Thursday, July 19, 2007

HBOUR TOWN: Back in the days of the studio system, studios would cast their movies almost entirely with players under long-term contract to the studio. To this day, there are a lot of criticisms of the studio system (many unjustified, one might argue), but if you were a mid-level working actor back in the day -- a proto-HITG -- it could provide you with a steady paycheck and more or less regular work.

Does it seem to anybody else that HBO is trying to resurrect this aspect of the studio system? It's almost like HBO shows are shot in a small village populated entirely by character actors willing to drop everything and put on a show. To wit:
  • Dayton Callie delivered goods on the frontier (Charlie Utter, Deadwood) and drugs and beatdowns in Imperial Beach (Steady Freddie, John from Cincinnati);
  • Paula Malcomson slung hash in IB (JFC) and slung something else in Deadwood (Trixie, Deadwood);
  • Branka Katic proposed sex for financing to Vinnie Chase (Nika, Entourage) and pie for a date with a polygamist (Ana, Big Love);
  • Paul Ben-Victor ran a studio (Alan, Entourage), a cargo-smuggling enterprise (Vondos, The Wire), and drugs (Palaka, JFC);
  • Jim Beaver married for a woman's honor (Ellsworth, Deadwood), shopped his gambling machines to warring polygamists (Reese, Big Love), and struggled with Vietnam guilt (Vietnam Joe, JFC);
  • Garret Dillahunt killed Wild Bill (Jack McCall, Deadwood), got killed in a case of mistaken identity (Slippery Dan -- or maybe Bummer Dan; I can see the problem -- Deadwood), came back as a self-deprecatingly psychopathic Hearst advance man (Wolcott, Deadwood), and gave up his medical practice because of a miracle (Dr. Smith, JFC);
  • Willie Garson had man troubles (Stanford Blatch, Sex and the City) and woman troubles (Dickstein, JFC);
  • Luis Guzman tended a shithole (Ramon, JFC) and possibly was incarcerated in one (El Cid, Oz*);
  • Austin Nichols started shit (Morgan Earp, Deadwood) and ended it (John, JFC);
  • Matt Winston won the lotto (Barry, JFC) and also did something* (Terry, Six Feet Under) and something else* (Jeremy, Arlis$)
  • Edie Falco investigated crimes* (Detective Whittlesey, Oz) and looked the other way (Carmela, Sopranos);
  • Lance Reddick kicked ass in a usually but not always politically-sensitive way (Lt. Daniels, The Wire) and had somethign to do with a prison* (Desmond, Oz);
  • Luke Perry wore the collar (Rev. Jeremiah, Oz) and wore a collarless leather jacket (Linc, JFC);
  • Malin Ackerman went topless a lot (Juna - The Comeback) and had a threesome with E (Tori, Entourage) (along with nympho hillbilly in Harold & Kumar, typecast much?)

Granted, a lot of this is just David Milch, Tom Fontana, and David Simon sharing a stable of actors, but I suppose that's exactly what I'm talking about. Plus, I kind of like this. It permits a sort of interim emotional connection to the characters until the new characters seem real.

*Note: did not watch this show, so I don't know exactly what the actor did.

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