It's not easy Saving Grace (tonight, 10 pm/ET, TNT). Just ask Leon Rippy, who plays Earl, the put-upon guardian angel of Holly Hunter's troubled detective. We spoke with the gregarious South Carolina native, now on hiatus after tonight's midseason finale, who discussed the hit drama's spiritual bent and the fate of his previous series, Deadwood. TV Guide: Do you believe in angels?Leon Rippy: I always have. We stepped out to L.A. in faith and still live by it. My wife has a wonderful parking prayer that opens up a parking space when need be. [Laughs]TV Guide: Why has the show struck a chord?Rippy: If you pass by any bar in the country, there are half a dozen Graces inside. Many are feeling they're past redemption, and if yo
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Patty Hewes loves red meat. "I'm thinking steak," declares the glamorously ruthless litigator, played to the cunning Cruella De Lawyer hilt by Glenn Close in FX's twisted new legal thriller Damages. When told her naive young protégée is also a carnivore, Patty approves: "Atta girl."
Meaty roles like Patty Hewes — and Saving Grace's Grace Hanadarko, a booze-swilling Oklahoma detective on the fast track to self-destruction — have brought dazzling stars with the Tony and Oscar cred of Close and Holly Hunter to cable. Not HBO, but high-end basic cable. Their characters, rich in layers and scene-stealing opportunity, are more rewarding than the sorts of roles most actresses of their generat
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