I’ll Be Keeping Company with ‘The Company’ Tonight
The Intensely Intriguing Mini-Series Finally Premieres
On a typical Sunday night around this stage of the summer, I catch USA’s The 4400 and The Dead Zone at 9pm and 10pm EST, respectively, and record whatever else looks good on the tube. That’s going to change today, however, because a mini-series I’ve been waiting for a long time is debuting. The host network, TNT, is billing The Company as the “3-week television event of the summer.” I sure hope those execs are right.
Come to think of it, certain imbecilic reality shows aside, this season hasn’t been too shabby when it comes to entertaining fare on the small screen, though. Also on TNT, Emmy-nominated The Closer has been churning out consistently engaging one-hour installments since the third-season premiere on June 18. Ditto for Kyle XY, Eureka, Rescue Me, Doctor Who, Monk, and Psych. Then there’s the new kids on the block, such as Army Wives, Damages, Mad Men, Burn Notice, and Greek. Like I said—all in all, pretty darn good.
Still, the six-hour mini-series The Company, based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Robert Littell and produced by Ridley (Blade Runner, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down) and Tony Scott (Top Gun, True Romance, Déjà Vu) with John Calley (Postcards from the Edge, Closer, The Da Vince Code), is a welcome addition to the summer roster to go along with Spike TV’s standard crime drama The Kill Point and ABC Family’s imaginative trilogy Fallen.
Over three two-hour, Sunday-night episodes, the original production will tell the Cold War-era story of fictional CIA spooks Jack McAuliffe (Chris O’Donnell of Grey’s Anatomy and Batman and Robin), James Jesus Angleton (Michael Keaton of Batman and Cars), and Harvey Torriti (Alfred Molina of Spider-Man 2 and Chocolat) as they operate in a world of deeply hidden motivations and unfathomable secrets during the United States’ historic struggle against the threat of communism and deadly rivalry with its staunchest proponent, the former Soviet Union. If you’re up for an intricate and action-filled spy thriller helmed by a talented cast, The Company just might do the trick.
The Company also stars CSI: Miami‘s Rory Cochrane, Goal!‘s Alessandro Nivola, and Solaris‘ Natascha McElhone.
The Company will air Sundays on TNT at 8pm EST, with instant replays scheduled for 10pm and 12am immediately afterwards.
The Company photo courtesy of TNT
