| THE GOOD
· October 1970 (debuts October 12 on CBC) – The FLQ crisis leaps from your faded memory of a long ago social studies class lecture and into your living room in this well-crafted eight-part miniseries. October 1970 hits the ground running by documenting the early morning abduction of British diplomat James Cross (RH Thomson) by members of the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ). From there, this new dramatic offering just keeps moving. It sets a compelling dramatic pace where every scene seems to up the tension. It does a masterful job of documenting both the earnest police efforts to end the hostage crisis and the inner squabbles of a terrorist group determined to be the agents of radical political change. October 1970 is as good as historical television gets.
· Brothers and Sisters (debuts September 24th on Global and ABC) – After several years away, Calista Flockhart (Ally McBeal) has carefully selected her return to television. She plays a popular radio political pundit in an ensemble drama that also features acclaimed performers Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under), Sally Field (Forrest Gump) and Patricia Wettig (thirtysomething). In the series pilot, members of the fictional California Walker family are drawn together for a birthday party. When an unexpected tragedy rocks the foundation of the family, the five Walker siblings are suddenly forced to deal with each other.
The pilot spins many dramatic threads, including a possible shadow of corruption on the family patriarch, played by Tom Skerrit (Alien). With a full slate of well-rendered characters, there is a lot for viewers to invest themselves in here. It is interesting to note that the preview copy of Brothers and Sisters I watched featured actress Betty Buckley (Eight is Enough) as the Walker family matriarch. In a case of last-minute network retooling, she was replaced and the pilot was reshot with Sally Field in the Nora Walker role. A switcheroo has also been made with the part of Kevin Walker. Jonathan Lapaglia (Windfall) is out and Matthew Rhys (Fakers) is in.
· Rumours (debuts October 9th on CBC, October 14th on CTV) – A self-important male sportswriter (David Haydn-Jones) finds himself out of a job. A female writer with a modest resumé (Amy Price-Francis) bluffs her way into an editor’s position at a Toronto-based women’s magazine called Rumours. To secure her position, she has promised to deliver the sports writer as the magazine’s new feature writer. He initially flat-out refuses the gig, but financial difficulty forces him to reconsider and a tenuous partnership filled with bickering and second-guessing is formed. While there are moments in this new comedy series where the actors are trying too hard to wrench every ounce of cleverness out of their lines, Rumours is a show that works. Haydn-Jones and Price-Francis have some definite chemistry together, and they’re backed up by a well-selected supporting cast that includes veteran character actress Jennifer Dale. She pops up in what has to be her one millionth Canadian TV gig. Yes, good or bad, Jennifer Dale gets a role in everything.
THE BAD
· Friday Night Lights (debuts October 3rd on NBC) – Why did the NBC network honchos decide to do this? As the title of this new TV series reveals, it takes the great 2004 film about a Texas high school football team starring Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade) and transforms it into a weekly small-screen offering. Trying to recapture the magic of the film, the TV show duplicates its distinctive production style, that includes many hand-held camera shots and a stripped-down single-guitar music score. All these touches do is make the fans of the film long for all the characters and fine performances of the movie, rendering the TV show, with its faceless uneven cast, pointless.
THE GUILTY PLEASURE
· Team Sanchez (debuts September 25th on the Comedy Network) – This show features four deranged guys, three from Wales and one from England, abusing each other on and off-stage during a tour of Europe. From smacking each other with canes, to driving nails through the meaty part of the hand between the thumb and index finger, the members of Team Sanchez delight in abusing each other in a manner that would make even the most raucous frat boy cringe. Like MTV’s Jackass, Team Sanchez is all about guys engaging in juvenile behaviour with a total disregard for personal safety. With many bleeped out expletives and unrelenting, graphic, mean-spirited tomfoolery, I am sure Team Sanchez will be hard for many to watch. Me? I find it impossible to look away. |
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