NBC has been promoting the crap out of their new summer adventure series, The Philanthropist, for weeks now. Starring James Purefoy as Teddy Rist, a billionaire playboy who decides to save the world, The previews held absolutely no interest for me. Now, after having seen the pilot, I realize that my first impression was the correct one.
Premiering tonight at 10 PM, The Philanthropist is basically an hour of an insufferable rich dude talking about how awesome he is. We watch the premise of the show unfold through the eyes of Rist himself, as he tells his tale of heroism (saving a Nigerian boy from drowning; surviving a shoot-out and a snake bite in order to deliver some Cholera vaccines to a village) to a bored bartender.
You like games? You want to play games? I'll give you a game! In fact, NBC's 
Michael Imperioli, who plays Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos
will be reprising his role as detective Nick Falco on Law and Order, at least for April sweeps. Imperioli
initially took on the role when regular Jesse L. Martin took a break from the series to star in the feature
film version of the musical Rent. Martin was also in the original Broadway production. Holy cow,
Imperioli plays a guy whose last name is Falco, and he's on The Sopranos with an actress named Edie Falco.
Coincidence? Yes, of course it is. I just thought I'd mention it.
Unlike her appearances on
Friends, Kathleen Turner will actually play a woman when she appears on tomorrow night's Law and
Order. She'll play Rebecca Shane, a fancy pants defense attorney who faces off against A.D.A. Jack McCoy. She
represents a privileged high school student who may or may not have killed another fellow student in desperation to
graduate.
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