TNT's "Leverage" is the Most Entertaining New Series of the Year

amp160TNTamp8217s fastpaced caper drama Leverage is the most entertaining new series of 2008 Sleek sexy and sophisticated it is nothing but funamp160Creatively speaking Leverage is landing just in time to give a much needed boost to television overall which has largely failed during the last 12 months to deliver dynamic new scripted programming in part because of the damage done to the development process by the Writers Guild of America strike Dozens of veteran series held up nicely as the industry suffered the wrath of its writers but new offerings seemed to be weaker than ever both in concept and execution Earlier in 2008 AMC scored with Breaking Bad though its first season was limited to a mere seven episodes USA Network came on strong with the underappreciated In Plain Sight and ABC wowed critics if not viewers with Eli Stone This fall CBS hit a home run with The Mentalist Fox made some noise with Fringe and The CW found success in its circle with 90210 All of these shows were quick to find fan bases some bigger than others But none of them have come as close to delivering pure escapist entertainment as does Leverage which makes its debut Sunday night Itamp8217s the Oceanamp8217s Eleven of the small screenamp160Indeed everything about Leverage is full of life and infectious energy from the cast amp8211 an instantly agreeable ensemble consisting of Christian Kane Gina Bellman Timothy Hutton Beth Riesgraf and Aldis Hodge pictured left to right above amp8211 to its writing direction editing and jaunty background music Hutton plays Nate Ford a former insurance claim investigator who assembles a team of slick and savvy thieves and hackers to take down cutthroat corporations and greedy powerabusers that are destroying the lives of everyday hardworking people Talk about a timely narrative Ford and friends manage to pump up their bank accounts in the process but not before the victims and survivors for whom they seek justice are properly compensated Fordamp8217s motivation to target the rich and powerful on behalf of their victims came about after his former employer denied insurance claims for his critically ill son and the boy tragically died Hutton in his best role since Ordinary People way back in 1980 makes clear that Fordamp8217s pain is always burning just below the surface but Leverage often shrugs off that weight as Ford and his dream team do their thingamp160I can totally see a featurelength Leverage on the big screen In fact I felt like I was enjoying great popcorn flicks when I previewed each of the first four episodes At this early stage my only complaint is with the storyline in episode three which finds the gang going after a ruthless Wall Street broker again amazing timing here who burns nine racehorses to death The episode never really gets beyond the absolute horror of its opening sequence as if it could which is mercifully brief and not at all graphic but nevertheless devastating Itamp8217s hard to enjoy the usual superduper scheming and cool conartistry that follows after hearing someone note that horses amp8220scream when they dieamp8221 Some viewers will likely be so turned off by this that they may stop watching and never return Horse burning is simply too dark a crime for this show which is at its best when itamp8217s at its breeziest Going forward executive producers Dean Devlin John Rogers and Chris Downey must keep that in mindamp160Still Iamp8217ll forgive this one misstep as major as it is because there is simply too much pleasure to be had here overall Significantly none of that pleasure can be classified as guilty even when Gina Bellman as seductive grifter Sophie and Christian Kane as brainy and brawny Eliot are heating up the screen Leverage has something for everybodyamp160The abundant joys of Leverage serve as a reminder that true escapism is in short supply these days unless it is decidedly dark and frequently downbeat in the manner of ABCamp8217s Lost Foxamp8217 24 NBCamp8217s Heroes and Sci Fi Channelamp8217s Battlestar Galactica NBC went with brighter escapist fare this fall and suffered the embarrassments of My Own Worst Enemy Crusoe and Knight Rider Apparently big fun is very difficult to do Bravo to TNT for getting it right

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TNT's "Leverage" is the Most Entertaining New Series of the Year

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Ed Martin

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TNT's "Leverage" is the Most Entertaining New Series of the Year

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Hispanic Leadership Roundtable: Inclusion, Mentorship, and Building the Next Generation (Video) - By Juan Ayala

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