Timothy Hutton
Leverage returns Wednesday (TNT, 9 pm/ET) with a second season of Timothy Hutton's team of thieves turning the tables on the high-powered scam artists of the world. Last season ended with the team split up over a heist that went askew because of one team member's overzealousness. But Hutton promises this season will include a reunion and his character, Nate, getting his vices under control — kind of.
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Timothy Hutton
TNT has already signed the Timothy Hutton drama Leverage for a second season, but the show's team of crack con artists will have to make it through Tuesday's season finale (airing at 10 pm/ET) to get there. Last week's episode ended with Hutton's team leader, Nate, feeling betrayed by Sophie, the master of accents played by TVGuide.com celebrity blogger Gina Bellman.
Hutton, a 1980 Academy Award winner for Ordinary People, talked to TVGuide.com about what the team will face next season, how Nate is handling the reappearance of his ex-wife (Kari Matchett), and his character's growing reliance on booze.
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Armin Shimerman, Jonathan Frakes, and Brent Spiner
When Star Trek's Jonathan Frakes signed on to direct an episode of TNT's Leverage, he agreed to helm one of the drama's most complex episodes yet: one where Timothy Huttons team of cons for good causes help upset an attempt to rig a trial.
But Frakes also beamed in a few friends to turn the set into a mini-Star Trek convention, recruiting The Next Generation's Brent Spiner and Deep Space Nine's Armin Shimmerman and Kitty Swink for key roles.
The once-and-perhaps future Commander Riker also hinted about the possibility of getting involved with J.J. Abrams' reboot of the Star Trek franchise, and his acting role on the soon-to-be scheduled Fox drama Persons Unknown, from The Usual Suspects and Valkyrie writer Christopher McQuarrie. And intelligent guy that he is, he took a moment to praise his wife, Genie Francis, for her recent performance in the Hallmark Channel's The Note II: Taking a Chance on Love.
Frakes' Leverage episode, "The Juror No. 6 Job," airs Tuesday at 10 pm/ET.
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Timothy Hutton
It's been a good week for Timothy Hutton. The Oscar-winning actor's TNT hit Leverage was renewed for a second season and he's now nabbed a Roman Polanski film.
Hutton has joined the cast of The Ghost, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Based on a novel by Robert Harris, the thriller stars ...
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Leverage
Leverage has leveraged itself a second season.
The TNT drama about a band of con artists who use their skills to rip off other thieves – from crooked developers to corrupt companies – received an order for a 15-episode sophomore run, the cabler announced.
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Timothy Hutton
In the aftermath of Wall Street's fall and in the face of crumbling faith in big business' self-regulation, it seems like the right time for TNT's Leverage. The drama series, which kicks off Dec. 7 (10 pm/ET), follows a group of unlikely allies who team up to right wrongs against average people and get revenge through elaborate con games. Part high-tech spy thriller, part goofy comedy, the rag-tag Leverage crew is helmed by Nate Ford (Timothy Hutton), a former insurance investigator who hits rock bottom before he's offered a con gig that leads him to assemble a team of specialized thieves, martial arts experts and more — and start over with a new sense of purpose. TVGuide.com sat down with Hutton to get inside the mind of Nate Ford and find out what twists are in store for his team in its premiere season. Plus, the actor, who has numerous film projects on the horizon (and in 1980, at the age of 20, won an Oscar his supporting role in Ordinary People), shares what drew him back to TV.
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Question: I managed to get a copy of the pilot of TNT's new show Leverage, which I thought was excellent. I understand it's been picked up, but is there any word of when it will begin airing? The pilot showed a lot of promise. I've always liked Timothy Hutton and was pleased to see Aldis Hodge from Friday Night Lights in the cast. What's the outlook? Will this have a short season like most cable shows?
Answer: I like what I've seen of Leverage as well, but we'll have to wait until December for the premiere of this caper series. I believe the show got a 13-episode order, so that's the most you'd get in the premiere season. That's standard for cable series, even for most of the hit ones ...
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George Clooney by Jim Spellman/WireImage.com
TNT on Wednesday held its upfronts presentation, unveiling a slate loaded with drama... and including the occasional Elvis impersonator.Having previously greenlit the series Raising the Bar (from Steven Bochco and starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar), Leverage (fronted by Timothy Hutton) and Truth in Advertising (Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh), and the pilot Men of a Certain Age (returning Ray Romano to TV), the cabler has a development slate that includes:• Delta Blues, exec-produced by George Clooney and revolving around a Memphis cop/Elvis impersonator who lives with his momma. (What is Kurt Russell up to...?)• Morse Code, tentatively starring Donnie Wahlberg as a war hero/DEA agent working his hometown of Bah-ston. I will go out on a limb and predict his last name is... Code.• Angel City, a "six cops/three cars" drama in the vein of Adam 12 and Hill Street Blues.• A fast-paced and gritty drama from 24's Joel Surnow and centered on a BATF agent.• A quirky, Lit...
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Mark-Paul Gosselaar by Amy Tierney/ WireImage.com
TNT on Monday revealed its ambitious plan to change most of its weekday prime-time schedule to original fare by the year 2010. (Popular movies will still be the cabler's bread-and-butter on Fridays/weekends.) Here's what's on tap.Already greenlit for production:• Raising the Bar, a Steven Bochco drama about a public defender (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), his boss (Gloria Reuben) and an imperious judge (Jane Kaczmarek). Teddy Sears and Melissa Sagemiller also star. • Leverage, in which a former insurance investigator (Timothy Hutton) assembles a team of highly skilled thieves, hackers and grifters.In consideration:• Truth in Advertising, an ad-biz drama starring Eric McCormack, Tom Cavanagh and Monica Potter.In development (scripted):Generations (from Robert Redford, a drama following three generations of the same family living in a house); an untitled family drama set in 1950s Indiana; a series based on Tess Gerritsen's crime novels; The Genie Chronicles (about... a genie i...
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Timothy Hutton by Michael Bezjian/ WireImage.com
TNT has ordered up 13 episodes of Leverage, an action drama starring Timothy Hutton as the leader of a group of thieves who act as modern-day Robin Hoods, pulling off high-tech crimes for munificient means.Hutton's a busy guy these days. The Best Supporting Oscar winner for 1980's Ordinary People — heretofore perhaps best known for his awkward flirting with Natalie Portman in Beautiful Girls and the A&E detective series Nero Wolfe — will also be appearing in no fewer than six films this year. — Mickey O'Connor
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