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The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

Posted: 05 Jun 2011 03:19 AM PDT

entertainment@thestar.com.my

Be it a clown or psychopath, when it comes to playing a character, Bill Irwin has all the right moves.

IT must be hard for a series to have lasted 11 seasons. But CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has managed to keep audiences entertained week after week since 2000, and continues to do so. This is in no small measure because of the complex character developments on the show.

The main cast are great to watch in action – from former team lead Gil Grissom (William Petersen) to the Texan born and bred second-in-command Nick Stokes (George Eads), to former DNA Tech who got promoted to CSI Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda) – each CSI has his own backstory, which viewers have come to know and love over the years.

New team leader Dr Ray Langston (Laurence Fishburne, no less) is another great addition to the series and with guest starts, too, CSI never fails to disappoint. Think Tony Curtis, Faye Dunaway, John Mayer, Kevin Federline, Roger Daltry, Liev Schreiber, Taylor Swift, Zachary Quinto and Justin Bieber. Many a time, when a guest hits all the right notes (or makes your goosebumps get goosebumps in this case), they are turned into recurring characters on the show.

And such is the case with Bill Irwin, who plays the psychotic serial killer Nate Haskell on the crime/forensics series. Haskell first appeared in the ninth season and has since popped up in episodes of the following two seasons. He's still around and in the last week, CSI fans would have felt his chilling presence once again.

It's odd that Irwin, the actor behind the killer character, once trained as a professional clown at the Clown College, of the famed Ringley Brothers And Barnum Bailey Circus in the 1970s.

Irwin has also, ironically, in the past played the role of Mr Noodle on Sesame Street's Elmo's World. Just how does one go from clown and children's TV star to the crime and investigation genre?

In a telephone interview with media from the region, Irwin said: "I'm still feeling the irony! I am not quite sure how I got the role of Nate Haskell and it is still rather unusual for me. I think it must have something to do with my stage roles."

Irwin won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his appearance as George in the revival of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 2005.

"Initially, they told me he (Haskell) would only appear once, but I think they like to write for him. Although it has not been fun to play such a character, because he is really very ill, I think I have gained some insight into how to play him. I do feel fascinated that I had an instinct for it. One of the best compliments I have ever received was that a (real) policeman once said to me, 'You are very familiar, I've dealt with people like you ... arrogant criminals who enjoy making the police feel bad.' He was visibly angry. I guessed my portrayal of Nate Haskell must have hit a nerve."

Irwin, who turned 61 in April, shared that he got some of his ideas on how to play a killer like Haskell from his own experience of having to deal with prisoners.

"Many years ago, I did some work inside prison – it was theatre with prisoners. There were some wonderful men I met there, but they were deeply angry. They were not able to have any connection with other people that didn't involve hurting them in some manner. That's what I remembered and I tried to borrow those feelings for Haskell's character."

While Irwin had some qualms about playing Haskell, he enjoyed the chance to be on CSI. One of the most interesting things about the serial killer on the show is the chemistry he shares with CSI team leader Dr Langston.

"I love doing the Haskell character, mostly because I get to act with Laurence Fishburne. I think we challenge each other – it is like playing tennis with somebody who is very good to make sure your tennis is getting better. It lifts you up and challenges you, and I think, when we do a scene together, we surprise each other sometimes."

How does an actor like Irwin – who's been a clown noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus, is noted for his vaudeville-style stage acts and has made numerous appearances on film, television and on Broadway – want to be remembered?

Irwin laughed and said: "A couple of years ago, I created a show called The Happiness Lecture, and it didn't entirely work, but there was some good stuff in it and I remember thinking that this is an interesting time for me. I think I would like to be remembered as a good actor. When I was younger, I wanted to be remembered as a playwright, maybe that could still happen."

Catch Bill Irwin in action on the finale of CSI Season 11 this Tuesday at 10pm on AXN (Astro Ch 701) and AXN HD (Astro 721).

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Hanging tales

Posted: 05 Jun 2011 03:15 AM PDT

We need a revolution in TV land! So that we aren't left with painful cliffhangers after we've invested our time and emotions in a show.

IT is June, and the American TV schedule is littered with corpses: the family of superheroes in No Ordinary Family will no longer wield their amazing powers, we'll never find out what the "visitors" plan next for humanity in V, nor will we know just what The Event will be.

A pity, really. I liked No Ordinary Family's quirky charm and V improved in its second season – though the cheap special effects never did it any favours. The Event had an intriguing, if feet-dragging plot, though I had long worried for its longevity, seeing how its ratings floundered from the beginning.

I've learned over the years not to get too invested in American TV shows. I'd try to choose winners but can't help be drawn in by excellent, unique shows that often end up cancelled – Firefly, Dollhouse and Rome, to name a few. Shows that succeed ratings-wise – and they aren't always excellent shows per se – are renewed and tend to go on for many seasons, ratings willing. But that's not necessarily a good thing. Unless they have some very good writers, some end up going on for so long that the characters and plot become stale, and whatever joy to be had is sucked out. Some stories just need to die at their appointed time. (Someone put House out of his misery, please.)

Good storytelling isn't always rewarded in TV land, especially in the United States. Those that dare to be more adventurous don't always survive, as the majority of viewers either aren't receptive to complex, multi-episode storylines or take a while to warm up to them. (The exception is, of course, Lost, but that was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.) Critically well-received sci-fi drama Fringe was on the verge of cancellation this year and cult-favourite dramedy Chuck barely survived to go on to its fifth, and most probably last, season next year.

Apart from the sadness of not getting to watch your favourite show, the problem is that TV series often end in cliffhangers to entice viewers to return the next season. And since producers are usually not given enough notice of the cancellation to wrap up the stories lines, many cancelled shows end up with no endings, leaving the viewers terminally frustrated.

Well, this avid TV viewer is tired of this state of affairs. I'm fed up with shows that have no endings, I'm annoyed that shows with good storylines are given the shaft, and I'm no longer eager to invest my time in a TV show only to have it cancelled without proper resolution. What a waste of a story, and how futile the efforts of the production team. I demand a TV revolution!

At times like these I can't help but think of how TV shows are produced outside the United States; for instance, in South Korea, home of the Hallyu Wave.

There, TV dramas are rarely cancelled because they are given a definite number of episodes to complete their run. If the show has good ratings, it will be extended by a few episodes. As a result, viewers get stories with proper endings – and are inclined to buy the box sets. And I have to say that it's rather satisfying and stress-free to sit through a short 16-episode drama as opposed to five seasons with 22 episodes each season.

However, this system has created problems of its own. In chasing after good ratings, many producers opt to "live shoot" the shows. Meaning, dramas are produced in "real time" – the episode is often aired the same week it was made. This is so that producers can tweak the show's storyline if ever the ratings begin to waver.

This often results in the production team having to rush to complete the episode in a very short time. Actors often bear the brunt of the gruelling schedule, some collapsing on set out of sheer exhaustion.

In 2009, actor Kim Bum fainted on the set of his drama Dream. South Korean superstar Bae Yong-joon (who starred in hit soap Winter Sonata) was hospitalised for early stage of sepsis the same year.

According to the Korea Times, "his immunity (sic) system has weakened due to stress and over work". "I filmed all through the night until 6 o'clock this morning, and went home only to shower. We'll have to pull all-night shoots tonight and tomorrow, too, to make the broadcast tomorrow," said actress Yeom Jung-ah (at dramabeans.com) of the 16-episode drama Royal Family, which aired a few months ago in South Korea.

In the most extreme example of the live shoot system, the forensic drama Signs shot its last episode on the day of its broadcast. The result was a rushed product full of audio glitches and choppy editing, which annoyed viewers.

Changing the storyline to whet the audience's appetites often results in continuity problems in the storytelling and unexplainable character transformations, though sometimes the tweaks do seem to improve ratings somewhat.

Flawed system it may be, but if South Korea can air complete dramas, I really cannot see why Hollywood can't do the same. Even its cousin across the pond, Britain, air dramas with proper endings. Shouldn't Hollywood attempt to fix the system and allow TV shows to do what they're meant to do – tell a story? And as far as I know, stories have a beginning, a middle and an ending.

Elizabeth Tai is taking a break from Western dramas to sample the sweet and (usually) short relief of South Korean and Chinese dramas.

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Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Sabtu, 4 Jun 2011