Life
"Little fazes Charlie Crews," says Damian Lewis of the Zen-stabilized, wrongly jailed homicide detective he plays on NBC's Life. Oh yeah? How about an earthquake?
We'll find out Friday, Oct. 24 (10 pm/ET) when Crews & Co. deal with a crime wave in the aftermath of said tremor in "Did You Feel That?", an episode that includes a combination jailbreak and armored-car heist by a familiar bad guy. On July 29, life imitated Life, as there was an actual earthquake in Los Angeles. After the jump, Lewis tells TVGuide.com his quake story, and then details some other shocking things that will shake out this season.
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For some of us, this is the week when the TV season truly begins, with the welcome return of a handful of shows that were abruptly cut short in their freshman season by the writers' strike, but were (to the surprise of many) given a reprieve by their networks, which still sees potential in them.
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Life by Byron Cohen/NBC
Guns drawn a quartet of cops moves into position outside a warehouse in downtown LA Its blisteringly hot in the sun but the scene indoors is what makes Det Charlie Crews sweat an armored truck still dotted with flames two lifeless charred bodies and the realization that an escaped con he once put away is responsible for the damage Now thats how you get peoples attention Last season Life premiering Monday Sept 29 at 10 pmET NBC revolving around Crews Damian Lewis a cop who returns to the job after 12 years in prison for a crime he didnt commit earned critical props but didnt arrest a lot of viewers This fall the show about second chances is getting one of its own albeit nine months after it went off the air thanks to the writers strike Regardless cocreator Rand Ravich isnt about to squander the opportunity The people whove found us really appreciate the show he says But were gonna do everything we can to make sure more peop
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Damian Lewis and Sarah Shahi, the stars of NBC's Life, clown around with our Erin Fox — a lot — and then preview what's ahead for the second season of the unorthodox cop drama. (The best stuff comes at the 3:00 mark.)
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Question: I wrote you a few years ago about Monk's second season, which was fairly awful, but the show has been incredible ever since. (I'm thinking my complaint made the difference). Now I'm writing because I'm a huge TV fan, and I know a good show when I see it — and Life is it. I DVR everything, and when I have the time, I start with the best shows and go from there. Life has become my first watch. For the other TV fans out there, some of my old faves are NYPD Blue, Boomtown, Third Watch and The Wire. I've been blown away by Damian Lewis and the quality of Life. I cannot handle this show being canceled, so I hope that everyone gives it a chance. We're talking about a lovable hero who was wronged and is trying to set things right while being a Monk-ishly brilliant detective and solving very interesting crimes. And the 12 years he spent in prison gave him a hard yet Zen-like attitude. Add Adam Arkin and Brooke Langton, and we're talking a must-see show.
Answer: As I noted in my Dispatch
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Sarah Shahi and Damian Lewis in Life by Trae Patton/NBC Photo
I’m still not convinced that NBC’s Life is a great series, but tonight’s episode (Nov. 13) is the best I’ve seen to date of a show that has toned down some of the elements that irritated me when it premiered. Detective Charlie Crews (the charismatic Damian Lewis), who is still trying to unravel the circumstances of the unjust murder conviction that kept him behind bars for 12 years, remains something of an acquired taste. But he is indulging his quirks (spouting Zen aphorisms, munching fruit) with far fewer mannerisms. There’s not quite as much of the aren’t-I-just-adorable mugging that turned me off in the first episodes.It helps that tonight’s case is a doozy, involving a corpse that would make TV’s various CSI teams do a double-take. Crews and his typically skeptical partner Dani Reese (nicely underplayed by Sarah Shahi) are called to a house that’s nearly as empty as Crews’ own mansion — his settlement after his release earn...
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Question: I understand you were underwhelmed by Life, but I wonder if subsequent episodes have made you reconsider. I watched it on a lark after the very disappointing Bionic Woman and found it a breath of fresh air. And it seems to be getting better each week. I'm hoping you've reconsidered. I wouldn't be sad if Bionic bit the dust, but I'd miss Life quite a bit.
Answer: Nope, still not a fan, but I'm disliking it less as time goes on. The third episode about the carjacking was maybe the worst, but the fourth episode involving the gay murder and William Sanderson as the homeless witness/suspect was the best yet. In other words, I'm still finding the show awfully uneven and not worth either defending or going out of my way to criticize.
Maybe these comments from Matthew L. will help pinpoint the situation: "I just watched the Life pilot and could completely understand the polarizing effect the show is having on critics. While there are some intriguing elements, such as the cast, the
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Jon Hamm in Mad Men courtesy AMC
You could get vertigo tonight, scaling the heights of the finale of Mad Men on AMC, and then plumbing the depths of the tone-deaf misfire that is Viva Laughlin, premiering on CBS in the plum slot after CSI before moving to Sundays. There, only those with the most morbid curiosity to watch a show’s slow yet hopefully quick death are likely to follow (unless every critic I know is totally off the mark).First, a salute to the best and most fascinating new show to arrive on TV this year (and I’m even including my quirky new treasure Pushing Daisies in that equation). Mad Men, so hypnotic in its look and style as it recreates a classic movie-worthy image of 1960 Manhattan, is a period piece that says volumes about today, or about any era in which salary and status is tied to self-worth and where people construct a false reality to sell themselves on the American dream.Don Draper (instant star Jon Hamm) would seem to have it all. Besides the movie-star looks, he enjoys upward mo...
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Damian Lewis, Life
British actor Damian Lewis talks to TV Guide about his swanky school days, sobering up for Spielberg and his quirky Life (Wednesdays, 10 pm/ET, NBC) role.
TV Guide: Your character, Charlie Crews, is a cop who was wrongly imprisoned for murder for 12 years. He's very eccentric, isn't he? Damian Lewis: His quirkiness is born out of subtle psychological damage that one would suffer from years in a maximum-security prison. His personality is cracked.
TV Guide: What's with all the Zen pronouncements? Lewis: He uses Zen to control anger and bitterness. He has almost a childlike enthusiasm for life and an incredible optimism.
TV Guide: Would you call him the anti-House? Lewis: Yes, he's the white to House's black. But he does struggle. He's not morally p
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Question: I enjoy your writing very much and very often completely agree with you. But after reading your recent Dispatch on Wednesday-night shows, I felt compelled to write and say I disagree with you on Dirty Sexy Money and Life. I know Money is supposed to be a hoot of a soap, but I found it pretty insufferable. Who wants to spend time with these people? Even for all that money, why would Peter Krause's character (who's constantly praised by the others as being such a "good" person) put up with them for one more day? And I'm hardly drawn to even sample cop shows anymore (don't get me started on the CBS procedurals), but I found Life to be a very nice surprise. Funny and tense, with some moving moments, (Spoiler alert) like Crews helping his recovering partner when she's freaked out by unexpectedly encountering drugs and acknowledging that by shooting a suspect, he's shot and killed another human being. I do think Damian Lewis' performance isn't exactly "beyond reproach" — sometimes ...
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