Hamm’s Junkie Doctor; Ali’s ‘Fight”; Hayes’s Papa: TV
“Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight,” Stephen Frears’s talky HBO dramatization of the boxing champ’s anti-draft legal battles, finds its liveliest moments in grainy snippets of archival news footage.
When a young Muhammad Ali talks, not even the U.S. Supreme Court stands a chance.
Starring Frank Langella as the Nixon-appointed Chief Justice Warren Burger, “Fight” chronicles the 1971 backroom debates and legal wranglings as the justices deliberate on Ali’s status as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War.
Ali had joined the Nation of Islam, changed his name from Cassius Clay and declined on religious grounds to serve in the Armed Forces. Convicted for refusing to report for induction, Ali’s was stripped of his title and his boxing license was suspended.
Frears, working from a lackluster script by Shawn Slovo, turns Ali’s appeal into “12 Angry Men”-style drama, as the justices and their fresh-scrubbed clerks debate in chambers, taverns and open court.
The various justices are portrayed in broad strokes, including Danny Glover’s easygoing Thurgood Marshall, Ed Begley Jr.’s indecisive Harry Blackmun and Harris Yulin’s lecherous old William O. Douglas.
Only Christopher Plummer as the conservative Burger’s toady John Harlan is given room to shift and grow, though Frears and his screenwriter telegraph every development.
The young clerks are even less shaded, with a bland Benjamin Walker and a scowling Pablo Schreiber adding little depth to their roles as mouthpieces for either side of history.
“Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight” airs Saturday, Oct. 5 on HBO at 8 p.m. New York time. Rating: **1/2
Sean Hayes
Former “Will & Grace” show-boater Sean Hayes is the fall season’s third sitcom vet hoping for a comeback.
Mugging through a hackneyed set-up, Hayes plays the harried, single gay dad of a precocious teen (Samantha Isler).
Linda Lavin, reliable but coasting, costars as Sean’s busybody mom and a cartoonish Thomas Lennon plays a dictatorial boss with an unfortunate hairstyle and mustache.
“Oh Sean, don’t worry,” says the boss. “We all hate Hitler.”
Disclaimer noted.
“Sean Saves the World” airs Thursday, Oct. 3 on NBC at 9 p.m. New York time. Rating: *1/2
‘Young Doctor’
Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm get the chance of their lives in the darkly comic British miniseries “A Young Doctor’s Notebook.” And it’s probably the only opportunity the actors will ever have to play the same character.
Adapted by Mark Chappell, Shaun Pye and Alan Connor from Mikhail Bulgakov’s short stories, the four half-hour “Notebook” episodes feature Radcliffe as a freshly minted physician working in a one-doctor hospital in a remote, snowy Russian province during the 1917 revolution.
Hamm plays his older, morphine-addicted self in 1934, recalling his early medical misadventures and being suspected of counter-revolutionary sympathies.
Making its American premiere on the Ovation channel a year after its British debut, “Notebook” takes an absurdist approach, with Radcliffe and Hamm appearing in scenes together, the younger doctor begging advice from his older, more laconic (and much taller) self.
Bloody Encounters
“What else don’t I know I don’t know?” asks the barely competent Young Doctor, his jitters exacerbated by grotesque, bloody encounters with patients that seem as much Monty Python as Russian literature.
“Is she alive?” Radcliffe’s stunned doc asks when he sees an unconscious little girl whose legs have been mangled in some sort of accident.
“I’m sorry,” responds his older self. “She is.”
“A Young Doctor’s Notebook” airs Wednesday on Ovation at 10 p.m. New York time. Rating: ***
(Greg Evans is a critic for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)
Muse highlights include Rich Jaroslovsky on tech and Jason Harper on cars.
To contact the writer on the story: Greg Evans at gregeaevans@yahoo.com.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net.
'A Young Doctor's Notebook'
Colin Hutton/British Sky Broadcasting/Ovation via Bloomberg
Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm in "A Young Doctor's Notebook." The dark comedy airs Wednesday on Ovation at 10 p.m. New York time.
Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm in "A Young Doctor's Notebook." The dark comedy airs Wednesday on Ovation at 10 p.m. New York time. Photographer: Colin Hutton/British Sky Broadcasting/Ovation via Bloomberg
'Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight'
Jojo Whilden/HBO via Bloomberg
Frank Langella and Christopher Plummer in "Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight." The film airs Saturday, Oct. 5, on HBO at 8 p.m. New York time.
Frank Langella and Christopher Plummer in "Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight." The film airs Saturday, Oct. 5, on HBO at 8 p.m. New York time. Photographer: Jojo Whilden/HBO via Bloomberg
'Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight'
Jojo Whilden/HBO via Bloomberg
Danny Glover, standing, as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in director Stephen Frears' "Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight." The film is written by Shawn Slovo.
Danny Glover, standing, as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in director Stephen Frears' "Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight." The film is written by Shawn Slovo. Photographer: Jojo Whilden/HBO via Bloomberg
'Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight'
Jojo Whilden/HBO via Bloomberg
Christopher Plummer and Benjamin Walker in "Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight." The HBO drama recounts the boxing champ's anti-draft legal battles.
Christopher Plummer and Benjamin Walker in "Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight." The HBO drama recounts the boxing champ's anti-draft legal battles. Photographer: Jojo Whilden/HBO via Bloomberg
'Sean Saves the World'
Vivian Zink/NBC via Bloomberg
The pilot episode of "Sean Saves the World" with Sean Hayes, right, and Thomas Lennon. The comedy was directed by James Burrows.
The pilot episode of "Sean Saves the World" with Sean Hayes, right, and Thomas Lennon. The comedy was directed by James Burrows. Photographer: Vivian Zink/NBC via Bloomberg
'Sean Saves the World'
Vivian Zink/NBC via Bloomberg
Thomas Lennon (“Reno 911!”) plays the new boss for Sean Hayes in NBC's "Sean Saves the World."
Thomas Lennon (“Reno 911!”) plays the new boss for Sean Hayes in NBC's "Sean Saves the World." Photographer: Vivian Zink/NBC via Bloomberg
'Sean Saves the World'
Vivian Zink/NBC via Bloomberg
Samantha Isler and Sean Hayes in "Sean Saves the World." The comedy airs Thursday, OPct. 3, on NBC at 9 p.m. New York time.
Samantha Isler and Sean Hayes in "Sean Saves the World." The comedy airs Thursday, OPct. 3, on NBC at 9 p.m. New York time. Photographer: Vivian Zink/NBC via Bloomberg
'A Young Doctor's Notebook'
Colin Hutton/British Sky Broadcasting/Ovation via Bloomberg
Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm as the same doctor in "A Young Doctor's Notebook." The series is based on the short stories by Mikhail Bulgakov.
Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm as the same doctor in "A Young Doctor's Notebook." The series is based on the short stories by Mikhail Bulgakov. Photographer: Colin Hutton/British Sky Broadcasting/Ovation via Bloomberg
'A Young Doctor's Notebook'
Colin Hutton/British Sky Broadcasting/Ovation via Bloomberg
Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm play the same character at different ages in Ovation's "A Young Doctor's Notebook." The series makes its American premiere a year following its British debut.
Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm play the same character at different ages in Ovation's "A Young Doctor's Notebook." The series makes its American premiere a year following its British debut. Photographer: Colin Hutton/British Sky Broadcasting/Ovation via Bloomberg
Rate this Page
Bloomberg reserves the right to edit or remove comments but is under no obligation to do so, or to explain individual moderation decisions.