'Royal Pains' a great summer series, USA scores again

USA’s new series, "Royal Pains," sparked a debate between myself and a fellow smallscreen editor. He claimed the women of the series were completely beguiling and that the main character, Mark Feuerstein, who plays Dr. Hank Lawson, was milquetoast. The men, however, are well-cast and the filial chemistry of Dr. Hank and his high-strung bean counter climber CPA brother Evan is a real delight to listen to and watch.

The men, however, are well-cast and the filial chemistry of Dr. Hank and his high-strung bean counter climber CPA brother Evan is a real delight to listen to and watch. Wrong!The women are physically beguiling for sure, but based on one episode for review, no filly has the balls or frame-grabbing chops of either USA's Mary from "In Plain Sight" or Fiona from "Burn Notice."

The men, however, are well-cast and the filial chemistry of Dr. Hank and his high-strung bean counter climber CPA brother Evan is a real delight to listen to and watch. Feuerstein shared with us that his fluid, comedic work with Paulo Costanzo, who plays brother Hank, was one of his favorite things about the making of this series. "He is insane," laughed Feuerstein, on a conference call with M&C. "I love every part of his insanity. He is someone with no filter, whatever is appearing in his brain will come out of his mouth, and I love that about him and the way that that translates into his portrayal of Evan Lawson. Evan Lawson as a character is someone who on some level the opposite of Hank. He doesn’t think about anything before he does it. He loves money. He loves the good life. He’s sort of living the Dionysian fantasy, and we’ve put him the perfect place to live it out. So, Paulo Costanzo only is perfect to play a part like that, because he is Dionysus himself. "
This effervescent, escapist series is yet another case study in what the cablers do better than network, in constructing arcs and delivering pithier, punchier scripts. Like "Burn Notice," which uses Miami as their locale, setting the action in one of the most gorgeous parts of the upper East coast creates a character in its own right (I'm a partial native Cape Codder). This series is joining those other terrific aforementioned USA shows as go-to summer dramedies with panache.Compared to the new sister network NBC drama, "The Listener," it is head and shoulders above. The premise is simple, Dr. Hank triaged two cardiac patients on one fateful day off by chance, and he came up snake eyes. Patient number one, a hospital benefactor, bought the farm on a fluke negative reaction to a pretty disgusting realistic femoral artery catheterising (remind me to never eat any animal products again) which cleared a blockage, but ultimately failed. Patient two, a young basketball player, was saved from crashing. The net result for Hank was a political face-saving bounce which sees him slide into the abyss of unemployment, becoming at one with the chaise, facial hair, body odor and depressing daytime television.You know the hot fiancee isn't having any of that, and her departure sets up the action for the hilarious Evan (Costanzo) to snap him out of it with a Memorial day weekend jaunt to the ol' Hamptons.Money, money, money and mo' money is what this idyllic respite represents, and the chasm between the well-off and the 'whoa, get out!' is astounding. The playground of the world's elite affords Dr. Hank the opportunity to rebuild his reputation and bonds him further to his quirky brother, whose energy reminds me a bit of Eric Roberts' character Paulie to Mickey Rourke's Charlie in "The Pope of Greenwich Village."Okay, I 'm not giving away anymore of this other than to beg the writers to juice up Divya (Reshma Shetty), Hanks PA, make her less uptight and typically Indian, and give some more dimension to the comely local hospital administrator Jill (Jill Flint), who did her homework and figured out how Hank was thrown under the bus and macks on him from the first episode."Royal Pains" is good stuff, and the entire crew, from the DP to the Editors, are to be lauded for cinema quality efforts. The art department features Emmy winner and two-time Oscar nom set decorator George DeTitta Jr., who gets to deck out the lush interiors of these swanky pads with loads of cool stuff, including Hank and Evan's awesome seafaring retro motel. Director Jace Alexander worked on one of my favorite "Rescue Me" episodes, "Yaz." He shines brightly in this effort."Royal Pains" premieres on Thursday, June 4, at 10pm with a 75-minute limited commercial first episode, following the third season premiere of one of M&C's favorite series, "Burn Notice."

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Joshua MaloniJun 4th, 2009 - 21:02:53

Never question April Mac. She knows what she's talking about.

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kananJun 5th, 2009 - 21:51:01

LOVED the show, the guy playing Evan is terrific

you were right about the women

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robeditsJun 6th, 2009 - 08:46:56

As a perpetually poor writer, I wasn't sure if I was ready for a show about rich people (although my favorite show of the last five years was FX's too-soon-and-unfairly-cancelled The Riche$).

USA is really gaining in credibility with me, however. I was not onboard from the beginning of Monk and Psych, but have really enjoyed the episodes I've seen. I was not a fan of Jeffrey Donovan and felt Gabrielle Anwar was hopelessly miscast, but the sharp writing in Burn Notice and Bruce Campbell eventually won me over. And In Plain Sight set a high bar from the first episode and has maintained it ever since.

Which is a long-winded way of saying that USA had earned enough of my respect that I had to at least give the pilot a chance. I was definitely pleasantly surprised. Like April's friend, I find the women verrrrry attractive (I like Indian women anyway, and Jill Flint is yummy in that nonflashy way), but it is the excellent writing which seals the deal--particularly the dialogue between Hank and Evan which is both hilarious and fraternally realistic.

BTW, USA had another dramedy with hilarious dialogue and a nice balance between humor and danger called 'To Love and Die'. Hildy could have held her own with Mary and Fiona. I seem to recall the pilot movie getting ok ratings; I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will find its way on to the schedule.

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'Royal Pains' a great summer series, USA scores again

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