Funny how this cynical new ABC series (produced and starring the rich, no doubt) assumes average Americans are more interested in taking revenge on the rich instead of becoming rich themselves. It’s also also interesting that the show is set in the Hamptons as  opposed to, say… Hollywood?

Revenge, which ABC entertainment Group Paul Lee called one of “our internal favorites” earlier in the day, is billed as a contemporary reimagining of The Count of Monte Cristo. The drama centers on a mysterious young woman, played by Emily VanCamp, who is welcomed into a rich Hamptons community filled with people who don’t know she’s there to exact revenge on the people who had destroyed her family.

“We’re dealing in a particular time right now in American history where I think the average American is going to want to see a takedown of the rich,” says star Madeleine Stowe.

Added creator/executive producer Mike Kelley, “Revenge is such a great story engine. It’s really a jumping off point.”

Is everyone on the show working for minimum wage? Gee, I hope so. Otherwise, that would be hypocritical.

How about this pitch for a new ABC series…

Title: “OPERATION: MATT DAMON”

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6:45am PST – Big Heat, The (1953) – A police detective whose wife was killed by the mob teams with a scarred gangster’s moll to bring down a powerful gangster. Cast: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby Dir: Fritz Lang BW-90 mins, TV-14

There’s nothing quite like a Glenn Ford slow burn. Watching Ford’s nice guy characters take it and take it some more until they give it back with compound interest is one of the delights of Ford’s under-appreciated work. My favorite of these is “The Violent Men,” a 1955 Western that pits mild-mannered, square-shouldered Ford against land grabbers Edward G. Robinson and Barbara Stanwyck.  It’s “Death Wish” on a horse. (more…)