I can remember when HBO was known for showing the pay-per-views of Championship boxing matches – and not much else. After The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Band of Brothers, John Adams, Six Feet Under, Deadwood, and The Wire – that perspective has drastically changed for the better.
These days, HBO is more than just a rival of the broadcast networks. If anything, I think HBO has run right on past those behemoths, and now HBO sees the big box stores of TV in their rear-view mirror.
Beginning this Sunday, January 29th, HBO launches a brand new, 9 episode series called Luck. The pilot aired 6 weeks ago on December 11th, and the comments weren’t very pretty.
I’m hoping that the pedigree of the makers of this series along with the great cast will result in some necessary improvements and will propel the series into becoming a ‘must see’.
On another level, I’ve been to the races myself quite often. Now that I am in Florida, and aren’t living anywhere near NY’s Belmont Park and Aqueduct Race Track, I don’t get to go at all – so that’s another reason why I am interested in this production.
What’s it About: If you start with luck, which we all have (in one form or another) and extend it out to gambling, we can then safely find ourselves at the racetrack, and by that I mean where horses race and people wager on the outcome of those races. In California that would mean Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, or Del Mar. The Series Luck is about the crossing or intersection of lives in and around horse racing and the world of gambling around one specific track, and in this series, that would be Santa Anita. Those folks would be bettors who might be celebrities or just plain folks, owners of the horses, trainers, jockeys, stable hands, vets, the media who provide coverage of the races, and all that goes with trying to win money by betting on the ponies.
Who’s In It: The headliner is Dustin Hoffman in his very first regular role in a TV series. You could argue that he was in a series once before, but that was Tootsie, and that was a movie about a TV series. Here he plays Chester ‘Ace’ Bernstein.
Dennis Farina plays Bernstein’s driver Gus Demitriou. Not sure why he was cast as a Greek, but he’s got plenty of charisma, and he’s got oodles of talent. Farina starred in the TV Series Crime Story, and was seen in 46 episodes of Law & Order as Detective Joe Fontana. His most famous role was that of the gangster Joey Serrano in the film Midnight Run.
Nick Nolte plays a horse trainer. John Ortiz who worked with director Michael Mann in the Miami Vice film as Jose Yero, here plays Turo Escalante.
Kind, Hennessey, & Dunn
Richard Kind plays a jockey’s Agent. Other notables include Kevin Dunn, Ritchie Coster, Jason Gedrick, Jill Hennessey as the Vet, Ian Hart and Tom Payne. Gary Stevens, in real life a former professional jockey and a member of the Horse Racing Hall of Fame, portrays jockey Ronnie Jenkins in the series.
Who’s Behind the Cameras: The Luck Series was created by David Milch who has also created, produced, and written a number of memorable TV shows like Deadwood and Hill Street Blues. He also has writing credits for Big Apple, Brooklyn South, and L.A.Law plus others. In short, he had been a major player in TV Dramatic Series for a long time.
Michael Mann is the Executive Producer, and he also Directed the pilot for Luck. Mann has a lengthy list of Director Credits. Such films as Public Enemies, Miami Vice, Collateral, Ali, The Insider, Heat, Manhunter, Thief, and The Last of the Mohicans were all directed by Michael Mann. But Mann is most famous for his TV Series, Miami Vice which ran for 5 seasons and 111 episodes.
That’s the background for the series. The series has its 2012 premier on Sunday night, and you will be able to see Episode 2 immediately after on your computer at HBOGO.com if you are a subscriber to HBO via your cable TV provider.
