USA Wins Again!

USA Network is pretty much famous for producing one amazingly good original series after another. Such examples include Monk, Burn Notice, Psych and most recently Royal Pains and White Collar.

The common demoinator with all these shows? A male lead.

USA currently has only one show with a female lead, In Plain Sight which has been mentioned on Don’t Touch That Dial. This July, however, USA will be introducing a new female lead show: Covert Affairs.

I heard about this show via Twitter, where I (and everyone else) can follow USA Network at @USA_Network. I watched the trailer and immediately knew it was a show I was going to be very much into.

Peter Gallagher

For one thing, the female lead they’ve chosen is Piper Perabo whom I still love from Coyote Ugly. It also includes Peter Gallagher (The OC and Californication) and Kari Matchett (24 and Leverage). The other men in the show include hottie Eion Bailey (Band of Brothers) and adorable Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty).

The show revolves around Piper’s character, Annie Walker, a new CIA trainee who gets promoted in order to catch her ex-boyfriend (Bailey). Acting as her “guide through life” is a blind tech-ops expert (Gorham), Auggie Anderson. Annie is also surrounded by her boss, CIA Director Arthur Campbell (Gallagher), and his wife/senior agent Joan Campbell (Matchett).

The cast seems excellent – all with primed television experience – and the tone of the show has been described as “Alias Meets Chuck.” The trailer shows a fun, sexy tone and features a kick-ass female lead, which this network could definitely benefit from. (Not that any of the male lead shows are bad. In fact, they make up two of my personal favorite shows.)

Covert Affairs premieres in July 2010 on USA Network.

One wrong move…you end up the ass licker.

* MATURE CONTENT*

Showtime is a great network for the perverse, the addicted, and the hideously disgusting.

In other words, it’s the Vegas of television networks.

I enjoy a lot of the shows on Showtime, but my favorite has got to be Californication, starring David Duchovny (The X-Files) and features my all-time favorite character ever (not Duchovny).

David Duchovny plays Hank Moody who is described as “the writer that doesn’t write.” After a few hit books, Moody is tapped out and now spends his days dealing with teenage daughter, Becca, and ex-girlfriend (Becca’s mom) Karen. Also along for the ride are Hank’s agent and best friend, Charlie Runkle, and Charlie’s wife (and Karen’s best friend) Marcy.

Here is where it gets interesting.

The show focuses on sex and drugs, to put it plainly. Sex is a main point in their lives, and they’ve all experimented with just about every drug out there. See? Just like Vegas.

I first saw Californication at the request of my Aunt Shari, who said I absolutely needed to see it. I watched the first episode and it immediately became my new favorite show. First response however? It features young actress Madeline Zima.

Who?

Well, Ms. Zima played the young Grace Sheffield on The Nanny. I know! She’s so cute!

Yeah, well, in her first episode of Californication, Zima, whose character name is Mia Lewis, seduces Hank Moody (Duchovny) and has sex with him. (Yes, we see her breasts.) After this event, it is revealed that Mia Lewis is actually an underage teenager and the daughter of Hank’s ex Karen’s new fiance.

My response? GRACIE SHEFFIELD! GET OFF OF FOX MULDER!

Anyway… I’ve mentioned my favorite character (possibly on all of television) is on this show. That character? Marcy Runkle.

This chick is hi-larious. She runs her own wax salon, and is a foul-mouthed, cocaine-addicted firecracker who has me laughing non-stop week after week.

I’ve been sitting here, cruising YouTube, trying to figure out which clips of this amazing show I want to use. So, I’ve decided that if you are interested in seeing Hank Moody in action (and he really is a riot. Seriously. In my opinion, Duchovny plays this character wayyy better than he played that stuff shirt Agent Mulder), you can YouTube him and his craziness. These videos? All Marcy.  Enjoy.

*WARNING – VIDEOS CONTAIN EXPLICIT LANGUAGE, SEX, AND DRUG IMAGES*