Hope for ‘Huff’?
Showtime’s resilient
”
Huff
”
airs its second season finale at 10pm Sunday, so if you’ve
missed out on one of cable’s more popular outings, put it in park
and prepare to be thoroughly entertained.
Hope for ‘Huff’?
Showtime’s resilient “Huff” airs its second season finale at 10pm Sunday, so if you’ve missed out on one of cable’s more popular outings, put it in park and prepare to be thoroughly entertained. It’s hard not to with Hank Azaria and Blythe Danner at the helm here. Danner, by the way, walked home with an Emmy last year playing the irreverent Izzy, the mother of L.A. psychiatrist Craig “Huff” Huffstodt.
The series has done well with season two, which found many of its characters in the midst of turmoil. Huff and his wife, Beth (Paget Brewster), experienced a major dent in their relationship. Meanwhile, Huff’s over-the-top lawyer, Russell (a stellar Oliver Platt), dived nose-first into a runaway cocaine habit that’s proven to be quite costly – and emotional. Expect the season finale to tie up loose ends and leave a few threads hanging: Can Huff and Beth patch things up?
There’s a great deal to savor in this rewarding series, especially the writing. Without it, viewers might find themselves on the bad side of something like, say, “Out of Practice,” the big-star comedy (Henry Winkler, Stockard Channing) that CBS recently sent packing. A year before there was John Goodman’s ill-fated comedy “Center of the Universe,” which was buoyed by Jean Smart, Ed Asner and Olympia Dukakis.
Having big-name stars is one thing, but not enough. Giving them something interesting to say – and do – is another, which is why Huff has worked from day one. We may have Azaria to thank for that.
As one of the show’s producer, this Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated actor has fueled Huff with both a sharp comedic edge and enough diverse characters to keep viewers interested. Best of all, you actually care about what happens to them. And that’s rare, considering the empty brain calories found in much of today’s TV universe.
Tough Act to Follow
Another Sunday night treat is Bravo’s Inside the Actors Studio, which airs its 200th episode at 9pm. The featured guest? Dustin Hoffman. I’m curious to hear Hoffman’s response when host James Lipton gets around to asking the icon what he’d like the powers that be ask him at the gates of heaven. (E-mail us your favorite Hoffman film at
ga*****@sv**********.com
.)
Dan the Man, Canned?
Well, not really, but CBS has let titular newscaster Dan Rather go from his contract earlier than his planned fall exit. Rather joined CBS News in 1962. He’s one of a handful of hard-working journalists who, literally, have created and built the institution of broadcast journalism. Fortunately, he has nothing to do with the odd new evolution of that institution. (Just watch FOX News and you’ll get the picture.) Expect CBS to air a special broadcast tribute for Rather in the near future.
Buzz for ‘Vanished’
I sniff a hit TV show. Be on the look out for Fox’s “Vanished.” It doesn’t launch until September, but at first glance, it has all the makings of a could-be hit series.
Headlined by Gale Harold, who’s stripped of his glossy “Queer as Folk” studliness for the role of an intense FBI investigator, the series smacks of 24 by way of CSI. Harold, a fine actor who seems to have a knack for playing brooding men drowning their own volatile emotions, is teamed up with Ming-Na. (Fortunately, NBC canned the actress’s ill-conceived “Conception” last fall, paving the way for material for which she was better suited.)
The show’s premise chronicles the FBI team’s search for the missing wife (Joanne Kelly) of a senator (John Allen Nelson). Penelope Ann Miller (“Carlito’s Way”) and Esai Morales (“NYPD Blue”) have just been signed to join the new drama, which is set to air at 9pm Mondays, the timeslot of “24.” (Don’t worry, “24” returns in January.)
Greg Archer is an entertainment writer based on the Central Coast. He writes about the TV, film and being human. E-mail him at
ga*****@sv**********.com
or visit www.greg-archer.com.
