Archive through September 18, 2002
TV ClubHouse: Archives: Push, Nevada:
Archive through September 18, 2002
Pamy | Monday, September 16, 2002 - 07:18 pm     Who's gonna watch the premiere?? |
Aria | Monday, September 16, 2002 - 11:29 pm     I'm going to try. I will at least tape it. |
Robbien | Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 06:45 am     The New York Times said "A viewer who solves that mystery will win $1 million. But the gimmick is the least of the reasons to watch, and it never intrudes on the comic drama. Sheer wit and suspense are what make "Push" the season's liveliest and best new series." Yeah, I'm going to watch. |
Babyruth | Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 07:20 am     NY Times September 17, 2002 Sex in Unison Is Just One Quirk Among Many By CARYN JAMES It takes a lot to make an I.R.S. agent the good guy in a series — a lot of nerve, imagination and clever writing, a combination that sets the inspired "Push, Nevada" apart from every other new show of the season. This wry mystery with a difference begins when the agent, a meek-looking guy named Jim Prufrock, gets a misdirected fax and realizes that $1 million or so is missing from the Versailles Casino in the town of Push. When he goes to Push to investigate, he arrives in a seedy little desert place and we land in a show that knowingly echoes David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" with a touch of the conspiracy-minded "X-Files." Like "Twin Peaks," the mystery in "Push" brings a straight-shooting government agent to a bizarro slice of Americana, full of dark corners, quirky strangers, sexual innuendos and comic absurdities. Created by Ben Affleck and Sean Bailey (they were behind the innovative "Project Greenlight"), the series is also a play-along game in which viewers can find clues to the location of the missing money on screen, online and even on the street. A viewer who solves that mystery will win $1 million. But the gimmick is the least of the reasons to watch, and it never intrudes on the comic drama. Sheer wit and suspense are what make "Push" the season's liveliest and best new series. Derek Cecil's perfectly balanced, endearing performance as Jim holds the show together. He's not named James A. Prufrock for nothing. Evoking the timid antihero of T. S. Eliot's "Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (famous for asking, "Do I dare to eat a peach?"), this Prufrock seems just as docile and lovelorn. His ex-wife is a party girl hounding him for more money; he seems oblivious to the way his assistant, Grace (Melora Walters), moons over him. But underneath his bean counter's exterior, he is steely and determined. He needs those qualities. As he heads toward Push, the battery on his cell phone dies and the radiator on the old blue Rambler he's inexplicably driving overheats. The dead phone and the vintage car suggest another Lynch influence, the sense of stepping slightly out of time as you enter this weird place. The grizzled trucker who gives Jim a lift offers the first hint of the oddness ahead. His truck is plastered with photographs of his hot young wife, whom he met at Sloman's Slo-Dance Bar. And the trucker says he knows an honest mechanic. He drops Jim off at Job's Auto Repair; that's not job as in work but Job, like the put-upon man in the Bible. Good old Job sends Jim to Martha's Boarding House, where the shabby lobby and $25-a-night rate do not prepare him for what he finds behind the door of his room, or elsewhere in town. When he walks down a placid street of ranch houses that night, he notices that all the lights go off on cue at 11. The next night, through the picture windows he sees the shadows of couples embracing like clockwork at 9. Is it "something in the water?" he guesses. Probably not. At the Slo-Dance Bar, he meets Mary (Scarlett Chorvat), so far the show's one weak spot. The performance and dialogue are of such stylized sexiness that she shouldn't even fool the innocent Jim. He's sharper and more passionate about his work. If the Versailles can afford to hide a million-dollar discrepancy, he wonders, what other shady things are going on? When he is treated dismissively by Silas Bodnick (Jon Polito), the thug who runs the casino, he coolly and insistently asks: "Do you know why taxes are higher than they should be, why they are a burden to honest people? Do you?" With dialogue both sincere and comically inflated, he answers his own question. "Fraud. You. You, sir, are the reason decent people shoulder the albatross of an inequitable tax burden." After tonight the series moves to its regular time slot on Thursdays, which this week will be expanded to two hours. The first will be a repeat of tonight's opener, with the clues to the mystery pointed out on screen, and the second is a new episode (not available in advance). All this is more confusing than it needs to be. Follow the clues if you want. Web addresses on screen might lead to actual sites. Or not. What's certain is that no other show this season is lively or droll enough to invent characters listed in the credits as "the large masked man," "the nude man," and promised for Thursday's second episode, Al Prufrock. Eliot would be so proud. PUSH, NEVADA ABC, Tonight at 9, Eastern and Pacific times; 8 Central time. Directed by John McNaughton; Sean Bailey, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Chris Moore, executive producers; produced by LivePlanet in association with Touchstone Television. WITH: Derek Cecil (Jim Prufrock), Scarlett Chorvat (Mary), Jon Polito (Silas Bodnick), Melora Walters (Grace) and Josh Todd (Job). |
Pamy | Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 12:57 pm     Reminder..it's on tonite!!!! |
Robbien | Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 01:43 pm     Here's hoping it's good. Fingers crossed. |
Pamy | Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 05:37 pm     Me too Robbien!! LOL If any of you watch it tonite, please post your thoughts
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Melfie1222 | Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 05:58 pm     I've heard enough comparisons to Twin Peaks (one of my all time favorites!) that I will definitely be watching tonight. Very curious about this one... |
Deeya | Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 06:08 pm     first clue.. in the opening credits.. www.dmvf.com thought y'all might want to know.. |
Jasonfan | Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 07:07 pm     I enjoyed the show. Very much a mix of "Twin Peaks" and "The Mole." Didn't the man introducing the show (Sean Bailey?) sound an awful lot like Anderson Cooper? Obviously the numbers were significant. Did anyone add them up? Is that the amount stolen? I'm hooked already. |
Chickilala | Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 07:51 pm     the amount is 1,045,000. The room number changes when he leaves to $1045 and then when he's gasing up at the end Regis and who wants to be a millionaire is on and he says something like you are now 15 questions away from the 1,045,000. That's my guess anyways. I kinda didn't like the show, but forced myself to watch. |
Oregonfire | Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 09:29 pm     Oops. I'm over in the TV shows thread talking about this. Is it a reality show or what is it? Guess I have some reading to do here. |
Hummingbird | Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 09:40 pm     No way I can get into this show. It's on opposite Survivor. I watched Hearts in Atlantis on HBO tonight and forgot the premier. Was it any good? |
Oregonfire | Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 10:06 pm     Well, the cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" at the end was good. Frankly, I expected it to be better. I was bored. |
Heyteach | Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 10:26 pm     Deeya, where did you get that website? Was it shown somewhere in the show? I hope the repeat with hints pointed out helps me. There was so much weirdness in tonight's show that it all looked like clues to me--and I wasn't getting any of it! I did wonder about the Millionaire thing at the end. I am not sure I have the attention span for this show! |
Heyteach | Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 10:31 pm     Checkout www.pushtimes.com. It was shown tonight. |
Fruitbat | Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 05:17 am     It is on opposite Survivor so I won't be watching. I cannot tape and watch something else simultaneously with a dish. This is not the reason, though. It's resemblence to Twin Peaks sends me running. I tried to get into that show but it lost me. I do not enjoy being confused. I whine a lot and demand those watching with me tell me what is going on. Since no one else knows, it is a futile but it does not stop me. My son threw a table cloth over my head, like we did with the bird to quiet him, during Twin Peaks. It is just not a pleasant experience for anyone. I am not allowed to watch confusing things with my family. |
Deeya | Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 06:33 am     HeyTeach.. watch the opening credits of the first show (they will be replaying it on Thursday when I plan to tape it). During the opening credits that website (www.dmvf.com) will kind of float in one of the montages. When we checked it out.. it had the info about the amount of money being the first clue in the game. This one is going to take some work to figure out.. because when you read the rules of the game, you will see that the clues can be anywhere, in the show, commercials, websites etc. Also.. no entries will be allowed until after the final clue is disseminated. The final show is going to announce a time and place for the final clue to be given (so that people in all time zones get it at the same time). After that.. the first person to get the correct answer entered wins the money.. and the first 5 correct answers are entered into some drawing... they will only take entries until they get the first 5 with correct answers. |
Grooch | Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 07:18 am     To complicated for me and to much of a head game. I turned it off after 10 minutes. |
Kstme | Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 07:37 am     I really liked the show. |
Fruitbat | Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 07:52 am     Kstme, I think this will be a hit with many. I need you to watch it with me and remind me that I am not really missing anything, everyone is in the dark. This is my biggest thing with shows like this. I feel like a kid not yet ready for chapter books. Spell it out with pictures.  |
Pamy | Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 08:26 am     I liked it, I decided to tape it, watch it just for the show content and rewatch the tape for clues later, that way I could enjoy it as a mystery show and not rack my brain looking for clues. |
Mystery | Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 08:45 am     Pamy, I did the same thing, and liked it too. I'm not sure if it was this thread but I read that the re-airing of this first show, tomorrow night, will include the producers demonstrating where the clues were in the episode, to help you think about them for the future episodes. |
Maryk | Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 08:53 am     I like it, I have 2 Tivos though so I can tape and watch shows that happen at the same time. It is technically not opposite Survivor but opposite "CSI" and "Will & Grace". The 8PM ET/PT showing Thursday is a repeat of the 1st episode. It will be on 9PM ET/PT once it goes into its regular schedule. |
Jkm | Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 10:44 am     I came in late to the show -- extremely lost..... I'll have to rely on all of you to help me.... |
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