Norway's Mobster Returns to Netflix

If you missed the first two seasons of Nexflix's Lilyhammer, you have missed out on a creative series where a New York mobster hides out in Norway only to return to his old ways.  The show is a joint Norwegian-Netflix product that is shown in both the United States and Norway with subtitles, as appropriate.  You do not get a chance to see these cross-Atlantic collaborations very often.  We cannot even seem to deal with British shows without remaking them for a US audience.  

Steven Van Zandt, guitar player in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, is terrific in the role of Frank Tagliano.  His facial expressions alone exceed the acting talents of many on television today.  The show is mostly comedy with enough drama to keep you on the edge of your seat.  And it does not avoid dark scenes when they are required. For instance, in one episode some visiting gangsters were left to freeze to death after falling through the ice.  I don't know how many comedies can get away with that dark edge, but Van Zandt brought it from his time with the Sopranos and still found a way to keep the series fresh and funny. 

In discussing his show during an interview with IGN, Van Zandt discussed how the US audience took to Lilyhammer:

It is quite different from Sopranos, actually, and they're enjoying the show. I think the premise that we use, the character understands Norwegian but doesn't speak it. It turned out to be a godsend in the sense that he's speaking english, so the American audience is finding and experiencing Norway in the same way he is. It has that feel to it where they understand him and soon, people tell me, the subtitles just go away. You're kind of experiencing the whole thing the way the character does. I think that was an interesting, real idea that maybe could be used again in the future in other circumstances. But what it does is it opens up the entire world content to being seen by the American audience, which is a radical, radical new idea that Netflix is now introducing.

Season three returns to Netflix on November 21st with eight new episodes.  You may even see Bruce Springsteen pop up over the course of the season.  Bundle up and get ready for a great show.

More Espionage on BBC America

Tonight BBC America broadcasts The Game, a new spy series set in the 1970s London.  All I had to hear was that Brian Cox was one of the actors in this miniseries and I was hooked, but here is a little more from BBC America for those who need some convincing:

London: 1972. When a defecting KGB officer, Arkady Malinov, reveals Operation Glass, a devastating Soviet plot that could change the course of the cold war, Daddy, the head of MI5, assembles a secret team to investigate. 

As the Soviets awaken a list of sleeper agents all over Britain, Daddy’s team must move swiftly to gain information about the plot. But when Joe Lambe, Daddy’s prized agent, becomes obsessed with the reappearance of a dangerous nemesis, a Soviet agent codenamed ‘Odin’, he risks letting his personal vendetta jeopardize the operation. 

Variety notes:
 
"The Game” is hardly the James Bond version of British espionage, even with the nicknames and nerdy sidekicks. But the show does capture an era when these agents could genuinely worry about a scenario where the Soviets might engage in a nuclear first strike, which certainly ups the ante beyond current leader Vladimir Putin’s recent border incursions.

The series was created by Toby Whithouse, who brought us Being Human, a fun combination of horror and drama that was later remade in a lesser form for American viewers.  I would not be surprised if the same thing happens with this series.  You can view the trailer for the series here. 

Quite a Quote: The True Throne

"I said repeatedly the Iron Throne is huge. It towers over the room like a great beast. And it's ugly. It's asymmetric. It's put together by blacksmiths not by craftsmen and experts in furniture manufacturing. You have to walk the iron steps, and when a king sits on it he's like 10 feet above everybody else ... He's in this raised position looking down on everyone."

-- George R.R. Martin on the Iron Throne as portrayed in his Game of Thrones book series (quoted in The Business Insider)

A New Family Drama: The McCarthys

Tonight is the premiere of CBS' new show The McCarthy's.  And don't worry, this is not about zombies, superheroes or any other of the current themes filling the airwaves. This is simply a family drama. 

Here is the story:

Based on writer Brian Gallivan's real life, a family comedy about a loud, sports-crazed Boston clan. The series centers on the youngest and somewhat sports-challenged gay son, Ronny, who decides to take a job in Rhode Island in an attempt to extract himself from his overly-involved family. His mother, Marjorie, is devastated that her "favorite son" might move away, until Ronny's father, Arthur, stuns everyone and asks Ronny, the least qualified sibling, to be his assistant High School basketball coach.

Sounds pretty straightforward. With Modern Family and The Middle doing well, not to mention Shameless, there is a demand for good family shows.  And one more is always welcome.

Update:  The series kicked off with a strong pilot episode.  I found the who family likeable, including the dopey dad (aren't they all nowadays on these series?), the manipulative mom, and the hair-brained siblings, one of whom is Boston-native Joey McIntyre from New Kids on the Block.  Tyler Ritter, son of the late actor John Ritter, demonstrated he has the right stuff to carry this show along as the gay brother.  And while the show deals with his sexuality to a degree, it is clearly going to be only one of multiple story lines in this new series.  Speaking of his gay character in a recent interview, Ritter stated:

The show starts out with him already having come out a few years before, and the family is totally OK and accepting of him. Aside from the fact that he's in the dating world and meeting new guys, it really isn't that big of a plot, because these guys could easily be girls.

Between Two Ferns: Brad Pitt

There is nothing like a Zach Galifianakis interview. Just ask President Obama who underwent his schizophrenic questioning earlier this year. 

Well, he is back with Brad Pitt on the most recent episode of Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis. I expected Brad to take a swing at him, but Brad was a perfect gentleman (mostly, that is). 

And how Louis CK fits into this is anyone's guess. It all seems like a bad dream after a good taco.

Should Toys Come with a Meth Bag?

I do not generally agree with parent groups when they take on television stations or companies to keep ideas and images away from kids since they tend to go overboard.  However, I can understand the recent campaign by a woman in Florida to drop an action figure from Toys R Us.  In her petition on change.org, Ms. Myers wrote:

Toys R Us is well known around the world for their vast selection of toys for children of all ages. However their decision to sell a Breaking Bad doll, complete with a detachable sack of cash and a bag of meth, alongside children’s toys is a dangerous deviation from their family friendly values. That’s why I’m calling on Toys R Us to immediately stop selling the Breaking Bad doll collection in their stores and on their website. 

I don't think your average little kid needs to have his very own meth bag.  And while these types of figure should not be banned, maybe more careful placement is appropriate.  I can picture someone getting this as a gag at Urban Outfitters, for example. 
 
All that said, removing this one action figure from one website is like taking a glass of water away from Niagara Falls.  No one will really notice with all the other venues for selling the action figure and similar products.  For instance, what about the bloodied, weapon carrying action figures from The Walking Dead, including one fighter with a stump where the hand should be and a corpse next to a gasoline can?  

We have come a long way from GI Joe and Star Wars action figures.

Constantine: Yes, Another Superhero

You cannot be surprised that another superhero television series is appearing.  At a time when Russia invades its neighbor with impunity, genocide is underway in the Middle East, and Ebola is jumping borders, what we really need is a show proving that one man can make it all go away.  Okay, maybe this is tough on all of the entertainment business, but I would not mind a drama series based on a medical teams traveling the world to fight disease or something similar.  But here we are.

So tonight NBC is introducing the "superhero" Constantine.  From what I remember of the movie, I was not impressed, though short memories might help this show.  You can see the trailer here and get what you need to know from NBC:

Based on the wildly popular comic book series "Hellblazer" from DC Comics, seasoned demon hunter and master of the occult John Constantine (Matt Ryan, "Criminal Minds") is armed with a ferocious knowledge of the dark arts and a wickedly naughty wit. He fights the good fight - or at least he did. With his soul already damned to hell, he's decided to abandon his campaign against evil until a series of events thrusts him back into the fray, and he'll do whatever it takes to protect the innocent. With the balance of good and evil on the line, Constantine will use his skills to travel the country, find the supernatural terrors that threaten our world and send them back where they belong. After that, who knows... maybe there's hope for him and his soul after all.

The good part is that Constantine does not need a cape to do his magic. The scenes remind me more of Supernatural and Dominion than The Flash.  And maybe if it had a bit of Sleepy Hollow's dry humor it could work.  However, The Washington Post isn't buying any of it, stating: 

"Constantine” thrusts us into an all-too-familiar milieu of meaningless symbols, old leather-bound books, sudden power outages, gathering storm clouds, garbled Latin and the Beast within. All that nonsense makes it hard to see any hope for redemption.

I think my DVR is full.