Another new program on TNT tonight was the new series Leverage. The show is a drama action mix. And it is essentially a copy of a British program that covers exactly the same ground.
Yes, Hollywood writers have proven themselves to be consistent and clueless yet again. The concept of originality has gone out the window. Because the name of the program this American version copies is called Hustle.
Yes it is almost exactly the same. Conmen (and women) with various specialities work together to take on bad people with lots of money and minor morality. Take out the accents, change the locations, replace a man with a woman, and make the leader an ex-lawman with a heart of gold and a need for a rush and you have Leverage.
That all said about the lack of originality, the question is if this copy is like Life On Mars and The Office, or like Coupling. And in each of these I mean the American remake of the BBC hit television series. Well from the first episode we get the answer of The Office.
Timothy Hutton is interesting as the cop gone bad for a good reason. Revenge for his son that died because of insurance company greed. This character is pivotal in not making this a 'crime is good' show. And he is believable as the guy in charge and trying to manage the greatest good.
And a tip of the hat to 2 key members of the cast.
Gina Bellman plays Sophie. Bellman is know best to most US and UK viewers for her work in the hit series Coupling (British version). Her work in Leverage is not too far from her role as Jane. She is a grifter that uses her sex appeal to make the con work. Obviously producers realized they should give some kind of attention to the fact they were ripping of BBC yet again, and she adds a nice flair to the program.
Christian Kane is back on American series work. Fans of the show Angel will remember him as the ambitious evil lawyer (is there another kind) Lindsey McDonald. Since the end of Angel he hasn't been seen much, but he fills in the morally ambigous nature that Leverage needs. And he does tend to fit the muscle man role well too.
Beyond that the cast is mostly unnotable. In fact It is highly likely that this series will fail after a season or 2. The problem I see is 3-fold, and not the fault of the actors.
The first problem will be the writers. Hollywood these days is uninspired and lazy. As such it is highly likely that scripts from Hustle will be reworked for American audiences. And as consistent with such copies, the translation rarely works.
The second issue is that since there are 2 women and 3 men there must be a love interest in the show. Already we have seen in the premiere that Timothy Hutton and Gina Bellman have a dubious past. That will likely need to be expanded on, and old-flames will rekindle. To the detriment of the show. Any other pairing will also likely detract from the ongoing theme of the series (expect that other paring to be the other female and Kane).
The last problem will very likely be cost of locations. Since this is an American show that targets rich and greedy Americans they will have to travel to spots known for the rich and greedy. That means shooting in L.A., New York, Miami, Las Vegas and a few other mmajor cities (D.C. is sure to be on the list). That means big money. And unless the show is a blowout hit, which I think unlikely, they can't afford that.
So many of the locations will be highly generalized. And that will detract from the appeal of the show. Not that the cast, and in this case the writers, can do anything about that. You just can't write away glitz that is expected to be seen.
I hope the series does develop into something good. I like most of the cast, and the original show was quite good. I just fear the ability of Hollywood writers today. We shall see if Tuesdays regular timeslot episode will match up to the high bar that Sunday's premiere created.
5 comments:
I am glad to hear someone else say it, because Hustle was a great show and I was sorry to see it disappear. Leverage is so much of a copy of that show even the music is damn near the same.
I didn't know they were so desperate as to steal the music. I hadn't paid it attention. That's just really sad. This show is doomed.
It's funny that you have such tough words for Leverage and such glowing praise for Hustle. A couple of minutes of research and your article wouldn't seem so completely gauche. The concept for Hustle was drawn from Mission Impossible (TV - 1966 - USA) and Ocean's Eleven (Movie - 1960 - USA). You could say this is the Victor Victoria of TV Shows; An American show, playing a British show, that was created based on two American shows.
V,
While you are correct that Mission Impossible and Ocean's Eleven (the original and recent remake) are the inspiration of Hustle, that is the difference. Leverage is a copy of the British show, whereas it was an original creation with roots connected to but not the same as prior work.
I don't expect that many shows on television, or in movies, will be completely original anymore. Writers rely heavily on the work done in the past far to much. Executives need to be sold on something they already understand, and if something else worked prior they want to run the idea to death before venturing into anything new. It's money over substance these days.
But sometimes the copy is just too carbon. The American show The Office is a carbon copy, the American version of Coupling (itself inspired by Friends) was a virtual line by line copy, and so is Life On Mars.
It's one thing to be inspired, another to just ripoff the work of another. And is it really asking too much for Hollywood and the networks to spend a little time and money giving us slightly more than a retread of something already done better?
It is interesting that almost a year later and Leverage is one of the higest rated shows on cable on Wednesday nights. It has also been picked up for a third season.
Although I detest American remakes of British shows, I didnt realize that Leverage was one of them. I went in with new eyes. I have to say that it is really what I look forward to on Wednesday nights. It has humor, a lot of humor, action and a little romance (thank God it hasn't drowned out the humor and the action).
So sorry to say the prediction was wrong. In the days of reality tv it's nice to see actors doing what they do - act.
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