Life co-starring Sarah Shahi

[Ben Varkentine]

I'm kind of surprised no one's mentioned this yet, so I will. A new show I really like this season is called Life, on NBC. Ratings so far have been disappointing, so I thought I'd do a little bit to put the word out.

The series is about a police detective ( Damien Lewis) who was wrongly convicted of a multiple murder and served 12 years, but DNA evidence got him out and he is now back on the job.

That's just bare bones-as with most shows that I like, there's more to it than the premise.

It has a genuinely offbeat feel.

(If you're interested, this is a post I wrote on my blog after seeing the pilot:

http://varkentine.blogspot.com/2007/09/ ... -were.html

It's gotten even better since then, IMO.)

Oh, and Sarah Shahi plays his partner. She's doing really rich work, and need I add that she looks good?

Here's a short blurb from the NY Daily News on last week's episode along with a killer picture of Shahi:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainmen ... ml?ref=rss

[LesbianJedi87]

You know, I only watched the first episode of this just because Sarah was in it. It's not my kind of show (mainly because it seems there's a lot of them like it out there) but I can't say that it wasn't good. I probably won't be watching it any time soon but imagine I will if I want to see some Sarah Shahi goodness!

[Ben Varkentine]

It's not my kind of show (mainly because it seems there's a lot of them like it out there)

I think it's more individual than that.

On the eye candy front, the casting director does seem to have an eye for lovely women who aren't quite as "Hollywood" as some (I'm thinking of two or three Desperate Housewives).

Last night's ep had a guest star part by Jessica Pare...

[seurat]

Ben, Life and Reaper are my favorite new shows this season, and I'd say Life is the better of the two (although I'd still recommend giving Reaper a look.) I was lucky(?) enough to see quite a few pilots of new shows this summer on dvd, since I have a friend who is involved with buying advertising on tv. Life was easily the best of the pilots I saw, hands down. I have to say I didn't catch his resemblance to Hugh Laurie (House)probably because I knew the actor from Band of Brothers. I do remember thinkng the two shows would go well with each other, too bad they are on different networks. Certainly would be a much much better lead in than Bionic Woman, but let's not even get into that mess.

Sarah is great, Adam Arkin is great, I like the female attorney that got him out and the weekly mysteries have been good. ( I liked the angel story, and the angel too for that matter.) Highly recommended, and let's hope it survives.

[Ben Varkentine]

I haven't tried Reaper yet (for one thing, it's opposite House) but I'm thinking I will. I just read today that one of the guys who wrote the Reefer Madness musical (the one Kristen Bell was in) is working on it.

Oh, and my other favorite new series of the year is Samantha Who? with Chrstina Applegate. Really funny and well-written.

Back to Life: As I had kind of expected, any resemblance to Hugh Laurie has been distracting me less and less as the weeks go by, and now it's not an issue for me at all.

As for the women on the show, I just did another post on what if I had any class at all I would not call "Charlie's Angels."

http://varkentine.blogspot.com/2007/10/ ... -lose.html

[Culzean]

This is one of the new shows I checked out and am sticking with (that and Chuck - which is hilarious!). Even though the shows are quite different, Life reminds me a little of the BBC series Wire in the Blood.

Maybe it's just because the lead male characters are very quirky and the lead females are very easy on the eye.

The woman who plays their boss - wasn't she Calamity Jane on Deadwood?

[Ben Varkentine]

I know she was on Deadwood but I'm not sure if that's who she played (I've never seen that series).

[seurat]

Yes that's Robin Weigert who played Calamity. Good catch, I hadn't noticed myself. And now I know why she was one of the few Deadwood actors who didn't show up on John from Cincinatti - she's been working!

Looking forward to the next ep, trying not to think about the ratings.

[Culzean]

If you didn't see last night's episode, don't read this.






But if you did...it contained what will be one of my all-time favorite lines.

Cop to computer geek: "Do you think you can reach the 10th level of this video game?"

Computer geek: "I'm 30 years old, I live with my mother and...I have a Captain Kirk costume in my closet."

TOO FUNNY!

[seurat]

That was a great line. What I also liked is that the geek couldn't get past the first level, and they had to bring in the sister after he realized she could play better than the computer geek.

A good ep, but try to catch last week's ep somewhere if you can, Sarah delivered a great performance in that one. Ratings were a little better this week, and so with the writer's strike and all, there might be a chance that NBC will keep it on for the season. Tell all your friends to watch!

[seurat]

Life has been picked up for a full season by NBC. Yay! Now let's hope the writer's strike gets settled soon.

[Ben Varkentine]

What? Not a word about how two nights ago we got to see Dani get kissed by a girl?



Here's a short but good piece on "Life," and specifically Shahi.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainmen ... ml?ref=rss

Among other things, she talks about the both good and bad points of having done "The L Word."

Reese is much different from the sizzling role Shahi had on Showtime's "The L Word," which she said helped and hurt her career.

"It's something I've tried to avoid saying: I was pigeonholed for a while. ... When I first moved out to Los Angeles, the only thing I had to offer was I was a football cheerleader," Shahi said.

"At the time, I was definitely a struggling actress living month to month. ['The L Word'] gave me the luxury of being a bit pickier with my roles," she added. "At the same time, it was my first big serious role, it definitely put impressions in people's minds."

Plus another picture that...well, let me put it this way, if I were in the army, I'd salute...

[Feena]

This is starting in the UK in the next few weeks, on ITV3. How did it do in the US, has it been picked up for a second season?

[Ben Varkentine]

Yes, it was picked up. We're a few episodes into the second season now.

In this year's first episode, BTW, there's a lesbian plot "twist" which you would probably see coming even quicker than I did (and I knew at once). But, it was admirably free of "the cliche."

Unfortunately, ratings, last time I checked, were disappointing.

[Feena]

Thanks Ben, I hadn't realised that S2 was already showing Does it seem possible that it might be cancelled, or not picked up again, if the ratings are not that great?

[Ben Varkentine]

As I understand it, there's some reason to worry if the numbers don't start to look better soon, but I'm not smelling the whiff of cancellation just yet.

(Not like I am, say, for "Sarah Connor Chronicles," another show I like.)

It is, as they say, "on the bubble."

[Feena]

Thanks Ben, I appreciate the info

[Ben Varkentine]

No prob, I hope you like the show. Shahi is magnificent.

[Feena]

As I understand it, there's some reason to worry if the numbers don't start to look better soon, but I'm not smelling the whiff of cancellation just yet.

(Not like I am, say, for "Sarah Connor Chronicles," another show I like.)

It is, as they say, "on the bubble."

Fox picks up 'Terminator' for full season

Good news for the SCC

[Ben Varkentine]

Yee-Ha! Thanks, Feena!