The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@xxxxxxxxx /--------- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight ------------\ I HEART HUCKABEES - OPENING IN SELECT CITIES OCTOBER 1 From David O. Russell, writer and director of THREE KINGS and FLIRTING WITH DISASTER comes an existential comedy starring Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Hupert, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg and Naomi Watts. Watch the trailer now at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/huckabees/index_nyt.html \----------------------------------------------------------/ It's Runway vs. Terminal: Sparks, and Planes, Fly September 13, 2004 By ALESSANDRA STANLEY How could something that feels so right be so wrong? Heather Locklear and Blair Underwood are dream casting, the trashy version of Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen. There was every reason to expect their new series on NBC would be as deliciously campy as "Dynasty" and "L.A. Law." It isn't. "LAX," which begins tonight, actually takes itself seriously as a drama about the Los Angeles airport. It finds sweeping narrative suspense in the switching of an aircraft arrival gate. Routine procedures are treated like harrowing brushes with disaster. "Trust me," Airfield Chief Harley Random (Ms. Locklear) assures the mayor through gritted teeth. "I'll get the governor on the ground." And subplots set in the baggage handling department, customs area and gift shops are milked for poignancy: "E.R." with air control towers. That said, there are some promising moments that suggest what might have been. In what is perhaps one of the better introductory shots of a lead actress, the first glimpse of Ms. Locklear is a close-up of her rear, vacuum-packed into tight pants. The camera pulls back a little to reveal the swing of her hips, then another tight shot goes right for the sunglasses. The scene looks like a 1980's music video, and is a fitting tribute to the actress who 23 years ago played the spandex-clad vixen Sammy Jo in "Dynasty," but the moment passes, weighed down by boring plot developments and wooden dialogue. Put it this way: despite every effort to ennoble the airport management staff, viewers are still going to root for the drunken Serbian flight crew that decides to fly out of LAX, passenger safety and blood alcohol levels be damned. (Harley offers to sleep with the pilot if he will bring the plane back to the gate.) Blair Underwood, last seen on "Sex and the City," plays Terminal Manager Roger De Souza, Harley's rival for the job of airport director. The two are fierce competitors who were once lovers and presumably still have some chemistry hidden beneath their mutual disregard. They have different management styles: Roger (Mr. Underwood also makes a music video entrance in the premiere) is a calm, charming, smooth talker. Harley is a tactless spitfire whose dark temper matches her roots. When she outmaneuvers him to bring a bomb squad into the terminal, he tries to negotiate a truce: "You don't mess with my terminals, and I won't mess with your runways." The show is filmed in a lush, Robert Altman style and has a sophisticated soundtrack, but the plot points do not live up to their packaging. Neither do the principles. Mr. Underwood is persuasive, but Ms. Locklear can do better. Five years after "Melrose Place" ended, she is ready for the kind of juicy roles that once went to Joan Collins. Instead, the 40-something temptress has worked so hard to maintain the dewy look of a 20-year-old that her face is immobile and a little scary: a Madame Tussaud's wax rendition of Tuesday Weld. First episodes can be misleading, though. There is still a chance that her features, and the scripts, could loosen up. LAX NBC, tonight at 10, Eastern and Pacific times; 9, Central time. Created and written by Nick Thiel; directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo; Mr. Thiel and Mark Gordon, executive producers; Harry Victor and Dan Fesman, producers. WITH: Heather Locklear (Harley Random), Blair Underwood (Roger De Souza); Paul Leyden (Tony), Wendy Hoopes ( Betty), David Paetkau (Nick), Frank John Hughes (Henry Engels). THE BENEFACTOR ABC, tonight at 8, Eastern and Pacific times; 7, Central time. The appeal of "The Benefactor," ABC's new reality show, rests almost entirely on whether viewers find its host, the Dallas-based billionaire Mark Cuban, bearable. The extroverted Internet mogul who owns the Dallas Mavericks was recruited by ABC to star in a copycat version of "The Apprentice." He makes Donald Trump seem like Sir Kenneth Clark. Mr. Cuban laughs a lot, and he has the overeager, uninfectious guffaw of a man who is trying to will merriment into a silent, sparsely attended office party. ("This is going to be fun!" he keeps assuring the camera.) The premise of "The Benefactor" is that Mr. Cuban will put 16 contestants through a series of tests, whittling the field down to one, who then wins $1 million. Production values are less generous: Mr. Cuban's taped monologues seem to be clumsily superimposed by computer graphics on a hokey background set of leather-bound books. ABC must have a suspicion that audiences will not wait long for a denouement: three people get kicked off on the first episode. Or it could just be that the network wants to ram home through repetition Mr. Cuban's wordier version of "You're fired." When a contestant is cut, Mr. Cuban says, "You just lost your shot at one million dollars." When the group first assembles in the "Benefactor" mansion, one of the contestants assures the others that the show will be good. "You know it's going to be stupid," he says, having perhaps seen his share of reality shows. "But I don't think its going to be stupid-stupid." Wrong-wrong. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/13/arts/television/13stanley.html?ex=1096102146&ei=1&en=155ed0655638e68f --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://homedelivery.nytimes.com/HDS/SubscriptionT1.do?mode=SubscriptionT1&ExternalMediaCode=W24AF HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@xxxxxxxxxxx or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@xxxxxxxxxxxx Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company