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Hercules Diagnoses USA’s ROYAL PAINS!!
I am – Hercules!!
A likeable romantic dramedy from writer-producer Michael Rauch (“Love Monkey,” “Life Is Wild”) and Andrew Lenchewski (“UC: Undercover”), “Royal Pains” follows a newly blackballed New York ER doctor named Hank Lawson who stumbles into a career as a “concierge physician,” mending misbehaving (if insanely rich) Hamptons residents away from the prying eyes of the law. It stars Mark Feuerstein (“Once and Again,” “Good Morning, Miami,” “The West Wing”).
The pilot suggests a less cartoony “Dirty Sexy Money,” with a middle-class and well-meaning doctor instead of a middle-class and well-meaning lawyer. There are also big chunks of “The O.C.” and “Privileged” in its DNA. Directed by TV vet Jace Alexander (“Rescue Me,” “Canterbury’s Law”), the pilot is glossier than a lot of big-screen features.
Campbell Scott (a lot grayer than he was two years ago on J.J. Abrams’ “Six Degrees”) is commanding and effective as a pragmatic zillionaire, and Paulo Costanzo (“Joey”) proves solid as Hank’s CPA kid brother. I even like the kid who plays a self-sufficient kid hemophiliac.
It’s certainly one of most watchable basic cable pilots I’ve seen in some time, so I’m provisionally season-passing it.
USA Today says:
… Tonight's episode works a bit too hard to establish the premise, but luckily, the worst moments are all in the setup, and we'll never have to go through them again. What's left is an amusing series that is well-served by Feuerstein, who may have finally found a role that keeps him suitably employed. …
The New York Times says:
… The series may want to say something about the inequities of the medical care system or it may just want an excuse to produce panning shots of the velvet lawns and iron gates of Gin Lane. …
The Los Angeles Times says:
… There are some problems: Except for his scenes as a depressed couch potato, Hank is all super skills and high-mindedness, which makes him in most respects the least interesting character here. The best stuff happens around him: As his comical brother, Costanzo makes a shallower but more consistent part quite charming. And Ezra Miller, as a super-rich latchkey teen abandoned by his father in a modernist architectural showplace, gives a lesson in intelligent underplaying; by relaxing into his part, he makes it real. The Hamptons themselves, and the other bits of Long Island that stand in for them here, help sell the show. The sunny shore, the grasses, the seabirds -- it's a vacation just looking at them.
The Chicago Tribune says:
… Though the show apes "Burn Notice's" beachside vibe, it is too predictable to make an impression. … Feuerstein, while likable, doesn't give any subtext to his blandly written character. The only person I wanted to see again was Boris, a mega-rich German played by Campbell Scott. Boris has all the charisma that the "Royal" physician lacks.
The Washington Post says:
… It's escapist and beachy, with a high disregard for reality. And that's a good thing. … Lead-coated dialogue may slow down the opening emergency room scenes, but once the show hits the beach, the tone gets lighter, campier, more suitable to Feuerstein's rom-com talents. Campbell Scott is fun as the wealthy party-hosting Austrian whose name sounds like Boris Keister von Jergens Crack Dip, and who offers Hank a house on his property. … The premiere isn't laugh-out-loud funny, though Paulo Costanzo as Hank's brother tries (and tries too hard). The supporting cast is uneven, though Hank's down-to-earth love interest, played by Jill Flint, is his equal in charm. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
… an amusing, enjoyable addition to basic cable. … Hank is definitely the show's straight man -- Evan and the locals make "Royal Pains" worth checking out.
The Boston Herald says:
… The 90-minute premiere feels padded. The first 20 minutes could easily be condensed to three. At its best, it’s “Nip/Tuck” shorn of wit and creativity. At least the scenery is pretty. …
The Boston Globe says:
… isn't very good. But the series fits so perfectly into the whole USA gestalt, under the "Characters Welcome" promotional mantra, I feel almost admiring toward it. … The one-liners are broad, the plots preposterous. And yet it all works in a lighthearted-summer-fare kind of way, helped along with almost pornographic images of Hamptons wealth. … "Royal Pains" will continue to work if it can stay playful and innocuous. The minute Hank gets invested in healing the moral ills of spoiled Hamptons rich folk, "Royal Pains" will become a royal pain.
Variety says:
… Breezy escapism isn't terrible as calculated formulas go, but nobody risks suffering a headache from being forced to over-think the 75-minute premiere. … utterly unpretentious about its modest creative ambitions, and in this day and age, who doesn't like the idea of a doctor who makes house calls? Simply being quirky, however, only goes so far, so my preliminary diagnosis is that these "Pains" don't amount to much more than a second-degree "Burn."
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… fun to watch. Feuerstein and Costanzo have an instant and believable chemistry, and no matter how many interchangeable women come through their lives, this is the best relationship on the show. The series is superficial and glossy but still slick and enjoyable. It's just a beach read, but it's a good one. …
10 p.m. Thursday. USA.
Galactica: The Complete Series
Galactica: The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
The New Book From The Guy Behind THE WRATH OF KHAN, THE VOYAGE HOME And THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY!!
Galactica: The Complete Series
Galactica: The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
The New Book From The Guy Behind THE WRATH OF KHAN, THE VOYAGE HOME And THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY!!
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+ Expand All
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Sorry
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Does it work well as a companion to BURN NOTICE?
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Same goes for lawyers and cops. Are there no other professions in this country worth exploring through television programs?
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Fucking shame that run of the mill crap like The Closer, Raising the Bar, Burn Notice or Monk has way more viewers than the quality series of F/X and AMC.
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After all the assfucking working class have gotten from the rich recently they sure need a remake.
Sure the show sounds interesting.
But the powers that be deemed time for a propaganda rollout. Show the poor troubled vampire class in human light. -
Saved was one of the best new shows that season. TNT didn't want any competition with their high ranked show The Closer. So they killed Saved.
I see TNT has moved away from that strategy.
Saved is still dead. -
Weeds, Breaking Bad, even The Wire.
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I forgot about them. I'm also tired of shows about quirky single women who can't find Mr. Right.
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Don't know if I'll watch Royal Pains or not, may give it a spin tonight.
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I'm going to randomly post BURN NOTICE! all over the site today.
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Ok, that one wasn't random
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http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/06/heroes-casts-prison-break-star-robert-knepper-as-new-bad-guy.html (remove spaces)
BURN NOTICE! -
I've been catching up on Burn Notice the last couple of days with the Marathon USA has been running. Gotta say, this show is a blast.
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Damn but Gabrielle Anwar is sexy.
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I'm so happy. Today should be a bank holiday or something.
Burn Notice talk back? -
Sorry, had to keep it going.
Rob in WI: As much as I love Burn Notice, it's not really a talkback-worthy show. There's only so many "Michael is so cool!" and "Fiona is so hot!" comments possible before it becomes repetitive. -
...so you know it's going to do good.
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It's not funny enough to be a comedy. It's not action-packed enough to be action. It's not dramatic enough to be a drama. If it were funnier it could be The A-Team, but it's not. It's cartoonish without being funny. Oops, I just spilled some hate all over Burn Notice. My bad.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8083479.stm
Kill Bill and Kung Fu star David Carradine has been found dead in a Bangkok hotel room, BBC correspondent Jonathan Head has reported.
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Is she Paulo Costanzo's sister?
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Every role I've ever seen him in from murderous biker in Law and Order to Transporter 3 has him as the villain.
He really deserves a What about Jim makeover. -
It's a really good show. But I am really looking forward to TRUE BLOOD.
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you forgot "Sam is so funny" and "Bruce Campbell is a god". See that's four talkback topics right there.
And yes, Gabrielle Anwar is quite sexy, in a non-traditional way.
BURN NOTICE! -
Isn't it about time for a Fiona IRA story line?
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Pretty cool psycho on Nip/Tuck.
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The dude from Dresden Files (I think it's the same guy) was cast as former associate of Fiona for a few eps at the end of the season
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Wouldn't it be nice to ocassionally cast Irish as Irish?
Other than Hispanics, who else ever gets to use their native accents? Colm Meaney? -
Next couple of days/weeks expect two more to fill the law of three deaths requirement.
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Found in Bangkok... you will be missed.
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By the ChrTh Exponential Celebrity Death Theory(tm 2007). With the growth of communication and exposure, the number of "celebrities" has skyrocketed. As a result the Law of Three is an artifact. In its place the CECDT has been created to deal with the new celebrity reality, and that is this: at some point in the future, a celebrity will die *every day*. Until we get to that point (it'll take about 20-30 years, I reckon), you'll see periods of death clusters, for example, 5 dead over 3 days, or 14 dead over 8 days. Obviously the clusters will have breaks and onesies and twosies between them, but the breaks will get smaller and the clusters larger until we arrive at the Celebrity Death Singularity (tm ChrTh 2009)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Carradine
On June 4, 2009, Carradine was found dead in his room at the Park Nai Lert Hotel in Junfan Mulay, Bangkok, Thailand.[1][2]. The initial police investigation indicated that Carradine had hanged himself using a cord of the type which is used with curtains. Circumstances suggested that the death was a suicide -
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/06/04/headlines/headlines_30104421.php
"Kung Fu" and "Kill Bill" star David Carradine was found hung himself in a closet in a hotel room in Bangkok on Wednesday, Thai police said.
Police believed he committed suicide.
It was a hotel's maid who opened his suite on Thursday at 10 am only to find Carradine in a closet. He was described as behind half naked.
Autoerotic asphyxiation? -
He was found five steps away from the door.
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The fact is fame causes celebrity deaths.
Andy Warhol stated that everyone will have fifteen minutes of fame.
Every famous person will eventually die.
Thus, much like radiation, fame causes death.
Still skeptical?
Become famous and see if you don't eventually die.
On a similar note, every goldfish placed in a bowl of Tomato juice will die. If you submerged Patrick Duffy in Tomato juice he too would die. Tomato juice will kill you just as fast as fame. -
Nahhh.....why would the powers at be at AICN give US a Burn Notice talkback, have they EVER? No, instead we get SNL talkback and LENO or CONAN talkbacks, some of the dumbest crap on TV. BN is one of the coolest most fun shows on TV, its one of the highest rated cable programs and its got FUCKING BRUCE CAMPBELL! WTF AICN, give us a fucking BN talkback. The show fucking rocks and is achieving cult like status amongst the geeks. Fuck yeah! Oh, Royal Pains? couldnt give 2 shits.....
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Could you explain that?
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Updated to rope around neck and body or neck and genitals.
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Fuck man, truly bumming news. why the fuck would he hang himself?
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Auto Erotic Asphyxiation or maybe self fellating.
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I forget the name of the move Uma Thurman used on Bill, but you take 5 steps and then your heart explodes
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reaper announcement should be soon
http://tinyurl.com/ojyux2
http://tinyurl.com/rbfcwb -
Care to provide a link or a souce please? Until I see a source I refuse to believe that.
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"Five Finger Death Punch"
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Oh man, I really hope Reaper returns
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head to any news site and it should be up by now
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"Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique"
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Love this show.Great way to kick off the summer.
Not sure about royal pains yet but the being paid in gold bars has me alittle more interested then I would normally be for another doctor show. -
Ive perused the sites. Looks like basic suicide. I see nothing about Auto Erotic Asphyxiation or the like, unless EWG is just yanking my dick (get it!) which wouldnt suprise me............
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So maybe asphyxiation was necessary?
Seriously, though, I'm going to wait until all the news is known. Until then, five steps from the door. -
It's a kill bill reference.
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The BBC and others first reported that he was found with the rope around his neck and genitals. This was later changed to read neck and body. It was also said in the initial reports that he was found half naked.
So the original details may get sanitised for public consumption, but this is basically similar to the Michael Hutchence (from INXS) death. ie, not a suicide, but death by misadventure.
It's just funnier to some, to say auto-erotic asphyxiation or auto-fellatio related neck brake. -
If you hit google, you can still find plenty of reputable sources which have not yet been sanitised.
Give it a few days, and chances are none of them will mention genitals anymore. -
If he was attempting to pull himself closer, rope around body/rope around genitals, he may have applied enough pressure that he could not breathe.
Interesting that one of the death by wippet is the lungs don't have enough oxygen because of the gas and you suffocate. Same probably holds true with nitrous in balloons or canisters.
People tend to forget how simple body mechanics/alignment may kill you.
Fun has it's price. -
Really what else you want to use? Hung himself while choking the chicken? Suffocated while forcing himself to suck his own dick?
Accurate and less demeaning. -
Really. He's dead. When I die, I'm going to be beyond caring what anyone says about how I died.
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but i know the indian chick on the show is ridiculously cute
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There are lot's of sad pathetic deaths. There are lots of humorous deaths. In the end it is how History views you, kindly or the butt of ongoing jokes.
Look at Nelson Rockefeller? or this
Lupe Velez, Hollywood's "Mexican Spitfire" of the 1940's, commits suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills. Contrary to her plans of being found laid out on the bed in a silk nightgown, she is instead discovered in the bathroom with her head in the toilet. Her ex-husband, Tarzan star Johnny Weismuller, frequently used to beat her.
Dead is dead but History is a fucking bitch. -
I gotta say, USA has become one of my favorite channels over the past few years. Monk, Psych, Burn Notice (awesome!) so I'll check this new one out. Here in NY I've met a guy who's a mob Dr before and he's pretty hilarious so I'll see how it plays out on TV with shit they want to keep from the cops.
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I believe the technical term is "Michael is so fucking cool"
Plus Bruce Campbell. You know. -
He's a show-killer! And not a terribly good actor (PaulO Costanzo is much more interesting and effective, but he's a show-killer too, unfortunately). Feuerstein must be somebody's nephew, or have photos of a powerful someone with a dead lady/live boy, or like Dick Cheney, merely making sacrifices to his dark lord Beelzebub. I have no other explanation for these continued, dogged attempts to make him a TV star.
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what a shit show
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Judy Greer! The dude from "Ed." Cameos from actual musicians. A tolerable Jason Priestly. A decent and smart show. Which of course means it never stood a chance.
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So we have three topics for a talkback: Michael/Sam/Fiona is Cool/Hot/Awesome. Oh wait, four topics: "I hate Burn Notice and even though I only watched seven minutes of it once my opinion is relevant."
Fifth topic: Bale and/or Professionalism. -
I've been a big fan of Feurerstein's for awhile now. Excited to see him get some leading man time - and this series sound promising. USA is yet to disappoint me with their original programming.
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PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Mad Men, SNL, The Shield
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY:
30 Rock, Big Bang Theory. The Daily Show,
How I Met Your Mother, The Office
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA:
Breaking Bad, Friday Night Lights, Lost, Mad Men, The Shield
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINI-SERIES AND SPECIALS:
2008 Summer Olympics, 24: Redemption,
Generation Kill, Grey Gardens, Taking Chance
OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM OF THE YEAR:
Fringe, The Mentalist, No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, True Blood, United States of Tara (boooooooooooo on the latter 2)
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey, 30 Rock; Steve Carell, The Office; Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother, Jim Parsons; Big Bang Theory
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Glenn Close, Damages; Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad; Walton Goggins, The Shield; Jon Hamm, Mad Men; Hugh Laurie, House
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS AND INFORMATION: 60 Minutes, The Alzheimer's Project, Frontline, The Rachel Maddow Show,
We Shall Remain
HERITAGE AWARD: ER, M*A*S*H, SNL, The Shield, Star Trek -
But I wonder how many seasons they can keep this up. I really liked season 1, thought season 2 was good, but, really, anything beyond 3 is going to be pushing it for me.
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"Micheal gets out of prison with help from an old friend..."
Prison?!?!?!?
Man, I'm salivating already to see how this is going to work out.
P.S. - RIP David Carradine. -
Holy shit, looks like they realized Walton's performance on The Shield was fucking stunning, by putting him in with the big boys (and girl) who are all the central characters on their shows. Hope the emmys don't drop the ball.
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yes, it is very shallow.
But it is fun. -
Thanks for the nom list. I agree with most of those with a few exceptions. Rachel Maddow is just the female liberal version of Glenn Beck without the sense of humor. Here's pulling for either Lost or Mad Men.
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She makes me want to strip naked, get in a closet, and hang myself masturbating.......I'm just sayin'.
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However, SNL is surely taking the spot of many vastly superior programs. Breaking Bad for one.Burn Notice is light summer fun. The doctor show after it...leads have no charisma.
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Well I saw the previews for this and they caused me physical pain. Then I read Herc's review and thought "Uh oh, my barometer must be on the fritz." Then I read all the reviews he linked to that totally contradicted him and felt better. That takes balls, writing a wrong review and then posting links to smarter people who ALL disagree.
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He plays the same smug, self-satisfied douchebag in every single thing he's ever acted in. And I'm guessing that's how he is in real life.
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That's it... just wanted to say it.
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... a Burn Notice talkback would be cool. We could totally discuss the temporal shift caused by the tachyon bombardment to which we're subjected by Bruce Campbell's awesomeness. Or we could discuss the effects of the synchronicity of "releases" every time Gabrielle shows up on screen. Plenty to discuss...
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could have better actors, writers, producers but it is a growing thing having these personal doctors in rich communities- not a bad idea but not a great show
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the women are all very attractive and rich people problems tug at my heart strings
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if, when you give out helpful tips to people you preface your statements by saying "When you're a spy....."
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it's always good to keep some Elmer's Glue around.....that way, if you get a splinter, you just put some glue on it, wait for it to dry, then peel the dried glue off, and it will take the splinter with it.
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you should have some fine grit sandpaper in your kitchen drawer, that way if you accidentally chip a glass, you can sand the chip smooth with the sandpaper and not have to worry about cutting your lips on the glass.
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and you're out of toothpaste, you can always just sprinkle some baking soda on your toothbrush, it will clean your teeth just as well.
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It's an awesome show, so much better than most of the crap on TV. If they put a quality show like this in the slot of The Mentalist (I have no clue why people love that show) it'd be huge. I want to like Royal Pains was just meh... I ended up not watching the last 15 minutes of it. I didn't like the actor playing the main doctor/character which is bad thing. Talk Back for Burn Notice! God what a fabulous season opening. Michael has a big fat bullseye on his back and it'll be fun to see how he handles these new challenges with everyone gunning for him.
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Y'know, where the doctor has to break the rules because the system is broken.
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