"If anyone can do it..."

Hey everyone,

I'm feeling a bit under the weather at the moment with a cold, so I'm going to hand over the editorial reigns to everybody's FRIEND, Ross Geller. Over to you, Ross.


"Hi."

Sorry if I sound a little bummed, but I stand (write?) before you today with a cautionary tale.

I think we've all said stuff that we probably wished we hadn't even started with...

Er, ANYWAY:

So I'm in Central Perk with my friends Joey and Feebs, and we're minding our own business, having some lightweight banter about a new movie "Spudknuckles" that's coming out that has four carrots playing the lead roles. I said I wasn't too sure about it - not that I have a problem with carrots playing lead roles, but over the past few years the film's producers had announced it would have apples playing the leads, then bananas... I'm pretty sure at one point they said four combine harvesters were going to play the lead.

Forgive my sceptic viewpoint, but my response the announcement was a bit 'blah'. Not that my opinion counts for anything, but mine was that they just wanted to crank out ANY version of 'Spudknuckles'. So I reserve the right not to be doing cartwheels about it.



At this point our friend Joey walked in, catching the end of our chat, and says "Hey you guys, have you seen that Spudknuckle Lego set? It's the best!".

So, we're having a few laughs, then in comes Janice. I don't really know her THAT well (other than having a one-night stand with her, back in one the latter seasons of the television series... I forget... uh...), but anyway, unbeknownst to me, Janice had been listening in on our conversation.

For some reason, Janice interrupts, gets snarky with my friends, and then accuses me of being a hypocrite for my lack of excitement over the aforementioned carrots, and that I should know better - after all, I've just written a carrot-led story myself.

 
At this point, I should say that Janice is a big defender of carrots, which is great. I love carrots too. Janice works tirelessly promoting equality for carrots, and good on her for doing so.

But when somebody calls for more carrot-led stories, then accuses you of only doing so because IT SELLS, it leads me to think:

So to clarify: You want more roles for carrots, yet when someone writes one you accuse them of doing it for the money.

ANYWAY, I replied to her somewhat pokey accusation that I wasn't writing a carrot-led story because it sells, but because that's the story I wanted to write. I wasn't chasing the money. (In fact, my next story is about a potato. True.)
 

And with that, Janice was gone. So I finished my latte and went for a stroll around the block, when imagine my surprise when I see Janice, and she's all like:
 

Shouting from the rooftops.It seems that Janice had cherry-picked a couple of sound-bites from my private chat with my friends (as private as being in a coffee house is) - had stuck these sound-bites together in order to start some sort of debate.

Which subsided into:

But the more I thought about it...

Now, I'm pretty academic, but I'm sure that 1+1 does not equal WTF. (I've run this past my friend's quantum physicist wife, and she says in some rare cases this can be true. What do I know?)

SO: A fairly private conversation between friends (men and women), which I believe we are all free to do without outsiders breathing down your neck. I'm pretty sure I didn't sign any disclaimer that anything I say could be taken, misconstrued, whipped up into a frenzy in order to create attention for another person's mission.

Seeing how our conversation in Central Perk was cut short by Janice fleeing out the door, I thought we could continue it, along with her friends at her apartment. The debate went on, and it all got a little -

Somewhat frustratingly, Janice had seemingly little desire to listen (at one point she casually accused me of liking potatoes more than carrots, the implication being I was 'carrot-ist'). Growing increasingly bored, I left - with Janice's words "I'm gonna be blogging about this, f*****" ringing in my ears. Such charm.

How could this have been handled better? If there was any perceived 'beef' between myself and Janice, she could have spoken to me in private about her feelings, rather than the hit 'n run tactics of slighting someone in front of their own friends, then running off to the safety of your own domain before the discussion could really get going.

 

All this leads me to conclude that Janice cannot be trusted - either as a friend or as a professional.

There was clear lack of common courtesy and professional integrity. I'm all for creativity and dramatisation, but when you see someone create something founded out of context, it's a little disconcerting. How can you be yourself around someone knowing that anything they may take offense at will be extrapolated into an open debate?



ANYWAY.

Oh, hang on. My friend Chandler wants to say something...

Thanks, Ross. Chin up, buddy.

Wow. So what can we take from Ross's experience with Janice?

We should all know that whatever words you put out in the world are public domain, and that's fine. But that doesn't mean you should expect innocent conversations with friends to be picked apart and repackaged as faux headlines.


So, to conclude - BEWARE! Anything you say may be selectively cut 'n paste and slapped together in order to create click bait!
 

"We are from the planet Duplo, and we're here to destroy you!"

One way to get rid of 2014.

2014, we hardly knew ye... Now don't let the doorknob hit ya where the dog shoulda bit ya! Scram! Beat it, ya bum! Yep, it's the end of year round-up!

On a personal note, the juggling act of life 'n writing proved to be challenging, and as ever there was always that feeling of "I must do more!" (but does that ever go away?). I kicked off 2014 in a somewhat 'prolific' style by writing a drama pilot called "Private/Public" (a comedy/drama about the challenges facing the NHS) and a comedy pilot called "Hollywood Wax" (man watches movies with famous thesps who are badly imitated figments from his imagination: A sort of "Mystery Science Theatre 3000"-meets-"Stella Street".).

I pitched my "life-hacking" rom-com "Fuzzy Logic" somewhat 'accidentally', which led to me writing the thing - an idea originally from somewhere in the late 1990's - which turned out funny AND fun, if an absolute pig to write: Lesson learned. This was followed by an attempt to write a book -to be continued - as interest in my 'other worlds' sci-fi thriller "Lumen" demanded my full attention.

Except in 'Lumen', the butterfly tries to eliminate the caterpillar.

I'll be perfectly honest - this year was very, very difficult as a writer. It was a year of learning some hard lessons, and realising what I want to do - and what I don't want to do.

 
I'm very aware that 2015 will bring reduced hours for writing, so I'm concentrating on two projects for my own personal pleasure - namely 70's set Am-Dram murder-mystery/comedy "Backstabbers" and another big, bulging action/fantasy installment of the epic "Border World". I'm also adapting some completed screenplays into novels - get them out there, get them read.



We lost some formidable talent in 2014 - 
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Elizabeth Peña, Robin Williams, Richard Attenborough, James Garner,Harold Ramis, Bob Hoskins, Richard Kiel, Maximilian Schell, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Warren Clarke, Ralph Waite, Glen A. Larson, H.R. Giger, Stephen Lee, and pan-global phenomenon THE Rik Mayall. RIP all; all greatly missed.

Gone too soon.

BEST FILMS of 2014 *
*(Year of DVD release; some released cinematically in 2013)

Whilst the superhero movies continued their downhill journey into boredom (Captain America 2, The Amazing Spiderman 2, Thor 2), there were a couple that bucked the trend. "X-Men: Days of Future Past" proved that you CAN erase history (S'long, miserable memory of X-Men 3! Is that Famke Janssen and James Marsden I hear cheering?). A seriously brilliant plot twist which made me laugh as the film makers had their cake and ate it. Gleefully. "Guardians of the Galaxy" also proved that comic book movies didn't have to be po-faced Nolan-fests: Dancing Groot, anyone?

Believe it or not, this is the second-best moment from Guardians of the Galaxy.

There were also some hidden gems like "Grand Piano", "Labor Day", "Enough Said", and the delightful "Mr. Peabody and Sherman", and some unexpectedly great films like the awfully-titled "Edge of Tomorrow", AKA "Live Die Repeat", and the unfathomably meh'd "Muppets: Most Wanted", which in my opinion not only had better tunes than the previous Oscar-winning installment, but was also a far better film - focusing on hilarious cameos and the 'zany' humour (which, to me, is what the Muppets are all about), rather than Jason Segal and Walter the completely made-up new Muppet. (Feeling the passion about Muppets, yeah? Good.)

Jemaine? - Priznt. Tina Fey? - Priznt. Ray Liotta? - Priznt. Danny Trejo? - Priznt...

My three favourite films of the year were "The Lego Movie", which was the perfect family film - funny, frantic, witty and nicely plotted to a T; "Under the Skin" was an admirable-yet-difficult watch, but one that lingered in the memory like no other - visually never seen a film like it, eerily scary soundtrack with a brilliant central performance; "American Hustle" was all gloss, bad hair-do's and fantastic music - a little more transparent upon a second viewing, but that second viewing came STRAIGHT AFTER I'd just finished watching it!

What the...

Recommended movies:
Maleficent (Wee bit 'rape-analogy' for a kids film, but Jolie rocks it)
American Movie (released 1999, finally saw it - LOVED IT. The Spinal Tap of movie-making!)
The Zero Theorem (Gilliam's closest to 12 Monkeys and Brazil)
The Wolf of Wall Street
Her
The  Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Nebraska
Bad Grandpa
Grand Piano (Just about gets away with its somewhat mad premise)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Homefront (Surprisingly fun, undemanding actioner)
Philomena
Gravity (Film making at its technically boundary-busting-best...)
What Maisie Knew (Coogan and Moore play total a-holes brilliantly)
Enough Said (Didn't expect much. Got a lot. Thank you Gandolfini)

The Not-So-Great of 2014:
Godzilla (Juliette Binoche - yay! Oh......)
The Anomaly
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn (The worst use of green screen in recent memory)
Cuban Fury
Jersey Boys (I love The Four Seasons. Yet somehow did not love this.)
Robocop (For a moment I almost fell for it... but no. Pointless.)
Grudge Match (Tired film-making at its best)
Last Vegas (Four famous actors on a poster.)
RIPD (High concept doesn't always mean 'good film')
Walking with Dinosaurs (Who asked for all the farting?)
The Counsellor (Eh? Bonus point for the Brad Pitt ending)
Stand Up Guys
Star Trek into Darkness
Red Dawn
The Amazing Spiderman 2 (The Batman and Robin of the Spiderman franchise.)

The comb-over was the most convincing bit.

My top 10 Movies of 2014: 
10) A 1000 Times Goodnight / Gravity
9) Labor Day
8) Rush
7) Guardians of the Galaxy
6) Muppets: Most Wanted
5) X-Men: Days of Future Past
4) Mr. Peabody and Sherman
3) Under the Skin
2) American Hustle
1) The Lego Movie

Best movie of the year? AWESOME!

TELEVISION:
The greats of TV continued their run - "Game of Thrones" was business as usual, with "The Walking Dead" improving once again. Both shows are walking a thin line on being known for 'Who will die this week?' shows, so hopefully they can focus more on story and less on shock-killings (although I doubt this will happen!).

"Damages" came to an end - and what an end it was. This sadly overlooked series just got better and better, with two brilliant characters/performances at the heart of the story. If you've never watched it, give it a go and stick with it - it's excellent.

The Australian political thriller "The Code"was well-cast, and got off to a cracking start. The ending ran out of steam a little, but it was a refreshing show to watch. "The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies" was over-long, but had a fantastic central performance from Jason Watkins, and worked better as a character study than a 'police investigation show', and "The Driver" was another great showcase for David Morrissey.

YES I CAN HEAR YOU CLEM FANDANGO!

"Toast of London" series 2 was an improvement on the first series, but it still suffers from not really knowing what it is. Some episodes were great, one was a stone-cold classic (Toast ruins the secret of a West End play). Matt Berry is brilliant as the pompous Toast, and the words "Hello Steven, it's Clem Fandango. Can you hear me?" always make me laugh. ALWAYS.

BBC 2's "The Life of Rock with Brian Pern" was also another comedy highlight - with wall to wall cameos. "W1A" was fun if somewhat self-pleased. Vic 'n Bob's "House of Fools" was a welcome return to form, in the same anarchic, who-cares-about-the-plot vein as 'The Young Ones'. "The Trip to Italy" was another treat, although Rob Brydon's 'development' felt out of place. The brilliant "Black Mirror" was also back, with its Twilight Zone view of the world of tomorrow. Finally got round to watching 'A Touch of Cloth', which was hilariously brilliant: "Any prints?" "Only Purple Rain and Lovesexy." SEE?


I'm probably the only person who didn't watch 'Happy Valley', 'House of Cards', 'The Leftovers', 'Arrow', 'Hannibal' or 'Orange is the New Black' - will get round to it, promise. Yes 'Breaking Bad' and 'Mad Men', I know I've not watched you... yet... (extreme aversion to hyped TV.)
   
"Fargo" started strong, with some great performances from Billy Bob Thornton and Adam Goldberg. The story didn't follow the film exactly, which was fine, as it stole enough from the source material to remind you of it. But riding on the shirt-tails of a true classic meant the material felt a little stretched at times, and a turning point around half-way didn't ring true at all. "Gotham" was another series which came from a fine pedigree, but simply didn't know what to do with it. Too violent and sexualised for kids, but too corny and cartoony for adults - it was a weird match that didn't work. "Treme" season 3 was sadly disappointing - the balance of fun and music was crushed by the political statements. Season 1 still remains a classic bit of television, though!
 

Finn: "A dinosaur roaring at the monkeys as they ride past on bicycles. With iPads."

The year's big pleasant surprise was C4's pulse-thumping "Babylon". A multi-strand, acidic dramedy variation of "The Wire", detailing the many levels of policing, from the foot soldiers to the top brass, to the media-manipulating PR. Some brilliant characters and performances, in particular the perpetually-chewing, Machiavellian 'Finn' (Bertie Carvel: Favourite performance of the year) and Banjo (Andrew Brook), an "eggy-farting" hard-man who probably shouldn't be armed with a machine gun.

So many great performances, excellent direction and above all - the writing is phenomenal, with so many "I wish I'd written that!" lines. Cannot wait for this to return.

Backing the right horse: Not as easy as it sounds.

"Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal!"

IT'S CHRIIIIIISSST-MAAAAAAS! AAAAALMOST!

So here's a handy check-list of yuletide viewing, just in case wall-to-wall Christmas TV isn't enough for you.

MOVIES:

10)  The Random Non-Christmas Movie!

Somehow, every Christmas ends up looking like THIS.

"What on EARTH are you blathering on about?", I hear you mutter. Well, for me, there are some movies which have absolutely ZERO Christmas content. They're not about Christmas, they have no tinsel - in fact, they're not even set remotely close to winter. BUT: Somehow they evoke Christmasses of past, or just 'feel' Christmassy. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The Lost Boys. Back to the Future. Jurassic Park. Robocop.  The Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe (Alright, Santa does crop up in this one). Batman Returns (okay, there is snow in this one. And is set at Christmas time. I think.).

9) Scrooged
It's as schmaltzy as they come - especially the meltdown of an ending which turns into some 4th wall-breaking emotional wreck, but isn't that what Christmas is about? Shouting emotionally?

"Feed meh, Seymour! Feed me!"

8) Lethal Weapon
Shane Black loves Christmas, and what better way to start an ultra-violent (for its time) thriller than 'Jingle Bell Rock'... as a drugged-up young woman nosedives off the 25th floor. Again, sod all to do with Christmas, other than a few decorations and Gibson's Riggs struggling to deal with the memory of his dead wifey, but it has that rosy glow missing from yer usual cop bloodbath.

The only way you would get me to buy a Christmas tree from B&Q.

7) The Polar Express
A chocolate box of a movie, complete with dead-eyed animated kids - but it delivers on the emotional punch. The little kid who sits on his own in the end carriage? The bell that still rings? Call the shrink. NOW.

Too bloody right, Hanksy.

6) Home Alone
Or the end of 'Skyfall', for kids. Macauley Crawley violently attacks two grown men and we all laugh. Guilt-free.

The money shot.

5) Gremlins
Christmas is a time for mean-spirited violence... oh, wait. No, that's Easter. What Christmas is all about is scaly monsters getting all up in yer grill (and yer Christmas tree), so it's good to be reminded of your loved ones... and to save them from being flung out of a window at speed. The scene with the two cops having a meltdown because "It's supposed to be Christmas" whilst the Gremlins wreck everything says it all. Bad things are not meant to happen at Christmas. Are they?

Gizmo gets hammered on the ol' mulled wine.

4) Trading Places
"Merry New Year!". One of those movies packed with so many quotable lines, with Dan Aykroyd's rich git swapping places with Eddie Murphy's hustling con artist all in the name of a bet. 'Die Hard's' Dwayne T. Robinson/Paul Gleason added another brilliant performance to his repertoire as the psychotically uptight Beaks. One of those 'be thankful for what you have 'movies.

This is how I always remember Father Christmas.

3) Santa Claus: The Movie
Say what you like about this dated, somewhat naff (even at the time of its release) movie, as it takes great care to point out - It's a ruddy Christmas stick of rock stuffed up the proverbial christmassy-sweatered turkey's bottom. The Big Lebowski gives the ultimate performance as Santa (Sorry all you Miracle on 34th Streeters.). Lithgow rightfully hams like he's in a panto, and Dudley Moore, well, makes you miss Dudley Moore.

Santa goes for a 'Joe-Ride'...

2) The Muppets Christmas Carol
Saw this at the cinema in 2013 (the first movie I took my son to see!), and whilst the story has been done to death, this is somehow the definitive version. (And I'm a fan of the George C. Scott movie). Yeah, Caine can't sing, but so what - his performance delivers emotion across the board.

They're Marley and Marley. WOOOOOOAH!

1) Die Hard
The big-daddy of Christmas movies. It doesn't crow-bar Christmas into the story for no reason (ahem, Lethal Weapon). It's McClane's wife's Christmas party - and guess who's not on the guest list. A bunch of ruddy terrorist thieves, that's who. Pour yourself a large port and let the mayhem begin!

Where can I get one of those jumpers?

TELEVISION:


5) The Bear
What's funnier than a polar bear, in your house, pooing on the stairs, eh? This somewhat overlooked short film has some beautiful animation, fantastic music and Raymond Briggs as the man in the moon.

4) Blackadder's Christmas Carol
An absolute cracker of a Christmas special, with a nice reversal on the 'Christmas Carol' story, in which kindly Ebeneezer Blackadder learns, through a series of Robbie Coltraned flashbacks, that being good will only lead to him wearing Baldrick's posing pouch...

Nibble Pibbleys: Vanquished.

3) Smith & Jones' Home-made Xmas Video
A little-seen, much-forgotten (sadly) Christmas treat which can be found on the extras of the "At Last Smith & Jones Vol 1" DVD, this gem perfectly captures exactly what a bloomin' great stresser Christmas can be. Loved it when it first aired in '87 (?), love it now. WATCH IT HERE.

2) Stella Street
This overlooked, genius piece of cult comedy deserves much more recognition: Seeing Michael Caine throw an anniversary party for 'Zulu' in which John Hurt drinks 'a nice, warming bowl of wine' from a goldfish bowl, Jimmy Hill snorting icing sugar and a losing Joe Pesci arguing with a winning David Bowie over a game of Monopoly "It's just the way things are, Joe!".... Need I go on?

Al Pacino and Jimmy Hill play Monopoly. HOO-HA!

1) The Snowman
Not only my all-time Christmas favourite, but one of my all-time favourite films. Perfection.

Oh... Oh Lord WHY? WHYYYYYYY???!!!!!!

"Don't go out there! There's something in the mist!"

"Welcome to Sesame Street, kids. Today's word is 'expiation'."

If John Carpenter's 1982 classic "The Thing" is about trust (and distrust), then Frank Darabont's 2007 under-appreciated gem "The Mist" is about FEAR - and BELIEF.

Much like a lot of 1970's paranoid thriller/horror movies (Invasion of the Body Snatchers in particular), 'The Mist' could be taken as a film about monsters in the mist. Or, if you watch the black and white version, it could be seen as some sort of pastiche/homage to 1950's creature features.

After some poking around on t'net, I read that Darabont's intention was to make a commentary on the post 9/11 America.

In 'The Mist', Tom Jane's Dave is yer normal, ordinary movie-poster artist-type: Intelligent, creative, free-thinking. A solid sort. When the mist arrives, bringing all sorts of alien interlopers with it, Dave finds himself trapped in a supermarket with a cross-section of society: A couple of blue-collar less-intelligent types, the bible-stomping Mrs. Carmody, and his grumpy, litigious next door neighbour, Brent..

"It appears we may have a problem of some magnitude."

The eighty-or-so shoppers eventually break into their own groups of mindsets: The religious, God-fearing judgement day crazies; the sensible non-believers who don't believe anything they are seeing, and the 'normal' people who don't necessarily believe in God but believe in monsters.

What the film eventually boils down to is a study of fear and belief - and how they affect our attitudes towards each other. The head-strong, no fear types come a cropper very quickly. Those controlled by fear become monsters themselves. Those who would be considered as heroic and fearless die (seemingly) cowardly deaths.

SPOILER ALERT! (But seriously, if you've not seen 'The Mist', go and watch it now.)

By the end of the film, the small, central 'heroes' have fought man and monster to survive, but ultimately fall prey to their lack of belief. They give up.Stop believing that all will be okay - which is understandable as everything around them is a vision of hell. The ending is an ironic, sad one - but one that got me thinking.

"As a species we're fundamentally insane. Put more than two of us in a room, 

we pick sides and start dreaming up reasons to kill one another. 

Why do you think we invented politics and religion?"

As a writer, you often hear advice along the lines of 'It's not about the destination - It's about enjoying the journey' i.e. Nobody ever 'makes' it. You sell a script. You get paid. Then you're on to the next project, trying to sell the next thing. Very rarely do the legendary big pay days arrive for the normal screenwriter.

Yes, we live in hope. We want to keep working, keep earning a living - be able to survive on what we earn and provide for our families. Nobody should choose the career of a screenwriter for the money! Not to get too over-sincere, but you write because you have to write. I once knew a guy who quit his job to become a screenwriter. After four years of not making any money, he remarked "If I knew it was going to take this long, I wouldn't have quit my job."

The second big piece of advice is probably 'DO NOT GIVE UP. KEEP GOING.'

When you're repeatedly trying, sometimes getting further down the line than other attempts, but you still hit a brick wall - how do you keep going? How many times do you dust yourself off and start again? And what about when those around you lose faith (if they had any!) in you and your ambitions? Over the years, I've had countless things said to me and behind my back, almost always out of spite from family, 'friends', even people that I didn't know too well (and they certainly didn't know me well enough). All these little 'sound-bites' have a way of coming back to remind you - especially when you've just received another rejection letter.

"You can't convince some people there's a fire even when their hair is burning.
Denial is a powerful thing."

Is belief partly denial? Choosing not to focus on the 'What if's' and concentrating on what could be?

It's right that we should be checking in with ourselves regularly; trying to assess and understand why things aren't working out instead of burying our heads in the sand and hoping it'll all work out somehow. Are we doing things for the right reasons? Are we trying our best? Taking positive action?

We've all seen bad movies and awful tv, and the little voice in your head says "Ha! I could do better...". If these movies and shows are so terrible, how do they get made? (If you find yourself saying this out loud a lot, read THIS blog post! "CRAP PLUS ONE" by "Pirates" writer Terry Rossio) 

Is it simply down to a mental block or lack of? (Man, this is a lot of questions...). Do we fear success - not to sound too Tony Robbins.When the opportunity arises, do we believe we're good enough or "deserve/have earned it"?

So - back to 'The Mist': The realists, the pessimists, the lunatics and the believers: None of them come out on top. Apart from one character who leaves the store very early on. Everyone thinks they're crazy to go outside. They are dead for certain. Never gonna work. They all refuse to help this person.

Against all odds, we see this character again at the end of the film.

However difficult your job is, whatever tough, impossible situation you're going through in life - losing hope due to frustration, angst, fear, or desperation is something most people can relate to. We all feel like giving up sometimes. In despair, salvation can feel light years away or just out of reach. To keep going when things appear futile can seem like lunacy to some. Somewhere in the mist, the realists have a point. The lunatics and pessimists fear the situation. The believers keep going.

If it were easy, everybody would be doing it, right?

"When I am through with you..."

I finally got round to watching the last series of "Damages" - the massively under-rated and over-looked tv show that is more than yer average legal drama. In fact, it's not about court-rooms and Judges bellowing "over-ruled!". It's a complicated, intriguing, who-dunnit/who will be alive at the end of it-crime thriller.

"Damages" is one of the best television dramas. Ever. The writing and the characters have been fantastic since the first series, with each series improving on the last. I'll be honest, I found the first series hard to get a grip on, with it's flash forwards and drip-drip-drip of information. The show's creators were as controlling and revelling in the mind-games as much as it's main character, Patty Hewes. 'Damages' draws the viewer into the game - you're always looking for the angle on the character's motives.

Pretty much says it all.

What really fascinated and gripped me with this series is the way practically every scene had a really juicy under-current of sub-text and double-meaning (and not in a jarring, nod-nod-wink-wink kind of way, either.). As a viewer you were never quite certain what was true or false, which I guess was the whole point of the entire series.

The series was also peppered throughout with some brilliant casting - Glenn Close was simply perfect as Patty, probably one of the coldest, emotionally complex characters ever written.But Close adds that extra, pure drop of basest evil known to man with just her eyes (I'm sure she's lovely in real life, but in this show she always looks like she's about to eat you alive. Whole.). Rose Byrne also does a fantastic job with Ellen, a role that could easily be portrayed as simpering and naive. She's so morally correct that you're just waiting for her to derail and transform into a younger version of Patty.

Not yer normal, zany Martin Short...

The rest of the casting was genius - Ted Danson, Martin Short, and John Goodman all played brilliantly against type, while Dylan Baker in Series 4 had the role of his career so far. William Sadler, Lily Tomlin, Tom Noonan, Tate Donovan, William Hurt, Zeljko Ivanek... to name a few; all playing complicated characters.

Just another day in court...

So if you've never seen it or only watched the first series, WATCH. ALL. OF. IT. 

Meantime...