Now we come to the next, great AMC drama.
Maybe.
Feed the Beast debuts at 9 p.m. today on AMC, the channel that brought us Mad Men, The Killing, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead and Better Call Saul, among others.
That's a hefty lineup -- some of the best drama on TV in recent years.
Who out there recalls when AMC stood for American Movie Classics? It's been since 2003 when movies were the staple on AMC. That was the year the full name was de-emphasized to indicate a major shift in programming.
The same shift came to other channels. Remember when A&E stood for Arts & Entertainment? A&E, once the source of classy biographies, documentaries and dramas, is now the home of such lowbrow entertainment as Duck Dynasty, Hoarders and Donnie Loves Jenny.
Times change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not.
Feed the Beast, a cinematic delight, stars David Schwimmer (Friends) and British actor Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) as Tommy Moran and Dion Patras and is based on the Danish series Bankerot (Bankrupt) by Kim Fupz Aakeson. The series was developed for AMC by Clyde Phillips, the former showrunner of Dexter and Nurse Jackie.
Do not expect the slightest hint of Friends' Ross Geller from Schwimmer. This role demonstrates just how deep his dramatic roots go and continues Schwimmer's hot streak, coming after his stellar performance as Robert Kardashian in FX's American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson.
Tonight's premiere, "Pilot Light," unveils the world of Tommy and Dion, two best friends with a deep, almost sibling relationship.
Dion, a master chef with a cocaine habit, is just getting out of a year behind bars for arson, and Tommy is still emotionally crippled from the hit-and-run death of his beloved wife, Rie (Christine Adams), almost a year before.
Tommy, a sommelier, has devolved into a wine sales representative who samples the product way too much.
Also suffering is Tommy's son, TJ, played by Elijah Jacob. TJ has not spoken a word since his mother died.
Dying along with Rie was Tommy and Dion's dream of opening an upscale Greek restaurant in their hometown of the Bronx. Tommy and TJ live in the shell -- emotionally and physically -- of what was to be their life. They live in the run-down building where the restaurant was going to be.
That's the background when Dion gets released from jail early. It's an arrangement orchestrated by mobster Patrick Woichik (Michael Gladis, Mad Men, House of Lies). Why? Dion is in debt to Woichik for $600,000 and Woichik wants payback.
Dion sells Woichik on the idea of the restaurant, claiming they could have it up and running in a couple of months. One caveat -- if Dion tries to leave the country, Woichik will kill everyone Dion cares for, and he's holding a photo of Tommy and TJ as he makes this threat.
"It's a show about damaged people, which is what I tend to write about," Phillips told the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in January. "It's about the underbelly of trying to open a restaurant in the last frontier of New York City, which is the Bronx."
Underbelly? Indeed, the Bronx world of Tommy and Dion is crawling with petty criminals, corrupt officials and violent mobsters.
The opening episode ends with a twist that further complicates Dion's world. I'll leave that as a surprise.
AMC has ordered 10 episodes for Season 1, with the second airing at 9 p.m. Tuesday. Subsequent episodes air at the regular time of 9 p.m. Tuesdays.
• Living legend. One of my fondest memories from my years attending the TV critics' press tours was meeting and chatting with living legend Carol Burnett. I'm not ashamed to admit I was a bit star-struck. She was gracious and everything you might imagine she'd be.
Fans of the TV pioneer will want to tune in for Carol Burnett's Favorite Sketches at 8 p.m. today on AETN.
Burnett, 83, takes a 90-minute look back at her favorite segments from The Carol Burnett Show, including selections from the first five years of the long-running CBS comedy series that have not been seen in decades.
The series aired 279 episodes over 11 seasons, 1967 to 1978, and earned 25 Emmy awards. Without boasting, Burnett says, "We mounted, in essence, a musical comedy revue every single week."
Among Burnett's favorites is the greatest comedy sketch of all time -- "Went With the Wind," a parody of Gone With the Wind. Just thinking of Burnett descending the stairs as Starlet O'Hara wearing the curtains (complete with curtain rod) makes me laugh out loud.
Harvey Korman: "Starlet, I love you. That gown is gorgeous."
Burnett: "Thank you. I saw it in the window and just couldn't resist it."
Featured in the special in addition to Korman will be Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, Steve Martin and Betty White.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 06/05/2016