Thursday, September 28, 2006

Role redux?

I know I'm among the very few, but last night I caught the second episode of the new NBC TV series "Kidnapped". Yes, the storyline is nothing new. Yes, it supplanted "Law & Order" from its longtime slot. But the primary actors in the series are all very good: Jeremy Sisto, Timothy Hutton, Dana Delany and especially, Delroy Lindo.

Because I'm a big fan of trivia, especially in movies, I noticed a few references from previous films of the actors. Whether or not this is intentional, I don't know.
1. Timothy Hutton's character's first name is Conrad. Conrad was Hutton's character's name in his Oscar winning performance in "Ordinary People".
2. Last night, as Jeremy Sisto's character Knapp is walking along Manhattan chatting with an informant, there was a large sign in the street scene showing "Bubba Gump Shrimp Co." The family bodyguard, Virgil, is Mykelti Williamson, who portrayed Bubba in "Forrest Gump".

Josh and Amy tell me that ABC's "Boston Legal" does this with constant references to William Shatner's previous TV roles (Kirk, T.J. Hooker) constantly.

To me, it's a clever device that's fun and keeps fans on their toes.

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