Jen, which is fine as long as it doesn't become a habit. At least it's with the excellent RG, but eventually I'm gonna need to see Jen do some serious stuff.

Speaking of which, I watched "The Kingdom" tonight. That's some serious stuff for sure. It was awesome to see Jen back in action after such a gut-wrenching layoff. She didn't really get a chance to shine until about the last half hour, but she got her licks in when they counted, and definitely earned her government paycheque.

Director Peter "Snowman" Berg only had a cameo in the very early going.

JG as "action girl" still works for me. Now if she and Jamie Foxx could just assemble a team and rescue Michael Vartan, Ron Rifkin et al from their respective one-hour crappers, I'd watch that too.

Page48 said...

A few thoughts about "The Kingdom".

While waiting for a chance to see Jen's return to the world of action/danger/adventure, I read any number of reviews of TK, both professional and amateur and I came away with the impression that a lot of people turn to action flicks for some sort of enlightenment.

Some people were disappointed because it didn't teach them enough about Muslim or Arab culture (never mind that it runs a scant 100 minutes), or that it presented the typical arrogant American point of view. Some viewers seemed to lament the fact that a lot of heavily armed radicals bad boys got wasted before all was said and done, as if to suggest that Peter Berg blew a chance to broker a lasting peace between "them" and "us" if he had responded to mass murdering wackos with hugs and kisses instead of hot lead.

I don't look to action flicks for answers or for a deeper understanding. I look to this kind of movie for an adrenaline rush, car chases, explosions, tense moments, the whole 9 yards. I want the characters separated into two groups, good and bad, and I want to see how much trouble the good guys can get into before they emerge victorious. I want the heroes to kill before they get killed.

People seeking "the truth" should stay out of movie theaters. Read a book, scour the internet for informed opinion, try to sort out what is true and what is BS (and good luck with that BTW), but don't go to see a crash/bang/boom movie to get a handle on the facts.

Now, with that out of the way, I'll mention that one of the highlights of the movie for me was not the much-hyped final 20 minutes of breathtaking action, but actually the final 6 minutes when the bloodshed is over and the FBI team heads for home. The quiet,sombre tone of the last 6 minutes is accompanied by the best music of the film, a haunting guitar piece, kind of reminiscent of an old Mark Knopfler solo. We've grown accustomed to seeing Jen performing onscreen with seemingly perfect musical accompaniment, and this, IMO is definitely no exception.

Pay attention to the last look at Jen before the end of the film. Almost a full widescreen view of her scratched face with her disheveled hair down, looking for all the world like our very own Sydney Bristow at the end of another hard day. However, as we all know, there is only one Sydney Bristow.

SKlaft said...

I could not agree more with you assessment of the critics, Page48.

Here! Here!

It's nice to know that there are people out there who approach the entertainment industry with a little common sesne. I appreciate you "putting it out there."

-R.

Anonymous said...

Ditto to Robetron's ditto of Page 48. Totally right on. Super!
uncle111

Page48 said...

And, this is me preaching the gospel of "Alias" (and piling on "Bionic Woman") over at bionic-blog.com:

“Alias”, pound for pound, was the best show ever created for TV in my opinion, and why the plug was pulled after 4 seasons rivals the mystery of where Jimmy Hoffa is buried.

I would have given my blessing to NBC buying the rights to “Alias” and putting it back on it’s pedestal where it belongs. Failing that, I can fully understand NBC’s desire to conjure up the new “Alias”, knowing how badly we needed it. This, along with my crush on Michelle Ryan, is why I got in line to watch “Bionic Woman”.

Unfortunately, BW has so far proven itself unworthy to wash Jack Bristow’s underwear. “Alias” charged out of the gate like an angry bull and the first 3 seasons had nary a weak episode. Season 4’s self-contained eppies reaked of NETWORK INTER-FREAKING-FERENCE, and then, as Bob Dylan would say, one day the axe just fell.

Fast forward 2 years and NBC gives us “Chuck”. I admit that I watch “Chuck”. It’s not an “Alias” replacement, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t cute. What bothers me is that “Chuck” contains more “Alias” DNA than BW ever thought of having. That is somebody’s fault. I don’t know if it’s NBC’s fault or David Eick’s fault, but somebody is to blame here. Hell’s bells, “Chuck” even has more continuity from one eppie to the next than BW has.

So the deal today is we anxiously hold out for confirmation of a January re-launch and, if there is a God, a complete reboot in BW’s mission statement. If NBC was trying to create their own “Alias” as McKeon suggests, then the least they could have done was INSIST that the BW braintrust sit down in front of a TV and watch all 4.77 seasons of “Alias”, and then they might have some sort of feel for what a kickass girl heroine show can accomplish. Is it too late for that now? Well, the first 8 eppies haven’t been as good as the worst eppie of “Alias”, so I would say that this hiatus is the perfect time for Eick and company to buy the Rambaldi Box Set and settle in for some righteous television, and then relaunch with a brand new plan. They won’t get 5 chances at this. They’ll be lucky to get 2.

Anonymous said...

I want to go back to Burn Notice for a minute. What did you think of Lucy Lawless in her episode? Can you see her as Sydney's evil counterpart, an out-in-the-open Lauren Reed replacement? A reconstituted Prophet 5's version of Sydney Bristow?

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

Lucy Lawless pops up everywhere eventually. I remember she was around for a couple episodes of "X-Files" toward the end of days for that show. Many people thought she ought to be the new Bionic Woman, especially with her BSG connections. I never watched her Xena show but it certainly had its cult following.

Through a whole season of BN (if you can call 12 shows a season), Sharon Gless and Lucy Lawless were the only faces familiar to me (if memory serves). I thought she was deliciously evil in that eppie, but I never figured her for a jumper.

I like this Nickname option, Uncle. Signing in is really annoying these days. Could lend itself to fraudulent posts, though, but that might be assigning more importance to our posts than may be warranted.

Anonymous said...

I watched Rachel's new movie, "P2". Pretty pedestrian thriller with 2 or 3 scenes of graphic violence. Not really what I consider worthy of an "Alias" alumni, but I could say the same about "Justice" or "Brothers & Sisters". And quite the little mouth on our Rachel. Satisfying ending though, I must say.

Anonymous said...

It has become a pain to sign in. Most of the time Google's signin function is down for all of their sites. It started when they redesigned their system and I think they instituted the nickname option because their geeks can't figure out a way to solve the problem.

I thought LL was an exceptional villainess, and there was a scene where she looked very much like a taller, more imposing Lauren Reed. That's when I got the idea of her as a Reed-esk counter to Syd. She's used to doing action, she can look innocent or evil...but here I'm talking as if there is really a chance it will ever happen.

Anonymous said...

It's interesting to note that Jen's big fight scene in TK bore little resemblance to a Sydney Bristow fight. No sign of martial arts, no spinning kicks, just a no holds barred brawl involving a gun, a knife, down and dirty biting and good old fashioned girl tossing. Conspicuous by its absence, however, was any sign of specialized fight training by either party.

For all the grief I give Jen for her love of romantic schlock movies, it's great to see her right there in the middle of the rough stuff, taking a pounding in the name of art.

The question now is will she ever want to go back and do it again. TK was filmed a year and a half ago, when she still had Sydney Bristow's body. She turns 36 next spring, and I wonder how much longer she will accept roles with such physical demands.

I guess what I'm saying is that I really hope TK wasn't Jen's action genre swan song. Perish the thought.

Bonkers for Bristow said...

But remember Linda Hamilton in T2? She was older than 36 and her bod was killer. If Jen wants to get back into Sydney shape, she can do it. Let's just hope she does. I've been seeing things for a new show called the Sarah Chronicals (or something like that) about Sarah Conner from the Terminator series. It's peaked my interest but after the disappointment of BW, I'm hesitant. Anyone have any preliminary thoughts?

About Burn Notice (I still find it amazing that a little, 12 episode series on USA is making this much - buzz and in the media), I only slightly remember the episode with Lucy Lawless. Probably because she is one of the actresses that never looks the same twice. I don't think I could pick her out of a line-up unless she was wearing her Zena costume. Was she the one that pretended to be looking for her boy, and then tried to kill Michael, the father and "her" son? I think it would have been fun to keep her around and have her become a baddie that popped up now and again. She could have been a female Sark. But perhaps, now that we've seen the finale, they have a different direction in mind.

Speaking of Sark (I know - I'm all over the place in this comment), how sad was the Heroes finale? So unrespectful to old Sark. But, slighty reminiscent of the end of Sloan. Hmmmmmm???

SRM said...

I don't know page, I've seen recent pics of Jen at the Women of the Year event and she looked pretty fab. I noticed she still has the cut shoulders which is something you have to work to keep up, so I'm thinking she's still in pretty damn good shape, especially after having a baby!

Anonymous said...

Bonkers,

Yeah, I loved Linda Hamilton in T2. I don't know if I've seen her since. Wonder what she's up to. I must say I miss Arnie making movies as well. Hopefully, when the Governator gig ends, "he'll be back". I'd rather see Arnie in "True Lies" than watch him at the Republican Convention, although his line at the convention about "economic girlie-boys" was classic Arnie.

I watched the pilot for "Sarah Connor Chronicles" some time ago. It's my next hope for something to watch, I think it debuts in January, but I may be mistaken. I don't think there is any doubt that the pilot was better than anything I've seen in BW, but my concern with SCC is how much leeway the show will have, since, if memory serves, the show takes place between T2 and T3. In other words, continuity becomes an issue. Basically, SCC is the continuing saga of John and his Mom on the run.

Like BW, SCC stars an attractive Brit playing an attractive American. Unlike BW, SC is roughly Sydney Bristow's age, which I think will allow her to appeal to a larger audience.

Pilots are known for being big budget affairs, but it's what happens after the pilot that determines the fate of the show. It's hard to imagine Terminator on the cheap. We'll just have to see how it goes.

Sark-in-a-box also reminds me of the time Syd was buried alive and it was Marshall to the rescue.

I agree that Lucy Lawless looks different every time I see her and I must say that I didn't recognize her immediately in BN.

Srg-alias, I haven't seen Jen recently but I'm glad to hear she's looking fit. I hope she keeps up the hard work. Those shoulders belong in a museum where everybody can see them, they're a thing of beauty. I think I'll head over to jen-fans.com when I get to work and check out some recent pics.

Anonymous said...

Bonkers- yes that was the BN epi.
As for Linda Hamilton, I had the impression from an I saw when T2 came out that it was a tramatic experience for her. The routine they put her through to get her in the incredible condition she was in was something she wanted to forget and never experience again. She seemed burned out by it. I've always liked her. I haven't seen her in much and what I did see her in she seemed somewhat damaged and maybe angered. Hopefully I either misread it or she has recovered. IMDB shows she's worked fairly regularly since then.

Anonymous said...

Just paid a visit to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Linda_Hamilton

Three points of interest from there were:

1) she was only 35 in 1991 when T2 was released (perhaps 34 when it was filmed?)
2) she is bipolar, which ties in with your points, uncle
3) she has an identical twin sis who was her double in T2, but who has no other acting credits (according to IMDB)

Wow, can you imagine living next door to the Hamilton sisters?

Anonymous said...

"...can you imagine living next door to the Hamilton sisters?"
Oh, wouldn't that be sweet!

Anonymous said...

Ever notice how an actor can be invisible to the naked eye until they land a good role, and then you start to "see" them everywhere?

Ron Rifkin was like that for me. Dude's been around FOREVER, yet I never noticed him until Sloane came along (although I did watch "One Day At A Time" back in the day). Then, suddenly I notice him in "The Sum Of All Fears", where Ben Affleck plays Jack Ryan, and then again in "Boiler Room", "The Negotiator", etc... The guy is everwhere.

Well, now it's Jeffrey Donovan's turn. JD, who plays Michael Weston in "Burn Notice" is turning up when I least expect it. I saw him in a Will Smith movie 2 weeks ago (with the lovely and talented Eva Mendes). Tonight I see him in a short-lived sci-fi series "Threshold" (with the lovely and talented Carla Gugino). Who knows where I'll see him next week?

BTW, I have to say December is one brutal month for TV at the best of times, but with a writers' strike in session, this December in particular absolutely hurls. Gonna have to line up some movies for the Holidays.

So there you have it. Hope I didn't wake anybody!!!