LOST!! DAMAGES!! HELL'S!! TREK!! 24!! CURB!! IMPOSSIBLE!! MUPPET!! MST3K!! 4400!! INVADERS! TILA!! VERONICA!! HercVault!! -- Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.

Published on Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - 3:29am

LOST!! DAMAGES!! HELL'S!! TREK!! 24!! CURB!! IMPOSSIBLE!! MUPPET!! MST3K!! 4400!! INVADERS! TILA!! VERONICA!! HercVault!!

I am – Hercules!!

A legal thriller from writer-producers Todd & Glenn Kessler (“The Sopranos”) about a law-school grad who finds herself caught up in a new firm and a case that could get those closest to her killed, “Damages” might be the best series ever offered up by FX.

It stars Rose Byrne (“Attack of the Clones,” “28 Weeks Later”), Glenn Close (“The Shield”), Ted Danson (“Body Heat”), Tate Donovan (“The O.C.”) and Jamie Bamber’s magnetic blonde sister Anastasia Griffith, who appeared in the little-seen remake of “Alfie.” Like her brother, Griffith is a half-American Britisher but musters a flawless American accent.

She’s as good as her more famous co-stars, who here are very good indeed.

The series will remind many of “Murder One,” because it’s enormously compelling and because it deals with a single case over the course of a season. It’s not a murder case, but many livelihoods are involved.

But what matters Herc’s opinion?

USA Today gives it three and a half stars (out of four) and says:

… From her opening appearance as Patty Hewes, New York's toughest, smartest, most famous attorney, Close makes it fabulously clear that the star and the material are perfectly aligned. Outmaneuvering an opponent and then parrying his insult with a far more devastating reply, Close needs only a few moments to convey her character and hook you into her. …

TV Guide says:

… Close, who spent a memorable season on The Shield, is in top form in Damages, a classic FX melodrama that frames its dark story in a sinister Hitchcockian mystery involving ambitious law-school grad Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne), whom we first see emerging bloody from an elevator. …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… Great dialogue, perfect delivery. Close is a big old-fashioned American movie star (thank heavens there are a few of them left), and in "Damages" she proves that genus is just as flexible as its British cousin. Like Helen Mirren and Judi Dench, her performance illuminates rather than outshines with its high wattage. …

The Washington Post says:

"Damages," making a sensational premiere tonight on the FX network, thoroughly justifies adding yet another high-powered law firm to the prime-time population. The firm is not only high-powered but it's also "high-stakes," we keep being told -- and so is the show. "Damages" is also emphatically, and almost torturously, high-tension, and the pilot script is one of the most artfully crafted since the debut back in the 20th century of "The Sopranos." ...

The Houston Chronicle says:

… FX has landed the next in a continuous line of can't-miss shows. Based on the first two episodes, Damages may be the best of a ballyhooed bunch that includes The Shield, Nip/Tuck, Rescue Me and The Riches. …

The Seattle Post-Intellingencer says:

… could be the most meticulous and calculating show on television, constructed from perennially appealing television elements … The co-creators and writers, Todd and Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman, obviously have a talent for marrying challenging story to the high-level aesthetics of superior television, like artful cinematography and its enthralling plot. … "Damages" may be the best series in what's shaping up to be a bumper crop of high quality cable, and that's not a light statement. No piece is out of place here; the writing, the plotting, everything is in tune. …

The Portland Oregonian says:

… "Damages" promises to be long, complex and dark with bleak, absurd comedy.…

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says:

The idea of Glenn Close facing off against Ted Danson in a drama series - she as an aggressive litigator, he as the corrupt tycoon she's determined to bring down - sounded so intriguing that I couldn't wait to see "Damages." By the end of the second episode, the two hadn't even met. But this FX cable series is so suspenseful, twisted and sometimes downright terrifying that I barely noticed. …

The Orlando Sentinel says:

… the most striking thing is this vehicle's frame. Here's a legal thriller with the depth and structure of an engrossing novel. You probably wouldn't want to live in this dark, nasty world. But it's a fascinating place to visit …

Extras include commentaries, deleted scenes, a making-of doc, an interactive guide and something called “Insight From The Creators.”

If you got another $20, you can upgrade to the Blu-ray version for $55.95

Speaking of Ted Danson, Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Sixth Season co-stars Vivica A. Fox as a superhot Katrina survivor. It also prominently features (as Marty Funkhauser) Bob Einstein, who was Albert Brooks’ older brother before he became Steve Martin’s writing partner on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” before he became ritual self-abuser Super Dave Osbourne.

Herc’s Popular Pricing Pantry

Paramount has slashed – almost in half – the prices of a few seasons of its latter-day “Star Trek” series. Last week all these season sets were going for $116.99. Where they stand at the moment:

$69.98 Star Trek Enterprise: Season One <--- NEWLY ENCHEAPENED!!
$116.99 Star Trek Enterprise: Season Two
$62.99 Star Trek Enterprise: Season Three <--- NEWLY ENCHEAPENED!!
$69.98 Star Trek Enterprise: Season Four <--- NEWLY ENCHEAPENED!!
$219.99 Star Trek Enterprise: The Complete Series <--- NEWLY ENCHEAPENED!!

$69.98 Star Trek Voyager: Season One <--- NEWLY ENCHEAPENED!!
$69.98 Star Trek Voyager: Season Two <--- NEWLY ENCHEAPENED!!
$116.99 Star Trek Voyager: Season Three
$116.99 Star Trek Voyager: Season Four
$116.99 Star Trek Voyager: Season Five
$116.99 Star Trek Voyager: Season Six
$69.98 Star Trek Voyager: Season Seven <--- NEWLY ENCHEAPENED!!
$377.99 Star Trek Voyager: The Complete Series <--- NEWLY ENCHEAPENED!!

Note that the biggest bargains are in those series-sets. That “Voyager” seven-season set works out to $54 per season. The “Enterprise” four-season set works out to $55 per season.

All sad because the writer’s strike has indefinitely delayed the seventh season of “24”? The first five seasons – featuring Naked Mandy, David Palmer, Aaron Pierce, Cheng Zhi, Nina Myers, Curtis Manning, Alan York, Edgar Stiles, George Mason, Teri Bauer, Lynne Kresge, James Heller, Jenny Dodge, Noah Daniels, Kim Bauer, Behroooooz Azaz, Christopher Henderson, Martha Logan, Hal Gardner, Lonnie McRae, Jim Prescott, Lynn McGill, The Cougar and The Rolled-Up Towel – were all north of $44 last week, but at the moment they’re 67% off and only$19.99!!

$19.99 24: Season One <--- VASTLY ENCHEAPENED!!
$19.99 24: Season Two <--- VASTLY ENCHEAPENED!!
$19.99 24: Season Three <--- VASTLY ENCHEAPENED!!
$19.99 24: Season Four <--- VASTLY ENCHEAPENED!!
$19.99 24: Season Five <--- VASTLY ENCHEAPENED!!
$37.99 24: Season Six

Those are especially good deals for seasons two through five, which are crammed silly with commentaries and other extras.

The third and final and completely wonderful third season of “Veronica Mars” (the one with the 12-minute fourth-season “Veronica FBI” pilot among its extras) is selling at the moment $19.99!! That’s 67% Off!! (It was $37.99 last week.) The first two seasons have been momentarilyy encheapened as well:

$16.99 Veronica Mars: Season One <--- VASTLY ENCHEAPENED!!
$20.99 Veronica Mars: Season Two <--- VASTLY ENCHEAPENED!!
$19.99 Veronica Mars: Season Three <--- VASTLY ENCHEAPENED!!

The third season was my number-one favorite series of 2006 and number-two favorite series of 2007. If you love or love someone who loves “Buffy” or “Freaks and Geeks” or “Cupid” (the first series masterminded by “Veronica” mastermind Rob Thomas), you really need to pony up that $20.

TV-on-DVD Calendar

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Edge of Darkness: The Complete Miniseries
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