Zuleikha Robinson Finds Job on “Lost”

Super Scooper Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive about Zuleikha Robinson, whose last big gig was Fox’s failed ‘New Amsterdam”. Here’s the story:



Exclusive: 'Lost' Recruits 'New Amsterdam' Alum

Sep 4, 2008, 08:08 AM by Michael Ausiello

Her name isn't exactly a household one, but something tells me that's all about to change.

In what reps the first major piece of casting for Lost's fifth season, sources confirm to me exclusively that Zuleikha Robinson has been tapped to play the pivotal role of Ilana.

Couple things: Before you ask, it's pronounced Zoo-Lika. And she's done stuff. Some high-profile stuff. Like Fox's short-lived New Amsterdam, where she played Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's partner in crime. Prior to that, the London-born actress slaved away as Gaia on HBO's Rome and, in her first big break, had a regular gig on another ill-fated Fox drama, the X-Files spin-off The Lone Gunmen.

Robinson's Lost deal calls for her to start off as a recurring player with an option to become a series regular in season 6 (a.k.a. the farewell season).

As I first reported last month, Ilana is described as a European female who possesses great intelligence but who's also dangerous as all get out. She's alluring and apparently used to getting her own way.

At the time, EW's Doc Jensen mused that Ilana "sounds exactly like the kind of lethal lady Sayid would fall for. So I’m wondering if the dashing Iraqi is due for a new love interest, yet another lady whose true motivations will be in question."

Team Darlton's not commenting on Doc's theory, or Robinson's casting for that matter (this radio-silence thing is going to be the death of me!), so I guess we'll just have to wait until the new season kicks off in (ugh) five long months to see if he's right. In the meantime, go ahead and weigh in on Lost's first big season 5 casting and, while you're at it, feel free to toss out your own Ilana theories.


My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found here.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Lands New SciFi Role

Good news for Nikolaj Coster-Waldau fans. The Hollywood Reporter advises the "New Amsterdam" star has found a new starring role. Here’s the story:

Fox's 'Virtuality' lands lead
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau cast in sci-fi pilot
By Nellie Andreeva

June 24, 2008, 01:00 AM ET

"New Amsterdam" star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is staying at Fox as the star of the network's two-hour sci-fi pilot "Virtuality."

"Virtuality," from UMS and BermanBraun, is set aboard Earth's first starship, which is equipped with advanced virtual reality modules. Coster-Waldau will play mission commander Frank Pike, a born leader.

Ron Moore and Michael Taylor penned the backdoor pilot, which is being directed by Peter Berg.

Coster-Waldau played the title character, immortal New York homicide detective John Amsterdam, on Fox's midseason series "New Amsterdam."


My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found here.

New Amsterdam Cancelled

Several sources – although none of them from Fox, say that New Amsterdam has been cancelled. Even without Fox’s confirmation, I consider this information to be true, seeing that Fox wasn’t getting stellar ratings from New Amsterdam. So, it appears rather than John's one true love making him mortal and vunerable to death, it appears the real culprit was Fox.

Hopefully, though, this will mean that we will see Nikolaj Coster-Waldau appear on some other show soon. He seems to be very talented and also has a great presence – and I hope someone will snap him up soon.

Complete episodes for New Amsterdam can still be found here at Hulu.com.

OK - one more view, for the road:

My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

Will New Amsterdam Survive?

My vote for continuing the show - this picture

Image from Fox

Will New Amsterdam come back with more episodes? According to E!Online, probably not. And in their article, they didn't spell Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's name correctly. Not a good sign.



Let’s hope there sources are wrong. Here’s the story:

New Amsterdam Probably Won't Live Forever

Though final decisions have not been made, and there are a wealth of fans who are just dying to see Nicolaj Coster-Waldau’s New Amsterdam come back this fall, sources are saying that sadly, it isn’t looking good for a second season.

Fox did give New Amsterdam a vote of confidence, having it premiere in the coveted post-American Idol slot last month. And though it drew a respectable 13.7 million viewers, I'm hearing that might not be enough. (Even last year’s The Wedding Bells earned slightly higher post-Idol ratings, and still that series disappeared quietly.)

Fox boss Kevin Reilly recently told The Hollywood Reporter that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Back to You are the two most likely freshman candidates to return for a sophomore season, implying that other shows such as New Amsterdam just haven’t caught on with audiences.

Think he’s wrong? I know some of you most certainly do! Sound off in the comments below and let him see the Amsterdam love...

The final decision will be made by mid-May, in time for the New York upfronts, where Fox will announce its new schedule.

My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found here.

New Amsterdam “Love Hurts” A Slap in the Face

I am going to open my review by saying that I hope this show returns. I also hope that they are able to get their act together when it comes to defining themselves as a cop show, a romance, a drama, or whatever. This series had such a promising start and such an intriguing premise. But they continue to fall flat every week with the complexity of trying to cover too many issues , such as integrating flashbacks with present day cop stories and John Amsterdam’s (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) search for his one true love. Further complicating this is a somewhat weak supporting cast, poor scene transitions, and inconsistency in the style of direction. Something has got to give.

This episode, called “Love Hurts” had John and Eva (Zuleikha Robinson) investigating a drowning death of a young woman, and they discover it may be related to a string of robberies of wealthy men linked to a dating service. During his investigation, John flashes back to the late 1920s when he was a grifter and stole what he thought was a valuable diamond pendant from his lover. We also see John has miraculously recovered from a point-blank gunshot wound, seemingly telling him that Sara Dillane (Alexie Gilmore) is not “The One.” By the end of this episode, I felt that someone had just tried to pull the long con on me.

The problems with the episode itself are many. The drawback with flashbacks is that they sometimes tip viewers off to how the crime is going to play out. In this episode, the flashbacks sucked the suspense from the crime. The other problem with flashbacks is since people that John interacts with are not grounded in the show week to week, one can’t build any interest in them. The only exception may have been Omar (Stephen McKinley Henderson), who we saw as a young man and now as an adult. Sadly, they don’t see to give Stephen McKinley Henderson much screen time, and he seems to be the one character on the show that really seems to work. In “Love Hurts”, the whole con premise seemed too predictable and frankly the show may have been better off without so much focus on it. If this show returns with more episodes, I hope they rework the flashbacks to be maybe a little less in frequency and maybe shorter in length. I think I would prefer they seem a little more fleeting, like a short memory, as opposed to a story in itself.

As far as the crime aspect of the show, it was far too predictable. Eva still seems to be devoid of personality. Detective Santori (Robert Clohessy) is a poor substitute for comic relief and seems to be trying too hard to be the “Lennie Briscoe” of the show. It is just too forced. And speaking of too forced, while I was glad to see Susan Misner come on to the show as John’s boss Callie Burnett, it seems like the show is trying too hard to establish her in the authority role and she is starting to annoy. I think this character can work, but they need to make her, well, more real. In fact, the whole show seems to have difficulty in making the characters seem real, with the exception of John and Omar.

John’s relationship with Sara seemed to take a turn for the worse after his recovery from the gunshot wound. He seems to have come to the conclusion that she’s not “The One”. He gets some encouragement from Omar, who says there could have been someone else on the subway platform at the time John began to “die.” Of course, while John may think he has the perfect poker face to pull off a con, he can’t seem to do it with Sara, and she clearly sees that his interesting is waning. Of course, John doesn’t help matters by hesitating when Sara asks him if there is someone else. Now, we know he has good reason to hesitate as his did, but since Sara does not, she gives him a slap on the face. Maybe it’s just me, but found that to be a strange response. I’m not a person to strike someone when they hurt my feelings, and I suppose I would expect a little more adult behavior from a doctor, too. Still, John’s lack of interest in the relationship as now it seems there is nothing in it for him probably did deserve a good smack on the face. There’s still a bit of a selfish cad in him that we saw in earlier “lives.”

I thank the director for including quite a few shots with John swimming in the nude (some gratuitous screen grabs below). OK, we never really see him nude but it’s just the idea that makes it interesting. See, the show CAN capitalize on one of its best features – Nikolaj Coster-Waldau – to bring some excitement to the show. More please!


The fact that I’ve watched this show every week and have strong opinions about it is a good sign for the show. I think there is enough there that if they just make a few changes, this show can be solid and draw more viewers. Sometimes a show needs a short while to get its footing, and maybe with this show’s production getting a little messed over by the writer’s strike, I hope that Fox gives it more of a chance. If for some reason Fox decides to back away, this would be a nice addition for one of the cable networks like Sci-Fi or maybe even TNT to pick up and run with it. While I don’t expect the show will be immortal like its title character, I would like to see it live just a little while longer.

My thanks to the director.

Images from Fox

My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found here.

New Amsterdam Season Finale “Love Hurts” Episode Information

Photo from NewAmsterdam-Forever.com

The time has come. The season (hopefully not series) finale for New Amsterdam will air on Monday, April 14. The show’s future status is of some concern to me, as press releases and media promotions have virtually dried up for the show. But, after looking at the viewer numbers that NA has been getting (which I think have been in the 6.5 million range), and comparing that to the season premier of Battlestar Galactica (which only drew 2.1 million viewers), I would like to think New Amsterdam would have a life somewhere since there clearly is an audience. Its star, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, has made quite an impression and is probably THE draw for the show. Personally, I think they need some cast changes and maybe some consistency in direction for this show to really shine. My episode reviews may have seemed harsh, and they were that way for a reason. I hoped that the people involved in this show had read them, and took those criticisms constructively in order to make a more solid and more appealing show in the future. The show has great possibilities.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

New Amsterdam “Love Hurts” Season Finale
Airdate: April 14th, 2008


THIEVES OF LOVE ARE FOUND ON THE SEASON FINALE OF
"NEW AMSTERDAM" MONDAY, APRIL 14, ON FOX

Still recovering from his recent gunshot wound, John and Eva investigate what looks to be the drowning death of a young woman. The victim’s death may be related to a string of robberies of wealthy men linked to a dating service. While on the case, John has flashbacks of his life in the 1920s, when he was a grifter and stole a precious diamond pendant from his lover. John also questions if Sara is “the one” who will make him mortal, and as a result, begins to pull away from her. He doesn’t want to hurt her by being untruthful about his past and the quest to find his soulmate on the season finale episode of NEW AMSTERDAM, “Love Hurts,” airing Monday, April 14 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Cast: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as John Amsterdam; Zuleikha Robinson as Eva Marquez, Stephen McKinley Henderson as Omar, Alexie Gilmore as Dr. Sara Dillane.

Guest Cast: Robert Clohessy as Detective Santori, Susan Misner as Callie Burnett, James Harrold as Mank, Jennifer Van Dyck as Inga Skoll, Laura Interval as Kayla Moore, Annika Peterson as Olivia Behrendt, Darren Pettie as Carl Browning, Curtiss L’Cook as Ray de la Cruz, Andre Blake as Nash, Ned Eisenberg as Fiske, Kevin Carolan as The Mark, Jeremy Beiler as Bachelor #1, Maury Ginsberg as Bachelor #2 and Greg Stuhr as Bachelor #3.

My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found here.

New Amsterdam “Reclassified” A Mess

Image from NewAmsterdam-Forever.com

New Amsterdam “Reclassified” was filled with too many stereotypes, too much forced dialog, and too much bad acting to be enjoyable. And the initial scene of the story where John is called to a scene and helps negotiate a hostage situation was such a red herring that it seemed a colossal waste of time. It would have made more sense to tie in that story to the main story line – if they did that, I certainly missed it. Still, why waste time on a crime that has no bearing on the main story?

This episode involved John’s (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) first detective partner Andy (Chris Bauer) asking John to help investigate his own murder. Andy felt that a bullet still lodged in his body from an unknown shooter caused his leukemia. During this episode John flashes back to experiences working with Andy, which I felt were uninteresting and frankly added nothing to the main story or even to John’s own story. I was incredibly distracted by the fact that Andy was the healthiest looking man who was only days away from dying from leukemia. He wasn’t convincing at all as a dying man, besides not really being convincing as a detective. And I would sure like to know what Andy did so get his wife suddenly cured from stage 4 lymphoma. That seemed like it could have been a more interesting story but the issue was raised and then dropped, almost like the writers couldn’t figure out what to make of it either. And please, how corny was it that Andy just so happens to pass on while in the ride with John?

John’s investigation into his original partner’s shooting is almost thwarted by his own boss’s desire for John to actually work real, active cases (another trite plot device – the seemingly overbearing, unbending boss). John is directed to the stereotypical Russian mob group with the stereotypical Russian mob leader Viktor Brodsky, played by the stereotypical Olek Krupa. Personally, I think Olek suffers from Law & Order Repeat Offender Syndrome, meaning he’s already been so typecast in that franchise that I’m note sure he can play anything else but the proverbial bad guy foreigner.

Another bizarre thing was that I thought that John actually looked much OLDER when he started working with his partner Andy than he did in the present time. It was a strange look and didn’t quite seem to fit the character and the time.

And Sara’s (Alexie Gilmore) treatments of John’s injuries were inconsistent with what I would expect from an ER doctor. The first time, when he was beaten up, she seemed to react normally for a doctor. But, suddenly when he gets shot, she seems helpless and simply yells for help without really reacting to his injury. If I were a doc, I would tend to him immediately at the same time calling out for help.

Nearing the end of the show after John is shot, we see what seems to be his near-death experience, and suddenly he realizes he’s alive and, well, probably not quite mortal yet. Now he did appear to have that “Oops, maybe she’s not the one” look on his face because he was still alive. But, couldn’t him being alive just be due to the fact that they were able to fix his injury from the gunshot?

Another problem with the show is the waste of John’s co-worker Detective Santori (Robert Clohessy). They had a chance to use Clohessy as a serious detective, yet every week they make him seem either more annoying or more idiotic. In this episode, he has a line that is reminiscent of the goofy controller in the movie "Airplane" who always had witty comebacks. Callie Burnett (Susan Misner) says to John “A neighborhood bookie? What’s next?” and Santori answers “Mah-jong. Bingo.” I thought it was silly dialog, a cheap imitation of Airplane, and another shot at making Santori look like a buffoon. Personally, I think the guy from Airplane played the goofball better – maybe because Airplane was intended as a comedy. This show shouldn’t need comic relief.


I’m consistently annoyed with this series with what I call bad transitions. If this series fixes one thing – well, besides a weak supporting cast – it should be better transitions from scene to scene, and better transitions even to commercials.

I give this episode poor marks overall. Still, I think the whole premise of the show could work if they would just decide what kind of show they want to be, get a better supporting characters and actors, and bring consistency in direction and style. They need to somehow ground the show because it seems too scattered that it may not give fans enough to hold on to, week to week.


My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

New Amsterdam’s Alexie Gilmore Featured in May’s Shape Magazine

Alexie Gilmore has a brief, half page feature in the May edition of Shape Magazine. She talks about how she stays fit and energized. It’s in the “shape your life news” section, titled “Healthy Hollywood, Staying Energized with Alexie Gilmore.”

The article is not available on line as yet – but it is available on the newsstands if you’re interested.

My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

New Amsterdam “Reclassified” Episode #7 Episode and Cast Information

Image from newamsterdam-forever.com

We’re getting close to the end of the season for New Amsterdam. I say “end of the season” in hopes that it won’t be the end of the series.


PARTNERS 'TIL THE END ON "NEW AMSTERDAM" MONDAY, APRIL 7, ON FOX
John becomes fixated on granting the dying wish of his first partner, Andy (Chris Bauer), who is slowly wasting away from leukemia caused by a bullet lodged in his heart. Andy wants the unknown shooter brought to justice before he dies, but the case is more convoluted than anyone originally believes. Memories of John's beginnings as a homicide detective help him not only piece together clues to his friend's case, but also prompt John to realize he may be nearing the end of his quest for love and mortality. However, he embarks down a precarious path as his investigation leads to altercations with the Russian mafia and culminates with a shocking end.

Cast: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as John Amsterdam; Zuleikha Robinson as Eva Marquez, Stephen McKinley Henderson as Omar, Alexie Gilmore as Dr. Sara Dillane.

Guest Cast: Robert Clohessy as Detective Santori, Susan Misner as Callie Burnett, Chris Bauer as Andrew Gleason, Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Joe Williams, Kristine Sutherland as Didi Gleason, Donnie Keshawarz as Nazir, Tim Devlin as Bobby Randall, Michael Solomon as Uni, David Vadim as Carney, Chris La Panta as Danny, Olek Krupa as Viktor Brodsky, Ivo Velon as Ivan Brodsky, James Lindenberg as Russian Henchman, and Hudson Orbe as Bobby.

My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

New Amsterdam "Legacy" Director’s Take Video

The “director’s take” video, and the full episode for New Amsterdam "Legacy" are now available - exclusively - on Hulu.com. They are embedded here, so catch them while you can. Hulu.com doesn’t always keep them up for long! (You can see them in the full wide screen by going to the Hulu.com site.)

Hulu.com is great - it allows you to get your fix of New Amsterdam, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, any time you want.


Director’s Take



Full Episode



My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

New Amsterdam “Legacy” Bequeaths an Interesting Story

Well, it was bound to happen.

John Amsterdam is a cad.

This episode – “Legacy” seemed to show that every action could have some sort of reaction, even years later. One branch of John Amsterdam’s (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) family tree turns out to be shady, and John discovers this possibility while investigating a murder of Alex Spoor, who looks strikingly like one of his previous children, Roosevelt (both parts played by Zachary Booth). Maybe his family turned to the shady side when John was discovered cheating on his wife?

John has quite an elaborate record of his family tree, so it’s a little bit of a surprise that somehow he let this segment of his family fade into oblivion. Maybe he used their excuse of leaving him as the perfect opportunity to move on, and possibly it just becomes just too complicated to keep track of everyone. Still, one would think the name of a prominent crime family might have come up in his work as a detective.

This episode did a very good job of interlacing his past with the present story. We learn in the past that John – then known as “Dutch” – was a painter who seems to have lost his inspiration. It seems somewhat obvious when Dutch gets a young subject to paint that the sparks will fly, and they do. Still, it was a sad scene to see his clearly older and aging wife come to the realization of what would inevitably occur. And it was also sad to see that John has a bit of a dark side when it comes to his relationships. I found it interesting that Dr. Sara Dillane (Alexie Gilmore) seems to have her “spider senses” out when it comes to John, by asking him personal questions that indicate she may have a feeling about John’s ways.

The crime story was somewhat trite. After all, how many times can an organized crime-type story be told without the obligatory FBI person (in this case, played by Giancarlo Esposito) who has his own agenda? During the process, we get to see Eva’s father, Eddie Marquez (played by frequent TV bad guy Nestor Serrano). Somehow I felt his character was just dropped into the show for little reason. I’ve said this before about this series and I’ll repeat it because I think it’s a weak spot, and that is that it doesn’t always do well with transitions. Somehow, I think that they should have waited for a story where it just made more sense for him to appear and be involved in the story to have it be a more meaningful appearance. This appearance was just wasted.

The character of Eva (Zuleikha Robinson) still seems flat to me. She hasn’t learned the fine art of how to question suspects or anybody who can offer her information, consistently blurting out blunt and pointed questions. I think the only way that her character will have any depth and believability is if they can somehow teach her the fine art of finesse. Other television female detectives – such as Olivia Benson and Alex Eames of the Law & Order franchise – are perfect examples of how a woman doesn’t have to be tactless in order to get the job done.

Along that line, John and Eva’s boss, Callie Burnett (Susan Misner) seems to add a spark to the show. My only concern is that something just seems to be a little off with the portrayal of women in this series. Both Eva and Callie seem to have caustic attitudes, and Sara seems to be the stereotypical woman who seems too suspicious of her man. I was glad when she came to her senses and asked John a few questions important to her – and then seemingly just decided to let everything else go and roll with the relationship. Sadly, there isn’t one woman on the show to which I feel that I can relate or empathize with, and this could be a problem for the show down the road if it continues.

Omar (Stephen McKinley Henderson) is probably the most solid and believable character on each episode. He brings a level head and probably the best perspective on life than any of the characters on the show.

Still, for some reason I liked this episode. It was interesting to see a bit of a dark side for John. It is bound to happen to a guy who’s lived 400 years.



Here’s the video of the director’s take for “Legacy”, view while it’s available:






My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

New Amsterdam “Legacy ” Episode #6 Cast and Show Information

Here’s the episode and cast information for the sixth installment of New Amsterdam, airing Monday March 31 on Fox:

A MURDER GETS PERSONAL When police find a bullet-ridden body in an apartment in Chinatown, John and Eva are called to investigate. The deceased young man’s striking similarity to Roosevelt, a lost son of John’s from the early 1900s, prompts him to take a personal stance on the case. The search for the killer leads John to the Spoors, a violent crime family headed by Roosevelt’s kin. The discovery makes John question the actions of his past and the reverberating consequences they have on those around him on the “Legacy” episode of NEW AMSTERDAM airing Monday, March 31 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Cast: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as John Amsterdam; Zuleikha Robinson as Eva Marquez, Stephen McKinley Henderson as Omar, Alexie Gilmore as Dr. Sara Dillane.

Guest Cast: Susan Misner as Callie Burnett, Jamie Harrold as Mank, Adam Storke as Nicolas Spoor, Giancarlo Esposito as James Lawson, Kathryn Meisle as Samantha, Zachary Booth as Roosevelt/Alex Spoor, Nestor Serrano as Eddie Marquez, Larry Keith as Theo Spoor, Alyssa Sutherland as Alice Crayborn, Bess Rous as Gina Warner, Andrew Pang as Feng, Matt Caplan as Terry Walters, Randall Duk Kim as Donald Chen, Tina Benko as Amelia, Julie McNiven as Model, Flint Beverage as Brock, Wai Ching Ho as Asian Woman and Shing Ka as Asian Man

Episode Preview





My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found here.

New Amsterdam “Keep The Change” Keeps the Pace

Image from Fox

This episode of New Amsterdam returned the show to an interesting case and an interesting look at John’s past. It also introduces John’s boss, Sergeant Callie Burnett, played by a Law & Order franchise “repeat offender” Susan Misner.

The episode centers on the investigation of the death of a homeless man. His best friend believes that his overdose was murder, as the man was an alcoholic who had been sober for 35 years. During the investigation, John (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Eva (Zuleikha Robinson) find a connection with the new “Big Apple” homeless shelter, a rock star, and what proves to be an expensive guitar that belonged to the dead homeless man. While working the case, John has recollections of his 1964 nightclub on East 54th Street, and his own personal battle with alcoholism. We get to see Omar as a young boy (played by Mandell Butler), and see and hear John as he recounts, in writing, his lengthy history.

Between all this, John finds time to spend with Sara (Alexie Gilmore). The first time we see them together, it’s clearly a dream sequence. Afterwards, however, John and Sara seem like they’re already an old couple going through the motions – at least for Sara. Things seem to cool quickly between them when Sara tips her hand that she “Googled” John and can’t find anything on him beyond a certain point, and she demands answers. Again, the flaw with this show is that it seemed to be cutting to the chase so quickly with this relationship and now she seems to be moving a little too fast to pressure him for information. I would think if he’s been around for 400 years he would be used to this type of questioning and should have a quick cover story already at hand. Personally, he should have used a cover story that he worked undercover and let it go at that for the time being. It’s not like the guy has never had to lie before to people to keep his secret.

The case itself actually had some promise, and I think that the flashbacks of John’s own struggle with alcoholism fit in very well to the story line. Where this episode misses – in fact, where all of them have seemed to miss – is weaving in his time looking for “The One” or spending time with Sara. It seems like we jump so severely from scene to scene when it comes to this subject that it almost seems like they are dropped into the story without much thought. The most glaring example of this was at the end of the show, when, in frustration with John, Sara simply walks away from him, and SHOW OVER. I’m no director, but while I think I would have ended the show in the same scene, I think I would have shot an additional 20 seconds with the camera on John, looking dejected, and himself walking away into the darkness. I think this show needs some serious work on transitions.

Getting back to the addition of a new boss in the house, I liked their choice of Susan Misner to play the Sergeant. She’s been on Law & Order many times in different incarnations and she’s always been a solid performer and played memorable characters. She could very well be the spark that this show needs, clearly they are not getting it from Eva, who seems to be somewhat lifeless, or Santori (Robert Clohessy), who is seeming more idiotic by the week.

Omar (Stephen McKinley Henderson) continues to be a bright spot. His character is very believable and I think he plays off John very well. I thought the whole dialog between him, John, and Eva regarding the guitar and musicians was very well written and performed by McKinley Henderson.

We get a few tidbits during the show, both while John is writing down his story in his notebooks, and at the end while he’s spewing information at Sara, which she clearly is not taking seriously. For example, he tells Sara he’s had 63 children. Lucky for him he didn’t have to give birth to them himself!

I think this episode was an improvement in their handling of the crime side of the story, and weaving in John’s past along with it. Where the show is falling now is with blending in his relationship with Sara. The encounters seem disjointed and almost added in as an afterthought. Again, with a show that has so many things going on in the past and the present, it needs better transitions from one to the other.

An added bonus:
Here’s the Director’s take video clip for “Keep the Change.” Interesting that Nikolaj says every episode has a different director, which probably explains the lack of consistency in the feel of each story.







My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

New Amsterdam “Keep The Change” Episode Information

Photos from Fox

Here’s the episode and cast information for the fifth episode of New Amsterdam, airing Monday March 24 on Fox:

“Keep The Change”
12-STEPS BACK INTO AMSTERDAM’S PAST "NEW AMSTERDAM" MONDAY, MARCH 24, ON FOX

John and Eva investigate the death of a homeless man whose best friend believes that his overdose was actually a homicide. They uncover a mysterious connection between the new homeless shelter and an expensive guitar the dead homeless man kept in his locker. Meanwhile, John remembers when he struggled with addictions and entered a 12-step program back in 1964 after passing out drunk one too many times and ending up in the psych ward on the “Keep The Change” episode of NEW AMSTERDAM airing Monday, March 24 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Cast: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as John Amsterdam; Zuleikha Robinson as Eva Marquez, Stephen McKinley Henderson as Omar, Alexie Gilmore as Dr. Sara Dillane.

Guest Cast: Robert Clohessy as Detective Santori, Callie Burnett as Jamie Herrold, Nick Sandow as Frank, Brian Tarantina as Mick, Mandell Butler as Young Omar, Stephen Kunken as Ben Tucker, Bridget Regan as Daphne Tucker, Justin Hagan as Howard, Ian Brennan as Chris Duncan, Edwina Findley as Tara Brown, Bridget Barkan as Margaret, Anthony Desio as Bob and Silvestre Rasuk as Kid.


My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found here.

Interview with New Amsterdam’s Zuleikha Robinson

IF Magazine published an brief interview with Zuleikha Robinson that I thought you’d find interesting:


Exclusive Interview: ONE OF THE SEXY STARS OF 'NEW AMSTERDAM' , ZULEIKHA ROBINSON KEEPS IT REAL

The actress known for shows like THE LONE GUNMEN & ROME finally gets a normal role

By SEAN ELLIOTT, Senior Editor
Published 3/21/2008

If you were ever an X-FILES fan, there is a chance that you had a crush on Zuleikha Robinson, when she was really the only leading lady Yves Adele Harlow on THE LONE GUNMEN spin off series. Robinson’s next television stint was as the conniving prostitute Gaia on HBO’s ROME, and the actress admits more than a fondness for offbeat characters. When iF MAGAZINE spoke to the strikingly beautiful actress about her series NEW AMSTERDAM, we also found out more about how this actress has managed to have such a varied career over the last few years.


iF MAGAZINE: This is a pretty normal role for you compared to say your roles in THE LONE GUNMEN or ROME. Do you like playing more normal characters?

ZULEIKHA ROBINSON: Yeah it is normal, and it kind of scares me. I think she’s going to have commitment issues further down the line which should add some levels to make her more interesting.

iF: I was wonder if there was any chance that you think your character might be related to your partner?

ROBINSON: Wow that would be a twist and a half. [Laughs]

iF: When you approach this character what sort of research did you have to do?

ROBINSON: I went to New York and hung out with some female detectives to get the vibe. For me the layers happen slowly and it’s a matter of meeting people who I am supposed to be like.

iF: You’ve had a really diverse acting career, how do you pick your projects?

ROBINSON: I definitely like to play characters that don’t fit any kind of mold; that are slightly offbeat, because it’s more fun to play. I read a script and I fall in love with a character. I can read hundreds of scripts and nothing comes to me; all of a sudden I read one and I start firing up and I know I have to play the role. It happened with this show it happened with my character on ROME, it’s happened with pretty much everything that I’ve done.

iF: Is there going to be a bit of a MOONLIGHTING vibe the further we go on NEW AMSTERDAM?

ROBINSON: I don’t know, you’ll have to watch and see as the characters figure things out. I’m not going to say it couldn’t happen, but we’ll all just have to see.

iF: Since NEW AMSTERDAM is such a unique show, where would you like your character to go?

ROBINSON: It’s a very unique show and it’s a challenging show for network television to take on because it is so unique and I love that about it. Like I said earlier, I gravitate towards things that are offbeat. I really want to make her real, because I have played so many interesting and crazy characters in the past. I want to be able to show her flaws and her vulnerabilities and all of the rest of her traits.

iF: This is off the beaten track, but Ray Stevenson your leading man in ROME is the new PUNISHER, did you know that?

ROBINSON: Ooo, Ray. He deserves that, he’s a fantastic man and a brilliant actor. So congratulations to him!


iF: When you signed on for ROME did you know that it was just going to be two seasons?

ROBINSON: No we found out while we were shooting that they were going to wrap it up. There were rumors flying around but officially we hadn’t heard anything. It was quite depressing because it was a lot of fun and that was a great character.


iF: So based on that experience would you go back and do more BBC television?


ROBINSON: Yeah, HBO first and foremost, because they take so many risks and as an actor it’s really great place to work creatively. I would work for the BBC, but I’ve never done work for them directly in the UK.



My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

Buffalo News Interview With Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Today, the Buffalo News had an interesting interview with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, below. Enjoy!


For Coster-Waldau, the accent is no problem
By David Hiltbrand - McCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
Updated: 03/18/08 6:42 AM

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, the star of Fox’s “New Amsterdam,” doesn’t have the standard resume for a prime-time actor.

Perhaps you caught him in “Manden bag doren” or “Gode stromer.” Both those films earned him nominations for a Robert. (The Robert Festival is Denmark’s version of the Os-cars.)

Coster-Waldau first spoke English as a child to NATO troops, trying out his rudimentary classroom vocabulary on the military personnel who were on maneuvers near his flyspeck of a village, Tybjerg.

“I found I could talk to the English soldiers,” he says on the phone from New York. “And they would give me their food rations, which were really awful.”

But once you’ve seen the actor, who looks like a cross between Viggo Mortensen and Denis Leary, there’s no question he’s leading-man material.

You just have to get past a hint of an accent. Which seems a little odd because in “New Amsterdam” (9 p.m. Mondays), he plays a modern-day cop who has been living in New York since 1642, thanks to a shaman’s magic spell. You’d think he would sound like a local by now.

The dialogue is a work in progress. “I can hear the difference when I see the later episodes,” he says. “It gets easier. Your ear adapts.”

As a working European actor, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (NICK-o-lie COST-er wal-DOW) has performed in numerous languages. And his English is far better than his French, a fact he was reminded of on a recent film shoot.

“The script was in French and I learned all my lines,” he says. “I was working with this actress who was great, but she wanted to improvise. All I could do is look at her with great depth in my eyes.”

According to David Manson, the executive producer of “New Amsterdam,” there’s a reason that fake Americans are popping up on every network.

“The available pool of attractive, charming, irreverent male actors in their mid-to-late 30s has shrunk,” Manson says. “It’s a hard piece of casting. Most of the time, if they’re that exciting, they’ve become movie stars.

“When I started doing series,” says the TV veteran, “you were lucky if you got to go to New York to look for an actor. This year it’s gone global. That’s why you’re seeing all these actors from England and Australia in prime time.”

Coster-Waldau, 37, who auditioned for the part of John Amsterdam in London, is grateful that American television is going farther afield.

“When I first heard the premise — immortal cop — I thought, ‘What is this about?’ But as I read the script, I realized this can get really interesting,” he says. “It has so much potential.”

On the series, he plays a Rembrandt-era Dutch soldier in the New York settlement who saves the life of an Indian woman. In return, a medicine woman grants him eternal life. He will not age or die until he meets his one true love.

In the present, he is a Manhattan homicide cop, but over the centuries he has pursued every manner of profession: tinker, tailor, soldier, forger. We witness him pursuing his various vocations in flashbacks.

It was seeing Coster-Waldau in these historical set pieces that convinced Manson he had found the right actor.

“He has a movie-star quality,” says the producer. “Other actors seem boyish when you put them in period clothes. But there’s a strength and a compelling masculinity to Nikolaj.”

Talk about a hopeless romantic. When Amsterdam is not solving crimes, he’s desperately pursuing “the one,” even though finding her will result in his death.

“It’s the classic story of a hero who has a goal,” says Coster- Waldau, who adopted the hyphenate as a boy to hold onto both his parents’ names when they divorced. “In order to achieve that goal, he has to go through adventures and tests and learn from those. He’s lived very flawed lives in the past. We go back to all these events. On one level, for him to succeed in finding ‘the one,’ there are things he has to learn and things we have to learn about him.”

Up to this point, Coster-Waldau has been traveling back and forth between New York and Copenhagen to spend time with his wife, Nukbka Motzfeldt, an actress from Greenland, and their two daughters. They’ve come over here three times as well.

If “New Amsterdam” is renewed for another season, that frequent-flier arrangement may change. “We would have to negotiate,” he says. “It’s not like my wife doesn’t have a life and career of her own. It’s not ‘Dad has a job. Pack your bags. We’re all going.’ ”



My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

New Amsterdam “Honor” Kills the Mood

The spark is missing

In this episode, John Amsterdam (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) investigates a rape and murder of a nun, and then later a photographer’s assistant. During this investigation, he recalls events from 1813, when he worked in the Bronx as a coachman for a wealthy landowner. While this is going on, John tries to solidify some sort of serious relationship with Dr. Sara Dillane (Alexie Gilmore).

Everything seems to fall flat in the process and may have killed any mood or momentum the show was trying to build.

This episode seemed to be uninspiring and generally uninteresting. The 1813 flashbacks seemed not only poorly written with stiff and unimaginative dialog, but also weakly acted. After watching this episode, it almost made me think that the heavy concentration of flashbacks may have run its course and needs to become less of a focus for the main character. I found that I liked it better when John and Sara were riding in the carriage that John gave us a snippet of information about the area that used to be stables, which eventually became artist studios, housing the likes of e.e.cummings (that’s no typo, that’s how he writes his legal name). It seemed more interesting to learn that little snippet quickly, and then get back to the focus of the story. I’m not saying they need to get rid of all the flashbacks, I just think that they should devote less screen time to it.

The story itself – a photographer’s assistant Amartya (Yazmin Kazi) being a victim of rape later murdered by her father in an honor killing – was predictable. I think I’ve been watching too much Law & Order but I think that franchise has done that story so many times, and done it better, that for this show it didn’t grab me. John’s flashback to 1813 with his relationship with Fanny (Kristen Connolly) and his subsequent challenge to his employer Mr. Durst (Erik Jensen) was so trite that it bordered on corny. It seemed like I was watching a poorly scripted and acted high school production.

To add insult to injury, it seems Eva (Zuleikha Robinson) is going through the motions, becoming even stiffer with the added trait of now seeming perpetually cranky. She acted more like a petulant child when she saw John and Sara talking on the roof. It wasn’t quite adult jealousy; it was more like a child’s reaction. In addition, Detective Santori (Robert Clohessy) seems to have become the caricature of a stereotypical New York detective. These two had dialog in the morgue that I found odd:

Santori (to the examiner): When you work on a female, do you think of her as a woman?

Eva’s comeback: For the record Santori, when I work with you, I don’t really think of you as a man.

Santori’s comment was not only extremely insensitive, it seemed wildly out of place, poorly written, and poorly delivered. It seemed only there to act as a setup for Eva’s line. In all honesty, if someone asked a question like that about a female victim, my response would have been a little less witty and a lot more direct. You know, something like “That’s a sick question. Oh yeah, and you’re a jerk.”

Now, for my real disappointment. If Sara is supposed to be the one – and I am beginning to think that she can’t possibly be it – they sure cut to the chase with this part of the storyline too fast in the series. There seemed to be little buildup to it. In fact, I think I could have used a few more week of John in the chase, so to speak. Seeing that this show only has six episodes completed now, it seems that they may have been rushing things in case the show got canceled.

While they’re in the park talking, Sara suddenly makes the move and kisses John, and of course he returns the sentiment. Count me as very disappointed with this scene. It seemed like two high school teens both kissing for the first time. I mean really, he’s 400 years old and clearly has some experience; she’s in an unhappy marriage. But there was.no.spark. Nothing. No passion. No desire. There was just nothing. Making matters worse, when they decide to cement the relationship, there wasn’t any thrill in the act there either. They both seemed to be going through the motions, with no buildup and no fire. I wasn’t expecting an R-rated scene mind you, but I’ve seen better love scenes on daytime TV. If this was supposed to be such a momentous relationship, at least in John’s mind, they should have spent a little more time making it look like there was some actual passion involved.

I’m not going to say that I hated this episode, but I really didn’t like it much. If this show was trying to save itself from cancellation, this episode would not help. My hope is that they use viewer feedback and commentary as an opportunity to retool the show and come back with something that has a little more suspense, a little better class of supporting actors, and a little more grown-up scenarios.

That would be the honorable thing to do.


The full episode is available below:



My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

New Amsterdam Episode 4 “Honor” Air Date March 17

Photo from Fox

Here’s the summary of the new episode of New Amsterdam – “Honor” - from Fox:


“HONOR” Episode # 4, air date March 17

A BRUTAL MURDER IS REMINISCENT OF ONE FROM THE PAST ON "NEW AMSTERDAM" MONDAY, MARCH 17, ON FOX

The brutal rape and murder of a nun and similar attack on a photographer’s assistant who escapes death leads Amsterdam (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) to remember similar crimes he witnessed in the 1800s when he was a coachman for a wealthy landowner. Meanwhile, Amsterdam and Sara get better acquainted on the “Honor” episode of NEW AMSTERDAM airing Monday, March 17 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Cast: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as John Amsterdam; Zuleikha Robinson as Eva Marquez, Stephen McKinley Henderson as Omar, Alexie Gilmore as Dr. Sara Dillane.

Guest Cast: Robert Clohessy as Detective Santori, Yazmin Kazi as Amartya Vikram, Marjan Neshat as Charvi, Tom Mardirosian as Samar, Aaron Lazar as Ben Robbins, Erik Jensen as Durst, Kristen Connolly as Fanny, Kathleen McNenny as Catherine, Katie Henney as K. Johanna, Michael Pemberton as Shannon, Jamie Harrold as Mank, Howard Overshown as Dr. Costello, Michelle Carano as Nurse, Christina Starbuck as Mary Worth, Tony F. DeVito as Phillip Long, and Trish McCall as Eastsider Nurse.

My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found here.

New Amsterdam "Soldier’s Heart" Behind The Scenes Video

Here’s a “behind the scenes” look at New Amsterdam – “Soldier’s Heart” - from Fox Broadcasting. It features commentary from Director Bobby Roth and others, plus you get a few shots of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau:



My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

New Amsterdam Ratings Reports for March 10

This gratuitous photo of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau should help ratings

Apparently the new Fox show, Canterbury’s Law, proved to be a poor lead in for New Amsterdam. But, NA still held on and actually picked up viewers compared to its lead in.

Here’s what the New York Times reports:

“Canterbury’s Law,” the new Fox legal drama, felt dark, mature and realistic — fare found more often on cable than on broadcast television. Julianna Margulies, the show’s star, said the network wanted to “bring a little FX to Fox.” But young viewers showed little interest in “Canterbury’s Law,” as the show’s premiere finished in fourth place in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic at 8 p.m. on Monday, Nielsen reported. Fox suggested that the transition to daylight saving time might have had some impact on the ratings. “Canterbury’s Law” averaged 7.6 million viewers, enough to place second in total viewers behind ABC’s “Bachelor,” but delivered a disappointing 1.7 rating in the 18-to-49 demographic favored by advertisers. At 9 p.m. “New Amsterdam” picked up some viewers for Fox, averaging 8.8 million viewers and a 2.5 rating in that demographic.

Unfortunately, TV Week reports “New Amsterdam” (2.5) moved into its official time slot yesterday. Without “American Idol” as a lead-in, “Amsterdam” dropped 29% from its previous airing. The show has dropped one full ratings point in each airing.” (The 2.5 is the share for the show.)

Let’s hope some stability in the Monday time slot will bring in some regular viewers. After all, it sounds like Canterbury’s Law won’t be helping.


My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found here.

New Amsterdam “Soldiers Heart” Gets My Pulse Racing

Image from Fox

In this episode of New Amsterdam, John Amsterdam (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) handles a murder case of a doctor, recalls being a doctor himself in 1862, and has a face to face with his possible one true love, Dr. Sara Dillane (Alexie Gilmore).

Frankly, the story and the back story were both a little dull in this episode. Still, it had my heart racing. Why?

It’s John Amsterdam. Or shall I say Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. In just about every scene he is in, his mere presence steals it. I suppose for a guy who’s 400 years old, he seems to have learned the fine art of flirting very well. He literally flirts with the camera in every shot. And this is why I think the show could very well be a winner if they make some minor changes in either the cast or the dialog.

There are some flaws with the show. First, John is a little too free with offering information to his detective partner Eva (Zuleikha Robinson) that relate back to previous experiences years ago. If I had a partner like that who appeared to be making up stories, I think I’d have him submitted for a psych evaluation. (Eve does, however, call John a “freak of nature.” Little does she know how right she is.) I think the show should drop these constant obvious references with his partner to his past lives, or save them for his interactions with Omar(Stephen McKinley-Henderson) who DOES know John's secret.

Second flaw is that John sometimes doesn’t do what I think would be the obvious. He feels strongly that Sara is “the one” and by nearly stalking her (along with his very obvious dog), he finds out she’s an ER doctor at St. Francis; lives alone in the West Village; walks to work; and likes Tex Mex, Merlot, and take out Tandori. Now, keep in mind that he’s a detective, he probably could have used tools of his trade to find out that she has a husband. The look on his face when he realizes this was classic, but had he done his homework using his detective tools, he could have saved himself the shock.

But, there is a lot of good in the show. Personally, I think Nicolaj pulls off this role with perfection. I keep looking at him, thinking to myself that he reminds me of someone. I've come to the conclusion that he reminds me of several different people. I laughed out loud when he was told that he looks familiar, and he responds that he has “one of those faces.” That is absolutely true.

I also enjoyed when he seemingly lifted one of the lines from one of Fox’s hit shows “House” when Amsterdam says “Everybody lies.” And for some reason, I thought of the original Star Trek when Dr. Dillane said “I’m a doctor, not an angel.” (I am thinking back to Dr, McCoy and his famous “I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer”-type lines.)

The show is also a fountain of information, if one pays attention. I did some checking, and Walt Whitman’s brother George had fought at Antietam (the bloodiest Civil War battle), and in 1862, Walt searched hospitals and camps for him when his brother was listed as wounded. Walt got a horrific view of the war from the injured soldiers, and wrote accounts of some who had served in battle. Whitman published “Leaves of Grass” in 1855, so it was believable that he gave a copy to John. I also did not know that “soldier’s heart” is another term for post traumatic stress disorder, shell shock, and battle fatigue. I was always familiar with those terms, but somehow never connected them with the modern-named PTSD. This show wins points to me in its snippets of information like this.

The real winner in the show, though is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. As I said earlier, this man can flirt with the camera. In every scene, his expressive face seems to be conveying genuine feeling. His eyes have a sparkle to them that is hard to fake. His face visibly brightens when he sees Dr. Dillane face to face. He is thrilled when she touches him to take his pulse, which is racing. (So is mine.) And wow, was that some kind of physical exam she was giving him? Yes, it was just a simple traditional exam, but with the look on his face, you’d swear she was making love with him. I swear he was enjoying his exam a little too much. It was as if at that point, he was the happiest he had ever been in years. And his face showed it.

At the very end, though, when he discovers Dr. Dillane is married, it was a great “Oops” moment. How could he have missed it? Poor guy, he looked so crestfallen that I felt very bad for him. Of course, what we’re not told is the exact state of her marriage, so maybe there is hope yet for John.

I think New Amsterdam has great possibilities. With someone like Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the lead role, it’s a certainty that I’m going to continue to watch.



My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

New Amsterdam: "Honor" and "Keep The Change" Coming Up

Fox has released the summaries for episodes #4 and #5, air dates March 17 and March 24, respectively.

“HONOR” Episode # 4, air date March 17

A BRUTAL MURDER IS REMINISCENT OF ONE FROM THE PAST ON "NEW AMSTERDAM" MONDAY, MARCH 17, ON FOX

The brutal rape and murder of a nun and similar attack on a photographer’s assistant who escapes death leads Amsterdam (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) to remember similar crimes he witnessed in the 1800s when he was a coachman for a wealthy landowner. Meanwhile, Amsterdam and Sara get better acquainted on the “Honor” episode of NEW AMSTERDAM airing Monday, March 17 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Cast: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as John Amsterdam; Zuleikha Robinson as Eva Marquez, Stephen McKinley Henderson as Omar, Alexie Gilmore as Dr. Sara Dillane.

Guest Cast: Robert Clohessy as Detective Santori, Yazmin Kazi as Amartya Vikram, Marjan Neshat as Charvi, Tom Mardirosian as Samar, Aaron Lazar as Ben Robbins, Erik Jensen as Durst, Kristen Connolly as Fanny, Kathleen McNenny as Catherine, Katie Henney as K. Johanna, Michael Pemberton as Shannon, Jamie Harrold as Mank, Howard Overshown as Dr. Costello, Michelle Carano as Nurse, Christina Starbuck as Mary Worth, Tony F. DeVito as Phillip Long, and Trish McCall as Eastsider Nurse.


"KEEP THE CHANGE" Episode # 5, air date March 24.

12-STEPS BACK INTO AMSTERDAM’S PAST "NEW AMSTERDAM" MONDAY, MARCH 24, ON FOX

John and Eva investigate the death of a homeless man whose best friend believes that his overdose was actually a homicide. They uncover a mysterious connection between the new homeless shelter and an expensive guitar the dead homeless man kept in his locker. Meanwhile, John remembers when he struggled with addictions and entered a 12-step program back in 1964 after passing out drunk one too many times and ending up in the psych ward on the “Keep The Change” episode of NEW AMSTERDAM airing Monday, March 24 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Cast: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as John Amsterdam; Zuleikha Robinson as Eva Marquez, Stephen McKinley Henderson as Omar, Alexie Gilmore as Dr. Sara Dillane.

Guest Cast: Robert Clohessy as Detective Santori, Callie Burnett as Jamie Herrold, Nick Sandow as Frank, Brian Tarantina as Mick, Mandell Butler as Young Omar, Stephen Kunken as Ben Tucker, Bridget Regan as Daphne Tucker, Justin Hagan as Howard, Ian Brennan as Chris Duncan, Edwina Findley as Tara Brown, Bridget Barkan as Margaret, Anthony Desio as Bob and Silvestre Rasuk as Kid.

My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

New Amsterdam “Soldier’s Heart” Episode Summary Air Date March 10, 2008

The new episode for New Amsterdam will appear in its regular time period, Mondays at 9:00 PM ET/PT.

Here’s the episode summary for “Soldier’s Heart” from Fox:

SECRETS LEAD TO MURDER AND ONLY AMSTERDAM CAN FIND WHO IS REPONSIBLE ON AN ALL-NEW "NEW AMSTERDAM" MONDAY, MARCH 10, ON FOX

A homeless Gulf War veteran (Orlando Jones) confesses to the grisly murder of a controversial psychiatrist, but Amsterdam is skeptical. While reviewing the psychiatrist’s soon-to-be published book, Amsterdam contemplates the reliability of memories and the reasons people bury them. Could the motive for this murder lie in the psychiatrist’s own research? The murder also brings Amsterdam closer to finding “the one” who he believes will unlock his heart and make him mortal. Though he’s certain the sparks he feels are real, he encounters the unexpected in the “Soldier’s Heart” episode of NEW AMSTERDAM airing Monday, March 10 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Cast: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as John Amsterdam; Zuleikha Robinson as Eva Marquez, Stephen Henderson as Omar, Alexie Gilmore as Dr. Sara Dillane.

Guest Cast: Robert Clohessy as Detective Santori, Rock Kohli as Vendor, Chazz Menendez as Uniform Cop, Alice Barrett Mitchell as Dr. Evelyn Prender, CJ Wilson as Walt, Bruce Altman as Dr. Lewis Prender, Michi Barall as Martha Fox, Nick Westrate as Sullivan, Stivi Paskoski as Donny Amadee, Orlando Jones as Sgt. Harold Wilcox, Mark Blum as Dr. Macvittie, Thomas Waiters as James Lucas, Lauren Fox as Susan Lucas, Joanna Adler as Tech, Richard Short as Robert Camp, Aaron Ramey as Stockbroker, Georgia X. Lifsher as NYU Student, Christa Scott-Reed as Woman #1, Kari Swenson Riely as Woman #2, and Emily Dorsch as Nurse,



My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

Fox NY Interviews Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

I thought you’d enjoy this short interview from Fox NY with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, that was done the day the show premiered.

The video is at this link, which opens in a new window

My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

New Amsterdam: “Golden Boy” Shines

After a somewhat muddled pilot episode, this second episode was a great improvement. It handled both the back story and the current story line with better balance and flow.

In this episode, we get a glimpse into John’s (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) life in the 1940s, plus a little, well make that big, surprise about his current secret keeper and “friend” Omar (Stephen McKinley Henderson). We hear it early on, in this exchange between John and Omar, at the gravesite of Lily Rae York (Yolanda Ross):

Omar: Just seems like the only thing you care about these day is finding the girl.

John: Hey, I’ve been looking for her for 400…

Omar: 400 years, I know. The woman who’ll turn your hair gray. The one. So, so what does that make my mother? The fifth? The twenty-fifth? Does she get a number like your dogs?

John: Watch your step, Omar.

Omar: Or what? You’re gonna ground me? Take me to the woodshed? I’m a 65-year-old man.

John: You’re my son.

Omar: My mother loved you, and that was a hard thing for her to do. So if she wasn’t the one, what the hell was she? (Omar walks off.)

John is investigating a case of apparent autoerotic asphyxiation, which they later find was a case of a staged murder. The case itself was a little trite and dull, but it was saved by a few moments. For example, when John is in the morgue, one of the morgue guys tries to tell John numerous jokes, to which John knows the punch line only after the guy recites the first few words of the joke. I would imagine he’s heard then all. I couldn’t figure out, though, why John felt the need to chase down and stop the ambulance that he thought took him to the hospital during his heart attack. He couldn’t wait until the ambulance got to the hospital? For someone who’s lived 400 years, his impatience, and judgment, seemed out of place.

Also during the investigation, John cuts a discussion short with Peter Huygens (Casey Siemaszko) at the school. Eva (Zuleikha Robinson) is miffed and gives John a dressing down – of course he pulls the fire alarm and gets the distraction he needs. But frankly, I felt her outrage here was a little forced. Her upset just didn’t come through as real, it came through as acting. After watching the first two episodes, I think she is the weak link here in the cast.

While John investigating this murder, we see many flashbacks to the 1940s, where John was apparently the prestigious attorney John York in an office in the Chrysler Building, We also find that his secretary is also his daughter. She knows John’s secret, seeing that, she says, he looks as good as he did when she married her mother 50 years ago. I am sure John has kids, grandkids, and great, great grandkids (you get the idea) kids everywhere. This gives the show an awful lot to work with.

John again uses his talent – this time it appears to be forgery – to trick the suspect and solve the case. I thought the case itself was predictable and I have to admit I was a lot more intrigued in the back story. Did I hear correctly that he was born Johann van der Zee on June 1, 1607?

The flashbacks in this episode were very interesting and I thought really brought needed depth to John’s relationship with Omar. This includes how Omar probably got his name: from a gift John gave to his mother the day he was born, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. When John gives Omar the book, Omar returns the favor with the correct information on the ambulance number that carried John to the hospital, to help him find “The One.”

I found it interesting when the episode closed with a line and song I remember from the movie Moulin Rouge, “The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” It was originally performed by Nat King Cole, and is called "Nature Boy." Still, when it was used in Moulin Rouge, it became one of my favorite movie lines and thought it made a fitting end to this episode.

Again, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau shined in this episode, whether he was in the past or the present. I don’t think the could have found anyone better. He’s the real Golden Boy of this show.

My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

New Amsterdam Premier Wins Time Slot

The web site Zap2it reports that New Amsterdam’s pilot episode lost some of the American Idol lead-in audience, but still won it’s time slot. Hopefully the viewers will come back on Thursday.

“'American Idol' Boosts 'New Amsterdam' Tuesday
As usual, FOX easily wins the night's ratings battle

FOX's new drama "New Amsterdam" reaped the benefits of a big lead-in Tuesday on its way to fairly solid ratings.

Per usual for a Tuesday, FOX dominated the night with a 12.1 rating/18 share. NBC came in second with a 5.9/9, drawing less than half the total viewers FOX did. CBS, 5.1/8, came in third, followed by ABC at 3.7/5. The CW put up a 1.6/2.

In the adults 18-49 demographic, FOX's 7.5 rating lapped the field. NBC's 3.3 was good for second. CBS, 2.1, finished third, followed by ABC, 1.8, and The CW, 1.1.

"American Idol" scored a 15.9/24 for FOX at 8 p.m. CBS' "NCIS" rerun earned a 7.0/10 to take second. "The Biggest Loser" delivered a 4.6/7 for NBC, topping the 3.3/5 "Just for Laughs" brought to ABC. An "America's Next Top Model" rerun on The CW trailed.

The premiere of immortal-cop drama "New Amsterdam," 8.3/12, lost a little more than half the "Idol" audience but kept FOX in the lead at 9 p.m. "The Biggest Loser" improved to 6.5/10 on NBC. "Big Brother," 4.3/7, put CBS in third, while ABC held steady with "According to Jim" and "Carpoolers." The CW's "One Tree Hill" drew a 2.0/3.

NBC claimed the top spot at 10 p.m. with a "Law & Order: SVU" rerun, 6.5/11. "Primetime" scored a 4.5/8 for ABC, beating out the 3.9/7 for "Jericho" on CBS. "

My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

New Amsterdam Pilot: Weak Start, Promising Finish

Image from Fox
If I had put this pilot episode together, I would have done it differently. If one didn’t know the show’s premise in advance, I believe it would have been a confusing start.

If you’re reading this and you don’t know the premise of the show, it’s this: In 1642, John Amsterdam (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), a Dutch solider in the colony of New Amsterdam (which later becomes New York City), stepped in front of a sword to save the life of a Native American girl during a massacre of her tribe. The girl in turn rescues John, and casts an ancient spell that made him immortal - that is, until he finds his one true love. Only then will he become mortal. At the present time, he lives in Manhattan as a homicide detective, with new partner Eva Marquez (Zuleikha Robinson). His current friend, jazz club owner Omar (Stephen McKinley-Henderson), knows Amsterdam’s secret.

Had I assembled this pilot, I would have started with a complete focus on his incident where he nearly lost his life and was rescued, then given immortality, by the Native American girl. I may not have spent any more time on it than they did over the course of the entire episode, but having the back story lead in to the show would have made everything else make more sense. I had to explain everything to my husband in the first 10 minutes or so of the show, which, after that point, it seemed to develop more into the present day story.

When John suffers a heart attack while chasing a victim, it may have been a little fuzzy at first if it was from exertion, or, if it was because he was in close proximity to “The One” true love (presumably Dr. Sara Dillane, played by Alexie Gilmore). Maybe it was a little of both. Again, for someone not knowing the premise of the show ahead of time, this could have caused some confusion for viewers.

The plot of the pilot was a little thin, but that is to be expected when you only have an hour to set up the back story and then get into the modern day homicide case. I did find it interesting, though, that the murder case led him to an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s who he knew in the past. Her question “Do I know you?” and his answer “Not any more” was a little predictable, but set up nicely for her running back out to him, clearly recalling how she knew him. Of course, she appeared to everyone else that she was off in the head, but John knew better. I suspect that there will be more situations like this as the episodes progress, but hopefully it will not be an overused plot device.

We also got to see some of John’s talents that he’s built over the years. Lip reading is one that came in handy working this case, and it will be interesting to see what other skills he has.

As far as the cast, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is perfect in the role of John Amsterdam. He’s got the right mix of seriousness, levity, and charm. He’s attractive. Only one downside is that his voice is a little quiet, which sometimes makes his dialog hard to hear. His partner Eva (Robinson) seems flat in her role, and at times delivered her lines as if she were reading lines in rehearsal. And his friend Omar (McKinley-Henderson) brings some depth and realism.

Despite a possibly poorly executed back story for the pilot, the show has a lot of possibilities. I am hoping for a long, long life.


My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

New Amsterdam Video Preview

Here is a promo tease for New Amsterdam from Fox and the theme song.





My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

New Amsterdam “Has Charms”

The Cleveland Plain Dealer today featured their review of New Amsterdam. See article below and at this link.

"Fox's 'New Amsterdam' isn't original, but has its charms
by Mark Dawidziak/Plain Dealer Television Critic
Monday March 03, 2008, 12:45 PM

You won't find much that's startlingly new in "New Amsterdam." The Fox series, which premieres at 9 p.m. Tuesday on WJW Channel 8, seems derivative because, well, it is derivative.

Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau stars as John Amsterdam, a New York homicide detective who is daring, clever and, oh, yes, immortal. He has been on the law-and-order beat since 1642. That's when the island we know as Manhattan was part of the Dutch colony known as New Amsterdam.

After heroically saving a Native American girl, John was the beneficiary of an immortality spell. He will not age until true love enters his unnaturally extended life.

Sounds a wee bit like "Highlander." It also sounds a little like the CBS vampire drama, "Moonlight," which sounded a lot like "Angel" and "Forever Knight."

But "New Amsterdam," for all its familiarity, assembles the many used parts into a fairly attractive prime-time vehicle. And with the likable Coster-Waldau in the driver's seat, it gradually picks up speed through the first three episodes.


Part police procedural, part fantasy and part romantic adventure, the dark series makes intriguing use of New York's sense of history and mystery. That's not to say "New Amsterdam" manages to avoid every Cross Bronx Expressway-style pothole.

John's voiceover narration can get clunky. The police procedural stuff is too much by the numbers. And you can see some of the dialogue coming at you like a Fifth Avenue bus.

The series is at its best, however, when the narration and plots find ways to link John's past and present.

"New York City -- beautiful catastrophe, someone once called it," John tells us during tonight's opener about the murder of a Big Apple socialite. "I call it home. . . . When you've lived here has long as I have, when you've seen what I've seen, cynicism isn't just a pose. It's what gets you through the day. And there have been a lot of days. . . . Life was cheap in New Amsterdam. Still is."

Predictably, John wears immortality as a blessing and a curse. He has his demons, including alcohol. He has hit outlets, including woodwork.

He has a new partner Eva Marquez (Zuleikha Robinson). He has the hope of romance with ER doctor Sara Dillane (Alexie Gilmore), And he has one confidant, Omar (Stephen Henderson), the owner of a Manhattan jazz club.

"Romance, glamour, excitement -- the city has it all," John says.

"New Amsterdam" certainly has all of these elements. What it needs now is that one thing John has had in abundance -- time. It needs time to let a 17th-century hero settle into a 21st-century Fox series.

"It's the kind of thing we're dealing with in the writers' room every day," said the show's executive producer David Manson. "Finding a balance between these various elements of the show is in fact part of the challenge of the show."

While "New Amsterdam" hasn't quite found that balance, it's off to an impressive start. But Manson might need to worry more about the mortality of his star than the central character.

Calling the search for true love the main appeal of the show, Coster-Waldau said: "Isn't that the question that all of us ask? I mean, I'm married. Sometimes I love my wife to bits. Other times, I go, 'This can't be it.'

"She's in Greenland. She's not going to read what you write."

And John Amsterdam is the one who is supposed to be taking the chances.”



My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.

San Francisco Chronicle Pans New Amsterdam

I guess being immortal can bring out all kinds of plot holes and problems. This article in the San Francisco Chronicle really skewers Fox’s New Amsterdam. Take a read, at your own risk:

“Review: 'New Amsterdam' shoots blanks
Tim Goodman

New Amsterdam: Drama. 9 p.m. Tuesday on Fox. Second episode 9 p.m. Thursday. Regularly scheduled 9 p.m. Mondays.

They spent a lot of money on the pilot of "New Amsterdam," but maybe not enough on the writers. Or, more accurately, the plot.

"New Amsterdam," which premieres Tuesday, has a long, strange (and funny) history to it.

In July, during the Television Critics Association press tour in Los Angeles, Fox trotted out "New Amsterdam" to a room full of critics, some of whom were a little perplexed about the premise, namely that the main character is an immortal New York City cop. He was born in Amsterdam more than 400 years ago, came to New Amsterdam, which of course became New York City, and saved an American Indian girl by blocking the sword meant for her. That was 1642. Her tribe repaid the favor by giving him immortality, with a catch: When he meets his true love, he will die.

Confusing - and corny. But that could describe any number of shows.

Armed with all kinds of plot questions, critics were just about to dive into the fray when what can best be described as the "sci-fi wing" of the critics took charge. They said the show seemed a lot like "Highlander." The producers said they'd never seen "Highlander." How could you never see or know about "Highlander," they were asked. It's huge (which, of course, is highly debatable). Anyway, someone else said the series was awfully similar to Pete Hamill's novel, "Forever." The producers said they hadn't been aware of "Forever" until after the series got started. For his part, Hamill told the Associated Press that the similarities were "astonishing," but that he knew better than to try to sue, because those cases cost a fortune and never end justly. Hamill said he'd rather spend the money on his grandkids. "You've got to laugh," he said.

In July, there was much laughing. The sci-fi wing of the critics brigade would not let this go. And others began pressing for information on how a guy who doesn't age can live in Manhattan and not be seen by people he's been involved with. Like people in his neighborhood who are growing older while he's not. Or how he changed his name all the time - it's now John Amsterdam (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and got a Social Security number, etc.

The producers didn't have very convincing answers. But at least Coster-Waldau is Dutch. That part makes sense. Though, if John Amsterdam has been in Manhattan for 400 years and hasn't picked up a New York accent - which he hasn't - that may be an issue with the accuracy police.

What does help is that Amsterdam (he used to be John York, once, by the way), is a master forger. (As it turns out, he's also a master furniture maker and very, very good at other things as well - perhaps the perk of having a lot of lifetimes to kill.) He calls his dogs by a number - like 36. His snappish (but not curious enough) new partner, Eva (Zuleikha Robinson), reminds him of the past. "You're just like my last 609 girlfriends," he says. Yes, it's supposed to be funny but no, he's not trying to reveal himself (though he's an alcoholic as well, and proclaims at his AA meeting that he's been sober 15,495 days).

In fact, Eva never gets any of the hints or jokes he drops. (And why would she - nobody's immortal, right?) But it turns out there are people in Manhattan who know Amsterdam has been around for a long, long time: his children.

Apparently he's got a lot of them. They end up being much older than he is, of course, but they keep his secret. There's precious little freshness in "New Amsterdam," so no need to point out his kids before you watch. If you watch.

Which brings up a good question. Should you watch? "New Amsterdam" is very average - and in many aspects is well below average. It never feels like much more than a cliche. The writers put him in situations where it doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened. (Fox sent two episodes and it was pretty clear who was the killer in each one.) So, it's not a fascinating police procedural - nor should it be. The main character is immortal - that should be the hook.

But that just brings up all those unanswered questions about the rules at work here. Amsterdam has kids. He's been married. Was that not love? He says he's been in love. But it must not have been true love, because he's still alive. Could it be that this whole soul mate thing is more complicated? For example, if you meet your true love, do you die instantly? Do you just start to age, then figure it out and have to wait like the rest of us to see how it ends? Car accident? High cholesterol? Boredom?

Ah, but the pilot has a little twist. Amsterdam is just about to nab a suspect in the subway when he has a heart attack. J'accuse! Well, sure, but who? There were a lot of women on that platform when he had the heart attack. "New Amsterdam" lets this play out for, oh, about a minute until it confirms the obvious: The woman who saved him was a doctor. It's her! You're a detective, go find her!

Well, he doesn't. But in the second episode, he's basically given her name and place of work. Which means - what? That she's "the one"? Yeah, probably. We know her name is Dr. Sara Dillane (Alexie Gilmore) and that she's a permanent cast member. So much for suspense. But the producers already said he's not going to keel over soon. (A professional guess: He starts getting really sick in the fifth season, right before there are enough episodes to syndicate, then dies in the last episode, which conveniently occurs during sweeps?)

The gray area of true love and soul mates is annoying. If she gave him a heart attack the first time they got near each other (not to be a buzz kill, but she actually kills him), what's next? Aneurysm?

Maybe this can all be explained away by the sci-fi crowd. Maybe all the plot holes can be covered up with believable explanations. But beyond the questions raised so far, "New Amsterdam" is pretty hokey, not especially compelling and altogether flat (except for the shots of a very vibrant New York City).

You can be immortal if you want, but that doesn't make it any less boring.”



My New Amsterdam blog home page can be found
here.