How to resolve AdBlock issue? Arts & Life
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- Written by: Tim Riley
‘BOSTON BLUE’ AND ‘SHERIFF COUNTRY’ ON CBS
Television network executives always find ways to be boastful regarding any data to bolster claims of superiority over their competitors.
CBS, which has been known as the Tiffany Network for high-quality programming, is no different than its rivals.
Case in point would be the claim that CBS is on track to win its 17th consecutive season as the most watched network.
The network is banking on two new police procedurals to help deliver good ratings.
For the fall season, “Boston Blue” picks up, in a manner of speaking, where “Blue Bloods” left off after more than a decade as the popular show about the Reagan law enforcement family in the New York Police Department.
Moving from the Big Apple to Beantown, NYPD detective Donnie Wahlberg’s Danny Reagan ends up in Boston when his son Sean (Mika Amonsen), a rookie in the Boston Police Department, becomes seriously wounded while attempting a rescue in a burning building.
While “Boston Blue” is considered a drama that expands the beloved “Blue Bloods” universe, the other new police series is “Sheriff Country,” which is similarly viewed as an extension of the hit drama “Fire Country.”
“Boston Blue” is off to a promising start. It’s fresh, and yet Donnie Wahlberg informed critics at the CBS press conference that he looked “forward to bringing faith, family, and tradition back to television on Friday nights,” which stays true to the “Blue Bloods” principle.
When Danny Reagan comes to Boston, he wastes little time getting involved in chasing a suspect. Out of his law enforcement jurisdiction, Danny runs afoul of Boston detective Lena Silver (Sonequa Martin-Green), who just happens to be a member of a law enforcement family not dissimilar to the Reagans.
Lena’s mother is District Attorney Mae Silver (Gloria Reuben). Her stepsister is Boston Police Superintendent Sarah Silver (Maggie Lawson). Sarah is Mae’s stepdaughter. Add into the mix rookie cop Jonah Silver (Marcus Scribner), half-brother to Sarah. Well, that appears to be how they are all related.
Jonah is a friend and partner to Danny’s son Sean; both went through the police academy together. Both also ran into the burning building on that fateful night, with Jonah saving Sean when he was seriously hurt by an explosion.
During the first two episodes, Danny is authorized by the Police Superintendent to work with Lena to investigate the case of a murder victim that Jonah and Sean came upon when attempting to save workers from the fiery conflagration.
Given the title of “Boston Blue,” one expects that Danny Reagan may have to trade his Mets t-shirt for a Red Sox jersey, if only because he does, in fact, wind up working with the Boston Police Department.
While spun off from another series based in the same fictional town of Edgewater, California, “Sheriff Country” stands alone in storytelling that tangentially refers to its connection with the rural nature of wildfires in “Fire Country.”
Morena Baccarin stars as the interim sheriff Mickey Fox, who is unlike the Reagan law enforcement family in “Blue Bloods.” While she wears a badge, her father Wes (W. Earl Brown) is a criminal who is now trying to be a legal grower of marijuana.
Trouble at home for Mickey causes distractions not just in dealing with her father, but her teenage daughter Skye (Amanda Acuri) struggles with staying sober, while her boyfriend Brandon (John Daniel) has been arrested for selling narcotics.
To say that life is complicated for Mickey overlooks the additional matter of her political survival in an upcoming election. Her top deputy Nathan Boone (Matt Lauria) may be angling for the job himself by ingratiating himself with local kingmaker Punch Elliot (Sean Bell).
If all this is not enough drama for the Sheriff, Mickey’s ex-husband Travis Fraley (Christopher Gorham), a local attorney, is now romantically involved with Sheriff’s deputy Cassidy Campbell (Michele Weaver).
At a CBS conference for critics, Michele Weaver summed up the dynamic of the series, noting the “writers do such a good job of making these characters human, and you get to know these humans, the good and the bad, and the messiness of them.”
Edgewater turns out to not to be a sleepy town. Rampant crime may jeopardize Mickey’s bid for election. Still, “Sheriff Country” juggles plenty of personal dynamics to hold interest in where relationships play out.
The fall season had originally planned to include a new drama from Dick Wolf, best-known as the producer of the “Law & Order” television franchise and familiar for creating other law enforcement series like “Chicago P.D.” and “FBI.”
What’s next for Dick Wolf is new series “CIA,” a one-hour drama centered on two unlikely partners. Tom Ellis stars as a reckless CIA case officer teamed up with a by-the-book FBI agent who believes in the rule of law.
Apparently, “CIA” is now destined for mid-season to allow for creative thinking, or something of the sort, for a show that’s also considered an expansion of Dick Wolf’s “FBI” universe.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKEPORT, Calif. — The Lake County Symphony will present its 2025 Fall Concert on Nov. 23 at 2 p.m. at the Soper Reese Theatre in Lakeport.
This concert is dedicated to the memory of Lynne Bruner, LCSA treasurer and symphony violinist.
Musical Director/Conductor John Parkinson opens the performance with the rousing “Radetsky March” by Austrian composer Johann Strauss Sr. (1804-1849).
The piece is considered Strauss’ most famous. It became very popular among regimented marching soldiers, who spontaneously clapped and stamped their feet when they first heard the chorus. Conductors today continue this tradition and take great delight in conducting the audience, as much the orchestra, with great gusto.
The next selection — the “Cosi Fan Tutte Overture” — is by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 -1791).
Mozart wrote Così Fan Tutte, K. 588, an opera buffa in two acts in collaboration with Lorenzo Da Ponte (who also wrote Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni). The most successful operas for Mozart were the Italian comic operas known as ‘opera buffa.’ This one was first performed in January 1790 in Vienna, Austria.
The music of Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) is next. The symphony performs the overture to his “Tancredi” opera, which Rossini wrote at the age of 20.
Rossini was born into a family of musicians in Pesaro, a town on the Adriatic coast of Italy, and gained fame for his 39 operas. He also wrote many other songs, and was very popular at a young age, setting new standards for both comic and serious opera before retiring from full-scale composition while still in his 30s, at the height of his popularity.
Until his retirement in 1829, he had been the most popular opera composer in history, with operas such as “Barber of Seville” and “William Tell.” His tendency for “inspired, song-like melodies” in his scores, led to the nickname, “The Italian Mozart.”
The next piece, the “Ruy Blas” overture by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847) is the result of a request to Mendelssohn for an overture and a song for the production of Victor Hugo’s play, “Ruy Blas.” Mendelssohn was perhaps the greatest child prodigy after Mozart and also died at an early age.
After a brief intermission, the symphony returns to play Robert Schumann’s Symphony No.1 or “Spring” as it is usually known. Schumann (1810-1856) stands out to musicologists as an “influence in formal structure, harmonic practices and piano writing. Schumann was thoroughly committed intellectually and emotionally to the idea of music being composed to “register feelings, thoughts and impressions garnered by a sensitive spirit on its journey through life.”
Some have called the piece a “wonderful performance of a work that celebrates the awakening of nature after the bleakness of winter.” Others believe that “Spring” puts Schumann in the same league as Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert.
Unfortunately, Schumann’s life was plagued by periodic attacks of severe depression, nervous exhaustion and suicide attempts.
Despite these difficulties that surely reduced his output, he is considered an advanced composer of his day and stands in the front rank of German romantic music figures.
Schumann is renowned particularly for his piano music, songs (lieder) and orchestral music. Many of his best-known piano pieces were written for his wife, pianist Clara Schumann.
Tickets for the regular 2 p.m. Fall Concert are $25 for general seating or $30 for premium seating in the balcony and are available now for purchase on the Soper Reese website.
Tickets are also available at the Soper Reese box office at 275 S. Main on the day of the concert. The open dress rehearsal performance starts at 11 a.m. with discounted tickets for $10 and free admission for those 18 and under. Please arrive 30 minutes early when buying tickets at the door.
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- Written by: Tim Riley
JOHN CANDY: I LIKE ME’ Rated PG-13
More than thirty years after his passing, beloved comedian and actor John Candy finally gets his due in the respectful documentary “John Candy: I Like Me” that covers his life in his own words and those of family, friends, and colleagues.
Fans of the Canadian thespian, who got his start in Toronto’s “The Second City” and the “SCTV” television series, will get a better idea of his on-screen persona reflecting much of his own everyman warmth and self-effacing charm in this Amazon Prime Video biopic.
How did this film arrive at the subtitle “I Like Me,” you ask? Steve Martin, his co-star in “Trains, Planes & Automobiles,” in his role of Dale Neal unloaded a truckload of insults as he grew weary of Candy’s Del Griffith, a shower-curtain-ring salesman’s endless blather.
The scene is played here, where Dale says to Del, “I mean, didn’t you notice on the plane when you started talking, eventually I started reading the vomit bag? Didn’t that give you some sort of clue, like, hey, maybe this guy’s not enjoying it?”
The look on Del’s face exposed real hurt, as he then retorted, “I like me. My wife likes me. My customers like me, ‘cause I’m the real deal. I’m the real article. What you see is what you get.”
What Candy’s character says to Steve Martin’s really sums up what a parade of show business colleagues, family and friends reveal about the comedian. What everyone saw with Candy was the sweet nature of an agreeable, warmhearted person devoid of artifice and guile.
In the opening scene, Bill Murray, another co-star in “Stripes,” says, “I wish I had some bad things to say about him,” and then relays to director Colin Hanks his wish that this project would turn to “some people who’ve got some dirt on him.”
Either the director and the production team didn’t bother to dig deeper, or they just couldn’t locate malcontents or aggrieved parties to satisfy Murray’s whim. Judging by the good things said of Candy by so many, the latter was the obvious result.
Befitting a documentary focused on the life of one man, the films include plenty of home videos, pictures straight out of family albums, and a plethora of film clips that lead to fond memories.
An apparent page out of a yearbook has Candy labeled as “The Pink Panther,” and it would be nice to know the meaning of this reference. Did it have anything to do with the Peter Sellers film, and was that British actor an influence on his comedy?
Anecdotes throughout the film divulge some interesting tidbits. Apparently according to a friend, during the Vietnam War, Candy wanted to enlist in the U.S. Army and visited Buffalo to see if he was eligible, only to be rejected due a knee injury suffered playing football in school.
The late Roger Ebert, at the time of a 1981 release of a film starring Bill Murray joined by Candy, mentioned that at least one summer film would be “irreverent, gross-out, anarchistic, slapstick comedy, and this summer it is ‘Stripes.’”
Clips from that zany military comedy show Candy’s self-effacing humor as he tells other recruits that he has “a slight weight problem,” and that a doctor told him that he “swallows a lot of aggression with a lot of pizzas.”
As a student at Harvard while president of “National Lampoon,” Conan O’Brien, desiring to have comedy heroes visit the university, convinced Candy to participate in a big montage of his film clips, where he “filled the room with his aura. He was expansive and joyful.”
That Candy was willing to nurture talent was revealed by O’Brien admitting to the comedian that he was interested in trying comedy, and Candy replied, “You don’t try it. You either do it or you don’t do it. You don’t try it, kid.” The idea of going all in or not at all is good advice in many fields.
Tragedy in his own family affected Candy deeply, as it is revealed that his father died of a heart attack on the day of his fifth birthday, leaving him in a state of confusion and possibly a sense of dread. Candy died of a heart attack at the age of 43 while filming in Mexico.
From Steve Martin, it was interesting to learn that director and writer John Hughes (“Home Alone”) wrote characters specifically for Candy, referencing “Uncle Buck.”
This review of “John Candy: I Like Me” only scratches the surface of the remarkable life of a man and legend, as there is much divulged by fellow actors like Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, Tom Hanks, Dan Aykroyd, and Eugene Levy, among others.
We cannot leave out the memories shared by his widow Rose Candy, nor those of his children, Christopher and Jennifer, who share more intimate details of growing up with a loving father who was often absent due to his work. Fans of John Candy will be edified.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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- Written by: Tim Riley
‘DMV’ on CBS
According to legend and online sources that might be somewhat reliable, the British character actor Edmund Gwenn, best known for portraying Kris Kringle in 1947’s “Miracle on 34th Street,” expressed the sentiment, if not the exact quote, “Dying is Easy. Comedy is Hard.”
That axiom is truer today than ever, as the shortage of comedy in films and television should be evident to anyone. Perhaps, political correctness run amok may have been the death knell for comedy that is edgy or insulting.
The relative scarcity of comedy might be the result of a lack of originality. Consider how many films today are remakes, and that’s not just taking into account the surfeit of superhero stories that operate on a nearly identical premise.
Comedy is hard because there are too many constraints on what is considered acceptable humor. Think about how many people are easily offended by provocative jokes. Could the hilarious “Blazing Saddles” even be contemplated now? Not very likely.
Anyone easily offended by off-color humor or offensive material should never venture to a comedy club. Standup comedians don’t mind controversy; they seem to relish it – to wit, performers like Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, and Dale Quinn, among others.
Lamenting the dearth of comedy, whether it is provocative or even mainstream, is evident in the current state of television comedy generally. “DMV” on CBS is the only new comedy debuting on a broadcast network this fall.
The premise of basing a comedy on one of the most dreaded places does present a challenge. After all, a trip to the DMV ranks with other awful things in life, such as having a tax return audited, getting a root canal, and preparing for a colonoscopy.
The East Hollywood DMV is divided mainly by two categories of workers, namely the driving examiners and the paper pushers. In the former group, Harriet Dyer stands out as Colette, a single woman in her thirties hoping to get noticed by surfer dude Noa (Alex Tarrant), the hunky new documents processor.
In the premier episode, Colette’s first test is with a Norman Bates-type creepy dude with mother issues, followed by a hair-raising drive with an elderly woman who knocks down every cone, and then incredulously asks if she passed.
“Saturday Night Live” veteran Tim Meadows’ Gregg is a curmudgeonly former English teacher, who unlike some of his colleagues has resigned himself to a life sentence of grinding away in a stultified bureaucracy.
Looking and acting at times like a nightclub bouncer on steroids, Vic (Tony Cavalero) revels in sarcasm, mostly directing barbs at Colette for how she hardly ever fails any of the driving test takers. Vic’s fashion statement is a wardrobe of ugly tight-fitting shirts.
Newly promoted to office manager is Barb (Molly Kearney), whose insecurity might prove to be an impediment in dealing with a pair of efficiency consultants evaluating whether the East Hollywood branch should be shuttered.
One of the funnier scenes involves DMV photographer Ceci (Gigi Zumbado) trying to take a headshot of Barb to hang in the office, while her subject ridiculously gyrates and mugs for the camera.
Meanwhile, Colette would like to make a move to get Noa’s attention, but an attractive co-worker nicknamed Hot Kristen (Samantha Helt) gets in the way. Eventually, Colette awkwardly strikes up a connection with the newcomer by talking about a rescue dog.
Visitors to the DMV provide comic relief, especially when an obnoxious guy (Mark Feuerstein) shows up with an expired passport to get a Real ID license, and becomes incensed when Noa turns him away for not following the rules for documentation.
Aside from Catherine Heine’s short story about a very big-hearted driving examiner inspiring “DMV,” co-creator Dana Klein informed critics at a CBS press conference that two of her daughters took multiple tries to pass their driving test, leading to spending too much time at the DMV.
While sitting in the waiting room and dealing with forms, Klein came to the realization that the DMV is “the perfect setting for a workplace comedy” and “the idea of a show about people who work at a place that is notoriously despised was really interesting to me.”
Klein’s creative partner, Matt Kuhn, related that his vision of the show was to “explore all the fun and heart of everyday working life for the good people at the DMV,” who mostly “don’t want to be there any more than you do.”
While Kuhn’s view that the folks at the DMV are “doing their best to help you and get through their day, often navigating seemingly conflicting and frustrating regulations to do so,” may be overly charitable, nobody looks forward to a trip to the bureaucratic nightmare of the DMV.
The challenge for the writers and the actors in “DMV” is how to make a dreary, depressing workplace consistently funny for an entire season. There are some funny as well as cringe-worthy moments that send mixed signals. The verdict remains unknown about whether the show has legs for a good run.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
