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First Look: Schwartzman, Galifianakis in HBO's Bored to Death

BuzzSugar — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:30:37 -0700

A weekly dose of Jason Schwartzman and Zach Galifianakis on my TV? Yes, please! HBO has released a teaser for its newest half-hour comedy series Bored to Death, which will premiere in September. Zach Galifianakis was recently added to the show, which is pretty brilliant casting given the success of The Hangover. The comedy star power doesn't end with those two - as you'll see in the trailer the series also features Ted Danson, Parker Posey, and Kristen Wiig. So great!

Schwartzman plays Jonathan, a struggling writer living in Brooklyn who drinks a lot. For no apparent reason he decides to become a private detective. Galifianakis plays his friend who writes comic books. The whole thing looks pretty funny and full of promise. To check out the trailer and tell me what you think, read more.

Buzz News Roundup, 9/3

BuzzSugar — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:32:38 -0700

Oprah Winfrey is reportedly in talks to guest-star on 30 Rock! - E! Online
Speaking of 30 Rock, Jennifer Aniston will play Liz Lemon's ex-roommate - and current crazy stalker. - The Futon Critic
The trial over the Watchmen movie will start Jan. 6. - Variety
Ted Danson has taken a role opposite Jason Schwartzman in HBO's comedy pilot Bored to Death. - Hollywood Reporter
Ben Folds Five is reuiniting for a MySpace show in North Carolina. - Billboard
Casting news! David Arquette will guest-star on My Name is Earl, Willa Holland will have an arc on Gossip Girl, and Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson will appear on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. - Zap2it
Stevie Wonder will receive the second Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, following Paul Simon. - Washington Post
Flight of the Conchords will likely end after season two. - TV Guide

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Glenn Close and Damages Hold Court at TCA

BuzzSugar — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:30:56 -0700

The first season of FX's Damages was enthralling and chilling, and from just the couple of minutes we got to glimpse Tuesday morning at the TCA press tour, the show still has its captivating qualities. The show's main cast - including two of the three new cast members, William Hurt and Timothy Olyphant - was on hand to discuss a bit of what we'll see in the coming months, and I already feel sucked back in to the Damages universe. Some of this is spoilery, so if you don't want to know anything about season two, stop here - but if you want to hear about the new characters, the evolution of Ellen, and the fate of Arthur Frobisher (well, maybe), just read more.

First things first: Ted Danson attended the Damages panel. But does that mean Frobisher is alive? Apparently, we shouldn't go that far. The show has so many flashbacks and flash-forwards that it's hard to say exactly when and in what context we'll be seeing Danson's character. (Although, it's worth noting that FX President John Landgraf said earlier in the day that Frobisher "did survive.")

Moving on, one of the biggest changes we'll see in the new season comes is the evolution of Ellen. In the clips we watched, she's bracing and in control, telling the agents she's working with that she wants to wear a wire while Patty talks to her about the Frobisher case and telling someone (who wasn't visible in the clip) that they should be terrified. "We all wanted to approach Ellen in a very different way to make her more of a warrior in season two," Rose Byrne said. "This season she's kind of made of steel a little bit more, which is really interesting to play. The first season, the audience was so much ahead of her . . . This season, it's sort of the reverse."

Ellen is also in therapy, which is where she encounters one of the show's new characters: Wes, played by Timothy Olyphant. According to executive producer Daniel Zelman, he's "a mysterious figure who comes to be a confidant of Ellen's because they've both been through similar traumas recently. What the future of their relationship will be is something for the audience to guess at and wonder."

As for the other newcomers:

William Hurt plays Daniel Purcell, a figure who enters Patty's life in trouble - though we don't know what kind of trouble - and seeking legal aid. It seemed from the clip that his story would form the basis for this season's new case.
Marcia Gay Harden, who was not present because she'd only just been cast, will play a high-powered attorney for an unspecified company who appears to be behind some equally unspecified wrongdoing.

If you're getting the sense that there are a lot of secrets, it's true - but there's also a lot that's left to be figured out. The producers emphasized several times that they liked to keep things fluid, and all of the actors mentioned that their stories could (and did) change up until the very last minute.

As for Patty Hewes, Glenn Close says Patty seems to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as well. "She still has a lot of very unresolved issues going on that take more energy to cover up than before," she said.

A couple of other interesting tidbits:

Here's how Close described the typical reaction she got to the show's twists and turns from her family and random strangers on the street: "Tell me what's in the box - don't tell me!" They all seemed to have a huge respect for how engaging the show can be, especially Hurt, who said he stayed up till 5 a.m. watching episodes when the idea of taking the role first came up.
About those flashbacks: The show is still going to play with time; Zelman called the flash-forwards and flashbacks "a signature of the show." But he said the producers' goal this year is to make them slightly easier to grasp this year.
Throughout the session, Damages was occasionally referred to as being like a novel, with each season telling a full story. It's interesting to think about that and try to imagine what season three will look like (since FX has already committed to it). Presumably Patty and Ellen will still be around - but will anyone else?
Danson wouldn't tell us how often Frobisher will be on the show - and he insisted that's because he doesn't know.

Photos courtesy of FX and Source

Movie Preview: Mad Money

BuzzSugar — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:33:51 -0700

Opening January 18, 2008 Mad Money finds three ladies forming an unlikely team to rob their employer. Apparently, it's based on a true story. It appears that there's the sassy lady played by Queen Latifah, Diane Keaton plays the clever older lady and Katie Holmes has the role of the quirky free spirit who dances her way, um, everywhere. Also, ~~Arthur Frobisher~~ Ted Danson is in the film. To check out the trailer for Mad Money which looks neither bad nor awesome, read more

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TV Tonight: Damages

BuzzSugar — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 05:30:00 -0700

When I started watching Damages on FX over the summer, I figured it would be a pretty straightforward legal thriller. To my surprise, the show actually has had so many twists, turns and timelines, it's practically on par with Lost. There have been far-past flashbacks and recent-past flashbacks as well as scenes from the present day, which find young lawyer Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) in jail accused of murdering her fiance.

In tonight's next-to-last episode, all the timelines collide - and, supposedly, what connects the ruthless Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) and her case against the powerful billionaire Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson) to the murder of Ellen's fiance will be revealed. There's no word yet on whether the show will get a second season - and frankly, with the story lines we've seen so far, I don't see how it could - so I'm hopeful that this twisted mystery will be resolved over the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, if you've fallen behind on Damages or gotten lost in the twists, it's not too late to catch up with the clips and episode descriptions on the show's official site.

If you're still watching, tell me: What's your theory about what happens?

Photo courtesy of FX

TV Tonight: "Damages"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:30:00 -0700

When I wrote about the series premiere of "Damages" last week, I said it would be tough to find the moral compass of Patty Hewes, the ruthless, shameless main character played compellingly by Glenn Close. Now, after viewing the second episode in the series, I'm not sure I could find the moral compass of any of the series regulars - and that's exactly what makes "Damages" so much fun to watch.

Like the premiere, the second episode, which airs tonight on FX, is fraught with a sense of impeding doom. Who knew a pigeon on a windowsill, or a birthday celebration, or a description of a meal at a restaurant could feel so downright creepy? This episode finds Ellen Parsons, the young associate played by Rose Byrne, ready to bring forward her boyfriend's sister as a witness in Hewes' case against Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson). Hewes has already shown how far she'll go to win; in this episode, we see the true extent - or at least I hope it's the extent - of Frobisher's desire not to be exposed.

Even plucky, innocent Ellen starts to crack a little here; she's got to know she's making a deal with the devil, and yet she continues to accept what Hewes gives her. The second hour of "Damages" delivers fully on the promises of the first - and finishes with yet another terrifying cliffhanger that will bring me back next week for more.

TV Tonight: "Damages"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 09:30:40 -0700

One of the frequent topics at the TCA press tour has been what a wonderful time it is to be an actress helming a cable show. From Kyra Sedwick in "The Closer" to Lili Taylor in "State of Mind" to Holly Hunter in "Saving Grace," smart, quirky, tough women are finally getting their due.

Tonight, Glenn Close joins that crowd as the star of "Damages," FX's new legal thriller that deftly traverses morality, greed and power. Close plays Patty Hewes, a high-profile attorney who is trying to take down the allegedly corrupt self-made billionaire Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson). Hewes is kind of like The Devil Wears Prada's Miranda Priestly, but with even greater power and much higher stakes. Good luck finding her moral compass; frankly, I'm not sure she even has one.

Close's foil in the show is a young associate named Ellen Parsons (played by Rose Byrne of 28 Weeks Later). Byrne gives Ellen a wide-eyed, plucky, eager-beaver attitude at first, but it was a darker scene of hers that got me hooked from the get-go, so to hear about that and watch a preview, read more

The show's first scene is a doozy: an elevator opens on Byrne's character, bloodied and wrapped in a trench coat; she takes off running through the streets of New York. Most of the rest of the first episode is told in a flashback, dribbling out a few of the puzzle pieces we'll need to piece together how Ellen ended up in such a dire situation.

While the acting - from Byrne and Danson as well as Close - is reason enough to watch this show, the overall crafting of their universe makes it stronger. Rarely have I watched a show with so much dramatic tension from scene to scene; there's an overwhelming sense that something gravely terrible could happen at any moment. This is more than just another lawyer show. It's also a thriller, a mystery, and a character study of one ruthless, fascinating woman.

Photo and video courtesy of FX

A First Look at "Damages"

BuzzSugar — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 06:30:00 -0700

I'm not usually big on legal shows, but I have high hopes that FX's new series, "Damages," will be the exception. The show, which stars Glenn Close as a powerful attorney, was already one of my top 10 reasons to watch TV this summer, and now that I've seen some clips, I'm even more curious to see what FX has up its sleeve with this one.

The preview for "Damages" reminded me a bit of The Devil Wears Prada - albeit a much more serious, higher-stakes version. Close plays Patty Hewes, a high-profile, ruthless lawyer who is determined to win at all costs. Her new protege, Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne), is a young, innocent, newly engaged associate lawyer who wants to use her law degree for good. Their common opponent is Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson), an allegedly corrupt self-made billionaire whom Patty is attempting to bankrupt and personally destroy.

The show looks quite a bit darker than what I was expecting, with more intrigue than your average legal series. "Damages" premieres Tuesday, July 24, but for now you can watch a clip and tell me your first impressions if you read more

Photo and video courtesy of FX

Reminder: Recast "Cheers"!

BuzzSugar — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 09:49:26 -0800

For Wednesday's Recast challenge, I asked you guys to tackle the long-running and brilliantly enduring sitcom "Cheers." The actors who played these colorful, oddly familiar characters really helped make the show what it was, but if you had to recast "Cheers" today, would you pick? Leave your entry us in the comment section below, and I'll pick one winner to feature next Tuesday, Feb. 6, complete with a "new" cast photo.

Characters to Recast
Sam (Ted Danson)
Carla (Rhea Perlman)
Norm (George Wendt)
Cliff (John Ratzenberger)
Frasier (Kelsey Grammer)
Woody (Woody Harrelson)
Diane (Shelley Long) or Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) - take your pick.

Recast "Cheers"!

BuzzSugar — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 10:07:17 -0800

Every Wednesday on BuzzSugar, I'll post a Recast challenge, where I'll ask you to choose new actors for a classic TV show or movie. This week's assignment: the long-running and brilliantly enduring sitcom "Cheers." The actors who played these colorful, oddly familiar characters really helped make the show what it was, but if you had to recast "Cheers" today, would you pick? Leave your entry us in the comment section below, and I'll pick one winner to feature next Tuesday, Feb. 6, complete with a "new" cast photo.