Take a first look at LEVERAGE Season 2 Episode 9 "The Lost Heir Job" airing Wednesday September 9 2009 at 9/8c on TNT. This week, a special guest star will join the show: Seven of Nine Jeri Ryan.

Also watch any Leverage episode here.

Episode Synopsis: LEVERAGE "The Lost Heir Job" Season 2 Episode 9 - The Leverage team tries to stop a corrupt lawyer from taking control of his wealthy client’s estate by convincing him that Parker is the man’s long lost daughter.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

LEVERAGE "The Lost Heir Job" Season 2 Episode 9

Watch a sneak peek of LEVERAGE Season 2 Episode 8 "The Ice Man Job" airing Wednesday September 2 2009 at 9/8c on TNT.

Also watch any Leverage episode here.

Episode Synopsis: LEVERAGE "The Ice Man Job" Season 2 Episode 8 - With Sophie away, Hardison plays the inside man to take down an unscrupulous diamond merchant. When he overdoes the act, the team finds itself forced to break into the most secure vault in Boston.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

LEVERAGE "The Ice Man Job" Season 2 Episode 8

In case you didn't know, Wil Wheaton is guest starring in this week's episode of LEVERAGE, "The Two Live Crew Job," which airs on tonight, August 26, at 9pm on TNT. You can take a first sneak peek at Wil Wheaton in the episode here.

He recently took some time to answer a few questions about his time on Leverage during a conference call with the press.

On the Star Trek reference at the beginning of the episode

Wil Wheaton: In the continuity of the show, Hardison is a huge Star Trek fan and makes Star Trek references all the time. In "The Fairy Godparents Job," he tells Eliot you know if I mention, or sorry not that one, the one in the hospital, sorry I got the titles mixed up, he tells Eliot if I say Star Trek with an even number something's bad, if I say Star Trek with an odd number it's something good because I'm flipping around you know even and odd Star Trek movies, and Eliot's like I don't know what you're talking about. And that's part of the gag that Hardison makes these Star Trek jokes all the time and nobody gets them. It just happened to be a cool bit of additional meta-humor that you know I get to be the guy that they call Kobayashi Maru. Which, I got to tell you, it kind of made me feel cool for about 5 minutes.

On how he got involved with the show

Wil Wheaton: I have been friends with John Rogers, the co-creator and head writer for a number of years and I used to play hockey with Dean Devlin when we were much younger. I played on the same team as him from like, I don't know maybe 1990 to 1991 or something like that. And they told me when the show was getting going, that if there was ever an opportunity for us to work together that I should be prepared to get that phone call. And I got really lucky that they had a character that I could play at a time when I could work on the show and I was able to go up and spend some time in Portland working on it.

Dean directed my show and Marc Roskin, who has directed some of my favorite episodes of the series, directed a lot of my second unit stuff and I think the only thing that could be better than all of that would be to get to come back at some point in the future and work in a show that Jonathan was directing.

On how Chaos compares to Hardison

Wil Wheaton: Well, if you ask Chaos he would tell you that Hardison dreams of one day being half as competent and skilled and accomplished as he is. If you asked Hardison he would tell you that he thinks it's just adorable that Chaos holds this opinion of himself and that's part of what makes their relationship so much fun to create. It was really important to me when I was putting this character together and Aldis and I were rehearsing our scenes, that the audience get the sense that these guys are both at the absolute top of their game.

And in fact, all of the players in this particular episode, in both crews, are convinced that they are the very best at what they do, and are really kind of happy and kind of excited to finally have somebody to go up against that they consider a worthy rival. So when I was working on my scenes and preparing my scenes with Aldis, we made sure that there was this sense of sparring as opposed to a sense of bare knuckle brawling.

And there's a ton of stuff, a ton of really funny like Fark-style trash talking that he and I engaged in that we just improvised that didn't make it into the final cut of the show but I really hope finds its way to a DVD or something like that, because it's all really, really silly stuff.

On whether Chaos, his character, might be making a comeback in future episodes

Wil Wheaton: Well I can't really speak directly to that because it would get into specifics about the episode and you know I wouldn't want to ruin that for anybody, but if the opportunity were to arise, the amount of time that it would take for me to say yes would be directly related to how long it took me to open up my e-mail and type three letters.

On which character of the "Leverage" team he would like to be

Wil Wheaton: In real life I'd like to be a guy like Eliot because like you know he's unstoppable. But the things is I've been a skinny nerd my whole life and I would love to finally be the guy that nobody can push around. As an actor, I would love to play a character like Nate Ford because he is so complex and so layered and so haunted and you know there are not a lot of actors who could do what Tim Hutton does with that character, and so I guess it's sort of a two-part answer.

On his overall feeling of the episode

Wil Wheaton: I am really proud of this episode. I had very high expectations going into it because I knew the script was great and I knew the cast was flawless. And you know I was there when we were putting it all together and I saw how things were working and how things were working on the set and stuff, and I thought this is going to be a great episode. And I went down to Electric Entertainment last week to see a screening of it and it exceeded my already high expectations. Like everybody gets to do something cool in this episode. And the story that ties all of these wonderful individual moments together is a really good, really solid, fun story. And you know even if I wasn't a member of this rival crew, I would really want to see these two crews go head to head again, to see how things change.

On whether he has ever hacked anything

Wil Wheaton: You know the extent of my illicit hacking activity probably starts and ends with the Activision video game Hacker on my old Macintosh in like 1984 or 1985. I was heavily involved in bulletin board culture before the Internet existed. I spent a lot of time on my 1200 baud acoustic coupler modem making connections to bulletin boards and things like that.

I was never a contributor but I read Fark religiously in the late 80s and right until the early 90s and it was not an especially long distance that I had to cover to get from myself to becoming Chaos. But I've never really engaged in anything that would, that would bring you down on the wrong side of the law. I knew a lot of people who probably grew up to be the modern equivalence of Chaos in Hardison now.

On whether he considers himself a computer geek

Wil Wheaton: Yes, I spend a lot of time online. I would consider myself an early adopter of a lot of the Internet technologies that a lot of people take for granted these days. I've been a member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Free Software Foundation and I'm a vocal advocate for network neutrality and users rights and I'm one of the loud voices in the Anti-DRM movement. I love my computer. I love the Internet. I absolutely love technology and, and it's still a very, very big part of my life.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

Wil Wheaton Talks LEVERAGE

Watch a sneak peek of LEVERAGE Season 2 Episode 7 "The Two Live Crew Job" airing Wednesday August 26 2009 at 9/8c on TNT.

Also watch any Leverage episode here.

Episode Synopsis: LEVERAGE "The Two Live Crew Job" Season 2 Episode 7 - To retrieve some art work the Leverage team takes on another crew of thieves.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

LEVERAGE "The Two Live Crew Job" Season 2 Episode 7

Now that's what I call good news!

[Press Release - Released by TNT]

TNT has added two episodes to the summer run of its hit series LEVERAGE, starring Academy Award® winner Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People), Gina Bellman (Coupling), Christian Kane (TNT's Into the West), Beth Riesgraf (Alvin and the Chipmunks) and Aldis Hodge (Friday Night Lights). The summer finale, guest-starring Star Trek: Voyager's Jeri Ryan in a new recurring role as Tara, a grifter who helps the team out, will air Wednesday, Sept. 9.

The following is the schedule for the two episodes added to LEVERAGE's summer lineup:
"The Ice Man Job" – Wednesday, Sept. 2, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT)
Summer Finale: "The Lost Heir Job" – Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT).

In LEVERAGE, Hutton stars as Nate Ford, a former insurance investigator determined to bring down the kind of corrupt bigwigs whose neglect led to the death of his son. His highly skilled team includes Sophie Devereaux (Bellman), a grifter who uses her acting skills to corner her marks; Eliot Spencer (Kane), a "retrieval specialist" with bone-crunching fighting skills; Alec Hardison (Hodge), a gadget and technology wizard who keeps the team connected and informed; and Parker (Riesgraf), a slightly off-center thief adept at rappelling off buildings or squeezing into tight places.

LEVERAGE is executive-produced by Dean Devlin (Independence Day, TNT's The Librarian) and creators John Rogers (Transformers) and Chris Downey (The King of Queens). It comes to the network from Devlin's Electric Entertainment.

TNT, one of cable's top-rated networks, is television's destination for drama and home to such original series as the acclaimed and highly popular detective drama The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick; Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter; Raising the Bar, with Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Gloria Reuben and Jane Kaczmarek; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; HawthoRNe, with Jada Pinkett Smith; and Dark Blue, starring Dylan McDermott. TNT also presents such powerful dramas as Bones, CSI: NY, Cold Case, Law & Order, Without a Trace, ER and Charmed; broadcast premiere movies; compelling primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards®; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA. TNT is available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

TNT Adds Two More Episodes of Hit Series LEVERAGE to Summer Lineup

Take a first look at a couple of pictures of Wil Wheaton in an upcoming episode of LEVERAGE.

As I previously wrote, Wil Wheaton will guest star in an episode of Leverage, entitled "The Two Live Crew Job," on August 26 at 9pm on TNT.

I have seen the episode and it's definitely one of the better ones. Why? Well, just imagine another crew of thieves almost virtually similar in every department to Nate Ford's team. Now imagine that they are both gunning for the same artwork, and you get thieves trying to out-steal each other.

Wil Wheaton plays Chaos, Hardison's hacker nemesis. And these two has some really funny scenes together. This is definitely an episode you don't want to miss.

In the picture above, in addition to Wil Wheaton, you can also see Apollo Robbins, Noa Tishby, and Griffin Dunne.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

Wil Wheaton in LEVERAGE First Look

Watch a sneak peek of LEVERAGE Season 2 Episode 6 "The Top Hat Job" airing Wednesday August 19 2009 at 9/8c on TNT.

Also watch any Leverage episode here.

Episode Synopsis: LEVERAGE "The Top Hat Job" Season 2 Episode 6 - The Leverage team infiltrates a company by posing as magicians.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

LEVERAGE "The Top Hat Job" Season 2 Episode 6

Watch a sneak peek of LEVERAGE Season 2 Episode 5 "The Three Days of the Hunter Job" airing Wednesday August 12 2009 at 9/8c on TNT. I am so psyched to see the gang back in action. They always come with really cool cons.

Also watch any Leverage episode here.

Episode Synopsis: LEVERAGE "The Three Days of the Hunter Job" Season 2 Episode 5 - The crew dives into the paranoid world of government conspiracies to expose a heartless tabloid newscaster as a fraud.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

LEVERAGE "The Three Days of the Hunter Job" Season 2 Episode 5

Wil Wheaton is going to guest star in an upcoming episode of LEVERAGE, on August 26 at 9pm on TNT.

The episode entitled "The Two Live Crew Job" will involve the team going head-to-head against another crew of thieves in order to retrieve their clients' priceless artwork.

Now here is the fun part, the other team has characters that each rival the Leverage team in every department:

Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Stand by Me) plays Chaos, the hacker opposite Aldis Hodge as Alec Hardison.

Griffin Dunne (TNT's Trust Me) plays Starke, the mastermind who challenges Timothy Hutton's Nate Ford.

Noa Tisby (Israeli actress/producer who is co-executive producer of In Treatment) is Mikel Dayan, the muscle against Christian Kane as Eliot.

Apollo Robbins (sleight-of-hand advisor on Leverage) plays Apollo, the thief who tries to out-steal Beth Riesgraf's Parker.

That sounds like such an exciting episode, I can't wait.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

Wil Wheaton to Guest Star on LEVERAGE

Watch a sneak peek of LEVERAGE Season 2 Episode 4 "The Fairy Godparents Job" airing Wednesday August 5 2009 at 9/8c on TNT.

Also watch any Leverage episode here.

Episode Synopsis: LEVERAGE "The Fairy Godparents Job" Season 2 Episode 4 - While trying to recover embezzled cash from a Madoff-like funds manager, the team finds themselves acting as unlikely fairy godparents to the mark’s lovable loser stepson.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

LEVERAGE "The Fairy Godparents Job" Season 2 Episode 4

Watch a sneak peek of LEVERAGE Season 2 Episode 3 "The Order-23 Job" airing Wednesday July 29 2009 at 9/8c on TNT.

Also watch any Leverage episode here.

Episode Synopsis: LEVERAGE "The Order-23 Job" Season 2 Episode 3 - The LEVERAGE team takes over a floor of a hospital in order to stage the outbreak of a deadly virus. They must quarantine a convicted felon and get him to reveal the location of his stolen money…or die.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

LEVERAGE "The Order-23 Job" Season 2 Episode 3

Watch a sneak peek of LEVERAGE Season 2 Episode 2 "The Tap-Out Job" airing Wednesday July 22 2009 at 9/8c on TNT.

Also watch any Leverage episode here.

Episode Synopsis: LEVERAGE Season 2 Episode 2 "The Tap-Out Job" - When the LEVERAGE crew tries to get a corrupt mixed martial arts promoter to invest everything he has in a fake cable television network, their con is discovered. Now, Eliot must throw a fight in order to save the day. Professional mixed martial arts fighters Ed Herman (The Ultimate Fighter 3) and Matt Lindland (Ultimate Fighting Championship) guest star.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

LEVERAGE "The Tap-Out Job" Season 2 Episode 2

ER (The Complete Eleventh Season)

Recommendations: If you're going to get this you're most likely already a fan, so I guess there is not much I can say to convince you.

Buy it: ER on Amazon

Grey Gardens

Synopsis: Based on the lives that inspired the Maysles Brothers' classic documentary, this HBO Films drama tells the story of "Big Edie" Beale (Jessica Lange) and her daughter "Little Edie" (Drew Barrymore), who forged a unique bond while living in a ramshackle East Hampton mansion.

Cast: Drew Barrymore, Jessica Lange

Recommendations: I really enjoyed Grey Gardens when it aired on HBO and if you have missed it, this is your chance to watch it. You can read my review for Grey Gardens here.

Buy it: GREY GARDENS on Amazon

Leverage (Season 1)

Synopsis: Meet Nate Ford, a former insurance investigator that spent his professional career dedicated to the company that he recovered millions in stolen goods for. This same insurance company would refuse a medical claim for his son that would take the life of the innocent child.
Unemployed and teetering on the edge, Nate is approached about a Robin Hood-like scheme. He enlists the help of the best thieves in the business, and with their help he will steal from the rich and give to the poor, to help balance the crooks in high power positions. He and his team help provide...leverage.

Cast: Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf, Aldis Hodge

Recommendations: This is one of the best shows on TNT, so if you haven't jumped on board yet, this is your chance to watch the first season. The cast works really great together and they are really fun to watch. There is also still time to enter our giveaway for a chance to win the DVD.

Buy it: LEVERAGE on Amazon

Mad Men (The Complete Second Season)

Synopsis: What you are, what you want, what you love doesn't matter. It's all about how you sell it. From AMC and the Emmy® Award-winning executive producer and writer of "The Sopranos" Matthew Weiner, comes Mad Men, a provocative new primetime drama about how to sell the truth. Set in 1960 New York, the daring new series is about the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising, an ego-driven world where key players make an art of the sell while their private world gets sold.

Cast: Jon Hamm, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones, John Slattery, Elisabeth Moss

Recommendations: If you loved season 1 of Mad Men, then I don't even have to convince you to watch season 2. This is your chance to get caught up before the season 3 premiere on August 16.

Buy it: MAD MEN on Amazon

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

New TV on DVD Releases for the Week of July 14 2009

LEVERAGE is back for a second season with its first episode "The Beantown Bailout Job" airing tomorrow Wednesday July 15, 2009 at 9/8c on TNT. I had a chance to watch an advance copy of the episode and here are my thoughts on it.

In "The Beantown Bailout Job", Nate Ford (Timothy Hutton) is back together with the gang in order to take down a local Irish mob who is after a banker trying to uncover a bank scam. Nate is actually pretty reluctant to rejoin the team unlike the others who are pretty gung ho on getting back together.

In this first episode of season 2, aside from the classic job that the team is taking on, the main theme revolves around Nate reuniting with the team. It was kind of amusing how the team kinda barges into his life and takes over his apartment. Every person on the team wants back in except him. Even cooky Parker (who is my favorite character btw) wants back in.

I have to admit that I have a soft spot for Leverage. It is one of those shows that can do no wrong in my eyes. Mainly because there is just so much humor in it that it is hard to really be critical about it. Overall this was a pretty cool episode. A lot of humor, a lot of action and whole lot of fun. Leverage Rules!

Check out a sneak peek of The Beantown Bailout Job below.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

LEVERAGE "The Beantown Bailout Job" Review

LEVERAGE's new second season premieres on Wednesday, July 15, at 9pm on TNT. And to celebrate we are giving away 2 copies of the Leverage Season One DVD, which was just released today.

If you would like a chance to win, it's an easy 2 step process:

• First, email us at contest@daemonstv.com and tell us you are entering the "Leverage giveaway."
• Second, subscribe to our daily email newsletter. (Click here to subscribe)

Note: You will need to activate your email subscription (check your spam folder for the activation email) and make sure you use the same email for both steps. You do not have to remain a subscriber and may unsubscribe at anytime after the giveaway is over (in this case anytime after July 28th).

The winners will be picked randomly and we will check the winners' email against our newsletter subscription. Those without a subscription will be disqualified.

The giveaway is open until July 28th 2009. Good Luck!

More Rules:

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

Giveaway: LEVERAGE Season 1 DVD

Watch a sneak peek of LEVERAGE Season 2 Episode 1 "The Beantown Bailout Job" airing Wednesday July 15, 2009 at 9/8c on TNT.

Also watch any Leverage episode here.

Episode Synopsis: LEVERAGE Season 2 Episode 1 "The Beantown Bailout Job" - Nate Ford reluctantly reassembles the team to pit the local Irish mob against a banker who is gaming a government bailout. If they survive, Nate has to deal with four thieves who’ve decided he needs them in his life, whether he likes it or not.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

LEVERAGE Season 2 Episode 1 "The Beantown Bailout Job"

TNT has quite an exciting TV Schedule for Summer 2009. In addition to some of our favorite shows coming back like Leverage, The Closer, Raising the Bar, and Saving Grace, we also get a few new ones, including Wedding Day, HawthoRNe, and Dark Blue.

TNT's Summer 2009 TV Schedule (new shows are in red):

MONDAY, JUNE 8

9 p.m. The Closer

10 p.m. Raising the Bar

TUESDAY, JUNE 16

8 p.m. Wedding Day

9 p.m. HawthoRNe

10 p.m. Saving Grace

WEDNESDAY, JULY 15

9 p.m. Leverage

10 p.m. Dark Blue

________________________________________________

You can find more details about each of TNT's original series below:

THE CLOSER – Fifth season to launch Monday, June 8, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT)

It's going to be a year of change for Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson and her Major Crimes unit as TNT's THE CLOSER returns for its fifth season. The record-breaking crime drama, which stars Golden Globe® winner Kyra Sedgwick, continues to dominate the industry as ad-supported cable's #1 series of all time. Sedgwick gives an unforgettable performance as Deputy Chief Johnson, a former Atlanta detective brought to Los Angeles to head a special LAPD homicide unit. She is a top-notch investigator with unparalleled interrogation skills and a track record for closing nearly every case with a suspect's confession. On the home front, she's not quite as adept at handling her personal relationships. Instead, work tends to take first priority in her life and even threatened to derail her wedding in the season-four finale.
This acclaimed series also features a stellar ensemble cast that has garnered three Screen Actors Guild Award® ensemble nominations. Playing Brenda’s highly capable squad are Corey Reynolds (The Terminal), G.W. Bailey (M*A*S*H), Tony Denison (Melrose Place), Raymond Cruz (Collateral Damage), Michael Paul Chan (Arrested Development) and Phillip P. Keene (The D.A.). The series also stars Jon Tenney (The Division) as Brenda's husband, FBI Agent Fritz Howard; J.K. Simmons (Juno, Burn After Reading) as her demanding boss, Will Pope; and Robert Gossett (Arlington Road) as the head of Robbery-Homicide, Commander Taylor.

________________________________________________

RAISING THE BAR – Second season to launch Monday, June 8, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT)

This summer, court will be back in session with the return of this emotionally powerful legal drama from Emmy®-winning producer Steven Bochco. The series follows the cases and lives of young lawyers who work on opposite sides – the public defender's office and the district attorney's office – as well as those who sit in judgment on their cases. Mark-Paul Gosselaar (NYPD Blue) stars as idealistic defender Jerry Kellerman, while Gloria Reuben (ER) plays his passionate and protective boss, Rosalind Whitman. And Jane Kaczmarek (Malcolm in the Middle) plays imperious Judge Trudy Kessler, who has dreams of becoming the next district attorney. Co-starring in the series are Teddy Sears (Ugly Betty), Natalia Cigliuti (All My Children), Melissa Sagemiller (Sleeper Cell), Currie Graham (Boston Legal), J. August Richards (Conviction) and Jonathan Scarfe (Into the West).
RAISING THE BAR not only looks at courtroom battles but also the relationships among people on different sides, from the public defender trying to deal with her abusive, drug-addicted husband to the African-American assistant district attorney determined not to let himself be viewed as a racial token, from the judge who pushes the legal envelope in order to secure her political future to the legal aide who does everything he can to hide his homosexuality.

________________________________________________

WEDDING DAY – New series to launch Tuesday, June 16, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT)

Every couple dreams of having the perfect wedding. For many, it's the most important and emotional day of their lives. But for some, insurmountable obstacles create barriers to making their dream day a reality. This new TNT series, the network's first-ever unscripted drama, comes from producing giants Mark Burnett Productions and DreamWorks Television. The show gives deserving couples a helping hand to ensure the most important day of their lives is also the most magical. Each week, celebrity event planner and food expert Alan Dunn (For Better or Worse) and celebrity wedding producer and designer Diann Valentine (author of Weddings Valentine Style) host as family, friends and community come together to create a dream wedding. Along the way, viewers will learn each couple’s compelling story, from their first date to their wedding day.

________________________________________________

HAWTHORNE – New series to launch Tuesday, June 16, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT)

Jada Pinkett Smith (The Women, The Matrix trilogy) is the latest talented actress to join TNT's line-up of strong, complex female characters, following in the footsteps of Kyra Sedgwick on The Closer and Holly Hunter of Saving Grace. In this character-driven medical drama, Pinkett Smith plays Christina Hawthorne, a compassionate and headstrong Chief Nursing Officer heading up a group of dedicated nurses at Richmond Trinity Hospital who spend long days and nights on the hospital's front lines. Hawthorne is the kind of nurse you want on your side when you or someone you love is in the hospital. She is the kind of nurse who fights for her patients and doesn't let them slip through the cracks. When necessary, she takes on doctors and administrators who are overworked, distracted or just unable to see the human being behind the hospital chart.
Joining Pinkett Smith in HAWTHORNE is Michael Vartan (Alias) as Dr. Tom Wakefield, the oncologist who treated Christina's husband and who serves as director of medicine for the hospital. The cast also includes Suleka Mathew (Men in Trees) as Bobbie Jackson, a fellow nurse and one of Hawthorne's best friends; David Julian Hirsh (Lovebites) as Ray Stein, a nurse struggling with being accepted in a female-dominated profession; Christina Moore (90210) as Candy Sullivan, a nurse with a unique sense of duty; and Hannah Hodson (TNT's The Ron Clark Story) as Camille, Hawthorne's daughter. In addition, special guest star Joanna Cassidy (Six Feet Under) portrays Amanda, Hawthorne’s mother-in-law, who also happens to be a member of the hospital board.

________________________________________________

SAVING GRACE – Third season to launch Tuesday, June 16, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT)

Academy Award® winner Holly Hunter returns in this bold series as a gutsy Oklahoma City Police detective who holds nothing back, whether on the job or in her personal life. The series follows as she investigates brutal crimes while also trying to balance her relationship with her partner, Ham (Kenneth Johnson – The Shield), and figure out cryptic messages from her last-chance angel, Earl (Leon Rippy – Deadwood). Hunter's acclaimed, tantalizing performance recently earned her a second consecutive Screen Actors Guild Award® nomination. She is joined in the series by an ensemble cast that includes Bailey Chase (Las Vegas), Gregory Cruz (Criminal Minds), Yaani King (The Prince & Me) and Dylan Minnette (Prison Break), with Lorraine Toussaint (Any Day Now) and Laura San Giacomo (Just Shoot Me).

________________________________________________

LEVERAGE – Second season to launch Wednesday, July 15, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT)

TNT set Tuesday nights on fire this winter with the first season of this thrilling, fast-paced drama series starring Oscar® winner Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People). This summer, the gang is back with more elaborate scams designed to exact revenge against those who use power and wealth to victimize people. Hutton stars as Nate Ford, a former insurance investigator determined to bring down the kind of corrupt bigwigs whose neglect led to the death of his son. His highly skilled team includes Sophie Devereaux (Gina Bellman – Coupling), a grifter who uses her acting skills to corner her marks; Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane – TNT's Into the West), a "retrieval specialist" with bone-crunching fighting skills; Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge – Friday Night Lights), a gadget and technology wizard who keeps the team connected and informed; and Parker (Beth Riesgraf – Alvin and the Chipmunks), a slightly off-center thief adept at repelling off buildings or squeezing into tight places. Together, the team puts their energy, quick minds and keen intellects toward securing justice for society’s underdogs.

________________________________________________

DARK BLUE – New series to launch Wednesday, July 15, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT)

This fast-paced, undercover police drama from prolific producer Jerry Bruckheimer (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Without a Trace) stars Golden Globe® winner Dylan McDermott (The Practice, TNT's The Grid), Logan Marshall-Green (The O.C.), Omari Hardwick (TNT's Saved) and Nicki Aycox (Supernatural). The series follows the exploits of a crack undercover team of police officers so covert, many of their own colleagues don't even know they are involved. Leading the group is Carter Shaw (McDermott), a deeply wounded character who has lost his wife and much of his former life as he struggles to bring down bad guys through complex undercover assignments. His team includes Ty Curtis (Hardwick), a recently married cop who struggles with personal relationships he has developed while undercover; Dean Bendis (Marshall-Green), a shoot-from-the-hip officer whose activities make fellow team members wonder if he has gone over to the bad side; and Jaimie Allen (Aycox), a green patrol cop brought in because of her excellent skill in lying and a shady past.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

TNT 2009 Summer TV Schedule

BETH RIESGRAF

Currently in: Leverage airing Tuesdays at 10 pm on TNT.

Her Character: Parker - Petite, cute, blonde... and a social pariah. Parker's idea of fun would scare the living daylights out of most people. She has neither modesty nor fear of heights. Like Hardison, Parker grew up in the foster care system, but her tale is one of abuse and neglect. She's insecure about only one thing: her ability to pass herself off as a normal person.

The Buzz: Three Words to describe Beth Riesgraf in Leverage: Funny, Funny, Funny....Oh and did I mention she was funny? She plays quirky, silly and pretty extremely well. She is a definite gem and a welcome fresh face on our TV set.

Biography:

Beth Riesgraf’s television credits include the Showtime pilot Insatiable and recent guest-starring roles on Without a Trace, Big Shots, and My Name is Earl.

On the big screen, Riesgraf starred opposite Giovanni Ribisi in writer/director Jason Lee’s silent independent film The White Door. She appeared in the modern movie Alvin and the Chipmunks and recently completed the independent feature Nobody.

In addition to acting, Riesgraf is a professional photographer.

(Source: TNT.com)

Read all our Leverage coverage here.

Pictures:

Video:

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

TV Actress of the Day: BETH RIESGRAF

Once again TNT brings you an incredible new series, LEVERAGE, which airs on Tuesdays at 10pm.

A few weeks ago, we got a chance to speak with the cast and executive producer about this incredible show (don't forget to read our review of the first two episode of Leverage).

First we spoke to John Rogers (Executive Producer), Chris Downey (Executive Producer), Gina Bellman (Sophie Devereaux), Christian Kane (Eliot Spencer)

They described Leverage as a mix of the A-Team and Mission Impossible.

Leverage is like trying to make a mini movie every week.

The format of the show is that the gang will do a heist and con every episode. Sometimes it's a big action con, sometimes small. They do everything from stealing a miracle to save a small church to landing a plane on the freeway [I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see that one].

In order to come up with a con, the writers need to define who the "bad guy" of the week is, because the con always depends on their weakness.

For example, one of the upcoming episodes entitled "The Stork Job," will deal with a woman behind a foreign adoption scam in Serbia, in which she took money from families looking to adopt, and then left people devastated. Her backstory is that she is a former Russian Model/Actress. At this point you pretty much have an idea that her weakness will be vanity. And as so, the con will involve the gang stealing a movie.

In addition, the settings depend on which hat everybody is going to wear. So if we take "The Stork Job" example again, it's pretty clear that Sophie will be associated with it because she is an actress, and turns out it's the only time that she is good as an actress, because it's part of the con.

As far as getting more information about the background of each character, the writers will be dropping hints here and there, but they would rather come up with new stuff as they go rather than paint themselves into a corner.

As you will see, Gina Bellman has to do a lot of accents in the show (at least one per episode). Her first instinct is to say "no I can't do that," and then when the producers tell her that she doesn't have to, she always ends up pulling it off. Apparently, it's almost like a ritual for them now.

Christian Kane who plays Eliot, does all his fight scenes. He actually feels like he has been preparing his whole life for this part, it's comedy, drama and it's action, and he loves that.

One last thing, and this is for Angel fans, when asked about the differences between Eliot and Lindsey, Christian Kane very spontaneously answered: "I think Eliot can kick the crap out of Lindsey."
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The next people we got to talk to were Dean Devlin (Executive Producer), Timothy Hutton (Nate Ford), Beth Riesgraf (Parker), Aldis Hodge (Alec Hardison)

There is a lot of improv in the show, and in fact some of the best lines come from improv. There are lots of things that happened on the set that have been kept in the show.

Timothy Hutton decided that he would do the show when he read the stage direction that John Rogers wrote on page 3 of the script, "We're having fun people, this is fun." He then put script down and said "this is great."

Beth Riesgraf created the character of Parker by herself. The funny story is that when she auditioned in front of the network, the head of the network turned to Dean Devlin and said "Is she crazy?" and Dean Devlin said "I don't know, but I love what she's doing."

In the pilot where you see Parker hanging upside down a building, well Beth Riesgraf was in fact hanging upside down a 44 stories building at 4am in Chicago. Now that's commitment!

Nate Ford becomes the head of a dysfunctional family, and what the show is really about, can they stay together when their nature is to not trust?

Don't forget to watch Leverage on Tuesdays at 10pm on TNT.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

TNT's LEVERAGE Press Day

I had the opportunity to watch the first two episodes of the new TNT series LEVERAGE that premieres tomorrow, Sunday December 7, 2008 at 10pm. Let me start by saying this is a must-see new show.

The series follows a team of thieves, hackers and grifters, who act as modern-day Robin Hoods, taking revenge against those who use power and wealth to victimize others. It stars Timothy Hutton as Nate Ford, Christian Kane as Eliot Spencer, Aldis Hodge as Alec Hardison, Gina Bellman as Sophie Devereaux and Beth Riesgraf as Parker.

Here is what I have to say about the first two Leverage episodes:

Leverage Episode 1 "The Nigerian Job" (Season Premiere) - Sunday, December 7, at 10pm.

LEVERAGE - The Nigerian Job

As season premieres go, this is a definite great start. Everything worked. The smart story, the witty characters and the hilarious dialogue were brilliantly put together in a perfect blend. Leverage is the A-Team meets Mission Impossible and it works really well.

The biggest thing I took away from the "The Nigerian Job" is how incredibly funny Leverage is, especially Parker (Beth Riesgraf) who really steals every scene she is in. One particular line stuck out to me, and once you see it you'll understand why: "Is she injured? In the head?" (I literally had to rewind and watch it again it was so funny).

Which brings me to Gina Bellman who potrays Sophie Devereaux. In the episode she has a brilliant scene where she is in a play, but let's just say that Sophie is not as talented as Gina is in real life. One of the best moments.

The con in itself is freaking brilliant and is extremely believable but for me, it just served as a backdrop to what was actually happening, the beginning of a team.

Another thing that I absolutely loved were the fighting scenes of Eliot. He has some of the best fights I have seen on TV so far. The guy can kick some ass that's for sure.

Also I really appreciate that the writers actually created a situation at the end of this episode that makes the existence of this team absolutely believable. It is always nice to have a good reason to believe in something.

Synopsis: A desperate aerospace CEO hires Nate Ford – an insurance investigator who once specialized in recovering stolen goods worth millions – to lead a team of expert thieves to recover stolen airplane designs from a rival company. But after Nate's team recovers the designs and turns them over to the CEO, they realize the property never belonged to him in the first place. Now, the crew must come up with a new plan to return the designs to their rightful owner and wrangle the money the CEO had promised them as payment.

Leverage Episode 2 "The Homecoming Job" - Tuesday, December 9, at 10pm.

LEVERAGE - The Homecoming Job

The second episode is not as strong as the series premiere, but it does a good job of engaging us into the con and of course of bringing the funny in all the right places. What is also interesting to watch is how the team's chemistry is evolving.

Once again, Parker steals this one with her funny remarks but I have to say that Alec Hardison (Aldis Hodge) has crazy comedic timing which makes this even better.

Eliot keeps us entertained with some more fighting.

And if you ever wanted to stick it up to the man, well then you will definitely appreciate this episode.

Synopsis: Leverage Consulting & Associates opens for business as the crew takes on the case of a reservist who's been wounded in Iraq by private military contractors. In order to get the veteran the medical rehabilitation he needs but cannot afford, the team goes after the security firm to break their cover-up and expose the truth about the incident.

Overall, it is my humble opinion that Leverage is one of the best new shows of 2008-2009. It literally has everything going for it. Great cast, great story lines and a fantastic dialogue.

It premieres tomorrow Sunday December 7 2008 at 10/9 central right after the premiere of the third Librarian film, THE LIBRARIAN: CURSE OF THE JUDAS CHALICE. Don't miss it.

This is a post from Daemon's TV.

LEVERAGE Review "The Nigerian Job" & "The Homecoming Job"