TV Watch: Justified

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Timothy Olyphant (plaid shirt) starred in "Justified" from 2010-15

It's been three and a half years since the last piece in my "TV Watch" series came out. That last article in February 2014 covered the action-packed Cinemax drama "Banshee" starring Antony Starr and Ivana Milicevic.

Since that time, more and more Americans have taken on the phenomenon of binge-watching television series. This involves watching all episodes of a show in a short period of time via an OnDemand service, or through a pay service such as Netflix or Amazon.

Many times, I have found myself in conversations regarding which series folks are currently binging. Some of these conversations have turned me on to some of my favorite television shows.

I have also passed along some of my own favorites as a recommendation to others. That is what I'll be doing now with 'TV Watch' over the next few months. As the series continues with occasional pieces, I'll be highlighting some of my favorite shows from the last decade or so that have concluded their original runs, but which are available for you to enjoy on those various OnDemand or pay networks.

Near the top of any recommendation list that I could make would be "Justified", which originally aired on the FX network from March 2010 through April 2015. It's 78 episodes over six seasons make up one of the best and most original cop dramas in television history.

Timothy Olyphant stars as deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, who battles the bad guys operating in and around his home turf of Harlan, Kentucky.

Harlan is a small town and county located in extreme southeastern Kentucky near the Cumberland River, bordered by mountains and ridges. The mountainous geography and warm, humid climate help set the stage for the series.

Olyphant is in some ways the typical smart aleck style law enforcement officer. His quick wit and superior intelligence often helps him disarm his opponents, both literally and figuratively.

One of my all-time favorite lines in TV history came out of the mouth of Raylan Givens:

"You run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. You run into assholes all day, you're the asshole."

And as with many a good ol' Cowboy hat-wearing southern boy, he can back up his mouth. Raylan is good with both a gun and with his fists when needed. But he's quick enough with both that wit and his gun that he rarely needs to actually use his fists.

A running thread throughout the series finds Raylan battling with the outlaw Crowder family, especially one whom he knew since childhood. Boyd Crowder, as played marvelously by Walton Goggins, proves to be Raylan's principle nemesis.

Raylan's personal life is complicated by ongoing flirtations with both his ex-wife Winona Hawkins (Natalie Zea) and Ava Crowder (Joelle Carter), Boyd's sister-in-law. Though Winona disappears for large stretches of the series, she will return and prove critical as it winds to a conclusion.

Both Raylan's personal and professional lives are also constantly complicated by his father, Arlo Givens (Raymond J. Barry), who is suffering from the early signs of dementia. Unlike Raylan, Arlo has spent much of his life on the wrong side of the law, often with Boyd's father Bo Crowder (M.C. Gainey) who is a key figure in the shows first season.

As the show progresses, Raylan is forced to battle newly emerging threats, some from locals such as the Bennett and Crowe families, others from out of town drug operatives.

That renegade Bennett clan includes family matriarch Mags Bennett, played by Margo Martindale, and her sometimes bumbling but always villainous son Dickie Bennett, played by familiar face Jeremy Davies. Both Martindale and Davies won Emmy Awards for their roles. The Crowe family is a bunch of alligator farmers, and is led by another familiar face in Michael Rapaport.

TV Watch: Banshee

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Anthony Starr (upper right) leads "Banshee" cast on Cinemax

Fans of one of the best new programs on television will be happy to learn that Cinemax has renewed "Banshee" for a third season to begin airing early in 2015.

This means that our star-crossed hero, sheriff Lucas Hood, will return to continue sorting out the various nefarious elements in and around the fictional small town of Banshee, Pennsylvania.

There are a number of original, interesting story lines that have been developed by the producers, writers, and actors as the show moves through what is now it's second season. The most interesting of all is the very premise that the show is built upon, beginning with the developments in the very first episode of the first show aired in early 2013.

Lucas Hood is a new sheriff arriving from the Pacific Northwest, hired to take on the job as top cop in a rural Pennsylvania burg surrounded by a large Amish community. Unfortunately, the real Hood never gets to enjoy his new position, as he is murdered in a bar shootout on his way into town.

Present during the killing is a recently released convict. The con kills the men who killed Hood, and in a twist that has to be seen to be fully understood, ends up taking Hood's badge and taking on his identity. This starts the roller coaster thrill ride of a show moving, and it never lets up.

TV Watch: "Shameless"

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Emmy Rossum, William H. Macy star in "Shameless" on Showtime

The problem with cable television series is that they tend to show a lot of sex, especially among non-married individuals, drug and alcohol abuse, crime commission, and the entire array of man's worst and basest actions. "Shameless" has all of that.

The greatness of cable television series is that they don't hide from any of those very real elements of the struggles, tragedies, and triumphs of modern men and women. It would be nice if families were perfect, whatever that is, but as human beings we are imperfect. To ignore rather than explore that imperfection would be a disservice.

Showtime has become perhaps the leading television network for presenting quality series, and it's new creation "Shameless" gives it yet another hit. The Gallagher family is certainly shameless in their actions. They are willing to and do lie, cheat, and steal in an effort to keep their dysfunctional, lower-class "white trash" family afloat.

The family is also shameless in their love, affection, and dedication to one another individually and the entire family as a unit. In this regard they do what so many other cable television series have been able to do, they draw us in and get us to sympathize, empathize, and root for their efforts to overcome the great obstacles that are thrown in our life paths by both circumstance and our own poor decisions.

TV Watch: Breaking Bad

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Bryan Cranston stars in TNT's hit drama"Breaking Bad"

The AMC network, home to the best drama show on television in the award-winning 'Mad Men', has another major hit on their hands, one that I was personally just introduced to this year.

'Breaking Bad' just began the run of it's 3rd season, and the quirky human-interest drug-dealing drama is well worth anyone's time.

The show is based around the life of high school science teacher Walter White, a man whose intellect is well above his current position and pay grade. As played wonderfully by Bryan Cranston, White suffers a serious setback when he learns that he has cancer and does not have long to live. His wife, Skyler, played smartly by the beautiful Anna Gunn, turns up pregnant with what will be their 2nd child. Timing is everything.

Walt then makes a dramatic decision that will change thier lives forever, and will setup the story line. He decides that he is going to become a drug manufacturer, and cooks up a new brand of meth that is extremely high-quality. He hopes to make enough money from the distribution of the drug before he dies to setup his family financially after he is gone.

To that end, Walt solicits the help of one of his former students, Jesse Pinkman, played by Aaron Paul. Pinkman has a talent for both the science end, where he helps out Walt as his assistant 'cook', and as a dealer as well.

TV Watch: LOST

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"Lost" on ABC is as addictive as a TV series can get

For the past few years when I would watch something on the ABC television network I saw commercials for "LOST", a program that I had never watched.

Over time I would hear numerous friends and family members talk about this show, see and hear references to it in popular culture, and wonder what all the fascination was about.

Sometime late last spring I decided to do something about it. I signed up for the 'Netflix' service and began to receive DVD's of "LOST" beginning with the pilot episode. That first introduction to this new series was a revelation. The production value for a pilot episode of a TV program was equal to what you would normally expect to find at a movie theatre in a motion picture. I was hooked.

There is a very famous anonymous quote that goes: "For those who know, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not, none will suffice." Suffice it to say this quote applies perfectly to the "LOST" experience. If you have never watched the show, I cannot recommend it more highly. You can catch up as I did through Netflix, or via any number of internet resources.

TV Watch: Sons of Anarchy

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Charlie Hunnam, Katie Sagal, Ron Perlman star in "Sons of Anarchy" on FX

The best gang show on television this side of 'The Sopranos' has just concluded it's 2nd full season, and fans of this emerging masterpiece will be happy to learn that 'Sons of Anarchy' has just been renewed for a full third season that will begin airing in September 2010.

For the uninitiated, the show centers on the activities of a biker gang, also known as an outlaw motorcycle club (MC) called the 'Sons of Anarchy' which alternately is known by the nickname 'Samcro' or 'Sam Crow', a moniker loosely based on an anacronym for the official full name of the 'Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original' charter.

The show airs on the 'FX' network with in-season first run episodes coming on Tuesday nights at 10pm. Prior episodes are available through the Comcast OnDemand service in the TV Entertainment section.

'Sons' centers largely around both the MC and family activities of three main characters. Charlie Hannum is a revelation as Jackson 'Jax' Teller, a young Vice-President of the MC and the son of deceased club founder John Teller.

Katey Sagal plays Jax' mother, Gemma Teller Morrow, the matriarch of the family and the MC. Widow of the founder, she is now married to the new President of the MC. That character is Clarence 'Clay' Morrow, played by veteran actor Ron Perlman.

TV Watch: The Tudors

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Jonathan Rhys Meyers (C) leads the cast of Showtime's "The Tudors"


The folks at the Showtime cable network have proven that they are just as adept at creating entertaining, high-quality television programming as their HBO network rivals.

Sunday evenings now belong to 'The Tudors', an excellent historical period piece that tells the story of King Henry VIII of England.

Henry was the 2nd monarch of the 'House of Tudor', which drew its identity from the family surname of Henry's father, King Henry VII, whom Henry then succeeded to the throne.

The Tudors had originally gained power in the aftermath of the 'War of the Roses', and in the period of their rule from 1485 until 1603 the five monarchs of the ruling family succeeded in uniting England with Wales and Ireland as one kingdom.

Their reign also resulted in great social, legal, and political questions of marriage, divorce, and the succession rights of women raised, debated, and answered.

Henry VIII, whose reign began at the age of just 18 years and lasted until his death in 1547 at age 56, was a particularly flamboyant and controversial figure. This was due both to his personal and religious actions, views, and rulings.

In his personal life, Henry was married six times, with the first three of his wives each bearing him children who would each eventually accede to the throne.

Henry treated his wives cavalierly, moving from one relationship to another at his sexual whim, and these relationships and the events surrounding them form one large part of the Showtime series.

Henry also was noted for establishing the 'Church of England', which broke from the Catholic Church after Henry was excommunicated by the Pope following his divorce of his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.

TV Watch: Big Love

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The cast leads ready for another season of HBO's "Big Love"

The 3rd season of the outstanding HBO drama 'Big Love' from Executive Producer Tom Hanks kicks off tomorrow (Sunday) night at 9pm. For those who have access to a service, such as Comcast's OnDemand product, that allows you to catch up on the first two seasons, now is the time to catch up on the interesting and well-acted story line.

The basic premise of "Big Love" is a polygamist Utah family trying to emerge from the shadowy cult-like past and into mainstream society. As a Catholic, there is no way that I will ever advocate the family lifestyle of the featured Henderson clan. As a Christian, however, there is much to take from their struggles.

There is a basic recognition, love, and respect for God here, albeit with a number of misguided principles and interpretations inherent in some of Mormon teaching and in the polygamist community in particular. "Big Love" also draws strength from its extremely talented cast who you will mostly know from their motion picture work.

The show is set in the suburban town of Sandy, Utah. Family head Bill Henderson, played by veteran actor Bill Paxton, was born and raised in a polygamist cult community, but escaped as a teenager and eventually blended into normal society. But after establishing himself with a normal family, fate brought drastic change to the Henderson clan.

In the show, he has set up three single homes in a row. From the outside they appear to be three different families. But a shared rear yard shows the true story. In each home lives one of Bill's three wives, and with each wife lives the children that they have conceived with him.

TV Watch: Entourage

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HBO's "Entourage" boys are back for another go at Hollywood

Last Sunday marked the debut episode for the 5th season of the HBO hit series 'Entourage', a show that has sometimes been tabbed as a male 'Sex & the City'.

The show focuses on the life and career of Vincent Chase, a hot rising young actor played by Adrian Grenier.

Vinnie is a kid from Queens with great looks and some acting chops who goes to Hollywood and quickly makes it big.

He is helped by the three guys in his 'entourage': Eric 'E' Murphy is played by Kevin Connolly and is Vinnie's best friend since childhood who takes on the role of managing Vinnie's career; another longtime friend known only as 'Turtle' is played by Jerry Ferrara and is the gopher of the group; and finally there is Vinnie's older brother, Johnny 'Drama' Chase played by Kevin Dillon.

'Drama' had some limited fame from a TV series in which he starred years ago, and is always trying to get back into the acting game and out from under the considerable shadow cast by his kid brother.

The 5th wheel in this dramedy is Vinnie's agent, Ari Gold, one of the great characters in television history as played by Jeremy Piven.

These five largely stick together through the thick and thin of Vinnie's turbulent acting career.

The Gypsy That Remains

It's been a bit 'heavy' here at the blog lately, so I thought that I would lighten things up a bit as we ease out of July, and as I ease into my summer vacation.

Last night I had finished up watching the Cubs-Brewers on ESPN and was getting ready to go to bed, and decided to do one last flick through the program listings.

There on WHYY's local public broadcast 'Arts' channel was listed the program Soundstage, which features concert performances, and here they were offering a concert by one of the true loves of my lifetime, Stephanie Lynn 'Stevie' Nicks.

I hadn't watched Stevie perform in some time, and the program information said that this concert was filmed this year, in 2008, and so I was curious to see just how she looked and sounded today. I wasn't disappointed. Stevie is still a beautiful woman, and her voice still rings true with that same raspy, story-teller quality that has made her a rock icon.

Well, this kept me up for another hour watching the concert, but it was well worth it. Listening and watching her perform songs like 'Rhiannon', 'Gold Dust Woman', 'Edge of Seventeen', 'Landslide', and more took me back to thinking about various times in my life. Especially remembering those times that I first heard her and the opportunities that I had to actually see her perform live and in-person.

TV Watch: Mad Men

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AMC brings first-class drama to television with "Mad Men"


The Showtime and HBO networks have become masters over this decade in developing and producing great television series, the best that TV has to offer.

HBO has led the way with the granddaddy of them all, "The Sopranos", and they have also given us "Entourage", "Sex & the City", "The Wire", "Big Love", "Curb Your Enthusiasm", "Rome", "Deadwood", "Carnivale" and more.

Showtime has given us programs like "Dexter", "Brotherhood", "The Tudors", "Sleeper Cell", "Weeds", "Californication", and "The L Word" among others.

AMC has now gotten into the action, and their new drama "Mad Men" takes a back seat to none of the HBO/Showtime offerings. The first season is set in 1960, and follows the lives of the office staff at the mid-level 'Sterling Cooper' Madison Avenue advertising agency. Jon Hamm stars as Donald Draper, an emerging superstar in the ad industry and the firm's star employee.

The plot line largely revolves around Draper in his work and home lives, with January Jones as his wife Betty. Hamm and Jones do an outstanding job portraying a married couple with children at a crossroads in their own lives and in American history.

TV Watch: "Dexter"

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Anthony Michael Hall is the title character "Dexter" in a dark

I tried to start watching this show when it first came out a couple of years ago, and I just couldn't stay with it after about 2-3 episodes. I don't mind something "dark", but this one was just too dark for me.

But my daughters talked about it and liked it, and historically I have really enjoyed the production of cable series such as "The Sopranos", "Deadwood", "The Tudors", "Entourage", "Brotherhood", and "Carnivale" just to name a few. So I decided to give the show another shot, catching up on this Showtime drama using my cable TV "OnDemand" feature, and I'm glad that I did.

An incredible acting turn by star Michael C. Hall as the title character serial killer Dexter Morgan. He is a serial killer with a twist: he only kills other serial killers.

The exposure to Dexter's current personal life, the emotional forces behind his own familial development, and this fact that he only kills truly evil individuals actually make a serial killer sympathetic, if you can imagine that.

Not only is Dexter a serial killer, but he is also by day a civilian blood splatter analyst for the Miami police.

Fox's 'Choice'

This past Saturday night, the Fox News Channel aired a compelling one-hour program titled "Facing Reality: Choice". 

In the program, Fox followed a trio of women as they went through their own particular "choice" process after learning that they were pregnant.

The women, their circumstances, their attitudes, and finally their choices could not have been more heterogeneous.

Kayla is a beautiful woman in her low-20's, born and raised in a practicing Christian environment by her strongly pro-life mother. As a teenager, she took the "chastity pledge" and wore a "purity ring" to acknowledge her commitment to remain a virgin until marriage.

She herself was strongly anti-drug, and like her mom, thought of herself as strongly pro-life. Then she went to college, turned into a partier, experimented with drugs, met a guy, got pregnant.

Her unmarried roommate was also pregnant, and they had frequent girl-chats about how fun it was going to be having their kids at the same time, and raising them as friends.

Big problems popped up though (imagine that) when Kayla's "partner" (read: baby's daddy) didn't want to raise a child. Suddenly Kayla was preparing to become a single mother.

With her future on the line, she was after all trying to graduate from beauty school, Kayla made the "difficult" choice to have an abortion, against everything that she had previously believed in as a theory. She even was able to enlist her mom's support in the project, and mom attended the actual abortion procedure with her.