Back in the 1960s, Curt Gowdy owned Saturday afternoons in the O'Brien household. (And if it wasn't Gowdy, it was Gadabout Gaddis.) For my Dad, 'The American Sportsman' was his show, but we all enjoyed the vicarious thrill of the hunts and the fishing trips with Mr. Gowdy and his companions.
(One of the last ones I remember was a fishing trip with Jonathan Winters. I think even the fish were laughing so hard they never went for the hook.)
And if it wasn't 'The American Sportsman' on the tube, than it was Curt Gowdy's voice on the radio as he called the Red Sox games.
Mr. Gowdy was at home covering all the major sports events; something that would be unheard of today with sportscasters specializing in their own little niche, and networks holding broadcast rights monopolies on the various sports. He worked for all three major television networks, covering football, baseball, basketball, and the Olympics.
Notable among these were 13 World Series, 16 MLB All-Star games, 12 Rose Bowls, the first Super Bowl, and the infamous "Heidi" game.
For ten years he was host of baseball's 'Game of the Week' on NBC, and for fifteen years host and producer of the 'American Sportsman' on ABC, for which he won six Emmys. He was also awarded a Peabody in 1970, the first sportscaster to receive that honor.
And because of his roots in Wyoming, (Gowdy was born in Green River and began broadcasting on KFBC in 1944.), a state park was named after him in Cheyenne.
A spokeswoman for the Boston Red Sox says Gowdy, who was 86, died in Palm Beach, Florida after a battle with leukemia.
Gowdy was the long time "Voice of the Red Sox," although he was also the voice of the Yankes from 1959 to 1951. He left the Red Sox in 1966 for a ten-year stint as 'Game of the Week' announcer for NBC.
Among his notable achievements:
Was the only play-by-play broadcaster to cover American Football League (AFL) games on both ABC & NBC during its 10-year existence.
Recipient of the Pete Rozelle Award (which rewards exceptional longtime contributions to radio and TV in pro football) in 1993.
Recipient of the Ford Frick Award (presented annually to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball") in 1984.
Recipient of the National Basketball Hall of Fame's John Bunn Award in 1978.
Recipient of the Curt Gowdy Award (awarded to members of the electronic and print media for outstanding contributions to basketball) in 1990.
Besides his "reality" progarmming credits (which also included hosting 'The Way It Was' in 1974), Mr. Gowdy cemented his standing in the fictional reality of Toobworld with an appearance as himself on 'Banacek'.
That episode was "Let's Hear It For A Living Legend" in 1972. And that's what Curt Gowdy was.
BCnU....
Tele-Toby
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Monday, February 20, 2006
CROSSOVER OF THE WEEK
Since there's always such a hue and cry about TV commercials after the Super Bowl, I might as well look to one for the Crossover of the Week for a second week in a row.
Like the MasterCard/'MacGyver' ad and the Alka Seltzer/'Everybody Loves Raymond' spot, this one also links to a TV show.
In the new commercial for 7-Up Plus, we see Bree Van De Camp and Edie Britt of 'Desperate Housewives' competing as usual in a Fairview supermarket, probably just a few blocks away from Wisteria Lane.
Last year around this time, 7-Up Plus had a similar connection with 'Sex And The City' which had recently been cancelled at that time. (No such luck in this case - okay, I admit it. I don't like this show.)
With that blipvert, as with this one, only two of quartet's doyennes were featured: Miranda Hobbes and Charlotte York.
Since commercials always need some kind of big payoff to make an impression on the viewer's mind after the message is imparted, they usually end with some kind of humorous image. In this case, Bree picked up the supermarket stockboy and loaded him into her shopping cart.
Where did she get the strength that would rival that of Iron Man Carmichael from 'The Lucy Show'?
Maybe it's to be found in "the plus" that she's adding to her 7-Up Plus.......
From the show's promos, it looks like there's a storyline going on right now about Bree's alcoholism.
I wonder if 7-Up Plus was aware that was coming up when they filmed the advertisement? And if so, maybe it wasn't so much of a problem, since the sub-text trumpets 7-Up Plus as a great mixer......
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
Like the MasterCard/'MacGyver' ad and the Alka Seltzer/'Everybody Loves Raymond' spot, this one also links to a TV show.
In the new commercial for 7-Up Plus, we see Bree Van De Camp and Edie Britt of 'Desperate Housewives' competing as usual in a Fairview supermarket, probably just a few blocks away from Wisteria Lane.
Last year around this time, 7-Up Plus had a similar connection with 'Sex And The City' which had recently been cancelled at that time. (No such luck in this case - okay, I admit it. I don't like this show.)
With that blipvert, as with this one, only two of quartet's doyennes were featured: Miranda Hobbes and Charlotte York.
Since commercials always need some kind of big payoff to make an impression on the viewer's mind after the message is imparted, they usually end with some kind of humorous image. In this case, Bree picked up the supermarket stockboy and loaded him into her shopping cart.
Where did she get the strength that would rival that of Iron Man Carmichael from 'The Lucy Show'?
Maybe it's to be found in "the plus" that she's adding to her 7-Up Plus.......
From the show's promos, it looks like there's a storyline going on right now about Bree's alcoholism.
I wonder if 7-Up Plus was aware that was coming up when they filmed the advertisement? And if so, maybe it wasn't so much of a problem, since the sub-text trumpets 7-Up Plus as a great mixer......
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
GUEST SPOT: MIKE LUPICA SHOOTS FROM THE LIP
I just wanted to take this opportunity to reprint something Mike Lupica wrote Sunday in his "Shooting From The Lip" column in the New York Daily News:
Television desperately needed snowboarding because it desperately needed Americans winning medals in something.
Listen, anybody can see how brilliantly NBC presents these sports, how Dick Ebersol produces a TV movie every night.
There are always going to be wonderful, human-interest stories, because if you bring this many athletes together for any kind of competition, how are there not going to be stories about sacrifice and family tragedy and overcoming injury to chase a dream about winning a championship?
But it doesn't mean you're a bad American if you don't want to watch some of this stuff, whether it's the essence of snowboardcross, or ice-dancing outfits that make Cirque de Soleil look underdressed.
It's not your duty as a good citizen, like voting, to sit there every night for two weeks because you've bought into the hype about the world coming together around Bode Miller.
I think that's something that needed to be said, because I've been reading/hearing a lot of actual complaints that the American TV audience is somehow to blame for the lackluster performance by the Olympics in the ratings, as though it's some kind of treasonous act.
Hey, I didn't want to watch the Olympics even before Bode Miller and Lindsay Jacobellis were brought low by their arrogance and egos. It was even before Michelle Kwan muscled her way into the skating lineup at the expense of Emily Hughes' right to be there instead. And the fact that Kwan came to her senses and dropped out doesn't change things.
I'm just not interested in the pageantry or the competition, and the history of those cloying tributes in the human interest stories proved to be a danger to my digestive tract and to the state of my teeth.
I'd much rather watch a good fictional reality; that's the Toobworld Caretaker in me. And I hope the networks have learned that the Olympics coverage is no longer the juggernaut it used to be; they can be taken down, and it's happened at least twice so far in the nightly coverage.
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
Television desperately needed snowboarding because it desperately needed Americans winning medals in something.
Listen, anybody can see how brilliantly NBC presents these sports, how Dick Ebersol produces a TV movie every night.
There are always going to be wonderful, human-interest stories, because if you bring this many athletes together for any kind of competition, how are there not going to be stories about sacrifice and family tragedy and overcoming injury to chase a dream about winning a championship?
But it doesn't mean you're a bad American if you don't want to watch some of this stuff, whether it's the essence of snowboardcross, or ice-dancing outfits that make Cirque de Soleil look underdressed.
It's not your duty as a good citizen, like voting, to sit there every night for two weeks because you've bought into the hype about the world coming together around Bode Miller.
I think that's something that needed to be said, because I've been reading/hearing a lot of actual complaints that the American TV audience is somehow to blame for the lackluster performance by the Olympics in the ratings, as though it's some kind of treasonous act.
Hey, I didn't want to watch the Olympics even before Bode Miller and Lindsay Jacobellis were brought low by their arrogance and egos. It was even before Michelle Kwan muscled her way into the skating lineup at the expense of Emily Hughes' right to be there instead. And the fact that Kwan came to her senses and dropped out doesn't change things.
I'm just not interested in the pageantry or the competition, and the history of those cloying tributes in the human interest stories proved to be a danger to my digestive tract and to the state of my teeth.
I'd much rather watch a good fictional reality; that's the Toobworld Caretaker in me. And I hope the networks have learned that the Olympics coverage is no longer the juggernaut it used to be; they can be taken down, and it's happened at least twice so far in the nightly coverage.
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
"SLINGS & ARROWS": ADDENDUM O'BSERVATIONS
Season One of 'Slings & Arrows' ended with on opening night of 'Hamlet', after the performance. Season Two opened during the matinee on the final day of performances for the run.
So it provided a nice sense of continuity between seasons, as well giving us a chance to say goodbye not only to Luke Kirby as Jack Crew, action star and walking, talking roman a clef stand-in for Keanu Reaves, but also to Rachel MacAdams as the company ingenue Kate McNab.
It was a sweet send-off for both characters, and one can only hope that their relationship can buck the odds of the movie star lifestyle and remain strong.
Just as the first season had echoes of 'Hamlet' in its depiction of the events in the lives of its players, it looks like we'll be seeing suggestions of the Scottish Play during the sophomore year. Besides the continuing observations by Cyril and Frank on the sidelines as the stand-ins for the Shakespearean clowns, we had the appearance of a "witch" with dire predictions, the dispatching of "the king", and the hint that a certain ghost's return does murder the sleep of Geoffrey Tennant.
One nice thing about the addition of 'Lost' to the Toobworld cosmos is its practice of showing that everybody's life on the show can somehow be connected to the others via the flashbacks. Therefore, I won't feel guilty with any particular theory where I reach for that missing link to lock two shows together.
So by expanding that concept to include other shows, I'd like to think that Nathum, the Nigerian security guard (to be the doorman of the Scottish Play?) might have known Mr. Eko back in their native country. Nathum did mention that he had already seen too much of blood back in Nigeria when he protested the idea of doing that cursed play.
Based on this first episode, I feel confident that there will be no sophomore slump for 'Slings & Arrows'.
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
So it provided a nice sense of continuity between seasons, as well giving us a chance to say goodbye not only to Luke Kirby as Jack Crew, action star and walking, talking roman a clef stand-in for Keanu Reaves, but also to Rachel MacAdams as the company ingenue Kate McNab.
It was a sweet send-off for both characters, and one can only hope that their relationship can buck the odds of the movie star lifestyle and remain strong.
Just as the first season had echoes of 'Hamlet' in its depiction of the events in the lives of its players, it looks like we'll be seeing suggestions of the Scottish Play during the sophomore year. Besides the continuing observations by Cyril and Frank on the sidelines as the stand-ins for the Shakespearean clowns, we had the appearance of a "witch" with dire predictions, the dispatching of "the king", and the hint that a certain ghost's return does murder the sleep of Geoffrey Tennant.
One nice thing about the addition of 'Lost' to the Toobworld cosmos is its practice of showing that everybody's life on the show can somehow be connected to the others via the flashbacks. Therefore, I won't feel guilty with any particular theory where I reach for that missing link to lock two shows together.
So by expanding that concept to include other shows, I'd like to think that Nathum, the Nigerian security guard (to be the doorman of the Scottish Play?) might have known Mr. Eko back in their native country. Nathum did mention that he had already seen too much of blood back in Nigeria when he protested the idea of doing that cursed play.
Based on this first episode, I feel confident that there will be no sophomore slump for 'Slings & Arrows'.
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
Sunday, February 19, 2006
GRAYLY OUTRAGEOUS
Because of competing programs that only ran once in the week, I quickly fell out of watching Charles Dickens' 'Bleak House' on 'Masterpiece Theater' Sunday nights. But I also failed in picking up the missed episodes on their repeat nights.
So I checked in Netflix.com and the series comes out on DVD February 28th. I added it to my queue far enough down the waiting list so that I'm just about first in line to get it when it comes out. (I have enough eps of 'Doctor Who' and 'Nighty Night' to get through first.)
But of the episodes I did see, there was a character that's been disturbing the vision of my own chronology.
Smallwood is a typical Dickensian stain on human society. An evil maggot of a man, he's old - a grandfather with a grown grand-daughter who has to "shake him up" every few minutes. He's infirm, but still vital in his repulsive nature; a usurer who buys up people's debts to force collections.
And in this production he's played by Phil Davis, who was the teenaged, sullen "hero" Chalkie in the movie version of The Who's "Quadrophenia" back in 1979.
It wasn't that long ago, I found myself protesting, and already he's playing a grandfather?
I bet it kills Sting, who played Ace - the Mod that Chalkie and his like looked up to... and who was the titular character for one of the songs contributed by Keith Moon.
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
So I checked in Netflix.com and the series comes out on DVD February 28th. I added it to my queue far enough down the waiting list so that I'm just about first in line to get it when it comes out. (I have enough eps of 'Doctor Who' and 'Nighty Night' to get through first.)
But of the episodes I did see, there was a character that's been disturbing the vision of my own chronology.
Smallwood is a typical Dickensian stain on human society. An evil maggot of a man, he's old - a grandfather with a grown grand-daughter who has to "shake him up" every few minutes. He's infirm, but still vital in his repulsive nature; a usurer who buys up people's debts to force collections.
And in this production he's played by Phil Davis, who was the teenaged, sullen "hero" Chalkie in the movie version of The Who's "Quadrophenia" back in 1979.
It wasn't that long ago, I found myself protesting, and already he's playing a grandfather?
I bet it kills Sting, who played Ace - the Mod that Chalkie and his like looked up to... and who was the titular character for one of the songs contributed by Keith Moon.
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
OUT FOR 'IN JUSTICE'
Friday night's episode of 'InJustice' was the most searing indictment against capital punishment that I've seen since "A Trip Upstate", an episode of 'In The Heat Of The Night' which had James Gammon as the guest star.
Since 'InJustice' premiered, we've seen the idealistic lawyers and investigators of the National Justice Project ride to the rescue in the nick of time. But to maintain realism, sooner or later they had to lose a case, much like their antithetical counterpart 'Law & Order'. And sadly, this was the episode.
Chief investigator Conti has often said that if their investigations show that their client is guilty, then they drop the case and walk away.
In that pursuit of maintaining a sense of realism, I hope we get an episode in which they do just that before the season ends. I think it'll be interesting.....
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
Since 'InJustice' premiered, we've seen the idealistic lawyers and investigators of the National Justice Project ride to the rescue in the nick of time. But to maintain realism, sooner or later they had to lose a case, much like their antithetical counterpart 'Law & Order'. And sadly, this was the episode.
Chief investigator Conti has often said that if their investigations show that their client is guilty, then they drop the case and walk away.
In that pursuit of maintaining a sense of realism, I hope we get an episode in which they do just that before the season ends. I think it'll be interesting.....
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
WELCOME TO THE TW
Stars Hollow, Connecticut, as seen on 'Gilmore Girls', is a mine-field of Zonk!s. The worst in my opinion happened in an early episode in which Rory tried to emulate the lifestyle seen in 'The Donna Reed Show' so that Dean could see it wasn't all he thought it was.
But at least there was a recent pop culture reference on the show that I think I can defuse before it blows up real good into a Zonk!.
When Zach mistook Lane's uncle for her new boyfriend, he accosted him with "Welcome to the S.H., bitch!"
Years after 'The O.C.' is finally dead and buried in the beach sands of Orange County, the phrase "Welcome to the O.C., bitch!" will long outlive it. Sort of in the same way that phrases like "Dat's de name of dat tune" and "Just the facts, Ma'am" have outlived their shows.
I don't see why Zach's paraphrasing has to mean that he was making a reference to 'The O.C.'. It just could be that "the S.H." is slang among the kids stuck living in that small town, hoping to make their surroundings sound hipper than it really was to them.
And if that's the case, we can stand down from the Zonk! Alert.
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
But at least there was a recent pop culture reference on the show that I think I can defuse before it blows up real good into a Zonk!.
When Zach mistook Lane's uncle for her new boyfriend, he accosted him with "Welcome to the S.H., bitch!"
Years after 'The O.C.' is finally dead and buried in the beach sands of Orange County, the phrase "Welcome to the O.C., bitch!" will long outlive it. Sort of in the same way that phrases like "Dat's de name of dat tune" and "Just the facts, Ma'am" have outlived their shows.
I don't see why Zach's paraphrasing has to mean that he was making a reference to 'The O.C.'. It just could be that "the S.H." is slang among the kids stuck living in that small town, hoping to make their surroundings sound hipper than it really was to them.
And if that's the case, we can stand down from the Zonk! Alert.
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
THE HAT SQUAD: RICHARD BRIGHT
During my overnight shift, I heard on 1010 WINS that character actor Richard Bright, who was 68 years of age, fell under the back wheels of a bus on the Upper East Side and was killed instantly.
Richard Bright is best known as Al Neri, Michael Corleone's bodyguard in 'The Godfather Saga'. (This is Toobworld, after all.) His best known scene to my mind was in the second movie, out in the rowboat with Fredo near the end of the film......
BCnU.....
Tele-Toby
TV SERIES
"Somerset" (1970) TV Series .... Bernie Bailey (1976)
TV MINI-SERIES
"From Here to Eternity" (1979) (mini) TV Series .... Sgt. Doehm
TV MOVIES
Witness to the Mob (1998) (TV) .... Joe (Old Man) Paruta
Calm at Sunset (1996) (TV)
There Must Be a Pony (1986) (TV) .... The Detective
Penalty Phase (1986) (TV) .... Judge Von Karman
Brass (1985) (TV) .... Philip Stack
Sizzle (1981) (TV) .... Corky
The Gun (1974) (TV) .... Gil Strauss
The Connection (1973) (TV) .... BeeJay
A Death of Innocence (1971) (TV) .... Jimmy Rekko
TELE-HISTORY
Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story (1992) (TV) .... The Bomber
TV GUEST APPEARANCES
"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"
- Name (2005) TV Episode .... Robert Sawyer
"The Jury"
- The Boxer (2004) TV Episode .... Nick Dunphy
"Law & Order: Criminal Intent"
- Malignant (2002) TV Episode .... Frank Lowell
"Law & Order"
- True Crime (2002) TV Episode .... Dru Hunt
- Working Mom (1997) TV Episode .... Victim's Former Police Captain
- Black Tie (1993) TV Episode .... Mr. Quinn
- Cradle to Grave (1992) TV Episode .... Albert Boxer
"The Sopranos"
- The Weight (2002) TV Episode .... Frank Crisci
"100 Centre Street"
- Lost Causes (2001) TV Episode .... Eric the Lawyer
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished (2001) TV Episode
"Oz"
- Works of Mercy (2000) TV Episode .... Detective Robert Stransky
"Third Watch"
- Modern Designs for Better Living (1999) TV Episode .... Alchy Joe
- Anywhere but Here (1999) TV Episode .... Drunk
"Jake and the Fatman"
- I Could Write a Book (1991) TV Episode
"The Equalizer"
- No Place Like Home (1988) TV Episode
"Houston Knights"
- Moving Violation (1987) TV Episode
- Yesterday's Gone (1987) TV Episode .... Uncle Mikey
"Hill Street Blues"
- I Want My Hill Street Blues (1986) TV Episode .... Stubby
"Skag"
- The Working Girl: Part 1 (1980) TV Episode
"Future Cop"
- Cops and Robin (1978) TV Episode .... Lt. Dan Morgan
"The Defenders"
- The Pill Man (1964) TV Episode .... Phil Macy
"Studio One"
- Rudy (1957) TV Episode .... Ditch
[thanks to IMDb.com]
Richard Bright is best known as Al Neri, Michael Corleone's bodyguard in 'The Godfather Saga'. (This is Toobworld, after all.) His best known scene to my mind was in the second movie, out in the rowboat with Fredo near the end of the film......
BCnU.....
Tele-Toby
TV SERIES
"Somerset" (1970) TV Series .... Bernie Bailey (1976)
TV MINI-SERIES
"From Here to Eternity" (1979) (mini) TV Series .... Sgt. Doehm
TV MOVIES
Witness to the Mob (1998) (TV) .... Joe (Old Man) Paruta
Calm at Sunset (1996) (TV)
There Must Be a Pony (1986) (TV) .... The Detective
Penalty Phase (1986) (TV) .... Judge Von Karman
Brass (1985) (TV) .... Philip Stack
Sizzle (1981) (TV) .... Corky
The Gun (1974) (TV) .... Gil Strauss
The Connection (1973) (TV) .... BeeJay
A Death of Innocence (1971) (TV) .... Jimmy Rekko
TELE-HISTORY
Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story (1992) (TV) .... The Bomber
TV GUEST APPEARANCES
"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"
- Name (2005) TV Episode .... Robert Sawyer
"The Jury"
- The Boxer (2004) TV Episode .... Nick Dunphy
"Law & Order: Criminal Intent"
- Malignant (2002) TV Episode .... Frank Lowell
"Law & Order"
- True Crime (2002) TV Episode .... Dru Hunt
- Working Mom (1997) TV Episode .... Victim's Former Police Captain
- Black Tie (1993) TV Episode .... Mr. Quinn
- Cradle to Grave (1992) TV Episode .... Albert Boxer
"The Sopranos"
- The Weight (2002) TV Episode .... Frank Crisci
"100 Centre Street"
- Lost Causes (2001) TV Episode .... Eric the Lawyer
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished (2001) TV Episode
"Oz"
- Works of Mercy (2000) TV Episode .... Detective Robert Stransky
"Third Watch"
- Modern Designs for Better Living (1999) TV Episode .... Alchy Joe
- Anywhere but Here (1999) TV Episode .... Drunk
"Jake and the Fatman"
- I Could Write a Book (1991) TV Episode
"The Equalizer"
- No Place Like Home (1988) TV Episode
"Houston Knights"
- Moving Violation (1987) TV Episode
- Yesterday's Gone (1987) TV Episode .... Uncle Mikey
"Hill Street Blues"
- I Want My Hill Street Blues (1986) TV Episode .... Stubby
"Skag"
- The Working Girl: Part 1 (1980) TV Episode
"Future Cop"
- Cops and Robin (1978) TV Episode .... Lt. Dan Morgan
"The Defenders"
- The Pill Man (1964) TV Episode .... Phil Macy
"Studio One"
- Rudy (1957) TV Episode .... Ditch
[thanks to IMDb.com]
"SLINGS & ARROWS": MOST ADMIRED DISORDER
Here's a programming reminder:
Tonight at 8 pm, EST, on the Sundance Channel, 'Slings & Arrows' returns with its second season.
It's the story of the behind-the-scenes machinations at the New Burbage Shakespeare Festival in Canada, and if this new season follows the pattern of the first, its storyline sometimes closely mirrors the events in the play they're attempting to mount.
Last year (for the American viewers - the show premiered in Canada back in 2003!), the production was 'Hamlet'. This season they're taking a stab at the Scottish Play.
'Slings & Arrows' stars Paul Gross, his wife Martha Byrnes, and Mark McKinney among many other fine thesps. Unfortunately, I don't think Rachel MacAdams returns as the ingenue this time around.
I've posted this before: in 2005, there were only three series that made me anxious for the week to end as soon as an episode aired, so that I might see the next episode all the sooner. They were:
'Lost'
'Doctor Who' (with Christopher Eccleston)
and
'Slings & Arrows'.
With its last episode of the first season, I found myself watching it on the edge of my seat and pumping my fist in the air with an exhultation of "Yeah!", as if I was watching an action movie. I found it to be just that gripping. And Paul Gross as Geoffrey Tennant is a "well-graced actor" who gives one of the most multi-layered and textured performances I've seen in a television series.
(I also think that if the producers of 'Doctor Who' should look to one of the colonies for its new Time Lord, Gross should be considered.)
But never mind what I think, "I have bought golden opinions from all sorts of people":
From Diane Werts of Newsday:
Run, do not walk, to watch "Slings and Arrows" on Sundance Channel. Not only will you catch every witty, literate episode, but you'll be moving at the same pace as this wicked comic-drama-romance delight.
When we say TV doesn't get more adult, we don't mean naughty words (though there are many). We mean the intelligence of the approach and the deft shifts in comic/tragic tone.
From Robert Lloyd of the Times:
The first season... was romantic, deep, charming, sweet, satirical, thrilling, funny and, at the same time, understated. (A Canadian virtue, perhaps.) The sequel does not disappoint.
Even at six hours, it's over too soon. Good news, then, that a third season, reportedly centered on "King Lear," is in the pipeline.
So it's all a matter of whether or not you get the Sundance Channel in your cable package. But if so, please check out 'Slings & Arrows'. It's wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful; and yet again, wonderful.
And after that? Out of all hooping!
I have no idea what that means but it sounds good enough for me.
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
Tonight at 8 pm, EST, on the Sundance Channel, 'Slings & Arrows' returns with its second season.
It's the story of the behind-the-scenes machinations at the New Burbage Shakespeare Festival in Canada, and if this new season follows the pattern of the first, its storyline sometimes closely mirrors the events in the play they're attempting to mount.
Last year (for the American viewers - the show premiered in Canada back in 2003!), the production was 'Hamlet'. This season they're taking a stab at the Scottish Play.
'Slings & Arrows' stars Paul Gross, his wife Martha Byrnes, and Mark McKinney among many other fine thesps. Unfortunately, I don't think Rachel MacAdams returns as the ingenue this time around.
I've posted this before: in 2005, there were only three series that made me anxious for the week to end as soon as an episode aired, so that I might see the next episode all the sooner. They were:
'Lost'
'Doctor Who' (with Christopher Eccleston)
and
'Slings & Arrows'.
With its last episode of the first season, I found myself watching it on the edge of my seat and pumping my fist in the air with an exhultation of "Yeah!", as if I was watching an action movie. I found it to be just that gripping. And Paul Gross as Geoffrey Tennant is a "well-graced actor" who gives one of the most multi-layered and textured performances I've seen in a television series.
(I also think that if the producers of 'Doctor Who' should look to one of the colonies for its new Time Lord, Gross should be considered.)
But never mind what I think, "I have bought golden opinions from all sorts of people":
From Diane Werts of Newsday:
Run, do not walk, to watch "Slings and Arrows" on Sundance Channel. Not only will you catch every witty, literate episode, but you'll be moving at the same pace as this wicked comic-drama-romance delight.
When we say TV doesn't get more adult, we don't mean naughty words (though there are many). We mean the intelligence of the approach and the deft shifts in comic/tragic tone.
From Robert Lloyd of the Times:
The first season... was romantic, deep, charming, sweet, satirical, thrilling, funny and, at the same time, understated. (A Canadian virtue, perhaps.) The sequel does not disappoint.
Even at six hours, it's over too soon. Good news, then, that a third season, reportedly centered on "King Lear," is in the pipeline.
So it's all a matter of whether or not you get the Sundance Channel in your cable package. But if so, please check out 'Slings & Arrows'. It's wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful; and yet again, wonderful.
And after that? Out of all hooping!
I have no idea what that means but it sounds good enough for me.
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
APPARENT O'BSERVATION
So maybe it was just me, but did anybody else think something momentous was implied in 'Boston Legal' this past week; something regarding Alan Shore and his client, the little girl who couldn't smile?
Amelia Warner's mother Janice used to work as a legal secretary at the same law firm as Alan did years before. We know she left first, as she tried to track him down there before looking for him at Young & Frutt (from 'The Practice').
Based on her conversation with Alan, Janice wasn't even pregnant when she left the employ of the law firm.
Or at least, she wasn't yet showing.....
We've seen how Alan has been with the women he's worked with in the past. He's taken out insurance against sexual harrassment suits! And it's not out of character for him to have sex with several women from the office at the same time - well, not exactly at the same time... but I wouldn't put it past him!
So does it seem too unlikely that Amelia Warner was Alan's biological daughter?
We never did see a husband/father in the picture when the girl took the Adams Academy to court in hopes of gaining entry into their class. And there was something about the blank slate of her face that might suggest a combined DNA match between her mother and Alan.
And then there was their shared interest in the artwork of Magritte. I've heard of such things happening in the real world - people who are related by blood sharing similar interests even though they have never met in person.
So what do you think? It's at least possible, right?
If not, convince me I'm wrong.....
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
Amelia Warner's mother Janice used to work as a legal secretary at the same law firm as Alan did years before. We know she left first, as she tried to track him down there before looking for him at Young & Frutt (from 'The Practice').
Based on her conversation with Alan, Janice wasn't even pregnant when she left the employ of the law firm.
Or at least, she wasn't yet showing.....
We've seen how Alan has been with the women he's worked with in the past. He's taken out insurance against sexual harrassment suits! And it's not out of character for him to have sex with several women from the office at the same time - well, not exactly at the same time... but I wouldn't put it past him!
So does it seem too unlikely that Amelia Warner was Alan's biological daughter?
We never did see a husband/father in the picture when the girl took the Adams Academy to court in hopes of gaining entry into their class. And there was something about the blank slate of her face that might suggest a combined DNA match between her mother and Alan.
And then there was their shared interest in the artwork of Magritte. I've heard of such things happening in the real world - people who are related by blood sharing similar interests even though they have never met in person.
So what do you think? It's at least possible, right?
If not, convince me I'm wrong.....
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
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