For the privileged Greeley and McAllister clans, life in Pasadena is fairly close to perfect... at least on the surface. Will and Catherine McAllister have a seemingly solid family - except for the fact that he's covering up an affair, she's more concerned with status than love, their daughter Lilly is traumatized when a man kills himself in front of her, and a young upstart named Henry could uncover all the bodies they have buried.
The new Fall season has started and in general I don’t tend to get all nelly about the telly. Just about the only shows I really will be following are Lost and NipTuck – and even those are trying my patience; I’ll check into Medium once and while because I enjoy Patricia Arquette. Oh, and I’m really into HBO’s Rome and Ricky Gervais' Extras is looking promising. I also hope HBO brings back The Comeback for another season, despite the recent announcemnet that it will not be renewed - if Lisa Kudrow doesn't get an Emmy nod for her nuanced turn as Valerie Cherish there is no justice. Its hard for me to get excited about new shows – especially the good ones – because they invariable get cancelled within the first season. Such was the case with Fox’s Pasadena back in 2001. Now that was innovative and intriguing television, and the critics loved it, but the network only aired four episodes (thirteen episodes were shot). As one might recall, that was 9-11 time, so I guess it was really difficult for any new show -especially a dark and edgy drama - to really get off the ground and find an audience given the climate. Myself, I enjoyed the diversion, and Pasadena was smart and entertaining. Think Dallas or Dynasty, post-Twin Peaks, with a wickedly dysfunctional family fleshed out with sharp, inspired writing and an engaging storyline and an appealing cast. The sad thing was that the show was really ahead of the curve – the OC and Desperate Housewives (which I don’t find particularly clever) lift many of its elements and have been hugely successful. Pasadena was created by Indie-film auteur Mike White, who wrote the shortly lived cult favorite Freaks and Geeks and later the screenplays for The Good Girl and School of Rock . Pasadena introduced the wonderful Alison Lohman to audiences; the brilliant young actress has gone on to star in Matchstick Men, White Oleander, and Big Fish. Hal Hartley leading man Martin Donovan (The Opposite of Sex) plays her father and Dana Delany (China Beach, now on some lame Lifetime hospital show) gives us a brilliant turn as the proto-Desperate Housewife. Rounding out the family members are Natalie Wood’s daughter and reincarnation Natasha Gregson Wagner (Lost Highway, High Fidelity), Balthazar Getty (Lost Highway) playing dangerously close to home as the troubled black sheep of the dynasty, Mark Valley (Keen Eddie – another great cancelled show also starring a pre-Jude Sienna Miller and now Boston Legal), and the legendary Philip Baker Hall (Magnolia, In Good Company, The Amityville Horror) as the patriarch. Well, imagine my delight when I learned that The Soap Network will be airing all thirteen episodes of Pasadena starting tonight and each Saturday, at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Fox dropped the show just when it was getting good – and there is a mystery thread that was left abruptly unresolved in the plot– at least now fans can have a bit of closure. Check local listings – this is television at its most delicious!!
I'm dying to see what's down that hatch, but we 'aint getting the second season of Lost here until 2006. :-( The torrents are very tempting, but I think I'll avoid.
Posted by: Lee | October 02, 2005 at 03:26 PM
I am so glad I'm not hooked into this stuff...but...enjoy.
Washington Cube Was Here. #143.
Posted by: Washington Cube | October 05, 2005 at 05:06 PM
but we 'aint getting the second season of Lost here until 2006
Posted by: tiffany jewellery | January 29, 2010 at 11:04 PM
I'm not hooked into this stuff
Posted by: godswmobile | September 26, 2010 at 02:20 AM