mia maestro

Mia Maestro, formerly of the television show 'Alias,' has been cast in the new ABC television show 'Cutthroat.' The show is about a Beverly Hills widow and soccer mom who doubles as a drug cartel leader. Yes, ABC will be broadcasting their own version of 'Weeds.'

Seriously, the creator of 'Weeds' should consider litigation for copyright infringement. However, there will likely be enough differences between this program and 'Weeds' for any judge to dismiss it. For example, Mary-Louise Parker's character seemed more an "accidental" drug dealer due to circumstances whereas the description of 'Cutthroat' insinuates that Mia Maestro's character is quite intentional in her career choice. There is even a third series on television with a similar theme, AMC's 'Breaking Bad.'

Copycat programming is no stranger to television and has been around for a long time. The biggest example in my mind is 'The Addams Family' and 'The Munsters.' What other programs have been out there that have been copies of one another?

(S01E01) I'm reading all over the place that this is a thirteen-part series. That sounds very ... British. In fact, it's a pretty damned promising idea. Imagine if more television shows in the US were allowed to have one season or even half a season and then be done. If they wanted to take a real-time approach it could run twenty-eight seasons! I wonder if this will inspire comparisons to Lost.

I figure a lot of people, in fact most people, won't have read the source material. So their idea of people stranded on an island is going to either be Lost or Gilligan's Island. If we're lucky, they'll stretch so far as Lord of the Flies. Certainly this is an ambitious project, promising us swashbuckling excitement. And yet even though the cold opening featured a potential dramatic rescue and gunfire, when the credits started I realized it hadn't raised my heart rate a bit. In fact, it was possibly the dullest action scene I'd ever seen.

So we know that Alias is coming to an end this season (new episodes come back in March). And word comes that Amy Acker, who we last saw with a giant needle sticking out of her chest thanks to Sydney, will be a series regular for the rest of the season.

In other news, Ron Rifkin has a new job: he's staying with ABC in the pilot Brothers and Sisters, a drama about a family. Rifkin will play the uncle of the title characters.

This comes on the heels of other Alias news, that Bradley Cooper (Will) will be coming back to Alias for the 100th episode, and that Nadia will finally be coming out of her coma, and she won't be too happy with daddy Sloane.