ABC’s ‘Forgotten’: Solid Crime Drama with Values

After several years of mostly miserably failed attempts to ride the wave of crime dramas most of the other TV networks were successfully navigating, ABC has turned to the TV and cinematic crime drama maestro Jerry Bruckheimer for help. The resulting series, The Forgotten (Tuesdays, 10 p.m. EDT), is a solid crime drama and stands for some very appealing values.

The visual style of the show is familiar from Bruckheimer’s many other policiers, such as the CSI series. It has the same tendency toward dingy, low-level lighting, moving camera shots, eccentric framing, and the like, though in The Forgotten it’s not as frenetic and flashy as in most of Bruckheimer’s shows. That’s a good thing.

The stories and performances reflect the earnestness of Bruckheimer’s TV productions, while avoiding the sensationalism the other shows tend to indulge in. Christian Slater is Alex, an ex-cop who leads the Forgotten Network, a team of private citizens in Chicago who investigate cases in which the police have run out of leads and can’t afford to devote additional resources.

Avoiding both cynicism and romanticism, the program makes a point of showing how many people around the nation are willing to volunteer their help. It also shows people who refuse to help, thus making each such instance a test of a person’s character. (more…)

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Tags: abc, Christian Slater, CSI, Jerry Bruckheimer, The Forgotten
Posted Oct 25th 2009 at 5:54 am in Featured Story, Reviews, Television | 25043432 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/stkarnick/2009/10/25/abcs-forgotten-solid-crime-drama-with-values/ABC%27s+%27Forgotten%27%3A+Solid+Crime+Drama+with+Values2009-10-25+12%3A54%3A08S.T.+Karnick

USO: How Hollywood Serves

The last guy you want to meet in the entertainment industry is a writer.  We just aren’t very interesting.  Sure, guys like Joss Whedon seem cool, but that’s only when compared to other writers.  Put him in a room with any actor, musician, or even Key Grip, and Whedon is the pasty guy in the corner having a conversation about the vagaries of the flux capacitor with himself.  So when I had the opportunity last week to travel with a small group of actors (Zachary Levi, Joel David Moore, Kal Penn, and Christian Slater) to the Middle East and Africa with the USO, I jumped at the chance.  Finally.  A perk.

For my actor friends, though, there was a bit more trepidation.  After all, they were the actual celebrities on this celebrity tour, the ones people would want to meet.  I doubt they are alone.  In fact, I suspect that a big reason why more actors in Hollywood don’t volunteer their time with the USO is that they simply don’t know what the experience will be like.  Sure they’ve seen video of Bob Hope out entertaining crowds of troops, but as an actor, you don’t carry your show on the road.  Will the troops even care that you are there?  What will you have to offer them?  Is it uncomfortable?  Is it political?  Fortunately for me, the actors in my party decided to give it a try in spite of these questions.  Here is what we learned. (more…)

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Tags: armed forces, bob hope, Christian Slater, gary sinise, Joel David Moore
Posted Jun 2nd 2009 at 5:03 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Featured Story, Military | 14921010 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jdboreing/2009/06/02/uso-calling-hollywood-to-serve/USO%3A+How+Hollywood+Serves+2009-06-02+12%3A03%3A11Jeremy+D.+Boreing