"Damages" adds Campbell Scott and Martin Short (?!) to Cast

In a move that is a sigh of relief for Damages fans, FX announced the addition of Campbell Scott and Martin Short (once again... ?!) to the cast of the Glenn Close-starring drama (Comingsoon.net had the scoop here). I wasn't entirely convinced the show was coming back at all after FX President John Landgraf called season two a "ratings disappointment." If you haven't seen the first season of Damages, buy it immediately (click here) or rent it on Netflix. It's amazing. The second season I could take or leave (it's still good), but season one is really quite brilliant.

Campbell Scott is, in my opinion, one of the best and most underutilized actors working today. In addition to directing the totally underrated indie film Off the Map, he's also done great acting in David Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner, Roger Dodger, Saint Ralph and supplies his voice in a superb reading of Tom Perrotta's The Abstinence Teacher, which is one of the finer audio books I've heard (click here to buy it). He's the man, and I think he'll be a great addition to the Damages cast.

Martin Short, on the other hand, I'm not too sure about. Darrell Hammond's absurd presence on last year's season of Damages (check this out) was a huge distraction and there's nothing on Mr. Short's resume to suggest he can handle this cut-throat legal thriller (I double-checked, really there's nothing). I trust the executive producers, I just hope they thoroughly screen tested him. In fact, if they put the screen tests up on youtube, I'll buy it. They probably won't, but it's worth a shot.

The article mentions that the show is coming back to FX in January. After last year's 16 month delay between seasons, I won't hold my breath for a January start. But here's hoping...

Below are a clip from the pilot episode of Damages and then the trailer for Off the Map:

I Like Awards Shows. I Don't Like Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

The 2009 Emmy Awards were pretty good. I'm a fan of the big three: Emmys, Golden Globes, Oscars. People often complain about which films and TV shows are nominated and win, and the winners are certainly don't represent the best content out there. I do think, however, that it is not all about publicity and marketing dollars. I think the films and TV shows celebrated at these events are the best of what the mainstream will allow.

The Emmy Awards last night were a celebration of the usual favorites: 30 Rock and Mad Men. It still drives me crazy every year that Friday Night Lights, the best show on television, is never nominated. There, I said it. Now I promise not to mention any non-nominated shows for the rest of this entry.

Glenn Close won Best Actress in a Drama for her role as Patty Hewes on Damages. Even as the second season couldn't live up to the amazing first season (I highly recommend getting that on DVD - I burned through the whole thing in one weekend), she's always great on the show - balancing a ruthless business-type with human elements that make us feel for her. Her performance elicits one of the more complex character/viewer relationships on TV.

Jon Cryer won Best Supporting Actor for Two and a Half Men, easily the least-funny show on TV. I don't care what anyone says ("It's actually pretty funny now" is a common line), every clips I've seen from that show is not funny. It's terrible. It was great when Cryer won because the camera cut to nominees Rainn Wilson and Kevin Dillon, both of whom looked visibly annoyed. I don't think it was because they each lost, I think it was because they lost to an actor from Two and a Half Men.

My general rule for the evening as to take head of Kevin Kline's reaction when determining what was funny. At one point in the show, Jimmy Fallon was singing through an auto-tune microphone and fell down. As he writhed in fake pain, he still had the mic on and so all of his yelling came out as pitch perfect singing. I laughed at first, but closed my mouth when I saw Kevin Kline's expression: not even a smile. Mr. Kline was right. It was a cheap bit, and he wasn't going to fall with it and neither would I - not anymore.

The bit that got Kevin Kline rolling in the aisle (not really, but he laughed) was when Bob Newhart came out. Mr. Newhart looked at Tina Fey and said, "Tina and I had a bet. If I won tonight, she would give me a great big kiss. And if I lost... I'd continue to honor the restraining order." It was pretty funny. Bob Newhart's the man.

I was surprised that Saturday Night Live didn't win any big awards (just Best Guest Actress for Tina Fey). Last year was their biggest that I can remember. They were always in the press because of their political sketches. However, The Daily Show won. Which is right. It's just the better show, by a mile. I was hoping that Kristin Wiig might win for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy. No luck. They gave it to Kristin Chenoweth. That's fine though. I'm a Pushing Daisies fan.

Nothing else happened that was particularly memorable. Neil Patrick Harris was the host and he did a great job. I didn't like his Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog sketch (the web series apparently won an an Emmy). I really don't like it. It's just the type of fan boy garbage that certain people go for. Some of the songs are pretty good, but I'm tired of these Firefly fans wanting Nathan Fillion to get a belated Oscar for Serenity. I like Firefly and Serenity, but Mr. Fillion isn't the Second Coming. He's just a regular actor. It bothers me how these nerds (there, I said it) get their kicks with Dr. Horrible's romantic songs, but won't go see an actual romantic comedy. You're watching it right now, just hiding behind Joss Whedon!

But yeah, the Emmys were fun.