[Theepistle] Saintly Glamour

[Ian Dickerson]

Interesting. 

You need to watch more Leverage, the plots alone are reminiscent of The
Brighter Buccaneer and that era. And there's a great sense of humor to it
all.

You also need to watch more and later Hustles--the last series particularly
had a nice sense of fun about combined with similarly Brighter
Buccaneer-like plots.

The Burn Notice comparison is mainly driven by the hero helping people who
are in trouble, buy boy oh boy do I have to agree with you about Jeffrey
Donovan's talking through clenched teeth...

Ian



-----Original Message-----
From: Carolyn Gruske [mailto:be265 at torfree.net] 
Sent: 01 October 2009 22:11
To: Ian Dickerson
Cc: theepistle at fascicle.org
Subject: Re: [Theepistle] Saintly Glamour

Having seen the first season or two of Hustle, an episode of Leverage and
all of Burn Notice, I can't say there is anything inherently "saintly" 
about the shows. Sure they all have the stick-it-to-the-bad-guy plot usually
involving some sort of con, but they just don't have the same feeling of fun
and exuberance

I think part of the problem with the first two shows is the ensemble nature
of the cast. I can't say that I really got to know (or care about) any of
the characters in Hustle. Yes, I knew who they were supposed to be and what
their roles on the team are, but that's about it. Yes, I've only seen one
episode of Leverage (co-incidentally I watched it last night) but I can't
say that I'm really compelled to watch any more. The characters just didn't
do anything to draw me back.

Now I have become a fan of Burn Notice. It's less of an ensemble piece (even
though the supporting characters are important) and as such there is more
sympathy created for the main character. While it does have a bit of the
glamour Micheal feels is missing on TV (sunny location, nice suits,
expensive sunglasses and some really great cars) it is still a bit
workman-like in that Michael Weston is just going through the motions and
doing what needs to be done in order to get his job back/protect his
family/help out his friends. He doesn't take on clients for fun, and I think
the fun element is one of the strongest drivers in any of the Simon Templar
stories. Sure there are a few where revenge is top of the agenda, but
overall you know the Saint is on the case because he's having a good time.

Bruce Campbell's character in Burn Notice adds an element of fun but that's
Bruce's forte, and if he toned down that aspect of his performance I'd be
sorely disappointed.

If anything, I'd say Burn Notice is more MacGuyver for the modern age than
the Saint revisited. In terms of the body count to bullets (or body count to
explosions) ratio it comes in closer to the A-Team than I'd like, but that
really is the worst I can say about the show (although I'd be happy if
Jeffrey Donovan did a little less talking through his nose/through his
clenched teeth, but that's just being really picky.) Carolyn



On Thu, 1 Oct 2009, Ian Dickerson wrote:

> Also in America there is Leverage--just commissioned for a third 
> season--and Burn Notice, both of which have a certain Saintliness to them.
>
> Ian
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: theepistle-bounces+ian.dickerson=gmail.com at fascicle.org
> [mailto:theepistle-bounces+ian.dickerson=gmail.com at fascicle.org] On 
> Behalf Of Tim Forcer
> Sent: 01 October 2009 15:54
> To: theepistle at fascicle.org
> Subject: Re: [Theepistle] Saintly Glamour
>
> At 23:24 30/09/2009, Michael Serafin wrote:
>
>>  I hope that the new Saint series will revive something that has  
>> been woefully missing from television of late: glamour and elegance.
>
> Hey, what about "fun"?  A bit of escapist amusement ought to be the 
> lifeblood of TV entertainment drama?
>
> In the UK, we have had several series of _Hustle_ - not a repackaged 
> _Saint_, but sharing at least some characteristics?
>
> Some info at:
> <http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/hustle/welcome.shtml>  Theme: "you can't 
> con an honest man".
>
> If _Hustle_ can be a success, and maintain a following over several 
> years, there _ought_ to be plenty of scope for a _Saint_ series to be 
> commissioned, PROVIDING it stayed close to Charteris's characterisation
and style.
>
> Tim
>
>
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