Ted Danson by Lester Cohen/ WireImage.com
Ted Danson is looking to do more damage on the small screen.In addition to returning to the next season of Damages, the Cheers alum has signed on to star in a new HBO series, Bored to Death, The Hollywood Reporter reports.The comedy will chronicle the alcoholic ways of a Jonathan, a struggling writer, played by Jason Schwartzman, who pretends to be a private detective. Danson will portray a "pompous" magazine editor and Jonathan's personal mentor.The series will be penned by Jonathan Aames and will be directed by Alan Taylor.No word yet on a premiere date.Danson, the man behind the evil Arthur Frobisher on Damages, is slated to return for three episodes in the second season to tie up loose ends after getting shot in the season finale. — Joyce Eng
read more
Ted Danson in Damages courtesy FX
Might Ted Danson's Golden Globe nomination for playing Damages' very, very naughty Arthur Frobisher help resuscitate the ruthless tycoon, who last was seen bleeding from a gunshot wound in a remote field? Before the strike struck, the writer-producers of FX's critically acclaimed drama told TVGuide.com they had sketched out a version of Season 2 where Fro lives, and one where... he doesn't. Which one will they go with, once production resumes? "I think it depends on if I ask for too much money," Danson tells TVGuide.com with a laugh.Turning serious, he says, "I have no idea, because as soon as they got picked up for two [more] seasons, the strike was under way, so there was no communication allowed." That said, Danson is open to another run, provided that... well, you'll have to read the full Q&A to find out.
read more
Ted Danson, Damages
The first season of FX's outstanding Damages is now out on DVD (shop Amazon), ultimately raising the question for even more people: Will Arthur Frobisher live to snort more you-know-what off you-know-which-part of you-know-who? TVGuide.com asked Ted Danson to weigh in on his Golden Globe-nominated and deliciously villainous run... and whether it might continue.
TVGuide.com: First of all, congratulations on your Golden Globe nod. How does it feel to knock one out of the park on a brand-new cable drama?Ted Danson: Your words, not mine, but I'll go along with it and say, "Fantastic!" It feels fantastic. I have to say that it almost feels like it rejuvenated my interest in acting. I had a ball. It was so beautif
read more
Glenn Close by Craig Blankenhorn/Sony Pictures TV, Jonathan Rhys Meyers by Jonathan Hession/Showtime, Jennifer Beals by Paul Michaud/Showtime
Three good things about the writers' strike:1) No more Bionic Woman to disappoint us.2) Pepito the Wonder Chihuahua gets more "me" time.3) More chances to catch up on kick-ass cable shows on DVD!And let me tell you, that last one is a biggie, considering that a few cable shows I had to skip out on because of too many TiVo conflicts have just hit the shelves. One of them being FX's stellar, chilling Damages, which features quite possibly the single greatest performance of the last season. Is Golden Globe winner Glenn Close's Manhattan litigator Patty Hewes ingenious or pure evil? I'm not sure yet, but she is delicious nonetheless and I am having a hoot finding out.Centered around an Enron-type class-action suit against billionaire Arthur Frobisher — played with demonic menace by Ted Danson — the show should be about the case, since nobody does trial-angst better than Close (see Jagged Edge). But instead of courtrooms, we get boardrooms and some seriously twisted detours, co...
read more
If the barometer of an interesting TV awards show is the number of fresh faces invited to the party, then the Golden Globe nominations (announced Thursday morning) passes the test. Not with a perfect score, mind you. Any institution that so completely ignores NBC's wonderful Friday Night Lights deserves some spirited jeering.And the Globes' addiction to sexy sizzle and hype can lead to some puzzling choices: Big Love, fun as it is, over The Sopranos' final season? Bill Paxton over James Gandolfini? (And if the Globes is going to shower love on Big Love, how could the women who play Bill's wives go unheralded, especially Ginnifer Goodwin?) Californication over Weeds?But let's look at the bright side. The Hollywood Foreign Press clearly spent some time checking out the TV landscape during last summer's remarkable season of cable breakthroughs. My own pick for No. 1 show of the year, AMC's Mad Men, is nominated for best drama, along with its dashing leading man, Jon Hamm. FX's Damages,...
read more
Glenn Close, Damages
Has Arthur Frobisher snorted his last line off a hooker's bosom? Was Patty truly behind Ellen's attempted murder? And how does Patty's ill-fated teen pregnancy fit into it all? Shortly after the first-season finale of FX's Damages, TVGuide.com asked the series' creators — Todd A. Kessler, Daniel Zelman and Glenn Kessler — to fill in some blanks. Plus, the latest word on a possible Season 2 pickup.
TVGuide.com: First up, Arthur Frobisher — is he dead?Todd A. Kessler: It all depends on whether he is able to make a phone call there in the field and save himself. But we were so thrilled with Ted Danson
read more
Tate Donovan and Rose Byrne by Barbara Nitke/FX
Before we get to the reasons why Tuesday night’s finale of Damages should be a model for how a serialized show on the ropes should end a season — in high style, resolving many major plot points while cunningly setting up a second season (if there is a second season) — here are a few observations on some other positive TV news.The full-season pickup for Pushing Daisies. Best news of the week. Ever since the pilot began to circulate last spring, the reaction has been a mix of delight and unease: first, amazement that something this fabulous was coming to TV; second, skepticism that the TV audience would embrace it; and lastly, whether it could sustain the same quality after the knockout first hour. The answer so far has been affirmative, especially (and to me, most critically) in the quality arena. Each episode has been a gas, a treat, a knockout. With great buzz and solid if not spectacular numbers, ABC did the right thing in giving Daisies even more room to grow.The o...
read more
Glenn Close by Barbara Nitke/FX
Cheers to Damages for ending its first season with a major bang. FX's legal thriller answered an amazing number of questions — from (Spoiler alert for DVR viewers) the location of the incriminating videotape (it was inside the Statue of Liberty murder weapon!) to the revelation that Patty (Glenn Close) apparently tried to have Ellen (Rose Byrne) killed — while leaving others tantalizingly unresolved. Is Frobisher (Ted Danson) dead? Will Ellen be able to help the FBI bring down Patty? And what's taking FX so long to renew Damages for a second season? If they don't, it'll be a real crime. (For more on that, check out today's Ask Ausiello.)Got burning questions about the Damages finale? Share them here, and TVGuide.com will try to get them answered.More Cheers & Jeers: Read and react to Bruce's opinions on Heroes, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Mad Men and Bionic Woman, then share your own raves and rants about other shows on the new Reader Cheers & Jeers discussion board. You...
read more
Knowing what any good Curb viewer already knows about Larry David's real life — namely that he and Laurie, his actual wife, recently divorced due to "irreconcilable differences" — this episode was uncomfortable to watch. Yes, if I called my husband from a rolling airplane and he asked me where the warrantee was for the TiVo, I'd be pissed, and I'd probably leave him, too. Actually that's a lie; my DVR means more to me than any man ever could. I'd probably be the one to be left. Like Larry, there's no other side to Leah. This is pretty much it.Can we blame Larry's friends (and restaurateurs) for siding with Cheryl? This is, after all, a man who wants to talk about the difference between real and fake crab during sex, and then claims he's complex. In the settlement, Cheryl gets Ted Danson, the Funkhousers (so much for Marty being Larry's best friend, eh?), Primo's, the cleaning woman, Simon, and by extension, the $10,000 Larry lent to Simon, since he's not getting it back. W...
read more
Rose Byrne in Damages by Barbara Nitke/FX
This Saturday, FX is running the entire first season (up to now) of its legal thriller Damages as an all-day marathon, which means theoretically there will be viewers who will get to experience this show the way it might work best: as a rock ’em, sock ’em miniseries, compounding all of the story’s elaborate and sometimes preposterous shocks and twists into a roller-coaster ride that doesn’t require waiting a week between chapters.The ratings have been, even by cable standards, a disappointment, and as I write this, FX had yet to confirm a second-season renewal (although as I’ve said before, any network that would keep Dirt and The Riches going and fail to renew this gritty gem has some explaining to do). I’ve wondered if the show’s elaborately serialized structure, with an entire season built around a single case and its murderous fallout, may have kept viewers away (shades of ABC’s short-lived Murder One).The brutality and darkness of Damages...
read more
