Adam Goldberg
Double Rush
February 18, 2010
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Double Rush was a short-lived sitcom on CBS that aired from January to April 1995.
Stephen Nathan and Diane English created the show.
Its setting was familiar -- the workplace.
Cheers had the bar in Boston where everybody knows your name.
WKRP in Cincinnati had a rock and roll radio station in the Queen City.
And Double Rush had a bicycle messenger service in Manhattan named Double Rush.
The owner is would-be rock musician Johnny Verona, played by Robert Pastorelli.
Pastorelli earned the respect, laughter, and loyalty of fans of Murphy Brown as Eldin Bernecky, the house painter who constantly created new projects for Murphy’s home.
Corinne Bohrer plays the practical-minded Harvard Business School grad Zoe Fuller, a good complement and potential love interest for Johnny.
There is a dynamic between dreamer Johnny and intellectual yet unfulfilled Zoe that is reminiscent of Sam and Diane on Cheers.
Double Rush was funny. Its characters were well-defined. And its supporting cast was solid.
D.L. Hughley, Adam Goldberg, and David Arquette play bike messengers.
Sam Lloyd plays dispatcher Barkley. You may know him as Ted Buckland, the attorney for Sacred Heart Hospital on Scrubs.
Veteran comedic character actor Phil Leeds plays veteran bike messenger The Kid.
In the pilot, we learn that Johnny won’t sell Double Rush to a competitor because if he does, the competitor will lay off the messengers.
We also learn that Johnny’s loyalty is inherent. Twenty-five years prior, Johnny had the opportunity to sign with a record label. But the label only wanted Johnny, not his band mates.
Johnny wouldn’t sign without them, so he continued his bike messenger job to pay the bills. Eventually, he bought Double Rush.
Despite the cast and writing, Double Rush did not live to see the Fall 1995 lineup.
david@davidkrell.com
Double Rush was a short-lived sitcom on CBS that aired from January to April 1995.
Stephen Nathan and Diane English created the show.
Its setting was familiar -- the workplace.
Cheers had the bar in Boston where everybody knows your name.
WKRP in Cincinnati had a rock and roll radio station in the Queen City.
And Double Rush had a bicycle messenger service in Manhattan named Double Rush.
The owner is would-be rock musician Johnny Verona, played by Robert Pastorelli.
Pastorelli earned the respect, laughter, and loyalty of fans of Murphy Brown as Eldin Bernecky, the house painter who constantly created new projects for Murphy’s home.
Corinne Bohrer plays the practical-minded Harvard Business School grad Zoe Fuller, a good complement and potential love interest for Johnny.
There is a dynamic between dreamer Johnny and intellectual yet unfulfilled Zoe that is reminiscent of Sam and Diane on Cheers.
Double Rush was funny. Its characters were well-defined. And its supporting cast was solid.
D.L. Hughley, Adam Goldberg, and David Arquette play bike messengers.
Sam Lloyd plays dispatcher Barkley. You may know him as Ted Buckland, the attorney for Sacred Heart Hospital on Scrubs.
Veteran comedic character actor Phil Leeds plays veteran bike messenger The Kid.
In the pilot, we learn that Johnny won’t sell Double Rush to a competitor because if he does, the competitor will lay off the messengers.
We also learn that Johnny’s loyalty is inherent. Twenty-five years prior, Johnny had the opportunity to sign with a record label. But the label only wanted Johnny, not his band mates.
Johnny wouldn’t sign without them, so he continued his bike messenger job to pay the bills. Eventually, he bought Double Rush.
Despite the cast and writing, Double Rush did not live to see the Fall 1995 lineup.
Mid-Year Review
July 02, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
And so 2009 is officially half-finished.
What kind of half-year has it been?
A half-year of transition.
We saw a transition of power from a republican president to a democratic president -- the first-ever minority to be elected to the highest office in the land.
We saw a transition of power in the coveted Tonight Show host job from Jay Leno to Conan O'Brien.
O'Brien passed the torch at Late Night to Jimmy Fallon.
And we saw a transition of power in the technological sense from antenna television to digital television.
A half-year of controversy.
Controversy was in abundant supply during the first half of '09.
Because of a joke during a monologue about Sarah Palin's daughter getting pregnant by New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez during the Palin's visit to New York City, David Letterman went from television star to hot-button topic.
Although he meant Bristol Palin, the daughter who got pregnant by her then boyfriend Levi Johnston last year, 14-year-old Willow Palin was the daughter accompanying her mom at the Yankee game.
The Palins took action and belittled Letterman.
A clarification of sorts took place a few days later with Letterman showing self-deprecation, humor, and a literal wink at the audience that the controversy was nonsense.
The Palins took action and again belittled Letterman.
But after a weekend of thought, deliberation, and analysis, David Letterman gave a sincere apology the following Monday night.
The Palins accepted Letterman's apology.
We saw Miss California lose her crown because of an honest answer to a politically-charged question.
A half-year of television shows that deserved a longer chance to find an audience.
In Life on Mars, the series finale revealed that Sam Tyler was actually an astronaut on the first manned to Mars. The events he experienced in 1973 were triggered by a meteor shower wreaking havoc with virtual reality program. He was supposed to be a New York City cop in 2008, but the meteor incident caused the virtual reality glitch that sent him to 1973.
We saw The Unusuals, another solid program with depth of characters, unique stories, and realistic relationships set in the fictional 2nd precinct of Manhattan. This show starring Adam Goldberg and Terry Kinney looks like it will not be renewed.
A half-year of veteran sitcoms and dramas setting up story lines that were months, sometimes years in the making.
We saw Michael Scott, inefficient manager extraordinaire, attempt to start a paper company with receptionist Pam and temp Ryan. He sought to compete with Dunder Mifflin, only to have Dunder Mifflin buy the company on The Office.
We saw Barney and Robin reveal their feelings for each other on How I Met Your Mother.
We saw Justin propose to Rebecca and we saw Rebecca say Yes on Brothers and Sisters.
And we saw Michael J. Fox in an Emmy-worthy guest role on Rescue Me as Dwight, the paraplegic, pill-popping boyfriend of Tommy Gavin figurative ex-wife Janet, played by Denis Leary and Andrea Roth respectively.
A half-year of goodbyes.
In the space of a few days, we lost three legends -- an angel, an icon, and a voice. Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Ed McMahon.
If the second half of '09 is anything like the first half, then fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride.
david@davidkrell.com
And so 2009 is officially half-finished.
What kind of half-year has it been?
A half-year of transition.
We saw a transition of power from a republican president to a democratic president -- the first-ever minority to be elected to the highest office in the land.
We saw a transition of power in the coveted Tonight Show host job from Jay Leno to Conan O'Brien.
O'Brien passed the torch at Late Night to Jimmy Fallon.
And we saw a transition of power in the technological sense from antenna television to digital television.
A half-year of controversy.
Controversy was in abundant supply during the first half of '09.
Because of a joke during a monologue about Sarah Palin's daughter getting pregnant by New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez during the Palin's visit to New York City, David Letterman went from television star to hot-button topic.
Although he meant Bristol Palin, the daughter who got pregnant by her then boyfriend Levi Johnston last year, 14-year-old Willow Palin was the daughter accompanying her mom at the Yankee game.
The Palins took action and belittled Letterman.
A clarification of sorts took place a few days later with Letterman showing self-deprecation, humor, and a literal wink at the audience that the controversy was nonsense.
The Palins took action and again belittled Letterman.
But after a weekend of thought, deliberation, and analysis, David Letterman gave a sincere apology the following Monday night.
The Palins accepted Letterman's apology.
We saw Miss California lose her crown because of an honest answer to a politically-charged question.
A half-year of television shows that deserved a longer chance to find an audience.
In Life on Mars, the series finale revealed that Sam Tyler was actually an astronaut on the first manned to Mars. The events he experienced in 1973 were triggered by a meteor shower wreaking havoc with virtual reality program. He was supposed to be a New York City cop in 2008, but the meteor incident caused the virtual reality glitch that sent him to 1973.
We saw The Unusuals, another solid program with depth of characters, unique stories, and realistic relationships set in the fictional 2nd precinct of Manhattan. This show starring Adam Goldberg and Terry Kinney looks like it will not be renewed.
A half-year of veteran sitcoms and dramas setting up story lines that were months, sometimes years in the making.
We saw Michael Scott, inefficient manager extraordinaire, attempt to start a paper company with receptionist Pam and temp Ryan. He sought to compete with Dunder Mifflin, only to have Dunder Mifflin buy the company on The Office.
We saw Barney and Robin reveal their feelings for each other on How I Met Your Mother.
We saw Justin propose to Rebecca and we saw Rebecca say Yes on Brothers and Sisters.
And we saw Michael J. Fox in an Emmy-worthy guest role on Rescue Me as Dwight, the paraplegic, pill-popping boyfriend of Tommy Gavin figurative ex-wife Janet, played by Denis Leary and Andrea Roth respectively.
A half-year of goodbyes.
In the space of a few days, we lost three legends -- an angel, an icon, and a voice. Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Ed McMahon.
If the second half of '09 is anything like the first half, then fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride.