I Guess We Couldn't Handle the Truth!

ABC has cancelled the struggling legal drama, The Whole Truth, starring Maura Tierney and Rob Morrow. The show which attempted to show a court case from both the prosecution and defense sides, revealing the 'truth' at the end, just didn't make it. It isn't clear how many of the remaining 13 episodes will air.

An original episode will air tomorrow night but no telling what will happen after that. The following week, an ABC Special In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts: All Access Nashville will take the Wednesday at 10:00 slot. Country music will be the focal point the week after that when all of ABC's Wednesday night programming will be pre-empted for the Country Music Awards.

On a brighter note, ABC ordered a full season of the family superhero drama, No Ordinary Family and the rom-com, sit-com Better with You. They have also ordered extra episodes of the police drama Detroit 1-8-7.

Gibson is no Tyson!

Sequels to good movies always seem like a good idea, at least they do to studios, after all, the first one made a crapload of money! Rarely do they live up to the expectation though. So it’s with some trepidation that I report, The Hangover 2, is in production. I loved the first one. But, the thought of a second one? Meh, I don’t know if lightning can strike twice.

Of course, Mel Gibson is a lightning rod of another sort. He been able to attract boatloads of negative attention over the years. Many people objected to his portrayal of Jews in The Passion of the Christ. Then there was his anti-Semetic and sexist rant when he was pulled over and arrested for drunk driving. His Christian fan base (who loved The Passion of the Christ) took a hit when the long-time Catholic left his wife and all of their kids, for a Russian hottie, Oksana Grigorieva, who was pregnant with his child at the time. And most recently, Oksana released a series of recording of a seething, ranting Mel who at one point, wished that she’d get raped.

Just as people were wondering if Mel would ever work in Hollywood again, he got an offer to make a cameo in The Hangover 2. However, apparently the cast (and especially Zach Galifianakis, if the reports are true) wasn’t too fond of the idea and Gibson has been replaced by Liam Neeson. Reports say Gibson is livid.

A lot of people, Gibson included, thought it was hypocritical of the Hangover cast to object to Gibson when Mike Tyson, a convicted rapist played a critical role in The Hangover. I don’t think those are exactly the same, and I’ll tell you why.

Mike Tyson was convicted of his rape and served three years. After he came out of prison, his fighting career was pretty much over. It was definitely in decline when he bit off part of the ear of Evander Holyfield. Over the years, Tyson has become a parody of himself. Basically, way before The Hangover came around, he’d already become a joke, a tired punch line (no pun intended).

Gibson and all of his behavior is still fresh in our minds (especially the tapes). As far as I know, he did no jail time for his DUI and his apology for his anti-Semitic ranting didn’t satisfy many people. The Oksana situation is on-going. Right now, Gibson is a villain. He’s someone we love to hate. And I don’t think anyone is ready to laugh at him or with him right now.

Likin' LOLA a Little More

Last night’s LOLA felt more like Law & Order. A lot of the cosmetic touches were back. My voiceover at the beginning (“In the criminal justice system…”), the dum-dum and the black screens introducing each segment. So, I was a little bit happier that LOLA is making more of an effort to be and L&O show.

Corey Stoll is growing on me but I am still missing the gritty darkness of NYC. I also liked last night’s case more than the previous week’s. It seemed more relevant overall and not so 'unique;y LA (which translated to annoying for me).

It was Terrence Howard’s turn last night as ADA and I’m still not impressed with either him or Alfred Molina nor Peter Coyote as the DA. Right now, they all seem pretty interchangeable, I need to start seeing more personality because the Law side is definitely lagging behind the Order. All three actors are great and I know they can breathe some life into these very standard characters.

However, NBC has ordered a full season, so they’ll have some time to work out the kinks and create something that is uniquely their own.

Did You Know? I Didn't Either!

Idris Elba, who came to prominence for American audiences with his portrayal of drug king pin Stringer Bell, in HBO's The Wire. Since then, he's worked steadily in a variety of roles. He was a leading man in Obsessed with Beyonce. He appeared in several episodes of The Office as Charles Miner, one of Michael Scott's (Steve Carell) bosses. He did the horror thing in 28 Days Later. And, off screen, he deejays at clubs in The States and back home in Great Britian.

So, imagine my surprise when I came across a little article about a BBC America series called Luther. Idris stars as a morally conflicted detective in this six part series. It just started, so it's not too late to check it out. Click here for the schedule.

NBC Pick-Ups

Fans of The Event can breathe a sigh of relief, the show, along with Outsourced and Law and Order: Los Angeles (LOLA) have been picked up for the entire season. None of the three have become break-out hits but The Event and LOLA have attracted more viewers over the past few weeks. Outsourced is doing well with the coveted young adult viewers.

What's Wrong with LOLA?

I've been a die-hard Law & Order fan from the beginning. Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and even the short-lived Law & Order: Trial By Jury - I've watched them all. In fact, my weekend ritual involves laying in bed and watching an episode or two of L&O (or whatever variation) before getting out of bed. You can almost always find an episode of L&O on some channel, just about all of the time.

I guess because I do see so much L&O that I find the latest version, Law & Order: Los Angeles, so disconcerting. I have been watching it, but to be honest, I'm not really connecting with it. As I thought about it, there are several reasons.

Los Angeles ain't New York. NYC has a character all its own. In fact, the city was a character in L&O, CI and SVU. It provided more than a location. It created its own ambiance, its own mood. Los Angeles just doesn't have the same kind of character. To me, it feels off.

It could be that LOLA, and Los Angeles in general, are just too damn bright. I have to squint just watching it! Maybe part of the New York appeal is that the city itself is just darker, literally and figuratively, and it lends itself effortlessly to a crime drama. Los Angeles is just too sunny!

Then there are the actors. Skeet Ulrich falls in line as an L&O detective, but his partner? Played by actor Corey Stoll, he's got the Kojack head and the Magnum P.I. stache. His whole persona is distracting to me. I know it takes a while for a partnership to gel (and I'm giving this one time) but I miss the legendary banter of Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Greene (Jesse L. Martin), or even Bernard (Anthony Anderson) and Lupo (Jermey Sisto) which had hit its stride when the flagship series was yanked last year.

And no one on the Law side: Regina Hall, Alfred Molina or Terrence Howard is really working for me either. None have the world-weariness of a Jack McCoy (Sam Waterson) or the tenacity of a Michael Cutter (Linus Roache).

The stories they have chosen to tell while still 'ripped from the headlines' from the Manson-inspired cult killing to the ring of thieves ripping of a bunch of celebutantes just haven't resonated with me. I think they are trying too hard to be Hollywood stories when they need to just be good crime stories.

Lastly, the hallmarks of a Law & Order opening are gone. There is no voiceover telling me that "In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime, and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories." Or something similar in the cases of CI, SVU and Trial by Jury. There is no theme song. There is no 'dum-dum' between acts. It seems as if LOLA is a Law & Order show that doesn't want to be a Law & Order show and for me that is not a good thing.

Outlaw Is Just Plain Out!

Last week it was placed on ‘hiatus’. This week, it’s canceled. The show about a Supreme Court Justice who quits the bench to be a trail lawyer was found guilty – guilty of not finding an audience. So what’s a network to do? In NBC’s case, add another hour of Dateline.