When the city runs dry, the streets will run with blood.
When it comes to ambitious drama series, no other channel can do it as well as HBO. Band Of Brothers
Set in Atlantic City on the eve of prohibition we are introduced to the main character Enoch “Nucky” Thompson (Buscemi) a smooth talking politician making a profitable career as a bootlegger on the side. With the police on side Nucky becomes a powerful contact for Chicago mobsters who are looking get booze to their city and of course he makes a good profit out of the deal. We see a softer side to Nucky when he helps out a pregnant woman married to drunken violent gambler. Meanwhile Jimmy (Michael Pitt) a World War I vet with the horrors of war still fresh in his mind, returns to Atlantic city to find everyone else has climbed the ladder of success and he has been left behind, frustrated he teams up with a young Al Capone to make a name for himself.
This is an impressive show in a league of it’s own, with a $20 million budget the production values make it feel more like a movie than a TV series, the attention to detail in the buildings, costume and language create a vivid picture of a fascinating time in American history. Director Martin Scorsese has certainly put his mark on this film with clear echos to his other gangster flick Goodfellas
The question is, in Enoch “Nucky” Thompson do we have our new Tony Soprano sized anti-hero? The Sopranos set a very high bar for all shows, not just those appearing on HBO and comparisons are bound to be made, however what made Sopranos such a perfect show is what is missing here. Tony Soprano was at heart a family man, he may break the law and have affairs, but ultimately his children and his mother ruled his actions, his discontent with how the American dream had played out for him was something that everyone could identify with. Boardwalk Empire is an incredible achievement with a great cast of characters (make no mistake Steve Buscemi cuts an imposing presence), but currently it lacks an emotional core that I can identify with. Nucky’s relationship with a pregnant Irish immigrant seems placed to provide that core, but it felt so separate from the central plot that it failed to resonate with me.
Overwhelming positive reaction to series has already led to talk of massive Emmy wins and a mere two days after the premier a second series was ordered. This is a show that is going to be around and I am sure you will be hearing much more about it.
Written by: Terrence Winter
Based on the Book by: Nelson Johnson
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Kelly Macdonald, Michael Shannon, Shea Whigham, Aleksa Palladino, Michael Stuhlbarg, Stephen Graham
Date premièred: 19th September 2010
UK Details: TBA
, 
and 
which are more risqué than shows on the mainstream channels, but avoid on screen graphic violence, sex and language that are common on the subscription channels. The Shield for example is known as one of the most gritty cop dramas ever produced, it deals with drugs, gangs and bad cops and yet not once in the 7 series was the word “Fuck” ever uttered, compare that 
, 
or 
. So when a new FX series starts you know that they will find a way to push the limits, but more importantly, because money is tight, they can not afford to make a series and then cut it from the schedules only show 2 episodes because it wasn’t performing, for this reason the scripts have to be better.
) and was commissioned for a full series order on the back of this pilot. A full series on FX is around 13 episodes and so shows do not suffer from a sudden order for 9 episodes after the show becomes a hit leaving the writers looking for a way to drag out the series.
Sam Spade or more recent examples such as the brilliant 
and Jeff Goldblum’s Raines), the character portraits and story structure in this episode of Terriers is superb. From the outset we understand the dynamic between the two friends, we understand an obvious outer struggle (money) and gradually learn the greater personal struggles they need to overcome. Hank needs to reconcile his past as an alcoholic cop and face up to losing his wife, Britt needs grow up and take more responsibility in the relationship with his girlfriend. Both men are floundering at the start of the episode, but their path is set at the end; as they look forward, the road may be tougher, but the rewards will be greater.
. Basically you can dress it all up and call it a new idea, but is still derivative of everything else out there.
(known as La Femme Nikita in the states) was remade in English as the 
(also known as The Assassin), this was then re-imagined in the late 90s as TV series 
and now it is pushed out again as part of the 2010 fall schedule. With no kick ass girls on TV right now, this might have seemed like a quick fix to fill the gap, a tried and tested formula with a fresh spin.
, she wants revenge and will stop at nothing to bring The Division down and rescue the girls and boys who have been sucked into becoming highly skilled assassins against their will. So in a way, this is more a continuation of the series rather than a straight re-imagining.
burst onto the scene with mix of tongue in cheek humour, big musical numbers and a cast of entertaining and memorable characters; it was without a doubt the breakout hit of the year and in 2010 Hellcats looks at another aspect of American school life that is alien to us in the UK, the cheerleaders. There are some things about this show that peaked my interest, the series was created by Kevin Murphy who has been head writer on 
as well as penning musical spoof 
. So was this show going to be this year’s Glee or this year’s 
by journalist Kate Torgovnick; Glee for cheerleading it is not (although the CW does site the big dance numbers as reason for picking up the show) and if you have seen 
this really doesn’t add anything fresh. The show itself even references the quint essential cheerleading movie when Marti prepares for her audition by watching the DVD. Personally both in story and style the show reminded me of The Beautiful Life, a girl from the outside enters a competitive new world and has to move in with a bunch of ambitious back stabbing beauties and try retain her sense of identity.
Tom Welling is very much involved in this project, he apparently feels that cheerleading has not been fully exploited on TV. He maybe right here. We have come to learn from almost every other teen series that cheerleaders are all bitchy sluts, but with the story focused on them and a source material that throws up the real drama behind the scenes, this could be an interesting series. However the audience is not the same as 
and so that rich source material stands a good chance of getting sidelined for the usual relationship drama and backstabbing storylines.
, 
and 
still running and 
, 
and 
doing reruns), this is something that others appear to shy away from, certainly other powerhouses like HBO, FX and AMC, for all their great drama have not a single female led show among them… well maybe at push 
that I have really felt hooked on a new show. ITV’s latest offering is Identity, a drama that follows the investigators involved in identity fraud.
and followed by Treme, The Good Guys, Outlaw Country, the recently wrapped up 
and new entry Memphis Beat. Since these last two have more than little in common I will review both now.
the pilot sets up that all too familiar police dynamic and while Raylan maybe more gentleman than brute force, his unconventional methods still rials up his boss. With 
has left a hole that many want to fill. They think the trick is to hook an audience in with a big mystery with the promise that if they just keep watching all the answers will be revealed. Persons Unknown comes from the fine writing pedigree that brought us 
, an interesting study on character and how the individual’s unique skills benefit the group. This is not however where Persons Unknown is heading.
