Monday, April 11, 2005

I watched Bill Maher's show the other night...

... and was impressed with how much more guest Ian McShane knew about the issues covered on the show (The Pope, American judges having too much freedom, The Arizona "Minutemen") than Bill Maher himself (something Maher himself commented on, saying "You know, for a foreigner, you know a lot more about our country than we do" or something to that effect.)

Maybe I shouldn't be impressed, because I've been aware of how much better the British public school system is than our own, ever since I started reading British comic books and American comics written by British writers. The differences between Alan Moore (From Hell, The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the graphic novels not the movies they made from them. Please.) doing Swamp Thing and the comic's creator Len Wein doing it are night and day. But I digress.

Ian McShane is currently being noticed up and down for his role as Al Swearingen in HBO's "Deadwood", but he has been kicking around for 40 years, his first international notice coming from "If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium". He's also in my one of my favorite films, the early seventies whodunnit "The Last Of Sheila".

The actors I tend to like watching are ones that are enjoying themsleves and the words they speak so much, there's a heightened theatricality in their speech (see Shatner, Culp, Adam West, Orson Welles, Vincent Price, etc.) McShane has this, especially with David Milch's dialogue, combined with one of the best cold stares on television.

Next to Martha Stewart of course.

5 comments:

Pisser said...

He should do your show! ;)

I recognize the Shakespearean qualities in Deadwood, but am having a hard time watching it because SWEARingen and the others remind me of my drunken, swearing boss :P

It's like being at work on a Sunday.

your fiend, mr. jones said...

You've seen my show? How could you when you work on Sundays???


Who are you (as Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey once said to me)?

your fiend, mr. jones said...

You've seen my show? How could you when you work on Sundays???


Who are you (as Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey once said to me)?

Pisser said...

I'll tell you that one of your guesses was correct, but not the female impersonator ;)

your fiend, mr. jones said...

Iknew you were the cat! The other two guesses were clever subterfuge...

bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah-hah!!!