The TV Addict 

By: Kevin Kelly, Special TCA Correspondent

Talk about Showtime!

The little network that could, or as we around theTVaddict.com are now calling it — HBO 2.0 — decided to pull out all the stops my rolling up the WEEDS, CALIFORNICATION, DEXTER and BROTHERHOOD panel into one enormous joi…. ummm fantastic panel.

Heck, even one of the executives joked, “This is the Showtime mixer!” Granted, I’ve never seen Brotherhood, but at least I hear it’s good. The other shows I can vouch for. And I admittedly had a chill go up my spine when Michael C. Hall walked onto the stage. How can people not be afraid that this guy is going to stick a knife in their backs?

What’s really impressive was how much everyone looked like they had tried to dress like their characters, except Michael C. Hall who wore a sharp suit. David Duchovny was wearing a black button up shirt with a wrinkled black sportcoat, and Mary Louise Parker had on a sharp little cocktail dress and looked radiant in her gleaming white skin. How she’s lived in California all this time and not become tan, I’ll never know. She’s sitting on the far left, right next to David Duchovny, who’s sitting next to Michael C. Hall, who’s sitting next to Jason Clarke in an awesome row of Showtime star power.

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In an effort to expose their new summer drama BROTHERHOOD to more eyeballs, CBS (a sister network of Showtime) will re-air the premiere episode of BROTHERHOOD this Saturdan night. CBS President Les Moonves states, “This is just one example of how content divisions in our company can work together to compliment and support each other’s efforts.”

CBS isn’t the only network promoting another network’s series. ABC is re-airing KYLE XY Friday evenings at 10pm, following the original airing of the episode on ABC Family (Mondays at 8pm).

A few years back, I completely missed the bandwagon that was THE SOPRANOS. With last night’s premiere of Showtime’s BROTHERHOOD (Canada’s Showtime equivalent TMN gave us a sneak peak) I made sure to tune in. After-all, I didn’t want to miss yet another gripping mob/family drama, and be left with nothing to talk about at the ‘watercooler’.

Let me be the first to say that after watching the first episode, I’ll be glued to my TV for the next 10. BROTHERHOOD revolves around the Caffee family - a typical American family living in Providence R.I. Of course like all good television, nothing is as it seems. Our two lead brothers lie on opposite ends of the moral spectrum. Tommy (Jason Clarke) is the hard working politician (or so he seems), who is happily married to Eileen (Annabeth Gish) (except for the fact she’s cheating on him). Michael (Jason Isaacs) is the mysterious older brother who just re-appeared after a six-year absence and has his own way of dealing with issues in the community (namely brutal and blood-soaked violence).

With fantastic acting, a really interesting location (I’ve never seen a show set in Providence before) and some fascinating story possibilities, BROTHERHOOD has the look of yet another winner for Showtime. No doubt critics will paint it as a Sopranos knock-off, but as someone who completely missed that bandwagon, I’m more then happy to hang out in Providence R.I. for the next 10 weeks.