TVSquad

I don't know about you, but I'm suffering from serious 24 withdrawal. Like, to the point where I'm ready to start watching the entire series from the beginning again.

But maybe there's a little glimmer of light there. I'm not talking about the 24 movie this fall to tie us into next year -- although that certainly qualifies. I'm talking about the new series, Night and Day, from 24 co-creator Joel Surnow and Todd Robinson.

TNT has just given the green light to the series, a fast-paced, gritty drama about the life of an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Hmmm, sounds strangely familiar...

Scott Bakula is Ray Romano's new best friend. Bakula is the latest addition to the cast of Men of a Certain Age, a pilot for TNT. The drama focuses on three men in their forties that have been friends since college; Bakula is one of the leads. His character, Terry, is an "intelligent, but struggling, actor." Terry's best friends have struggles of their own. Joe, Romano's character, is a divorced father who runs a party supply store. Owen, played by the supremely gifted Andre Braugher, is a family man who works at his father's car dealership.

This recent bit of casting news just made the TNT pilot a must-see for me. Ray Romano, Scott Bakula, and Andre Braugher seem like an unlikely group of buddies, but I suppose it depends on the chemistry between the three actors.

Back in April, Allison reported that Ray Romano was working on a pilot for TNT. Romano is playing the lead, and now Andre Braugher has been added to the cast of Men of a Certain Age. The series, a dramedy along the lines of Sideways, focuses on lives of three middle-aged friends. Braugher will play Owen, a car salesman and family man. Ray Romano and Mike Royce (Everybody Loves Raymond) are writing and producing the show together.

I've been an Andre Braugher fan since Homicide: Life on the Street, and I'm excited to see him get a promising role like this. Braugher is more of a dramatic actor, but he's definitely capable of getting some laughs. No word yet on who's playing the third friend. The character has been described as an aspiring actor.

Paul Attanasio, House executive producer, has conjured up a legal drama for Fox. The network greenlighted a one-hour pilot, Court K, which is set in Milwaukee and involves a judge, a prosecutor and a public defender. Just because it's set in Milwaukee, don't expect to see Laverne and Shirley.

Like House is not your typical medical drama, Court K will not be a typical lawyer show, not that Boston Legal is typical, but you know what I mean. Court K is reportedly a lot grittier, with sardonic, dark comic elements. We'll have to see if any of the principals are hooked on Vicodan. I wonder if it'll remind me of the movie ...And Justice For All, which was also a dark comic look at a Baltimore courthouse. But then, wasn't that Night Court, too?

Say what you will about ER, but it's still able to attract a pretty good roster of actors to guest star on the show, either in a one-shot deal or in a multi-episode arc. This year, in its 13th season, one of the guest starts will be Forest Whitaker, who has been cast as a carpenter who comes in with an innocuous cough, but ends up being paralyzed by a stroke. His stint will be five episodes. The role was originally going to be played by Andre Braugher, but he had to pull out due to the age-old "scheduling conflict."

Remember that Whitaker played a big role in The Shield last season, and the show left the door open for his character to return. So this year might be a big TV year for Forest.

(S01E06) Two words: very satisfying. This episode gave you everything you would want from a season finale. There was enough left to keep you hanging, but plenty was tied up in case Thief doesn't return for a full-order second season. I haven't seen any ratings, but I don't think we'll be seeing a return as I got the impression that this show grabbed a small audience. Regardless, this was a fantastic filler to tide F/X fans over as they transitioned from The Shield to Rescue Me (which returns on Tuesday, May 30).

All hell has broken loose. No one in Nick's crew can agree on anything and that fact that the Feds (led by an over-zealous agent named Patterson) are hot on their trail isn't helping either. But as I assumed last week, Nick had to make a choice between the score and Tammi. The reason he had to make such a choice was the real surprise.

(S01E05) Oh snap! The heist is on and stuff is not going the way it was planned. However, with all the set-backs, Nick handled things surprisingly well. He even let Jack pray for the team before they took off for the airport. That seemed like a pretty big deal, because after what happened to Wanda, Nick does not seem like the religious type.

Random side note. I didn't realize Jack's nick-name was Bump. This episode, more than others, Nick kept calling him Bump and for a while I had no idea who he was talking about. I had to check out the Thief website in the middle of the show to figure that one out. Guess I need to start paying attention more and it's a good thing I did, because this episode was jam-packed.

(S01E04) The first three episodes of this show were spectacular. This episode was even better - it brought the show to a whole new level. Talk about a tense hour. I fell asleep early last night and woke up around five this morning to watch this before I headed off to work. I didn't need to make a pot of coffee. This jolted my eyes open just fine. Everything is coming together for the big heist but at the same time, all the things that are going to get in the way have now been made perfectly clear. The real tension for Nick doesn't seem to be the heist (at least not yet) - it's dealing with Wanda's house, his business, and the step-daughter who doesn't trust him. The dichotomies this show presents are great. Nick is ruthless, but he's a nice guy. He's a professional thief, but he's just like you and me. He's good and evil. Even skin color creates a gap between Nick and Tammi in the incredible last scene of the episode.

(S01E03) Nick Atwater sees dead people. Not exactly the thing you want in your head when you're planning to rob the US Government of $40 million. Keeping up the pace of the last two episodes, the heist is still a go. Nick seems less confident about it though. After all, the crew has only been planning for a week and it all goes down in only eleven more days.

This episode was essentially an obstacle course for Nick and his boys. Everything that's going to get in their way presented itself (or themselves). Let's just say, for this heist to go off smoothly and without a hitch, a lot of things need to fall into place.

I believe the cliché is, "when the sh*t hits the fan." Seeing as how this first season of Thief is only clocking in at six episodes, it was expected that we would be seeing that happen rather quickly. Last night, it did. There's poo everywhere, and Nick is unfortunately right in the middle of it all.

We left Nick in the wake of his wife's untimely death. To compound things, he had just shot an ex-member of his crew (Izzy) right in his own backyard. And to top it off, his stepdaughter witnessed the killing. His crew disposes of the body but not everyone, Jack especially, is dealing well with what just happened. Interesting angle, right? A thief with a conscience.

Nick Atwater is having a bad day. You would be too if you happened to be a professional thief in the middle of a multi-million dollar heist who gets a call from his wife to let him know that his step-daughter has been arrested. I can't imagine talking to a cop while standing in a giant safe that you just cracked is a very comforting feeling. But as I said, Nick Atwater (played by Andre Braugher) is a professional and he handles the situation as such. Of course, matters aren't helped when your crew is a bunch of greedy hotheads who don't seem to mind stealing more than you came for. Did I mention that one of them has a raging coke habit that almost gets them caught? Didn't have to, because what else did I say? Nick Atwater is having a bad day.

All right, kiddies, let's continue our review of Andre Braugher's television shows in preparation for his new show, Thief, which premieres on FX laster this week. As we mentioned, after Braugher left NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street, he headed for New England and donned the role of Dr. Ben Gideon on ABC's Gideon's Crossing. While that show was a critical success it only lasted one season.

He returned to series television again in 2002, this time co-starring with David Morse (St. Elsewhere) on the CBS drama Hack. In the series Morse played Mike Olshansky, a disgraced former Philadelphia police officer who now drove a taxi while attempting to rebuild his life. Braugher played his friend and former partner, Marcellus Washington, who was still on the force.

 

 

It's the last week of March, and there are still a few more new shows for the networks to roll out. Most notably, is Thief, on F/X and starring Andre Braugher (Homicide: Life on the Street). Also, NBC is premiering a new sitcom that, if promos are any indication, will sink just as fast as Four Kings. And, WB is premiering a heavily censored version of The Bedford Diaries.

• Teachers, Tuesdays @ 9:30 pm on NBC (premieres March 28)
• A comedy about a rule-breaking teacher at a New Jersey middle school.

As we await next week's series premiere of Thief on FX we take a look back at some shows that Andre Braugher starred in between his award-winning stint on Homicide: Life on the Street and now.

The first show we will look at is Gideon's Crossing, which premiered on ABC in the fall of 2000 and lasted all of one season. In this medical drama, Braugher was Ben Gideon, a very skilled doctor who wielded his unorthodox skills in the experimental oncology department of a fictional New England hospital. In actuality, Braugher's role was inspired by real-life doctor Jerome Groupman.

Gideon entrusted himself to save the lives of critically ill patients who had reached a dead end with their treatments. While searching for answers and cures he tried to inspire the next generation of doctors who came to the teaching hospital.

 

F/X's new original series Thief finally has a premiere date. The show, which stars Andre Braugher (Homicide, Hack) will begin its six episode run on Tuesday March 28th at 10:00 PM. Braugher plays Nick Atwater, a professional thief who's trying to balance his "job" and his family while dealing with his crew of like-minded cons. The season will focus on the build up to the crew's biggest heist yet.

I'm pretty excited about this. Thus far F/X has not disappointed me with any of its programming choices and I'm liking this sudden explosion of con-artist TV shows. First Hustle and now this. Dane Cook definitely has it right: if given the choice between having sex with a beautiful supermodel or being part of a heist... I totally choose the heist.