The Beast

Patrick Swayze Dies at 57 of Pancreatic Cancer, Defies Odds in 1.5-Year Public Battle

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:29:20 -0600

CHICAGO – “Dirty Dancing,” “Ghost,” film, TV and dance icon Patrick Swayze died on Sept. 14, 2009 at 57 after a 1.5-year public battle with pancreatic cancer. He was in his Los Angeles home beside friends and family.

The legendary actor made no secret of his condition, wrote a memoir with his wife since he was diagnosed in Jan. 2008 and braved through filming of the TV crime drama “The Beast” while refusing to ingest painkillers so as not to derail his performance. He was noticeably thinner on “The Beast” and shooting was difficult on Swayze physically, but he persisted with his craft nonetheless.

Patrick Swayze in 1987’s “Dirty Dancing.
Photo credit: Vestron Pictures

In addition to “The Beast” as Swayze’s most recent and last project, he also starred in “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights,” “Power Blue,” “One Last Dance,” “Donnie Darko,” “Point Break,” “The Outsiders,” “Red Dawn,” “Road House,” “Ghost,” “Dirty Dancing,” “Youngblood” and “Skatetown, U.S.A.”. Living for 18 months with this extremely terminal form of cancer was rare, experts say.

“If you were to look at statistics, the prognosis that is given to most patients with metastatic cancer is usually three to six months,” Dr. Jeffrey Hardacre, an assistant professor of surgery at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and an attending surgeon at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, said in an interview with FOXNews.com on Monday.

The Houston-born Patrick Swayze, who is part Apache, married Lisa Niemi in 1975 and is the older brother of Don Swayze. Patrick Swayze met Lisa Niemi at the age of 19 when she was 15 while she attended dance lessons with Patsy Swayze (Patrick’s mother, who was a dance instructor). Patrick Wayne Swayze’s father, Jesse Wayne Swayze, died of a heart attack in 1982.

Swayze is survived by his wife of 34 years. In memoriam of Patrick Swayze, who lived from 1952 to 2009, we’ll leave you with this personal quote: “Good-looking people turn me off. Myself included.”

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Patrick Swayze Dies at 57 of Pancreatic Cancer, Defies Odds in 1.5-Year Public Battle

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:29:20 -0600

Patrick Swayze in 1987’s “Dirty Dancing.
Photo credit: Vestron Pictures

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

The Best of What’s Out There: The TV You Should Be Watching in Early 2009

BrianTT — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 09:08:20 -0700

CHICAGO – We were considering looking back at the best programming of 2008 when something dawned on us - a lot of it isn’t on the air right now and not yet available on DVD. We at HollywoodChicago.com believe in being productive and helpful, so why tell you something is great when you can’t even see the show?

The final season of “The Shield,” the third season of “Dexter,” the fourth season of “Weeds,” the fourth season of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” the final season of “The Wire,” the second season of “Mad Men,” the entirety of “Pushing Daisies,” and the two best new shows of 2008 - “True Blood” and “In Treatment” - all rank among the best programming of 2008, but none of them are on the air right now and none are on DVD yet. What’s a TV fan to do?

Tina Fey, Jennifer Aniston, Alec Baldwin on “30 Rock”.
Photo credit: Nicole Rivelli

That’s why we’re here - to help. Instead of giving you another list of shows that you can’t even see on DVD yet, we’ve found some equivalent (or at least similar) shows currently on the air that we think you should give a chance. With dozens of new and returning shows hitting the airwaves every week, it can be hard to know what’s right for you. Let us guide the way.

First, there are a FEW of the best series of 2008 still on the air or returning soon. “Lost” comes back January 21st, 2009. Check out our review of the first two episodes for a sneak peek. The quick version? It’s real good.

The best comedy on television, “30 Rock,” is still kicking butt on Thursday nights even if we do slightly agree with the criticism that the show has gotten a bit too gimmicky for its own good recently. Hey Tina, cut out the revolving door of guest stars and get back to the characters we know and love.

“Battlestar Galactica” comes back on January 16th and, as for the best of reality TV, Jeff Probst and “Survivor” return on February 12th and Phil Keoghan and “The Amazing Race” start running again three days later, February 15th.

Finally, “Reaper” returns to The CW on March 17th. Yes, The CW can actually lay claim to one of the best shows of 2008. If you don’t believe me, catch up with the first season, now on DVD, and come back for more coverage in the coming months of one of the most sharply written and clever shows on television.

Bret Harrison and Ray Wise on “Reaper”.
Photo credit: Lionsgate

The rest of the “Best of 2008”? It’s all off the air, but we found relative equivalents for most of them. Of course, there will not be an equivalent for ABC’s great “Pushing Daisies” for a long time. Just watch season one again. It was brilliantly unique and left us way too soon.

One of the main reasons that HBO’s “True Blood” and Showtime’s “Dexter” were two of the best shows of 2008 was that there’s nothing on the air like them. What could we possibly compare to Alan Ball’s gothic vision of vampires or Michael C. Hall’s riveting performance as a serial killer with a moral code?

There are two shows coming up that seem to have that unique quality that separated “True Blood” and “Dexter” from the pack in 2008.

The first season of AMC’s “Breaking Bad” was hit-and-miss but the clarity of Bryan Cranston’s excellent performance on that show reminds us a bit of what Hall does as Dexter Morgan on the excellent Showtime drama. “Bad” returns to AMC in March.

As for “True Blood,” the show that has similar what-the-hell potential has to be Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse”. The long-delayed and controversial series starts on February 13th on Fox. Rumors of reshoots and behind-the-scenes trouble have made us nervous, but Whedon is the kind of risky TV voice that always brings the potential for greatness, kind of like “True Blood“‘s Alan Ball.

Toni Collette on “United States of Tara”.
Photo credit: Nigel Parry/Showtime

If neither “Breaking Bad” nor “Dollhouse” works for and you’re still looking for something left-of-center like “True Blood” or “Dexter,” put April 9th on your calendar. That’s when “Harper’s Island” premieres. We haven’t seen much, but the preview we did see from last Summer looked like “Gossip Girl” if one of the beautiful people from that show happened to be a serial killer offing his socialite friends on a remote island. Yeah, it looks like twisted fun.

But what should fans of the other great shows from 2008 do with their time in early 2009?

One of the best comedies of the last few years, Showtime’s “Weeds,” will be back this summer, but there’s another half-hour comedy that looks at suburbia from a different angle on the same network - “United States of Tara” - that’s currently on the air.

Featuring a stunning performance by Oscar nominee Toni Collette as a mother with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder), the Diablo Cody creation fits perfectly in the Showtime milieu of characters who may look normal but live very different lives from you and me. With a dark, black streak of humor, “Weeds” has been consistently entertaining for four seasons now and, based on the promise of the first quartet of episodes, it’s not hard to see “United States of Tara” staying on the air just as long.

Patrick Swayze, Chicago Setting Work Together in Promising ‘The Beast’

BrianTT — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:16:50 -0700

Television Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Patrick Swayze shines in A&E’s down-and-dirty “The Beast,” a show about deep undercover agents that uses its Chicago setting as well as any show in recent memory. Chicago is regularly the setting for television and film productions, but rarely has it been as much a part of the overall fabric of the show as it is on “The Beast,” one of the more promising dramas of the new year.

A&E’s new drama is about going so deep undercover that not only does identity get blurry but so does motive and even sanity. The pilot script from writer William Rotko (“Breach”) and Vincent Angell occasionally stretches credulity, but Swayze and the excellent quality of the production make for an immensely watchable thriller.

Patrick Swayze in The Beast.
Photo credit: Michael Muller

Swayze plays FBI veteran Charles Barker, an expert undercover agent with some hazy boundaries, and newcomer Travis Fimmel plays his rookie partner, Ellis Dove. In the pilot, Barker essentially hazes Dove in his process, pushing him deeper and deeper into his undercover role as the two work on infiltrating a weapons smuggling ring. The “gritty” intention of the show’s creators is clear from the get-go as Barker shoots Dove (the younger agent is wearing a vest, of course) to keep his cover.

Patrick Swayze and Travis Fimmel in The Beast.
Photo credit: Michael Muller

Life with a reckless agent like Barker as your partner would be bad enough but Dove has a few other problems. First, it’s hard to keep dates with the cute girl in your building, Rose (Lindsay Pulsipher), when you’re pretending to be someone else for a living. Second, poor Ellis is approached by Internal Affairs because they think that Barker has gone completely off the grid and is engaged in illegal activity. He’s allowed “The Beast” of being undercover to eat him alive. So, now, Dove is “undercover squared” - an undercover agent suspicious of his own undercover partner, lying to absolutely everyone in his life, and kind of going crazy in the process.

So much of the brunt of the storytelling of the first two episodes of “The Beast” falls on the shoulders of the two agents that the supporting cast has yet to really be developed. Having said that, Pulsipher seems like an interesting romantic lead and Larry Gilliard Jr. (“The Wire”) and Kevin J. O’Connor (“There Will Be Blood”) shine in small roles.

Some elements of the script for the pilot of “The Beast” feel overplayed. I refuse to believe that any FBI agent, no matter how deeply undercover, would go to some of the extremes that Barker does in the first episode, including launching a missile launcher at a parked car in Chicago. There’s also something a bit too “twitchy” about Fimmel’s performance in the premiere, but he seems more confident in his character’s shoes by the second episode and will probably only grow more so with time.

The flaws of the writing on “The Beast” are easily overlooked due to the strength of the concept, the technical execution, and the excellent lead performance by Swayze. Time and the tragedy of Swayze’s real life have clearly hardened this romantic leading man. Barker is a damaged, dark individual and Swayze nails the character. He’s going to be the main reason that most viewers tune in to the premiere and he’s the reason they’ll probably keep watching for the rest of the season. It is arguably the best performance of his entire career.

Patrick Swayze and Travis Fimmel in The Beast.
Photo credit: Michael Muller

The most notable element of the production is the team’s use of the windy city. I can’t remember the last time Chicago was used this effectively on the small screen. “The Beast” takes place all over the city from Merchandise Mart to Bucktown and it makes Chicago feel like an actual character in the story, not just another set. A major scene near the end of the pilot takes place on an elevated train and it’s a perfect choice of setting.

Flash Taco, Intelligentsia, The Daley Center, Lake Shore Drive, and many more local landmarks/locations play major roles in the premiere episode, and it doesn’t feel like the predictable directorial choices of Sears Tower and Wrigley Field. Chicago has rarely been used as effectively in film or television.

It’s just one part of a show that’s technically accomplished overall. It may not sound like something important, but with so many programs on the air with lackluster production value, it’s so refreshing to see a show that feels much more like a short film than just another episode on just another network.

If the writing can be tweaked and the believable emphasized over the extreme cases or characters, “The Beast” could become one of the best shows of 2009. Despite some flaws, it has more going for it in just the pilot episode - Chicago, Swayze, a great concept, clever dialogue - than most entire seasons. It’s too early to say for sure if the show can maintain this level of quality - and the second episode is slightly less interesting than the first - but the pilot is one of the best hours of television to air in the lackluster ‘08-‘09 television season. All drama fans, especially everyone in the Chicagoland area, should check out “The Beast”.

‘The Beast,’ which airs on A&E, stars Patrick Swayze, Travis Fimmel, Larry Gilliard Jr., Brette Taylor, Lindsay Pulsipher, and Kevin J. O’Connor. The premiere airs on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 9PM CST.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

2009 Mid-Season TV Preview: ‘Lost,’ ‘Damages,’ ‘Nip/Tuck,’ ‘24,’ More

BrianTT — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:08:01 -0700

CHICAGO – Be honest, TV fans. Fall 2008 was lackluster at best. The TV season really starts now.

With the strike delaying production on established series and the development of new ones, many more programs are returning or premiering in Jan. 2009 than the average mid-season. It couldn’t have come at a more important time for the medium, too.

To be blunt, the first 31 days of 2009 could be one of the most important months in the history of television. It comes down to this - If established hits like “24,” “Damages,” “Nip/Tuck,” “Monk,” “American Idol,” “Battlestar Galactica,” “Lost,” and “The Closer” don’t meet expectations and if a new show like “United States of Tara,” “The Beast,” “Lie To Me,” or “Trust Me” can’t take off and become an established hit, television is likely to change forever.

Sound like an exaggeration? Consider this - NBC gave up on an hour of original, scripted programming every single night. They’re so disappointed in their slate of 10 pm dramas, including failures like “My Own Worst Enemy,” that they’re handing over an hour of TV every night to talk show host Jay Leno. It’s one of the most amazing programming decisions of the last few years and proof that original television on the big networks is changing for good. Does anyone think we’re that far off from all reality and talk on the major networks with original programming relegated to pay cable, basic cable, and the internet? I don’t.

And the Leno story is only one of the biggest headlines of a season that has seen far more failures than successes. Shows that took off the post-strike period, including “Pushing Daisies” and “Dirty Sexy Money,” saw ratings decline every week before their cancellations. It feels like people left during the strike and simply never came back.

New hits? There aren’t any outside of CBS, the only network that has anything to be happy about this year with the massive success of “The Mentalist” and the continued growth of “The Big Bang Theory” and “How I Met Your Mother”. More than ever, the buzz in 2008 went from the big networks to the cable box with HBO launching new hits, Showtime developing their own, and even AMC developing a reputation for quality.

We’ll get into what worked and what didn’t in our TV year in review next week at HollywoodChicago.com, but let’s look ahead before we look back. Is it too late for the broadcast networks to save this sinking ship? Are NBC, Fox, and ABC done? Will there be another “Mad Men” in the bunch of shows premiering this month? Can a series actually improve on last year’s ratings for once? Let’s hope so.

Stay tuned to HollywoodChicago.com for reviews and coverage of all the upcoming series and mark your calendar with the highlights of the coming month on the following page, in chronological order.