Law & Order

TV Review: ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ Has Breakout Potential as Hottest New Show

BrianTT — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:27:11 -0600

CHICAGO – Doesn’t it feel like there will someday just be a few mystery franchises with several different iterations on the air? We have three versions of “Law & Order” and “CSI,” and now “NCIS” has joined in, expanding the franchise of this surprisingly popular show to “NCIS: Los Angeles” with appealing stars Chris O’Donnell and L.L. Cool J.

Television Rating: 3.5/5.0

“NCIS: Los Angeles” is an action/mystery show with theatrical caliber production values and two incredibly charismatic leads. If you were a betting man, I wouldn’t bet on this expansion of the “NCIS” franchise being cancelled any time this season, this TV year, or even the next. It’s practically a guaranteed hit that’s not going to set water coolers or critic’s groups on fire but fulfills a very human need for quality escapist television.

Chris O’Donnell, LL Cool J.
Photo credit: Cliff Lipson/CBS

The premiere of “NCIS: Los Angeles” opens with a shoot-out on the infamous Mulholland Drive and the discovery of a body in the back seat. Within a minute, audiences know what to expect - action, mystery, and a sunny location.

Chris O’Donnell, LL Cool J.
Photo credit: Cliff Lipson/CBS

The first episode details the return of Special Agent “G” Callen (Chris O’Donnell) to the Office of Special Projects, a division of NCIS charged with handling criminals who pose a threat to national security. Through flashback, we learn that Callen was recently caught in the crossfire and may be returning a bit more fragile or unstable than he was before the life-changing incident.

Callen’s partner is Special Agent Sam Hanna, a tough-but-cool U.S. Navy SEAL who has seen action in both Afghanistan and Iraq and a surveillance expert. Basically, everyone on “NCIS: Los Angeles” is tougher, smarter, stronger, and faster than your average TV show cop. The series is designed to portray these men and women as the best of the best, the front line between our safety and another terrorist incident.

Other cast members include Peter Cambor, Rocky Carroll, Adam Jamal Craig, Daniela Ruah, and Oscar-winner Linda Hunt as the woman who oversees the support staff and provides the latest high-tech gadgets for the team to fight the war on terror.

I’ve personally never been a big fan of television that uses real-life international drama as a source for fiction. It walks the fine line between entertainment and exploitation.

Having said that, it’s impossible to fault “NCIS: Los Angeles” based on the theory of judging a show on whether or not it deliver what it promises. It’s an expertly made, well-acted, briskly paced hour of television that I would be surprised to hear that any fan interested in TV action shows like it wouldn’t want to make a regular part of their viewing schedule.

Even with my general aversion to shows like it, I was entertained by O’Donnell and LL Cool J’s excellent chemistry, impressed by the well-used setting (the city is a major part of the show), and consistently in awe of the overall production value of the show. Most modern action movies don’t look this well-made. It’s a 44-minute action film every week with a pair of charming leads. Based on how well I expect this installment to do, location scouts may want to start looking at options for “NCIS: Chicago,” “NCIS: Boston,” etc.

‘NCIS: Los Angeles,’ which airs on CBS, debuts on September 22nd, 2009 at 8PM CST. It stars L.L. Cool J, Chris O’Donnell, Peter Cambor, Rocky Carroll, Adam Jamal Craig, Daniela Ruah, and Linda Hunt.

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

NBC Fall 2009 Premiere Dates Including ‘The Office,’ ‘30 Rock,’ ‘Heroes,’ More

BrianTT — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:04:19 -0600

CHICAGO – NBC has announced their fall premiere dates and it all kicks off with the highly anticipated premiere of “The Jay Leno Show” at 9pm CT on Monday, September 14th. The network has scheduled two new dramas - “Mercy” & “Trauma” - and one new comedy - “Community”.

“The Jay Leno Show” will begin its nightly rotation on the 14th, joined by a two-hour premiere of “The Biggest Loser” on the next night, September 15th, 2009. Tuesday nights will be all reality TV on NBC.

The network’s most critically-acclaimed night returns on September 17th, 2009 when the network kicks off its Thursday night lineup with “Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday,” followed by “Parks and Recreation,” “The Office,” and “Community”. “30 Rock” premieres on October 15th, at which point “SNL” will leave the schedule and “Community” will kick off the night, leaving “30 Rock” in its traditional timeslot.

Community
Photo credit: Mitchel Haaseth/NBC

Monday, September 21st sees the premiere of the fourth season of “Heroes” with a two-hour episode.

The new medical drama “Mercy” debuts on Wednesday, September 23rd at 7pm followed by “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” which begins its eleventh season.

On Friday, September 25th, “Law & Order” returns for a 20th season, followed by the sophomore drama “Southland”.

Saturdays will consist of “Dateline NBC” and encore presentations of a new drama and “Law & Order: SVU”.

Sundays are reserved for football, starting on September 13th.

Monday, September 28th, “Heroes” is back to its normal one-hour size and “Trauma” debuts in the slot between Sylar and Jay Leno.

NBC Fall 2009 Schedule
Sunday, September 13th - “Football Night in America” & “NBC Sunday Night Football”
Monday, September 14th - “The Jay Leno Show”
Tuesday, September 15th - “The Biggest Loser”
Thursday, September 17th - “Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday,” “Parks and Recreation,” “The Office,” & “Community”
Monday, September 21st - “Heroes”
Wednesday, September 23rd - “Mercy” & “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”
Friday, September 25th - “Law & Order” & “Southland”
Saturday, September 26th - “Dateline NBC” & “Saturday Night Live”
Sunday, September 28th - “Trauma”
Thursday, October 15th - “30 Rock”

Read our full review of the 2009 “Trauma” premiere!
Read our full review of the season-six 2009 “The Office” premiere!
Read our full review of the season-two 2009 “Parks and Recreation” premiere!
Read our full review of the “Community” premiere!

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

NBC Renews ‘Chuck,’ ‘Law & Order’; Cancels ‘Medium,’ ‘My Name is Earl’

BrianTT — Wed, 20 May 2009 07:27:03 -0600

CHICAGO – We told you a few weeks ago that “Heroes,” “Parks and Recreation,” and “Southland” had been renewed by NBC but the peacock network made it official today and made the call on the bubble shows, renewing “Chuck” and “Law & Order” and pulling the trigger on “Medium” and “My Name is Earl” although there are rumors of both shows being eyed by other networks.

With “The Jay Leno Show” taking up five nights of the week, there were very few spots on the fall schedule, but NBC was more creative than some expected with their programming, refusing to play it safe and knowing that they need a radical shake-up.

Photo credit: Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

They’ll get that shake-up as only Tuesday and Sunday will remain unchanged in the fall (except, of course, for Leno). “The Biggest Loser” returns on Tuesday nights for two hours and football dominates Sunday nights.

Mondays will launch with “Heroes” and lead in to a new show called “Trauma”. Official new show descriptions are available at the bottom of the article.

Wednesdays start with another TV take on the Ron Howard show “Parenthood,” followed by “Law & Order: Special Victims Units.”

Thursdays are a little complicated. “30 Rock” comes back late, usually in October. So, until it does, “SNL Weekend Update Thursday” will start the night, followed by “Parks and Recreation,” “The Office,” and the new “Community”. When “30 Rock” comes back, it gets the 8:30 CST slot and “Community” jumps back to 8pm.

“Southland” moves to the middle slot on Fridays, led in by the original “Law & Order,” tying “Gunsmoke” for the longest-running show with the announcement of its 20th season.

The wasteland of Saturday consists of “Dateline NBC” and encore broadcasts of “Trauma” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”.

“Chuck” will return mid-season and reportedly got a 13-episode order. New shows “Day One,” “100 Questions,” “Mercy,” and “The Marriage Ref” will also premiere mid-season and “The Celebrity Apprentice” will return then as well. No word on when or if the network will air “Friday Night Lights” in its post-DirectTV run this year as it was reported earlier that they would.

New fall show descriptions:

Photo credit: Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

“Community”

From Emmy Award-winning directors Joe and Anthony Russo (“Arrested Development”) comes “Community,” a smart comedy series about higher education…and lower expectations. The student body at Greendale Community College is made up of high-school losers, newly- divorced housewives, and old people who want to keep their minds active as they circle the drain of eternity. Within these not-so-hallowed halls, “Community” focuses on a band of misfits, at the center of which is a fast-talkin’ lawyer whose degree has been revoked (Joel McHale, “The Soup”), who form a study group and, in “Breakfast Club” fashion, end up learning a lot more about themselves than they do about their course work.

In addition to McHale, the series also stars Gillian Jacobs (“The Book of Daniel”); Yvette Nicole Brown (“Rules of Engagement”); Danny Pudi (“Greek”); Alison Brie (“Mad Men”); and comedy legend Chevy Chase (“Chuck”). “Community” is produced by Krasnoff Foster Entertainment, Harmonious Claptrap and Murray Hill in association with Sony Pictures Television. Russ Krasnoff (“The Soloist”), Dan Harmon (“The Sarah Silverman Program”), Joe Russo (“Arrested Development”), Anthony Russo (“Arrested Development”) and Gary Foster (“The Soloist”) serve as executive producers. Joe and Anthony Russo directed the pilot that was written by Dan Harmon.

“Parenthood”

Photo credit: Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

From the executive producers of the box-office hit “Parenthood,” Ron Howard and Brian Grazer (Oscar winners for “A Beautiful Mind”), and writer/executive producer Jason Katims (“Friday Night Lights”), this contemporary re-imagining of the blockbuster film depicts the colorful and imperfect Braverman family - four grown siblings sharing the headaches, heartaches, and joy of being parents. The star-studded cast includes Peter Krause, Maura Tierney, Craig T. Nelson, Dax Shepard, Bonnie Bedelia, Monica Potter, Erika Christensen and Mae Whitman.

When Sarah Braverman (Tierney, “ER”), a financially strapped single mother, returns home to her parents and siblings in Berkeley, Calif., after packing up her Fresno apartment and uprooting her two inconvenienced kids, Amber (Whitman, “In Treatment”) and Drew (Miles Heizer, “ER”), she is greeted by her opinionated father, Zeek (Nelson, “Family Stone,” “Coach”), and strong mother, Camille (Bedelia, “Heart Like A Wheel”), who are privately dealing with their own marital issues. As Sarah is reunited with her siblings — sister, Julia (Christensen, “Traffic”), and brothers Crosby (Shepard, “Baby Mama”) and Adam (Krause, “Six Feet Under”) — all struggling with issues of their own, it’s clear that the Braverman reunion is just what they need to face the everyday challenges of modern family life. “Parenthood” is a production from Imagine Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. Emmy winner Thomas Schlamme (“The West Wing”) directs the pilot.

“Trauma”

Photo credit: Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

Pictured: Billy Lush as Bailey, Anastasia Griffith as Nancy, Cliff Curtis as “Rabbit”, Aimee Garcia as Marisa, Kevin Rankin as Tyler, Derek Luke as Boone — NBC Photo: Mitchell Haaseth

From executive producer Peter Berg (NBC’s “Friday Night Lights”) comes “Trauma,” the first high-octane medical drama series to live exclusively in the field where the real action is. Like an adrenaline shot to the heart, “Trauma” is an intense, action-packed look at one of the most dangerous medical professions in the world: first responder paramedics. When emergencies occur, the trauma team from San Francisco General is first on the scene, traveling by land, by sea or by air to reach their victims in time. From the heights of the city’s Transamerica Pyramid to the depths of the San Francisco Bay, these heroes must face the most extreme conditions to save lives — and give meaning to their own existence in the process. Starring in “Trauma” are Derek Luke (“Notorious”), Cliff Curtis (“10,000 B.C”), Anastasia Griffith (“Damages”), Aimee Garcia (“George Lopez”), Kevin Rankin (“Friday Night Lights”) and Jamey Sheridan (“Law & Order: Criminal Intent”). “Trauma” is a production of Universal Media Studios and Film 44. Berg, Sarah Aubrey (“Bad Santa,” “Friday Night Lights”), Dario Scardapane and Jeffrey Reiner (“Friday Night Lights”) serve as executive producers. The pilot was written by Scardapane and directed by Reiner.

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

Like a Bad ‘Law & Order,’ ‘Righteous Kill’ With Al Pacino, Robert De Niro Lacks ‘Heat’

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:37:07 -0600

CHICAGO – Last fall, Francis Ford Coppola made the comment that Al Pacino and Robert De Niro (along with Jack Nicholson) had lost their ambition. Coppola essentially said they have been phoning in their performances and picking safer movies. “Righteous Kill” could be the case study to that argument.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

You have Pacino and De Niro together again. They’re both playing a cop, which is a role they’ve both done time and time again. You give them a script from Russell Gewirtz (who scribed the amazing film “Inside Man”). What could go wrong? As “Righteous Kill” proves, apparently many things.

Read Dustin Levell’s full review of “Righteous Kill” in our reviews section.

View our full, high-resolution “Righteous Kill” image gallery.

Officers “Turk” (Robert De Niro) and “Rooster” (Al Pacino) are partners who have each been with the New York Police Department for 30 years. Their latest case is to catch a serial killer offing the criminals the justice system has let slip through the cracks.

Each serial murder is accompanied with a poem detailing the offenses committed by these lowlifes and why their murder is (sigh) “righteous”. Fellow detectives played by John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg (yes, the older brother of Mark Wahlberg) are also on the case along with Carla Gugino.

She portrays a sexy and sassy officer who’s sleeping with Turk. The story is told as a flashback that’s narrated by video confession by Robert De Niro’s character.

“Righteous Kill,” which stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, John Leguizamo, Donnie Wahlberg, Brian Dennehy, Trilby Glover, Carla Gugino and 50 Cent, opened everywhere on Sept. 12, 2008.

Continuing reading for Dustin Levell’s full “Righteous Kill” review.

Left to right: Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in “Righteous Kill”.
Photo credit: Righteous Productions, Inc.

Carla Gugino in “Righteous Kill”.
Photo credit: Righteous Productions, Inc.

Continuing reading for Dustin Levell’s full “Righteous Kill” review.

Jessica Radloff of Oxygen’s ‘Campus Ladies’ Emerges From Geek to Chic

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 12:59:38 -0700

While in my hometown of St. Louis this weekend for my 10-year high school reunion, I spoke with high school alum Jessica Radloff and separately Brian Slaten about being discovered in Hollywood.

Jessica Radloff.
Photo courtesy of Jessica Radloff
After graduating with a triple major in journalism, media arts and theater from the University of Arizona, she moved to Los Angeles. Her first IMDb credit lists seven episodes on Oxygen’s “Campus Ladies”.

Radloff played the role of Marni in the show’s first season in 2006, which aired 10 episodes. While 10 episodes are on the docket for 2007, Radloff said the show is “on hiatus” due to the WGA strike.

Jessica Radloff (center).
Photo courtesy of Jessica Radloff
She also mentioned having seven agents and one manager. In addition, Radloff has a literary agent for a book she’s currently working on about dating.

She has climbed the ladder by working at the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “The Young and the Restless,” various NBC and ABC affiliates along with Carsey-Werner (the creative team behind “The Cosby Show,” “Roseanne” and “That 70s Show”).

Radloff’s first scene from the pilot of “Campus Ladies” was seen on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”. She also mentioned being named one of top hottest singles of 2007 in St. Louis Magazine.

Jessica Radloff with Emmy Award-winning actor
Jeremy Piven. Piven was raised in Chicago.
Photo courtesy of Jessica Radloff
In a May 2, 2007 article, St. Louis Post-Dispatch television critic Gail Pennington wrote on Radloff:

Actors often talk about wanting to perform from the moment they grabbed the lead in the first-grade pageant. In high school, they were president of the drama club and starred in every play.

In response, Radloff said in the interview: “You know those kids? That was not me. Not me at all.”

Jessica Radloff with Jason Alexander of “Seinfeld”.
Photo courtesy of Jessica Radloff
Instead, she recalls in the story spending her time not in any kind of acting spotlight but at the kitchen table studying. Radloff was a self-described shy bookworm who didn’t even want a bat mitzvah.

A “Campus Ladies” billboard.
Photo courtesy of Jessica Radloff
As we reminisced about high school and found silly how important popularity was then, she has emerged from a geek to chic and has evolved from “Ugly Betty” with wildly curly hair and big glasses.

As for high school, she describes her favorite memory of Parkway Central as “getting out of there. High school doesn’t define you.” Her IMDb profile is here. Her professional site is here.

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Jessica Radloff with Chicago native Sean Hayes of “Will & Grace”.
Photo courtesy of Jessica Radloff
Brian Slaten, on the other hand, was a character in the small 2005 film “Leverage” along with the small 2007 film “Pose Down”.

After being cast as a character in an episode of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” Slaten was cast as an officer in the larger 2008 film “The List”.

Brian Slaten.
Photo credit: IMDb
From first-time director Marcel Langenegger, “The List” stars Ewan McGregor, Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Maggie Q and Natasha Henstridge. The film is scheduled to release on April 25, 2008.

Slaten attended the University of Wyoming for theater. It’s interesting (but not surprising) to note that it took Radloff and Slaten four or five years following college to post their first professional acting credit.

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