Could never warm to it quite frankly. Never got the hype. Probably didnt give it long enough perhaps.
The one where Charlie puts the bar up as a prize in a dancing marathon was also excellent.
Does Danny DeVito add or take away from the show do you think?
At first I thought he took away from it, but I’ve really taken to Frank as the show has gone on.
I’d love to see the McBoyle’s brought back into some of the episodes.
Get em out luv
Dublin model quit HBO show over raunchy topless scene
A BUDDING Dublin actress and model walked out of a top role on a HBO series because she felt a scene was too raunchy.
Lisa Nolan said she quit Game of Thrones – a medieval fantasy drama – when she discovered she would have to film an erotic scene.
The Assets model insists she was promised no nudity when she arrived on the set but soon discovered they wanted her to strip off.
Lisa (21) told the Herald that she quickly figured out her scene would involve a lot more than just standing there and looking pretty. "I was aware that the scene was slightly raunchy, but I thought it wasn’t a sex scene and they said they would give me skin patches for my breasts. But when I got there they wanted me to be fully topless and in the scene I had to strip off. So I pulled out at the last minute.
research
"I just couldn’t do it. I’ve just started out at Assets now and I’m trying to build a career.
“People could have taken snap shots of the show and every time I did a shoot people would remember that scene,” she explained.
Lisa was brought up to Belfast to begin two days of 12-hour long filming sessions, but the model says after seeing the extent of the nudity required, she left straight away.
“To me it looked like it was going to basically be soft porn. As well as modelling I study Sports Physiotherapy so I want to be taken seriously, I wouldn’t if I had given in and filmed the scene. It was my own fault really because I didn’t research the show properly. The money was amazing and the idea of it all was so glamorous but I’m glad I walked away because now I have my dignity intact,” she explained.
And after the tough experience, Lisa says she won’t be rushing to TV castings anytime soon. The aspiring catwalk queen says she’s going to stick to modelling for the time being.
"The whole experience was surreal. But I was in a totally different environment than what I’m used to. I would love to get into acting but right now I’m not focused on it.
“So I’m glad the producers of Game of Thrones did contact me for the role, because now I know I have the face for TV,” she said.
Anyone watch S04E11 of Breaking Bad yet?
Walter be crazy!
That scene was nightmarish as hell. I knew the point of no return was coming for Walt, probably in that episode, but I didn’t expect it to happen like that. We’re in for some showdown now.
[spoiler]Funny the complete switch that has come between Walt and Jesse’s characters. That was a pretty harrowing scene though, shit is hitting the fan in a big way. Big ending to this season coming up, sets it up nicely for next season finale
Teds death was a classic 
[/spoiler]
The evidence would seem to suggest that it wasn’t her face they thought was good for TV.
The whole infinity symbol/figure 8 thing had flagged that in advance I guess. Vince Gilligan has talked a good bit about the whole ‘student becomes the master’ thing, and Walt talks in the very first episode about “growth, decay, then complete transformation.” On the same note though, now that Walt has hit rock bottom though we’re about to see a big reaction from him. Gus has to bite the dust but it’ll be interesting to see how it happens. Some scene from Cranston at the end of that episode though. That fucking laugh!
Two other shows I’ve watched pilots of in recent days and will be giving extended runs to are
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Pan Am is a television series centered around the iconic airline Pan American World Airways during the 1960s. The period drama, from writer Jack Orman (ER) and director Thomas Schlamme (The West Wing), focuses on the pilots and flight attendants working for the world-famous airline in 1963.
Like Playboy Club, this is very much trying to cash in the Mad Men vibe I’m not sure how this one will go but it was a decent opening episode and will be enough to make me pop back in for a few more at least. Not sure I like the flashbacks in it, some worked, some didnt but an intriguing enough concept. Cristina Ricci looks good in it too as does the bird who’s first on the left there, Margot Robbie.
Person of Interest is an American drama television series broadcasting on CBS. It’s based on a screenplay developed by J.J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan. It is centred around two characters, Mr. Finch (Michael Emerson), a mysterious billionaire, has developed a computer program that predicts the identity of people connected to violent crimes that will take place in the future. However, the program has its limitations; for example, it cannot predict whether the person will be a victim, perpetrator, or witness, nor can it predict when or where the crime will take place. Unable to stop the crimes on his own, Finch hires John Reese (Jim Caviezel), a former CIA field officer who is presumed dead, to help stop the crimes from taking place.
So this one is from the creator of Lost and Alias and the screenwriter of the new Batman trilogy and Christopher Nolan’s brother. So thats gotta be worth looking in on at least. Still am not convinced however after that first episode and fear it could just be a crime of the week type series, amore hi tech version of early addition. The cast is good and the pilot was more than decent so I’ll give it a bit longer yet.
The many lives of Bryan
From relative obscurity – via a stint as the hapless dad on ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ – to roles in two of this week’s blockbuster movies, the lead in a top TV drama, and acclaim from directors and fellow actors, Bryan Cranston tells TARA BRADY about ‘suddenly’ hitting the big time in his 50s
GEORGE CLOONEY and Meryl Streep may figure among the bookies’ premature favourites for next year’s Academy Awards but neither player could claim to be Hollywood’s most keenly sought after pentagenarian.
That honour falls to character actor made-good Bryan Cranston who, suddenly at 55, has all of Tinseltown beating a path to his door.
Lately at the picture house, keen Cranston-watchers have witnessed their hero hound Matthew McConaughey in legal thriller The Lincoln Lawyer and annoy onscreen wife Julia Roberts in recession comedy Larry Crowne . On the small screen, he’s the star of arguably the most compelling drama on TV, Breaking Bad .
Last week, as if to trumpet his belated elevation to the big leagues, the veteran actor featured in two of the top three movies at the US box office: Steven Soderbergh’s outbreak drama Contagion and Nicolas Winding Refn’s superb cerebral heist flick, Drive . The latter received a 10-minute standing ovation when it played at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
“It’s certainly a nice experience to be afforded to a guy in his middle age,” laughs Cranston. “I’m very busy. It’s a good time.”
Meanwhile, the rave notices just keep on coming. Steven Spielberg, who directed the actor in Saving Private Ryan , is a fan, as is mogul Jerry Bruckheimer and actor Tom Hanks. Filmmakers, both low-falutin’ and high, simply cannot say enough nice things.
“There’s going to be a movie,” Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn suggested recently. “And it’s basically going to be a shot of Bryan reading the phone book from A to Z. Because he’s the greatest actor, he’s going to make that the most suspenseful film ever made.” Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan is similarly effusive: “He’s an actor who comes along every 100 years or so,” says the TV auteur.
For these folks and for Cranston’s burgeoning fanbase, it’s no surprise that the dad from Malcolm in the Middle has made it; it’s just baffling that it took so long.
“I did think when Malcolm in the Middle ended that it might be the lead line in my obituary,” says Cranston. “But that was okay. As actors, we have to embrace the insecurity of the business. You can’t know when the work is coming, so we have to learn to just go with the flow.”
LONG BEFORE CRANSTON was “that guy from Malcolm in the Middle ”, he was “oh, that guy”. Born in Los Angeles to actors Peggy Sell and Joe Cranston in 1956, a life of treading the boards was likely written in the stars.
Having made the transition from college drama to regional theatre and comedy improv, young Bryan soon found a way to supplement his income with commercials for Coffee Mate and Honda. In his late 20s, a series of guest gigs on CHiPs, Murder, She Wrote, Hill Street Blues, Falcon Crest and Baywatch kept him busy.
A stint on Airwolf as villain of the week introduced Cranston to Robin Dearden, the actor playing his kidnap victim. It was not quite Stockholm Syndrome at first sight.
“At the time, she had a boyfriend and I had a girlfriend and that turned out to be a real blessing,” recalls Cranston. “We had months of uncomplicated flirting and fun at comedy improv. So a year later we found each other and it was delightful. And that was 25 years ago.”
Cult status beckoned not long after when Seinfeld provided him with the recurring role of Dr Tim Whatley, a Catholic dentist who converts to Judaism, thereby earning what Jerry calls “total joke immunity”.
“That show had such a tremendous impact,” recalls Cranston. “It was a great launch pad and opportunity for me. Every job you do, if you do it well enough, should create another opening.”
Sure enough, steadier work soon followed. A returning character on The King of Queens raised awareness of Cranston but it was Hal, the hapless patriarch from Malcolm in the Middle , who became a regular fixture in homes across 57 countries. The show, which kicked off in 2000, garnered a Peabody, seven Emmys and a Grammy over seven seasons.
“Someone asked me once in an interview if I would do a movie reunion and I absolutely would,” says Cranston. “I’d love to see all those people again. You become family. It’s a little upsetting when you have to say goodbye. And I’d love to slip back into that character that I enjoyed playing for seven years. But that’s life. Experience it. Embrace it. Be in the moment. Be appreciative of whatever fortunes come your way.”
Malcolm was a blessing but Breaking Bad was something else. A complex, compelling drama about a terminally ill chemistry teacher who turns to a life of crime and methamphetamine production in order to secure his family’s financial future, creator Vince Gilligan’s portrait of masculinity in crisis was an immediate critical smash when it premiered in 2008. It has been at the vanguard of new post-Sopranos, post-Wire drama ever since.
“I’m so fortunate to go from Hal on Malcolm to Walter on Breaking Bad and have people say that it’s astonishing it’s the same guy in both roles. That’s such a huge, huge compliment. I knew as soon as I read the script for the pilot episode of Breaking Bad four years ago that Walter White would change the life of whatever guy was lucky enough to play him. It has been a fantastic ride.”
The actor’s edgy, fragmented depiction of fraught, downtrodden Walter and his crystal-meth kingpin alter ego, Heisenberg, has earned six Emmy Awards, including three consecutive wins for Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Cranston.
“If you have any instinct for acting you start to understand over time that you really need a foundation for each character that’s real and tangible,” says Cranston. “Then you get excited about it. Once you do all that homework, ideas flow. But on a series, you have the additional luxury of playing a character over and over again. Now when I start Breaking Bad again, it’s like slipping into a comfortable pair of shoes. There’s a shortcut because of all the work that’s gone in before.”
The show, whose creators played hardball to stop the networks changing Walter’s criminal career to marijuana farming, has just been renewed for a fifth and final season, consisting of 16 episodes that may be split, Harry Potter-style, into two chunks.
“There’s a renaissance going on in television right now,” notes Cranston. “The studios aren’t making or picking up independent pictures anymore. So independent, cinematic storytelling has migrated to television. When I heard we were only doing 16 more episodes there was a lot of sadness.”
EVEN WITHOUT Breaking Bad , Cranston’s dance card is looking pretty full. Next year, he’ll take on John Carter in an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Martian saga. The film is Pixar Studio’s first foray into live-action cinema. He’ll also feature alongside Tom Cruise, Russell Brand and Catherine Zeta-Jones in the big-screen transfer of jukebox musical Rock of Ages and test his negotiation skills in Ben Affleck’s Argo , a drama based on the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis.
As we speak, he’s just wrapped on Total Recall , a remake of the Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle inspired by a Philip K. Dick short story. In director Len Wiseman’s update, Cranston’s nefarious extra terrestrial coloniser will grapple with a popular Irishman.
“I have so enjoyed working on Total Recall with one of your countrymen, Colin Farrell,” gushes Cranston, whose great-grandmother came from Co Clare. “The last couple of weeks we’ve been in hand-to-hand combat and it’s been a blast. He’s a tremendous amount of fun and a terrific actor. I’ve always been proud of my little slice of Irish ancestry. Now I’m even prouder.”
Cranston, an actor who seems to exude a Zen-like calm, plainly loves the work, though he’s rather less enamoured by all the attention.
“It’s not something I’ve sought,” he says. “It’s a by-product of success within the business. I appreciate it. It’s interesting. I love that people respond to the product we’re working on. But one of the primary tools an actor has is observation. You need to stay unnoticed to observe human behaviour. When people recognise you, that dynamic changes. I find myself wearing a hat and dark glasses and aiming for the lowest profile possible.”
Between disguises and increasingly starry roles, there are parental duties to attend to. His 18-year-old daughter Taylor is currently enrolled as a theatre major in the University of Southern California.
She wants to be in the family business, says Cranston, but that doesn’t mean she wants to follow in anyone’s footsteps. “I’m going there tonight to give a seminar,” says Dad. “But she’s skipping to go for dinner with Mom. I’m allowed to say she goes there, but I can’t use her name. At 18, she doesn’t want to be living in anyone’s shadow. So I have my directives. And I know how to take directions.”
MBB, please don’t put anything up by that cunt Tara Brady again. You have been asked nicely.
Thank you
You fuck yourself you bitchslapped cunt.
Good Lord what a TV show.
Everyone stop what you are watching because I guarantee it is positively shit compared to Breaking Bad.
I was in Kilkenny the last 10 days or so. Just watched the last 2 epiosdes back to back.
2 episodes left in this the 4th season.
There will be 16 episodes in the 5th and FINAL series.
Bryan Cranston is the best actor I ever had the pleasure of watching. Just incredible.
That laughing. :o The darkness of it and the final scene.
I love that they have set the end date for the show too.
They had the whole of Season 2 planned out with the plane crash even from the first episode.
I’m confident they have a good and strong long term view of how the story ends. Can’t wait.
Its an amazing show. Have only seen 3 seasons, no doubt some fucking idiot like mbb will ruin it here someday though.
Hmmmmm, its like that huh. Fair enough so. Challenge accepted.
I’ve had two attempts at watching Breaking Bad and didn’t get beyond two episodes either time. I’m guessing the consensus is I should give it a third go?
Nah don’t bother pal.
Which series had the hot Mexican Mother slash druggie in it (Breaking Bad I mean)? I keep forgetting where I am when I finish a series, same for Mad Men and Sons of Anarchy and don’t want to google it in case I get spoiled.