TNT’s “Leverage” ended its fourth season last Sunday night with a rightful title “The Last Dam Job” in which the Leverage team leader Nate Ford (played by Academy Award and Global Globe winner Timothy Hutton) recruits the team due to an old foe spying on the team’s developments and supposedly knowing their secrets. The job also involves an undercover dam plot to take over the waterways. The five member team in doing this job will face dire circumstances since the plot of their enemies also involves elimination of the team.
Leverage's crime drama stems from the good guy-bad guy realm, where the team; although shady characters themselves, cracks down on those that are doing harm to others in a high tech, action/adventure style. Nate was a former insurance investigator and the rest of his team consists of a thief, a computer wizard hacker, a grifter and a retrieval specialist.
The Last Dam Job can be seen again on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 10 p. m./9c. Syndicated episodes are also showing. New episodes for the fifth season will begin this summer.
SouthLAnd
“Southland” premieres with its fourth season also on TNT tonight at 10 p. m./9c. The capital “LA” is used for promotion purposes due to the actual filming and series set in Los Angeles, California. Southland was originally on NBC; was cancelled in 2009, then picked up by TNT that same year. After TNT purchased the program’s rights, the series sustained major budget cuts that affected production and cast characters.
Southland’s website describes the show as “redefining the police drama with its raw, authentic look at the lives of Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detectives and cops. Since the show is shot in Los Angeles, it is believed to capture a “realistc, natural environment where similar situations can and often do in real life.”
Season four also brings new characters to the forefront that includes Lucy Liu (films “Charlie’s Angels”, “Chicago”) playing Police Officer Jessica Tang, Lou Diamond Phillips (films “La Bamba”, ”Stand and Deliver”) as Police Officer Ferguson and Dorian Missick (films “The Manchurian Candidate” (2004 version), ”Lucky Number Slevin”) will play Detective Ruben Robinson, Lydia Adams partner played by Regina King.
Due to budget cuts, the recurring cast actors will not return except for C. Thomas Howell, who plays Police Officer Bill “Dewey” Dudek. Veteran actress Marla Gibbs (“The Jeffersons”, “227”) will guest star in tonight’s broadcast.
Golden Globe Highlights
The Golden Globe nominations, winners and red carpet apparel are still in the news, so here are some highlights -
Three time Golden Globe winner and host for the third consecutive year Ricky Gervais brought again his funny and sarcastic remarks to the stage. One thing you can say about the British multitalent: he’s not boring; which is much needed at long and dragged-out award shows. The material the host presents should be fresh and innovative, to keep both audiences (at the awards show and TV watchers) awake and enjoying the show.
Fox News stated that Gervais joked that the Globes "are just like the Oscars, but without all that esteem. The Globes are to the Oscars what Kim Kardashian is to Kate Middleton. A bit louder, a bit trashier, a bit drunker and more easily bought. Allegedly. Nothing's been proved."
Other highlights –
- Golden Globe winner for Best Supporting Actress Octavia Spencer’s (“The Help”) moving speech which began with the following - "With regard to domestics in this country, now and then, I think Dr. King said it best: `All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance.' And I thank you for recognizing that with our film," Spencer said.
- Golden Globe winners Idris Elba for “Luther” and Kelsey Grammer for “Boss” against strong contenders. Washington Post blogger Jen Chaney claims that was the biggest surprise for awards given.
- Meryl Streep saying “I’m sorry” after winning her award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama (“The Iron Lady”) after giving her speech to Viola Davis, who was a strong contender to win for “The Help”. Ms. Streep and Ms. Davis played together in the 2008 film “Doubt”. Both were nominated for Oscars for the film, Streep for Best Actress, Davis for Best Supporting Actress.
- The standing ovation given to veteran and Academy Award winning actor Sidney Poitier. The 84-year-old walked slowly to the podium to present the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award to actor Morgan Freeman. He was soon joined by Academy Award winning actress (Dame) Helen Mirren. Here is a caption of what Freemen said before accepting his award - “Being up here receiving this award, this tribute that you yourself received, makes it clear to me that though they call this the Cecil B. DeMille Award, in my house, it will also be called the Sidney Poitier Award,” Freeman said.
- The great veteran actor Christopher Plummer, who won the Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actor in the film “Beginners”. The movie is shown in flashbacks with Plummer playing Hal, a man who tells his son he is gay after his wife dies. The 82-year-old actor has many awards and nominated many times for an Oscar, but has never won one. Perhaps winning this award will bring him the most prized possession, the Oscar, which many Golden Globe winners have received.
The Golden Globes are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The Academy Award nominations will be presented on January 24, 2012.
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