'The Firm': The Creepiest TV Cast of All Time?

After years in development hell, a television version of hit film and novel 'The Firm' is slated for a 2012 mid-season debut on NBC in the U.S. and Global in Canada. It's been 20 years since the book topped best-seller lists and 18 since the film added to the oeuvre of films that feature Tom Cruise running. It's hard to say if this time-lapse will be a boon to the show (at least it doesn't feel too soon, like a certain 'Spiderman' reboot) or a deficit -- does anyone care what the McDeere family is up to ten years later?



Maybe they will when they see who's in the cast for the small screen version -- it's a collection of some of the brightest, smartest and creepiest actors working. And I mean that in the most complimentary way. With Josh Lucas as Mitch, Molly Parker as his wife Abby, Callum Keith Rennie as brother Ray and Juliette Lewis as assistant Tammy, we viewers will never be able to trust a single one of them.

To me, this casting shows that the production is bound to offer a fairly complex portrait of these people ... at least, I hope so. I know there was a brief push to turn Josh Lucas into a standard leading man, but thankfully it's been abandoned. There is something off about Lucas -- if you'd leaned over in the middle of 'Sweet Home Alabama' and told me it was actually a murder mystery I would confidently have pointed at Lucas and said 'He did it.' Admit it, there's a sinister side to his twinkle. This is not a complaint; I'd rather watch Lucas than Matthew McConaughey any day of the week.

Molly Parker may similarly not strike you as a villainess, but you have to admit she doesn't quite fit the traditional wifely role. Maybe it's because she reads so damned smart. Parker is a fabulous actress, but the one thing she can't play is dumb. I don't recall Abby being the brightest star in the sky (as played by Jeanne Tripplehorn). Parker's innate intelligence is bound to bring a different quality to this fictional marriage. After all, it was Mitch's blindness and tumidity that landed them in witness protection to begin with. I imagine she no longer lets him make many household decisions.

I hardly need to point out that Rennie and Lewis are old hands at playing morally dubious weirdos -- but here's a neat piece of trivia: Rennie was offered the role of Krycek on 'The X Files' and turned it down. As written, Ray is just as bright as his brother but lacks the burning ambition, and oh yeah, he's in jail. In other words, it's the perfect role for Rennie, who will surely give Ray a bit of an edge. And Juliette Lewis filling in for Holly Hunter as Tammy is just about perfect. Hunter's Tammy was like an early prototype of Erin Brockovich: sassy, smart but essentially a good person. The last time Lewis played a good girl, it was on 'The Wonder Years.'

Now that the main cast is finalized and the production starts shooting in Toronto this month, any upcoming news will be about a premiere date and guest stars. If any of the following people are on that list, we know we're in a for a creep-tastic treat:

Ron Rifkin

Current Role: Saul Holden, 'Brothers & Sisters'
Creepiest Role: Arvin Sloane on 'Alias'
Creepy Guest: Julian Fisher on 'Sex and the City'


Michael Emerson

Creepiest Role: Benjamin Linus, 'Lost'
Upcoming Creep: Finch, 'Person of Interest,' (Fall 2011)


Kyle MacLachlan

Legendary Creep: Agent Dale Cooper, 'Twin Peaks'
Creepiest Role: Orson Hodge, 'Desperate Housewives'


Patricia Wettig

Current Role: Holly Harper, 'Brothers & Sisters'
Creepiest Role: President Caroline Reynolds, 'Prison Break'
Creepy Guest: Dr. Judy Barnett, 'Alias'


Michelle Forbes

Evil Creepy: Admiral Cain, 'Battlestar Galactica'
Fun Creepy: Maryann Forrester, 'True Blood'


Tony Goldwyn

Double Your Creep: Greg & Rock Knowles, 'Without A Trace'
Creepy Victim: Dr. Emmett Meridian, 'Dexter'


James Spader

Creepier than Shatner: Alan Shore, 'Boston Legal'
Upcoming Creep: Robert California, 'The Office' (Fall 2011)


Polly Walker

Lovable Creep: Atia of the Julii, 'Rome'
Canceled Creep: 'Clarice Willow,' 'Caprica'




Did we miss anyone? Let us know!