Boston
The Taking of Pelham 123
October 13, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
The remake of The Taking of Pelham 123 opened in theaters this past summer. The film stars three actors who got their big breaks on the small screen.
Denzel Washington.
In Pelham, Washington plays Walter Garber, a New York City civil servant who becomes the link of communication to hostage takers on a subway train.
Washington was part of the terrific ensemble cast of St. Elsewhere. In this 1980’s NBC drama set in a Boston hospital, Washington plays the Yale-educated Dr. Phillip Chandler.
His breakthrough movie was Glory, a 1989 film set during the Civil War. Washington earned on Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
John Travolta.
In Pelham, Travolta plays Ryder, the leader of the hostage takers.
Travolta exploded onto America’s consciousness as dim-witted, girl-crazy, and self-involved high school student Vinnie Barbarino in Welcome Back, Kotter.
Kotter premiered in 1975. In the space of three years, Travolta’s career became hotter than a supernova. On the silver screen, he starred in 1977’s Saturday Night Fever and 1978’s Grease.
For the most part, notoriety subsided during the 1980’s. Travolta signaled his comeback in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction in 1994.
James Gandolfini.
In Pelham, Gandolfini plays the Mayor of New York City. If managed properly, the hostage crisis can be good for the politics business. Or very bad.
After highly significant roles on Broadway and supporting roles in films, Gandolfini got the role for which he will forever be identified.
Henry Winkler has Fonzie.
Alan Alda has Hawkeye.
And James Gandolfini has Tony Soprano, the main character in The Sopranos.
Gandolfini’s emotions as the New Jersey mafia don range from the tender to the explosive. He reveals a touching side when talking about or interacting with animals, like his racehorse, Pie-Oh-My.
There is a flip side. Disloyalty, betrayal, and disrespect trigger rage, violence, and an underlying fear of a weakened position in the Soprano mob family.
In 1973, Morton Freedgood wrote the novel The Taking of Pelham 123 under the pseudonym John Godey.
A year later, the story hit the big screen for the first time with Walter Matthau as Garber, Robert Shaw as Ryder, and Lee Wallace as the mayor.
The film accurately captures the aura of violence, fear, and despair surrounding New York City in the 1970’s. Riots. Crime. Financial turmoil. They all contributed to the pressure.
The feeling permeates the film. Walter Matthau’s Garber is in the middle -- a civil servant trying to do his job. On this particular day, it is an ordinary job under extraordinary circumstances. Matthau perfectly fits the role of the rumpled Garber.
The ending of this version of Pelham is an excellent example of a setup and payoff. Something occurs early in the story that recurs at the end.
Hector Elizondo and Earl Hindman play two of the hostage takers. Elizondo later starred in Chicago Hope and played supporting roles in a deep roster of films that include The Flamingo Kid, The Princess Diaries, and Pretty Woman.
Hindman’s face is not recognizable from his signature role -- Wilson, the neighbor on Home Improvement. The running gag on the show was the hiding of Wilson’s face behind the backyard fence and other objects.
Jerry Stiller plays a policeman working with Matthau. Maybe the hostage crisis was a source of sorts for Frank Costanza’s anger.
david@davidkrell.com
The remake of The Taking of Pelham 123 opened in theaters this past summer. The film stars three actors who got their big breaks on the small screen.
Denzel Washington.
In Pelham, Washington plays Walter Garber, a New York City civil servant who becomes the link of communication to hostage takers on a subway train.
Washington was part of the terrific ensemble cast of St. Elsewhere. In this 1980’s NBC drama set in a Boston hospital, Washington plays the Yale-educated Dr. Phillip Chandler.
His breakthrough movie was Glory, a 1989 film set during the Civil War. Washington earned on Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
John Travolta.
In Pelham, Travolta plays Ryder, the leader of the hostage takers.
Travolta exploded onto America’s consciousness as dim-witted, girl-crazy, and self-involved high school student Vinnie Barbarino in Welcome Back, Kotter.
Kotter premiered in 1975. In the space of three years, Travolta’s career became hotter than a supernova. On the silver screen, he starred in 1977’s Saturday Night Fever and 1978’s Grease.
For the most part, notoriety subsided during the 1980’s. Travolta signaled his comeback in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction in 1994.
James Gandolfini.
In Pelham, Gandolfini plays the Mayor of New York City. If managed properly, the hostage crisis can be good for the politics business. Or very bad.
After highly significant roles on Broadway and supporting roles in films, Gandolfini got the role for which he will forever be identified.
Henry Winkler has Fonzie.
Alan Alda has Hawkeye.
And James Gandolfini has Tony Soprano, the main character in The Sopranos.
Gandolfini’s emotions as the New Jersey mafia don range from the tender to the explosive. He reveals a touching side when talking about or interacting with animals, like his racehorse, Pie-Oh-My.
There is a flip side. Disloyalty, betrayal, and disrespect trigger rage, violence, and an underlying fear of a weakened position in the Soprano mob family.
In 1973, Morton Freedgood wrote the novel The Taking of Pelham 123 under the pseudonym John Godey.
A year later, the story hit the big screen for the first time with Walter Matthau as Garber, Robert Shaw as Ryder, and Lee Wallace as the mayor.
The film accurately captures the aura of violence, fear, and despair surrounding New York City in the 1970’s. Riots. Crime. Financial turmoil. They all contributed to the pressure.
The feeling permeates the film. Walter Matthau’s Garber is in the middle -- a civil servant trying to do his job. On this particular day, it is an ordinary job under extraordinary circumstances. Matthau perfectly fits the role of the rumpled Garber.
The ending of this version of Pelham is an excellent example of a setup and payoff. Something occurs early in the story that recurs at the end.
Hector Elizondo and Earl Hindman play two of the hostage takers. Elizondo later starred in Chicago Hope and played supporting roles in a deep roster of films that include The Flamingo Kid, The Princess Diaries, and Pretty Woman.
Hindman’s face is not recognizable from his signature role -- Wilson, the neighbor on Home Improvement. The running gag on the show was the hiding of Wilson’s face behind the backyard fence and other objects.
Jerry Stiller plays a policeman working with Matthau. Maybe the hostage crisis was a source of sorts for Frank Costanza’s anger.
Boston TV
June 03, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Boston is a terrific site for television programs.
Where do you go when you want to be where you can see the troubles are all the same and everybody knows your name?
Cheers in Boston -- Cheers.
Where do you go when you want to hire Spenser, the private investigator?
A revamped firehouse turned living quarters in Boston -- Spenser: For Hire.
Where do you go when you need Dr. Marc Craig, an egotistical, egocentric, and egomaniacal heart surgeon who is also a leader in the field of cardiac care?
St. Eligius Hospital in Boston -- St. Elsewhere.
Goodnight Beantown is also set in Boston. This mid-1980's sitcom revolved around a male-female television news anchor team played by Bill Bixby and Mariette Hartley.
Boston Common enjoyed a coveted role on NBC's Thursday night Must See TV lineup in the mid-1990's. The show features stand up comedian Anthony Clark, familiar to fans of Yes, Dear as good-natured, hard-working, and fun-lacking Greg Warner.
Crossing Jordan stars Jill Hennessy of Law & Order fame as a coroner who goes beyond the obvious to solve crimes. The show exists in the same televerse as Las Vegas.
David Kelley's legal trifecta of Ally McBeal, The Practice, and Boston Legal takes place in Kelley's old stomping grounds of Boston. One can trace Kelley's creative roots in the Boston law genre to his 1987 movie From the Hip starring Judd Nelson.
Kelley also created Boston Public, a show about a high school that enjoyed a crossover with The Practice as did Ally McBeal.
George Peppard plays the title role in Banacek, a 1970's show on NBC about an insurance investigator in Boston who receives a percentage of a property's value upon recovering it after a theft.
Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place, later simply named Two Guys and a Girl, centers around...well, the title says it all. Three platonic twentysomething friends share misadventures, advice, and problems, in college and thereafter.
For the younger set, the Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody takes place in the fictional Tipton Hotel in Boston. Twin boys, Zack and Cody, live in a hotel because their mom is the headline singer and the residence is part of the contract.
HBO made a first in 2006 when it aired its first sitcom, the adult-themed, Boston-set Lucky Louie featuring stand up comedian Louis C. K.
Beyond the racy language, adult themes, and spare apartment set lay a working-class basis that parallels All in the Family and The Honeymooners.
Lucky Louie only aired six episodes in the summer of '06.
Boston is the setting for later episodes of Dawson's Creek when the core characters attend college.
And even though we never saw Boston through his eyes, we certainly heard about it from his nostalgic recounts, the Boston revered by Major Charles Emerson Winchester III on M*A*S*H.
Boston is a great sports town.
Boston is a great history town.
And Boston is a great television town.
david@davidkrell.com
Boston is a terrific site for television programs.
Where do you go when you want to be where you can see the troubles are all the same and everybody knows your name?
Cheers in Boston -- Cheers.
Where do you go when you want to hire Spenser, the private investigator?
A revamped firehouse turned living quarters in Boston -- Spenser: For Hire.
Where do you go when you need Dr. Marc Craig, an egotistical, egocentric, and egomaniacal heart surgeon who is also a leader in the field of cardiac care?
St. Eligius Hospital in Boston -- St. Elsewhere.
Goodnight Beantown is also set in Boston. This mid-1980's sitcom revolved around a male-female television news anchor team played by Bill Bixby and Mariette Hartley.
Boston Common enjoyed a coveted role on NBC's Thursday night Must See TV lineup in the mid-1990's. The show features stand up comedian Anthony Clark, familiar to fans of Yes, Dear as good-natured, hard-working, and fun-lacking Greg Warner.
Crossing Jordan stars Jill Hennessy of Law & Order fame as a coroner who goes beyond the obvious to solve crimes. The show exists in the same televerse as Las Vegas.
David Kelley's legal trifecta of Ally McBeal, The Practice, and Boston Legal takes place in Kelley's old stomping grounds of Boston. One can trace Kelley's creative roots in the Boston law genre to his 1987 movie From the Hip starring Judd Nelson.
Kelley also created Boston Public, a show about a high school that enjoyed a crossover with The Practice as did Ally McBeal.
George Peppard plays the title role in Banacek, a 1970's show on NBC about an insurance investigator in Boston who receives a percentage of a property's value upon recovering it after a theft.
Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place, later simply named Two Guys and a Girl, centers around...well, the title says it all. Three platonic twentysomething friends share misadventures, advice, and problems, in college and thereafter.
For the younger set, the Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody takes place in the fictional Tipton Hotel in Boston. Twin boys, Zack and Cody, live in a hotel because their mom is the headline singer and the residence is part of the contract.
HBO made a first in 2006 when it aired its first sitcom, the adult-themed, Boston-set Lucky Louie featuring stand up comedian Louis C. K.
Beyond the racy language, adult themes, and spare apartment set lay a working-class basis that parallels All in the Family and The Honeymooners.
Lucky Louie only aired six episodes in the summer of '06.
Boston is the setting for later episodes of Dawson's Creek when the core characters attend college.
And even though we never saw Boston through his eyes, we certainly heard about it from his nostalgic recounts, the Boston revered by Major Charles Emerson Winchester III on M*A*S*H.
Boston is a great sports town.
Boston is a great history town.
And Boston is a great television town.
Have No Fear, Hulu Is Here!
May 18, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Greetings from Seattle! Home of Dr. Frasier Crane, Seattle Grace Hospital, and the 1992 film Singles that inspired the Generation X-themed powerhouse sitcom Friends.
Seattle is also home to the 2009 International Trademark Association's Annual Meeting. Approximately 8,000 trademark owners, attorneys, and branding executives come to the Annual Meeting to discuss their challenges, experiences, and solutions in being the guardians of their respective brands.
Besides providing unparalleled education, INTA's Annual Meeting has networking around the clock. And you never know who you're going to meet.
At the opening reception last night, I met the attorney from Loeb & Loeb who handles the Green Hornet character. A movie featuring the Green Hornet is in pre-production. Seth Rogen is set to star.
After months of telephone conference calls, I met the leader of our workshop group for INTA's 2010 Annual Meeting in Boston where I will have the privilege of being a faculty member. I will tailor my Write This Way 2.0 workshop for an INTA writing workshop featuring panelists from the Jackson Walker law firm and General Electric.
I chatted with Alan Drewsen, Executive Director of INTA. A couple of weeks ago, I had the unique opportunity to pre-tape an interview with Mr. Drewsen for TV Confidential. The interview will air on a future program.
And I also had a brush with celebrity when I met supermodel turned brand owner Elle Macpherson at the Loeb & Loeb dessert reception. Read today's blog entry at Write This Way 2.0 for more about Ms. Macpherson's Keynote Speech at last night's opening ceremony.
The networking continues tonight. I put together a group of eight people to go to the Mariners vs. Angels game.
Baseball and INTA is a tradition for me. Luckily, I've been able to combine my passion for baseball with my passion for intellectual property.
In 2005, INTA held its Annual Meeting in San Diego. A fellow INTA attendee and I had a steak dinner and went to a Padres game with her mom.
In 2006, we repeated the cycle at INTA's Annual Meeting in Toronto. We went to two Blue Jays games at the Skydome -- one with the roof retracted, one with the roof in service.
In 2007, INTA's Annual Meeting took place in Chicago. The White Sox were in town. The tradition continued.
2008 can be classified as N/A because the Annual Meeting occurred in Berlin, Germany.
And the tradition continues tonight.
Only this time we've extended the group.
Next year, the Annual Meeting is in Boston. My friend, a devoted citizen of Red Sox Nation, hopes the Red Sox will play at home during the 2010 Annual Meeting and allow us to keep pace with our tradition.
While I'm looking forward to the game, I'm also going to miss tonight's Season Finale of 24. Will Kim Bauer escape from the creepy couple at the airport? Will Tony Almeida break under interrogation techniques that he knows about and maybe even helped invent? Will the president's daughter get arrested for her participation in Jonas Hodges' murder?
After four months of not missing an episode this season, I may have to read about the Season Finale on the Internet. Not exactly the same as watching it.
At least that's what I thought until I discovered hulu.com puts episodes of 24 on its site the day after the episodes air. So, I'll be a few hours behind the rest of the world in seeing how Jack Bauer solves his latest crisis. But I'll see it.
The convergence of television and the Internet takes a massive step forward in hulu.com. The site provides television programming with limited commercial interruption. Full-scaled programs, not the clips of ten minutes or less that you see on YouTube.
By the way, hulu.com doesn't just post episodes from current series -- Lost, House, 24. There's also a nice offering of shows from decades past -- Charlie's Angels, The White Shadow.
Will appointment television be a thing of the past because of hulu.com and potential similar sites and business models yet to be created?
Stay tuned.
david@davidkrell.com
Greetings from Seattle! Home of Dr. Frasier Crane, Seattle Grace Hospital, and the 1992 film Singles that inspired the Generation X-themed powerhouse sitcom Friends.
Seattle is also home to the 2009 International Trademark Association's Annual Meeting. Approximately 8,000 trademark owners, attorneys, and branding executives come to the Annual Meeting to discuss their challenges, experiences, and solutions in being the guardians of their respective brands.
Besides providing unparalleled education, INTA's Annual Meeting has networking around the clock. And you never know who you're going to meet.
At the opening reception last night, I met the attorney from Loeb & Loeb who handles the Green Hornet character. A movie featuring the Green Hornet is in pre-production. Seth Rogen is set to star.
After months of telephone conference calls, I met the leader of our workshop group for INTA's 2010 Annual Meeting in Boston where I will have the privilege of being a faculty member. I will tailor my Write This Way 2.0 workshop for an INTA writing workshop featuring panelists from the Jackson Walker law firm and General Electric.
I chatted with Alan Drewsen, Executive Director of INTA. A couple of weeks ago, I had the unique opportunity to pre-tape an interview with Mr. Drewsen for TV Confidential. The interview will air on a future program.
And I also had a brush with celebrity when I met supermodel turned brand owner Elle Macpherson at the Loeb & Loeb dessert reception. Read today's blog entry at Write This Way 2.0 for more about Ms. Macpherson's Keynote Speech at last night's opening ceremony.
The networking continues tonight. I put together a group of eight people to go to the Mariners vs. Angels game.
Baseball and INTA is a tradition for me. Luckily, I've been able to combine my passion for baseball with my passion for intellectual property.
In 2005, INTA held its Annual Meeting in San Diego. A fellow INTA attendee and I had a steak dinner and went to a Padres game with her mom.
In 2006, we repeated the cycle at INTA's Annual Meeting in Toronto. We went to two Blue Jays games at the Skydome -- one with the roof retracted, one with the roof in service.
In 2007, INTA's Annual Meeting took place in Chicago. The White Sox were in town. The tradition continued.
2008 can be classified as N/A because the Annual Meeting occurred in Berlin, Germany.
And the tradition continues tonight.
Only this time we've extended the group.
Next year, the Annual Meeting is in Boston. My friend, a devoted citizen of Red Sox Nation, hopes the Red Sox will play at home during the 2010 Annual Meeting and allow us to keep pace with our tradition.
While I'm looking forward to the game, I'm also going to miss tonight's Season Finale of 24. Will Kim Bauer escape from the creepy couple at the airport? Will Tony Almeida break under interrogation techniques that he knows about and maybe even helped invent? Will the president's daughter get arrested for her participation in Jonas Hodges' murder?
After four months of not missing an episode this season, I may have to read about the Season Finale on the Internet. Not exactly the same as watching it.
At least that's what I thought until I discovered hulu.com puts episodes of 24 on its site the day after the episodes air. So, I'll be a few hours behind the rest of the world in seeing how Jack Bauer solves his latest crisis. But I'll see it.
The convergence of television and the Internet takes a massive step forward in hulu.com. The site provides television programming with limited commercial interruption. Full-scaled programs, not the clips of ten minutes or less that you see on YouTube.
By the way, hulu.com doesn't just post episodes from current series -- Lost, House, 24. There's also a nice offering of shows from decades past -- Charlie's Angels, The White Shadow.
Will appointment television be a thing of the past because of hulu.com and potential similar sites and business models yet to be created?
Stay tuned.