Question: Which fall pilots would you deem worthy of my time?
Answer: I finished watching the last of the pilots over the weekend and I have fantastic news: For the first time in recent memory, the good fall shows easily outnumber the bad ones — at least based on the pilots I saw. As Desperate Housewives taught us, the second and third episodes tell us much more about a show's creative bones than a season premiere. With that said, here are the fall offerings that have the most FauxVo potential.
* Vanished (Fox) and Kidnapped (NBC): Among the things these two thrillers share in common: They both&
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While I really liked the unabashed Ocean's Eleven-ness of NBC's Heist, FX's Thief (Tuesdays at 10 pm/ET) serves up grand larceny with gripping grit and no gloss, as Andre Braugher's Nick Atwater plots out that "one last score" that will lead him and his band of merry bandits out of harm's way. Mucking up the mix is the professional pinch's stepdaughter, Tammi, already disposed to view her father figure through less than rose-colored glasses, then forced to question everything about their familial ties when tragedy robs the teen of her mother, Nick's wife. It's heavy stuff, but
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HeistAs is often the case with these shows with glitzy big-budget pilots, the second episode seems to pale a little bit in comparison. Or so I thought for most of the episode because of all the talking and planning. That is until fast-driving Vinny showed up. In mere moments he amped up the entertainment factor with his special-request list, the car-chase music and the amazing under-the-trailer-truck getaway move. Too bad it didn't work and he landed in the slammer. Before he hit the scene, I had been mildly amused by the cashmere face mask, the fact that James was using Sam Jackson as a pseudonym and watching Billy getting stuck in the manhole. "Say diet!" I'm still grooving on this show despite all its Ocean's Eleven rip... rather, similarities, but I'
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Now here's a gamble if ever I heard one: The suits at Warner Bros. are proceeding with plans to make another Ocean's Eleven sequel — Ocean's Thirteen, natch — but without Oscar-winning eye candy Catherine Zeta-Jones or Julia Roberts in the cast. Joining George, Brad and Matt in the women's place will be a new tough gal — or rather, an old familiar one — Ellen Barkin (Sea of Love). Filming is scheduled to begin on July 21.
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Tonight at 10 pm/ET, NBC lays the foundation for a major Heist with a serialized drama — directed by Doug Liman (The Bourne Supremacy, Mr. & Mrs. Smith) and penned by Mark and Robb Cullen (FX's Lucky) — about the simultaneous robbery of three Beverly Hills jewelry stores. Leading the series' Ocean's Eleven-style rat pack of robbers are Mission: Impossible II baddie Dougray Scott as Mickey O'Neil and The Practice's Steve Harris as James "Never Jimmy" Johnson, while Seymour Cassel (as safecracker Pops), Marika Dominczyk (computer whi
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