The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio
The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio |
| 'Homeland', 'Mad Men' nominated for Producers Guild Awards Posted: 28 Nov 2012 07:56 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Emmy-winning dramas Homeland, Mad Men and British period piece Downton Abbey will compete for the annual Producers Guild Awards for the top shows on U.S. television, organizers announced on Wednesday. But last year's winner - HBO's lavish Prohibition-era gangster drama Boardwalk Empire - failed to make the cut this year with the Producers Guild of America, one of the leading professional guilds in Hollywood. Instead, the producers of popular fantasy drama Game Of Thrones and drug underworld show Breaking Bad round out the nominees for the top PGA prize in television. The PGA also nominated the producers of comedies Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, Louie, 30 Rock and Larry David's wry Curb Your Enthusiasm as contenders for its 2013 awards on the small screen. In the reality genre, singing contest The Voice will go head to head with fashion show Project Runway, Top Chef, Dancing With The Stars and Emmy darling The Amazing Race. Hollywood's guilds represent professionals in their respective industries, and recognition by peers can go a long way toward boosting a producer's career. The PGA will announce nominees in its closely watched movie category in early January, and hand out its awards for film and television at a ceremony in Hollywood on 26 January. |
| Posted: 29 Nov 2012 12:49 AM PST Glenn Close and Rose Byrne dish out the last season of Damages, the crime thriller that has redefined women on television. FIVE years ago, young and idealistic law graduate Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) accepts a job at one of New York City's top law firms, Hewes and Associates, in the ground breaking legal thriller Damages. Parsons is warned by her peers that working for the brilliant, but ruthless litigator Patty Hewes (Glenn Close) will change her irrevocably; not for the better. But being ambitious and at the same time extremely naive, Parsons disregards the warnings for a chance to work with Hewes, one of the few women to command attention and respect in the largely male-dominated legal world. As Hewes' protegé, Parsons is confronted by some unexpected truths – how ruthless her boss really is and the lengths she is willing to go to win a case. Parsons learns that with Hewes there is always collateral damage. As the series progresses, the relationship between the two changes as dramatically as the twists and turns of the plot. Parsons shifts from being the young, hopeful protege to being the unfortunate victim in Hewes' end game and ultimately a worthy adversary. In its five-year run, Damages has proven to be arguably one of the best legal thrillers on TV. But no matter how compelling the cases are, the focus of the series has always been the complicated and intense relationship between the two female leads. In a telephone interview from Los Angeles, California, both Close and Byrne talk candidly about their characters and the series, which is currently in its fifth and final season. But first, we have to get past the laughter. Just seconds into the interview, Byrne breaks into a fit of giggles which takes a couple of minutes to subside. "I'm sorry," offers Close, clearly amused at her co-star. "Rose gets this way at times. She can get into these giggling fits where she can't stop. She has no control and tears start rolling down her face and we don't quite know what to do. I mean, we can't look at her because we'll start laughing and the crew starts laughing … and the poor producers are looking at their watches." Byrne barely pulls herself together and apologises. "I think the tone of the show was so heavy so it was good to keep things a little light," explains Byrne in a thick Australian accent, which she skilfully masks on the show. "We have a lot of fun on the set," adds Close, "We're funny people. Ted (Danson) is funny and Tate Donovan … he's a really funny guy. He has a great sense of humour. I mean he can't remember his lines … but he's a really funny guy." The two, particularly Byrne, break out in laughter again as they talk about Donovan, but this time it's more contained. The laughter helps break the ice as telephone interviews are never easy, particularly when the show is so serious and the talents are so accomplished. "I think our writers were excited about writing for women and I think Rose and I brought some real collaboration with the development of those characters. It (the relationship between Hewes and Parsons) is very much a love-hate relationship. You feel that these women will never work with someone like each other again. "They know that they make an extraordinary team and I always felt that Patty sees Ellen as this daughter she never had. This love between them makes it much more difficult and complex," says Close. Adds Byrne: "This whole thing with Patty and Ellen … their relationship isn't about men. It's a far more complicated relationship about power, struggle, manipulation and about teaching and learning. I can't recall seeing that between two women on TV. It's really fascinating the way that they've (the show's writers) chosen to examine a relationship. And unique." The 32-year-old actress from Sydney, Australia, got her start in acting when she was 13, landing a role in Australian film Dallas Doll, co-starring American actress Sandra Bernhard. Her first Hollywood role was as Dorme, hand maiden to senator Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) in Star Wars: Episode II: Attack Of The Clones (in a past interview, Byrne joked about her role in the movie saying, "… blink and you'll miss me. "Basically, I was just standing behind Natalie Portman looking really serious). She went on to act alongside Brad Pitt in Troy. It was, however, her role in Damages that brought her to the forefront. "I've never played a character with such an extreme arc as Ellen, in terms of where she started and where she finishes and that was really wild. Playing a character on a long running series is like being in a novel because you don't really know what's going to happen next. It's very day-to-day and I've never experienced that before," says Byrne who recently won praise for her comedic role in Bridesmaids (2011). Close, 65, is certainly no stranger to picking challenging roles: from Alex Forrest, the jealous mistress in the hit movie Fatal Attraction, to the scheming Marquise de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons and more recently, Captain Monica Rawling on cop series The Shield. And although Hewes is largely seen as the "villain" on the show, Close sees a vulnerable side to her which she says viewers too will get to see by the end of the series. "I'm not going to give anything away, but near the very end, you get a revelation about Patty that makes you understand why she is the way she is and that is pretty powerful. "The writers explained a whole lot about her that had never been dramatised before and I was really moved by it. "It gave me real insight into this character that I have been playing for five years and I think, on the writers' part, that was quite an astounding achievement … to be able to learn something new about the character on the last episode of the fifth year. I have utmost respect and awe of what they did," the actress discloses. Regardless, Close has never shied away from expressing her admiration for the uncompromising Hewes and the strength she represents for women on TV as well as in life. Choosing roles that empower women is something Close does deliberately. "As women, what we choose to do and the types of shows we choose to be in … that's our contribution. I take that quite seriously. I don't like to do scripts that denegrade women or have violence against women. There are some things I won't do because I don't want to perpetuate an idea or blow up an issue that I don't think should exist," she says emphatically. Despite their love for the show, both women are ready to say goodbye to their roles. Byrne feels that her character comes full circle in the final season and that fans will not be disappointed with how the show ends. "Being on the show was a turning point in my life but I think the time was right for the writers and everyone to end on a really high powerful note. This season really explores Ellen's character. It is Ellen becoming an adult. In Season One, she was a child growing up and then we see her rebelling against Patty to finally blossoming into her own. It is a really powerful show and very haunting," says Byrne. The end of the series, reckons Close, does not quite mean saying goodbye to her character. "I think you never really let a character go, especially one that you've played for five years. The characters stay with you pretty much forever. What you take away from that character … it becomes part of your library and I just feel incredibly privileged to play Patty Hewes." She, however, reveals that Damages may well be the last TV series for her. "(When you do a series), you have to sign your life away for possibly six years and at this point in my life … (laughter)… that's a lot. I love television and if there is a great miniseries or a TV movie, I'd love to do it. But not for six years. But then again …. who knows?" she says, laughing along with Byrne once again. > Damages Season Five premieres on beTV (Astro Ch 720) today and airs every weeknight at 10.10pm. |
| Posted: 29 Nov 2012 12:53 AM PST The Ewings return with more family drama. GET ready for big oil, Stetson cowboy hats and manipulation as the next generation of Ewings take ambition and deception to another level. After a 21-year hiatus, the Ewings are back and ready to grace our TV screens with more antics as the battle for energy, power, love and money rages again. Since ruthless oil baron J.R. Ewing (the late Larry Hagman who died of cancer last week) had a gun pointed to his head in the 1991 series finale, the new Dallas has a younger generation of actors joining the iconic original stars Hagman, Patrick Duffy (as Bobby) and Linda Gray (as Sue Ellen) at the Southfork ranch in Dallas, Texas. The new series was created by Cynthia Cidre (The Mambo Kings, Cane) from the original Dallas and Knots Landing series crafted by David Jacobs. The new Dallas co-stars Josh Henderson (Desperate Housewives, 90210), Jesse Metcalfe (John Tucker Must Die, Desperate Housewives), Jordana Brewster (The Fast And The Furious films), Julie Gonzalo (Veronica Mars) and Brenda Strong (Desperate Housewives). The sprawling white Southfork family ranch, theme song and three-way split screen opening titles remain the same as the predecessor series. In the latest production, John Ross (Henderson) – J.R. Ewing and Sue Ellen's son – is determined to undermine his grandmother's legacy by drilling for oil on Ewing land. Christopher (Metcalfe), Bobby's adopted son, hopes to take the family business away from oil and in the new direction of alternative energy sources. Complicating matters is the presence of the ambitions Elena Ramos (Brewster), John Ross' girlfriend and Christopher's former fiancée. The series also finds good-hearted Bobby as the family patriach while the conniving J.R. – who missed the mark with his suicide attempt – stays in an assisted living facility. Alcoholic Sue Ellen has turned over a new leaf and is planning to run for governor. "Bringing a show like Dallas to the 21st century has been both exciting and daunting," said executive producer Cidre, who took up the challenge of writing the pilot for the new series, in a press release. "It would have been very easy for the show to devolve into camp or cheap melodrama. Instead, we decided to concentrate on making a smart, passionate family drama told on an epic scale. We're especially thrilled to work so closely with the leaders of Dallas in making the city a key character in the show." With Hagman's passing, Cidre said: "Larry Hagman was a giant, a larger-than-life personality whose iconic performance as J.R. Ewing will endure as one of the most indelible in entertainment history. He truly loved portraying this globally recognised character, and he leaves a legacy of entertainment, generosity and grace. Everyone at Warner Bros and in the Dallas family is deeply saddened by Larry's passing, and our thoughts are with his family and dear friends during this difficult time." Website bbc.co.uk reported that the new Dallas will be rewritten to reflect the death of Hagman. A statement from the Britain broadcaster Channel 5 said: "Dallas is midway in production on Season Two and this sad news will be incorporated into the storyline. > Dallas premieres tonight at 10pm, on Warner TV (HyppTV, Ch 162). |
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