Monday, March 15, 2010

"Justified" Premieres Tomorrow on FX

A month or so ago I was buzzing around my apartment with the TV on, not really paying attention when I caught the tail end of a teaser for a new show on FX called "Justified". I was intrigued, so I rewound and watched the whole thing. It made me laugh because I'm currently working my way through the final season of "Deadwood" which stars Timothy Olyphant as Sheriff Seth Bullock and this new show also stars the actor as a forceful lawman (a U.S. Marshall this time). He even seems to be carrying on a similar demeanor to Bullock as this new character, Raylen Givins, as if Bullock stepped into a time machine and wound up in present day. This might seem like a critique of the yet-to-air show, but I assure you it is not. I love "Deadwood" and Olyphant is terrific in it. If he ends up acting similarly in "Justified" then I'll have no complaints, but if he ends up going a different direction I won't complain either.

Basically, I have high hopes for the show. I feel like FX is pushing for it to be a hit as I've seen probably 100 distinct TV spots for it; I'm not sure I've even seen the same one twice. However, there is a connecting fiber between each of the commercials: they all showcase Olyphant being a badass and beating up punks. I'm sure the program will be more layered than this, but such a show doesn't sound entirely unappealing. FX is getting pretty good at creating successful shows ("Damages", "Sons of Anarchy", "Rescue Me"), I hope this is able to take a spot alongside them.

"U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens is a modern day 19th century-style lawman, enforcing his brand of justice in a way that puts a target on his back with criminals and places him at odds with his bosses in the Marshal service. That conflict results in a reassignment for Givens to the U.S. District covering the town where he grew up. He is an anachronism - a tough, soft spoken gentleman who finds his quarry fascinating, but never gives an inch. Dig under his placid skin and you'll find an angry man who grew up hard in rural Kentucky, with an outlaw father, who knows a lot more about who he doesn't want to be than who he really is." - From FX

"Justified" premieres tomorrow on FX at 9:00pm central.




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