Brad Grey Movies

First telecast March 13, 2005, the ABC sitcom Jake in Progress starred John Stamos as Jake Phillips, a handsome, stylishly dressed celebrity publicist who worked for the Magnum PR Agency. It was Jake's function in life to handle damage control for the rich and famous -- and to endure the constant insults hurled his way by his high-strung boss Naomi (Wendie Malick), who in the earliest episodes was twice as contentious as usual because she was in the last stages of pregnancy. Although supremely in charge on the job, Jake was less fortunate in his private life, unable to sustain any sort of lasting romantic relationships. Offering comfort and advice to the protagonist were his two friends, a dentist named Adrian (Ian Gomez) and a funky (and remarkably ubiquitous) street magician named Patrick (Rick Hoffman). Almost universally panned by critics during its initial 13-week run, Jake in Progress went on a lengthy hiatus, resurfacing on January 9, 2006. Evidently taking the criticism to heart, the producers endeavored to make the somewhat abrasive Jake more likeable and the episode plotlines more credible; also, two new regular characters were added, Annie (Charlotte Ross) and Mark (Dondre Whitfield). However, the series still languished in the ratings, posting the lowest numbers of the four major networks in its time period. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It was all but inevitable that the most successful independently produced film of all time, 2002's My Big Fat Greek Wedding, would spawn a weekly, half-hour TV sitcom. What was not inevitable, and indeed a bit surprising, was that the CBS series My Big Fat Greek Life would feature virtually the entire cast of the original film -- with one noteworthy exception. Nia Vardalos, who created the movie and served as a co-executive producer for the TV version, reprised her screen role as Nia (originally Toula) Portokalos Miller, the new Greek-American bride of non-Greek teacher Ian Miller. The two lovebirds did their best to assert their independence, despite the well-meaning omnipresence and interference of Nia's colorful -- and bombastic -- Greek family. In addition to Vardalos, the series featured a number of carryovers from the film, among them Michael Constantine as Nia's domineering restauranteur father, Gus; Lainie Kazan as her eternally freeting mother, Maria; Louis Mandylor as her macho-man brother, Nick; Andrea Martin as advice-dispensing Aunt Voula; and Gia Carides as garrulous cousin Nikki. Conspicuous by his absence on the series was John Corbett, the original Ian Miller; his role was taken over by Steven Eckholdt. My Big Fat Greek Life first aired on February 24, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sixteen months after the end of The Sopranos' third season, Season Four gets under way. And if you think THIS is a long hiatus, "Fuggeddabouddit"--wait until we get to Season Six! New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano finally has an excuse to whack the troublesome Ralphie Cifaretto (Joe Pantoliano, who will win Emmy for his abbreviated recurring role), thereby allowing Ralphie's troubled lieutenant Vito (Joseph R. Gannascoli) to become Capo of the Aprile branch of the DiMeo crime organization. But though Ralphie is gone, he's far from forgotten, and will continue to haunt Tony in more ways than one. Adding to Tony's burdens, his marriage with Carmela (Edie Falco) completely disintegrates, due in no small part to his endless parade of mistresses, notably Adriana (Drea de Matteo), now the lover of Tony's protégé Christopher (Michael Imperioli). Elsewhere, Tony's unstable sister Janice (Aida Turturro) goes to great and gory lengths to gain control of her late mother's valuable record collection--which gets her in big trouble with, of all people, the Russian Mafia. And Tony's treacherous Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese) is back in circulation thanks to a rigged jury, still plotting and planning to oust his nephew and take charge of the operation himself (if senility doesn't take charge of him first). In another development, Johnny Sack (Vincent Curatola) of the Lupertazzi crime family approaches Tony (by way of Paulie Walnuts [Tony Sirico]) with an offer he can't refuse: Bump off Johnny's boss Carmine Lupertazzi (Tony Lip), and Tony can write his own ticket. But the offer is refused, and the stage is set for the bloody turf war to follow in Season Five. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Being head of the Northern New Jersey branch of the DiMeo crime family is no bed of roses for Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) in Season Three of HBO's The Sopranos. Tony's headaches begin early on with the dangerously unstable, sexually deviant and recklessly profane Ralph Cifaretto (Joe Pantoliano) returns to the organization after a lengthy absence. Though there's no love lost between the two men, Tony arranges for Ralph to take over the illicit business operations of the late Richie Aprile, who'd been bumped off in a fit of rage by Tony's treacherous sister Janice (Aida Turturro) the previous season. Also causing trouble is another new arrival on the scene: Richie's nephew Jackie Aprile Jr. (Jason Carbone), nicknamed "Little Lord F**kpants" because of his pathetic inability to live up to the standards and expectations of his celebrated criminal family. Though Tony tolerates Jackie Jr. and somewhat admires the boy's efforts to live a clean life away from Uncle Richie's influence, things quickly go south when Jackie becomes involved with Tony's daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lyn Sigler)--and also tries to emulate his no-good uncle, turning into a pariah by planning--and bungling--a robbery on his own. Blood kin or no blood kin, Ralph has to "deal" with Jackie Jr., arranging with all-purpose henchman Vito Spatafore (Joseph R. Gannascoli) to handle the dirty details. Elsewhere, Tony's protégé Christopher (Michael Imperioli) has been fully embraced by the Family, despite his ongoing war of wills with veteran capo Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico); Tony's analyst Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) the identity of her rapist a secret from Tony, so that she won't have anyone's murder on her conscience; and the FBI comes a-cropper planting an electronic bug in the Soprano mansion. One of the Season Three story arcs was to involve Tony's spiteful mother Livia, who was to have testified against her son in a federal trial. The death of actress Nancy Marchand (Livia Soprano) put an end to these plans, but through the magic of CGI Livia makes one final "appearance" to make her son's life even more miserable than usual. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

New Jersey Mafia boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) continues maintaining the facade of being a respectable suburban husband and father while operating a vast criminal organization from the confines of the Bada-Bing Club during Season Two of The Sopranos. Now that the treacherous Uncle Junior (Dominic Chianese) has been placed under arrest by the feds, and with his far-from-supportive mother Livia (Nancy Marchand, who died during this season) has been exiled to a nursing home, Tony thinks that his family problems are over. No such luck: Breezing in from Seattle is Tony's seriously disturbed, sexually promiscuous and thoroughly untrustworthy sister Janice (Aida Turturro), the closest thing that any mob family has had to a "black sheep". There's more trouble from the dangerously impulsive Richie Aprile (David Proval), older brother of Tony's predecessor Jackie Aprile Sr., who is resentful that a younger man has taken over the Aprile branch of the DeMeo crime organization. Richie also has a mad-on for Tony's trusted protégé Christopher (Michael Imperioli), whose own prestige within the mob continues to grow by leaps and bounds, especially after he engineers the family's elaborate "pump-and-dump" stock scam. Christopher himself has developed a close relationship with Adriana La Cerva (Drea de Matteo), and never mind that she is one of "Uncle" Tony's mistresses. Though the FBI agent within the family's ranks has been whacked, there is still someone feeding information to the feds. It breaks Tony's heart to discover that his trusted torpedo Big Pussy (Vincent Pastore) is the turncoat, but business is business, and Tony is obliged to stage-manage Big Pussy's demise during a now-famous boat trip. Nor is this the end of the intramural carnage: despite having become engaged to her former flame Richie Aprile, Tony's sister Janice settles a bitter argument with Richie in typical Soprano fashion. Result: No wedding, and no Richie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

If it is truly possible to make a bunch of criminals, thieves, and cold-blooded murderers amusing and appealing, then the much-praised HBO serio-comedy The Sopranos did the trick. The title refers not to a gaggle of singers, but to a powerful New Jersey mob family who goes about it's business behind a disarming veneer of suburban respectability. Most of the stories concentrate on middle-aged mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), whose illicit and homicidal activities are treated as par for the course by his wife Carmela (Edie Falco), his college-age daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), and his listless teenage son Anthony Jr. (Robert Iler). Plagued with the usual problems attending his profession, Tony is also weighed down by the travails of his immediate family, not to mention such irritants as his thoroughly venal mother, Livia Soprano (Nancy Marchand), and the overly ambitious Soprano patriarch Corrado "Uncle Junior" Soprano (Dominic Chianese), with whom Tony is locked in an eternal power struggle. At his wit's end, Tony begins consulting a psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), who is understandably queasy over being privy to the most intimate details of mob activity. The large and ever-changing supporting cast includes Tony Sirico as obsequious mob torpedo Paulie Walnuts, John Heard as "bought" detective Vin Makazian, Michael Rispoli as capo Jackie Aprile, David Proval as Jackie's testy ex-con brother Richie Aprile, Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti, Steve Van Zandt as Silvio Dante, Aida Turturro as Tony's sister Janice, Drea de Matteo as Adrianna, Vincent Pastore as Pussy Bompensiero, Joseph Badalucco Jr. as Jimmy Altieri, Michele DeCesare as Hunter, Anthony de Sando as Brendan Filone, Jerry Adler as Hesh Rabkin, and Kathrine Narducci as Charmaine Bucco.

The series was created by David Chase, who previously served as a writer/producer for such "mainstream" shows as Northern Exposure and I'll Fly Away, and who, born David DeCesare, claimed that a goodly portion of the series is autobiographical (in terms of family interrelationships, if not "the family business"). The Sopranos was almost picked up by Fox, but Chase took a pass when the network insisted upon having casting approval (apparently Fox preferred the best-looking actors to the best actors). The HBO link-up allowed Chase greater freedom in terms of the series' profanity and violence quotient, which provides a realistic backdrop for the oftimes surreal comings and goings of the Sopranos and their various relatives, friends, foes, and business associates. Debuting January 10, 1999, The Sopranos immediately became a popular and critical favorite with the New York Times gushing that the series is "the greatest work of American pop culture of the past quarter century." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

There's a bit of unanticipated irony in the opening episode of NewsRadio's fourth season, with Jon Lovitz cast as a would-be suicide who perches himself on the ledge outside the office of radio station WNYX's news director Dave Nelson (Dave Foley). One year later, Lovitz would join the cast as a regular, replacing the beloved Phil Hartman, who was murdered shortly after filming wrapped on Season Four. A quartet of subsequent episodes feature a story arc with Lauren Graham guesting as a manic efficiency expert. The abrupt departure of series regular Khandi Alexander obliges the writers to come up with a "Rashomon"-style episodes wherein everyone has a different story as to why abrasive news anchor Catherine Duke has left WNYX. Also, Bob Odenkirk and David Cross of Mr. Show fame, joined by one of that series' writers, Dave Posehn, show up as three members of the singing quartet to which Dave had once belonged; news reporter Lisa (Maura Tierney) becomes one of the guys--almost literally--when the station's other female staffers call in sick--and in a two-parter, pompous anchorman Bill (Phil Hartman) proves to be jaw-droppingly efficient when he briefly takes charge of the station. Best of the fourth-season batch is the fantasy finale "Sinking Ship", wherein the cast finds themselves on the deck of the "Titanic" way back in April of 1912, with resourceful maintenance man Joe (Joe Rogan) endeavoring to repair the iceberg damage with his ever-present roll of duct tape. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season Three of NewsRadio opens with WNYX radio-station owner Jimmy James (Stephen Root) considering a run for the presidency--and in an even more frightening development, nerdish radio reporter Matthew (Andy Dick) acquiring a mustache. But wait, there's more! News director Dave (Dave Foley) and reporter Lisa (Maura Tierney) re-take the SAT to find out if growing older has made them dumber; vainglorious news anchor Bill (Phil Hartman) begins drawing up plans when a psychic informs him that he has only 36 more years to live; Matthew impulsively punches out Bill and becomes King of the Office for a whole entire day; the staff goes ballistic when they find out that Dave was born in Canada; Jimmy is suckered into purchasing phony Citizen Kane memorabilia (the name of the sled ISN'T "Rose Bowl"); Lisa shows a curious sense of priorities when she temporarily takes over the station; and Bill is carted away to the insane asylum on the occasion of the series' 48th episode, which is titled "Our Fiftieth Episode". Guest stars this season include cartoonist Scott Adams in an episode built around Matthew's obsession over Adams' creation Dilbert; James Caan in a story that turns out to be about Green Acres; Ben Stiller as a greedy gym manager; Jerry Seinfeld as himself in the saga of Lisa and Bill attempting to get a new show some ratings; French Stewart as a temp who manages to out-weird even Matthew; and, in an episode taped for the previous season but withheld from view because of one of the Words You Couldn't Use On Television Much, Norm MacDonald as a slick attorney representing Jimmy in a workman's-comp dispute. Also, Season Three offers the first of the series' celebrated fantasy episodes, "Daydream", which is topped by the penultimate offering "Space", wherein for no other reason than the producers thought it would be funny, the entire cast is thrust forward into the year 2228. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Baby-faced news director Dave Nelson (Dave Foley) continues to leap over unexpected obstacles in his efforts to put New York radio station WNYX at the top of the ratings heap as NewsRadio commences its second season. Ingredients essential to the action this season include a boobytrapped refrigerator (courtesy of indolent station maintenance man Joe Garelli [Joe Rogan]); a collection of nudie-cutie pictures featuring WNYX's acid-tongued receptionist Beth (Vicki Lewis); the short unhappy life of Mike the "office rat", and the rodent's subsequential funeral via the mail chute; the announcement by station owner Jimmy James (Stephen Root) that he plans to get married;a homicidal Santa Claus who has it in for swell-headed news anchor Bill (Phil Hartman); an embarrassing moment in which Dave overhears the staff making fun of him; a practical-joke war which threatens to go thermonuclear when Bill and his co-anchor Catherine (Khandi Alexander) are the combatants; a nocturnal poker game in which Jimmy loses Bill to a rival station; the dreams of nerdish staffer Matthew (Andy Dick) of having a "group home" in The Hamptons; and the on-again, off-again romance between Dave and news reporter Lisa (Maura Tierney) Season Two guest stars include John Ritter as a psychiatrist hired to de-stress the WNYX staff, Bebe Neuwirth as a friend of Beth's who copies her every move, and Mr. Show's David Cross as a pathetic magician. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An hour-long TV special, The Garry Shandling Show 25th Anniversary Special is a parody of late-night talk show anniversary specials, featuring a fictional variety show, hosted by Shandling, that bears a rather striking resemblance to the Johnny Carson era of The Tonight Show. Assisted by a pudgy, bespectacled sidekick, Shandling looks back on the highlights of his late-night show's run, from the classic comedy sketches to the greatest embarrassments and bloopers, including a close call clearly modeled after the infamous Ed Ames tomahawk incident. Over the course of the evening, not everything goes as planned, and a few tensions begin to bubble underneath the surface. The flashback segments are designed to closely resemble the look of television of the appropriate era, from the quality of the video image to the wardrobes and hairstyles. Given its realistic re-creation of late-night talk shows and its occasionally wicked sense of humor, this special can be easily viewed as an early forerunner to Shandling's later, award-winning HBO series, The Larry Sanders Show, which combines the talk show parody with a look at the personality conflicts and chaos behind the cameras. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Brad Pitt stars as legendary Wild West outlaw Jesse James in Chopper director Andrew Dominik's cinematic rendering of the events that would eventually bring about the death of the man rumored be the "fastest gun in the West." An eager recruit into James' notorious gang, Robert Ford eventually grows jealous of the famed outlaw. When Robert and his brother Charlie sense an opportunity to kill James, their murderous action elevates their target to near mythical status. Casey Affleck stars as Robert Ford and Sam Shepard co-stars as Frank James -- Jesse's devoted sibling and partner in crime. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide