THE TKTV NEWSLETTER
Season 3, Episode 35 aired December 11, 2000

CONTENTS
1. Intro
2. Review of Dune
     -by guest writer William Noetling
3. Don't miss
4. Media Junkie
     -by guest writer Jason Friedman
5. TV Trivia
6. A totally unrelated link
1. Intro

Cancellations are rampant as mid-season replacement time draws near. Jason Friedman mentions many in his article below, but I have the scoop on a few more that I'll toss in.

Even Jennie Garth couldn't save "The $treet." Fox just cancelled the troubled drama. I won't miss it.

UPN has cancelled its Friday night series, "Freedom." What? "Freedom?" Yeah, that's right, you didn't watch it so now it's gone, and no one will miss this one except maybe a few thousand teenage boys. (No offense to teenage boys intended.)

ABC is putting Gabriel Byrne's new series, "Madigan Men," on hiatus. This one I will miss a little, but it definitely won't be leaving a gaping hole in my life. "Madigan Men" may return after ABC checks out future episodes with new co-stars George Wendt and Christine Ebersol.

I just checked out ABC's new Friday night show, "Dot Comedy." Don't bother. This show, which basically reviews funny web sites, was so stupid and boring I couldn't even get through one half-hour episode.

Rumor has it Paramount is asking a huge amount of money for NBC to renew "Frasier," and NBC is balking. (What's a huge amount of money, you ask? How about 8 million dollars per episode.) Not only that, but CBS is waiting in the wings to snatch it up if negotiations should not be settled by March 1st. Wouldn't that be weird? "Frasier" on CBS?

That new "Law & Order" spin-off, "Criminal Intent," has its first cast member, and it's a good one. Vincent D'Onofrio will play a detective on the show. It looks like we'll be seeing this one as soon as next fall (2001), and it already has a 13-episode commitment from NBC. I still don't understand why "Deadline" was cancelled so quickly, but "Law & Order" having another spin-off is just fine with me. The trick with this one is that it will be looking at the crimes from all viewpoints, including that of the criminal.

That's it for this week. Let me make one recommendation, however. If you're not usually one to check out the unrelated link, you may want to give this one a try. It's a really great site, recommended to me by my friend Petro, and it's worth playing around with. You can find it at the bottom of this newsletter. Have fun!

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2. Review of Dune by William Noetling

Frank Herbert's Dune (Mini-series) - Sci-Fi Channel. Original Air Dates, 12-3 to 12-5 9:00 PM.

Starring William Hurt (Duke Leto Atreides), Alec Newman (Paul Atreides), Giancarlo Giannini (Emperor Shaddam IV), Uwe Ochsenknecht (Stilgar), Barbora Kodetova (Chani), P.H. Moriarty (Gurney Halleck), Julie Cox (Princess Irulan), Laslo Imre Kisch (Rabban), with Matt Keesler (Feyd Rautha) and Saskia Reeves as The Lady Jessica. Based on the Novel by Frank Herbert. Cinematography by Vittorio Storaro, Music by Graeme Revell, Produced by David Kappes, Written and Directed by John Harrison.

First things first, the obligatory comparison to the David Lynch version, released to theatres in 1984 (which I duly went to on opening day, despite the fact I was only 13 years old.): Is the new mini-series, with its state-of-the-art CGI effects better than the sixteen-year old Lynch film? Well that's like comparing apples to giraffes. Two different things ENTIRELY. The Lynch film is a remarkable piece of filmmaking, and he did the best he could, given the constraints he was under. Still Lynch put together a FANTASTIC cast and managed to make the best of the material, given only a little more than two hours to work with. What Harrison does here, with slightly more than twice the amount of time (remember, it's just a little over 4 and a half hours without commercials), is put the major events of the film in a more proper context. If you've read the book, and/or seen the original film, you have a much better understanding of the mini-series. If not, you're in deep trouble.

Adaptations are rarely better than their source material, and this version of Dune is no exception. I can only think of M*A*S*H (the Altman film) being better than its source material, and that was many, many years ago. Harrison tries to fit the entire tome into his measly four and a half hours, but really, he needs a couple more hours to properly do the material justice. I have heard that there was MUCH more footage shot, and it will most likely show up in a Video/DVD release, which would be good news in this case.

There are some very nice points about this mini-series. The fact that it's watchable is one. The fact that all the cast is younger and better looking than the Lynch version is another. And there's none of the classic Lynch gore and weirdness here. I quite enjoyed most of the acting, especially Alec Newman as Paul.

Barbora Kodetova as Chani captured my attention quite nicely, I hope to see more of her in the future. Even William Hurt, who is usually too loopy to be taken seriously anymore, is excellent as the Duke. Unfortunately, I will never forget Kenneth McMillan as the Baron, and Sting as Feyd Rautha in the Lynch version. Otherwise, I think the casting was superb. Vittorio Storaro's cinematography is top notch, even in the stilted set sequences. Storaro, an Academy Award winning photographer best known for his work on Apocalypse Now, utilizes his skills to make the film look incredibly otherworldly. Graeme Revelle's musical score is nicely understated as well. Production wise, it's top notch. I really would have liked to see this on the big screen.

The CGI Special Effects do leave something to be desired. I actually found that the worms, spaceships, etc. looked a little too much like their counterparts in the Lynch version. The CGI Guild Navigator however, seen only for a few seconds in the first night, was incredible. It's too bad we didn't see him again. Also, while I liked the overall costume and art design, I didn't like the way they executed the stillsuits. While they were truer to the book, they weren't that spectacular.

Of course in an adaptation there's stuff that they leave out, and unfortunately, the omissions here are especially glaring. There are multiple examples, but the one HUGE problem I have is that in the first part, we are told that Yueh is the traitor that sets the story into motion. Unfortunately, Harrison has completely left Dr. Yueh out of the narrative to that point, so having him be the traitor is completely pointless to the viewer. Another big problem is that, while Gurney Halleck playing a bigger role is excellent, Duncan Idaho disappears never to return, (perhaps he will in the next mini-series, which Harrison says he plans to do). The Wierding modules are no where to be seen, and the Wierding way (the fighting method that House Atreides teaches the Fremen) is only passingly mentioned.

So, the ultimate question, is it worth investing the time to watch this mini-series? I think so, and I'll probably watch it again (I taped it without commercials). Was it the ultimate Dune series? No, but then, no adaptation is. This is good enough for now.

My Rating: 3 *** out of 5 stars.

TKTV is always looking for new guest writers. Do you have an idea for an article? Write to TK with the subject of "guestwriter."

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3. Don't Miss

For details and lots more fun TV to look forward to, see
http://www.tktv.net/index.html?/upcoming.html

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4. Media Junkie by Jason Friedman

First off, I have to mention a show that used to be bad, but is now very good: "Family Law." I tried to watch it last year, and I couldn't get through a single episode. This year, the show is a solid drama. Tony Danza is terrific. Just think, if he never did that guest stint on "The Practice," he would never have been considered a dramatic actor. In addition to the contribution of Danza, the writing has just been great all year.

NBC is still struggling with its new lineup. At least their old shows are holding up well. They just cancelled "Titans" and Kramer and I'm not sure how much longer "Cursed" has. Their only bright spot is "Ed," which pulled in pretty good numbers in its first Wednesday outing.

The top twenty show that nobody ever talks about is "Becker." It is one of the only consistently funny shows on television. Ted Danson is great at making an unlikable character likable. All of the supporting cast is very solid. The mark of a good comedy is the entire cast being solid and quality writing. "Becker" has both of these.

This leads me into a show that, in my opinion, is no longer good. I watched "Friends" this week and was surprised at how boring it was. The only ones that still seem to be having fun are Matt LeBlanc and Jennifer Anniston. Courtney Cox's character has become a caricature, as has Lisa Kudrow's. Matthew Perry is still pretty good, but seems to be coasting. It is supposed to be a comedy, but it isn't funny. It is like the writers thought people would enjoy tuning in to see what these crazy kids are up to.

Though we don't really need another cop show, David Milch has one for next year that sounds interesting (Milch is one of the creative forces behind "NYPD Blue" which was great for its first few years). Ed O'Neill, of "Married With Children" fame, is going to star. I have a sneaky feeling he will be really good. And tough guy Michael Madsen is in the cast.

Another show for next year that sounds interesting is "Greg the Bunny". The show is described as "Sesame Street" meets "The Larry Sanders Show". It is a behind the scenes look at a children's TV show. At least it is an interesting concept.

If you haven't watched it lately, "The Daily Show" is still consistently very entertaining. Jon Stewart is as clever as ever. All of the rest of the regular cronies are excellent. I just wish the interviews were a little longer. Usually, all of the segments are worth watching. This is more than you can say about most shows.

Note from TK: I believe "Cursed" has been given a full-season order, although in my opinion it doesn't really deserve one. It's also changing its name to "The Weber Show."

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5. TV Trivia

Last week's question was: Jessalyn Gilsig was supposed to appear on another David E. Kelley show before she was on "Boston Public," but she never did. What show was it and why did she never appear? Bonus if you can tell me which actress she was supposed to replace on the show.

First prize goes to Allan J. Congratulations!

Honorable mentions go to Andrew S. and Jarett G. Kudos to all of you who got this one. I gather it was a hard one since there were significantly fewer answers than usual.

The correct answer was "Snoops." Gilsig was scheduled to replace Paula Marshall, but the show was cancelled before her episodes ever aired.

This week's question is: in what movie did Richard Schiff co-star with the son of one of his current co-stars in "The West Wing?" (To word it differently, in case that made no sense: Richard Schiff, who is on "The West Wing," once co-starred in a film with the son of someone else who is on "The West Wing." What was the name of the film?)

Send answers to TK at tk@tktv.net with the subject of tvtrivia. Winners will be chosen at random from all the correct answers.

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6. A totally unrelated link

Guess the Dictator/Sit-Com Character

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The younger we are, the more we want to change the world.
The older we are, the more we want to change the young.