. . . for those of you who not subscribe to Showtime, you already have the chance to watch the first season (I hope there will be another) of this series which is just this week presenting the last chapter . . . this is the story of two Irish Catholic brothers from a working-class area ("The Hill") of Providence, R.I., who to use any means necessary to rise in their chosen fields -Tommy's is politics (he is the elected state representative from his neighborhood), while Michael's is organized crime; as the first chapter opens, Michael has just returned home after a long absence and spends the rest of the season trying to regain his old position of power within the Irish mafia that controls all crime on "The Hill" . . . the acting by Jason Isaacs as Michael, and Jason Clarke as Tommy is spot on (which is interesting in that one of these guys is British, and the other is Australian), as is that of Annabeth Gish (as Tommy's very unhappy wife who is trying to withdraw into a world of sex and drugs - with, of course, lots of Catholic guilt), Fionnula Flanagan as their controling mother, and a strong supporting cast who go a long way toward making this neighborhood come to life . . . I suppose in the world after THE SOPRANOS, any series such as this will be considered derivative, and I cannot pretend that parts of it are not, but I think creator Blake Masters (whose name is all over this thing) has done a nice job giving us a different take by grounding it in a working-class area among people who would never leave the neighborhood of their birth for a big house in the suburbs, cutting way back on the naughty language and nudity, as well as not doing much at all to make these characters particularly likeable - there is not much comedy relief; unlike THE SOPRANOS, for instance, money does not seem to be their motivation, rather it appears to be the need to exercise power (in Tommy's case he always justifies what he does as being good for "The Hill") . . . due to the obvious budget restrictions of a series produced for Showtime, as opposed to the buckets of money HBO seems to spend, BROTHERHOOD comes across as an excellent, gritty, low budget movie, and I find that refreshing in these days of overproduction . . . give it a try . . . oh, by the way, the Showtime dvd set is very inexpensive, particularly when compared to those HBO seasons . . .

I caught up with Ep # 11 last night ( the season ender ) and was pretty impressed with the wrap up. The series is loosely based on the Bulger brothers from Boston, and shifted to Providence so as not to cause any ruffled feathers. The acting was consistantly good over the course of the series, and the accents surprisingly well done. I did have a few problems with some of the plotting as there were just a few too many convienant coincidences, and overall it is a very entertaining way to spend 11 hours. There also was an emphasis on shocking, graphic violence with almost every hour providing at least one bloodletting shocker.
I be happy to see it return, but the surprising final minutes provided a satisfying, solid resolution to the story arc and would provide closure if it does not return. I had heard it was not a ratings grabber and wondered if they knew the shows fate when they filmed the finale or if it was written that way out of the gate.

Don't knock it till you've tried it--I've never seen BROTHERHOOD--but I've never liked any SHO series. They all try too hard to up the ante on what HBO is offering, and end up looking pretty foolish. Friends who liked WEEDS say it's jumped the shark, and FAT ACTRESS wasn't a patch on CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM. DEAD LIKE ME, which I sampled, was sophmoric at best. I watched a couple of episodes each of QUEER AS FOLK and THE L WORD and never returned. I appreciate MASTERS OF HORROR, but things there haven't improved much beyond RED SHOE DIARIES, unless that was a Max show.

. . . well, the dvd set is called BROTHERHOOD, THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON so, I suppose, there is reason for hope . . . we subscribed to Showtime for the first time when the BROTHERHOOD reviews appeared in print (quite good) and decided to give it a try, so I am unable to express an opinion regarding the rest of their stuff - oh, with the exception of the HOMECOMING segment of MASTERS OF HORROR which I bought when it came out on dvd and usually have it out on loan to my friends who usually have it out on loan to their friends who usually . . .

I'm not particularly a SHOWTIME apologist, but WEEDS still seems pretty involving to me...I also enjoyed THE CHRIS ISAAK show...I've been out of the loop for the entire summer so I basically wasn't even really conscious of BROTHERHOOD despite having Showtime! I was keeping up with shows i was already acquainted with (i.e., WEEDS) but somehow didn't even register the new show...I hope they still have most of it on demand...

. . . I finally watched the last chapter (powerful) and after sitting through the credits (I have been trained to do so), and listening to a not so good version of Dylan's "Don't think twice, it's all right" blasting away, an announcement came on that a second season of BROTHERHOOD would indeed appear in 2007 . . .

That's great news...I saw the finale On Demand and don't think they had that tag on there ( although I may have hit the remote and cut it off prematurely). I'm glad it will return. I liked alot of the MASTERS episodes, but they are like separate, individual entities to me, not a series per se. BROTHERHOOD is easliy the best thing that Showtime has created to my eye, although the writing did at points have feel like they were trying too hard ( ie: sacrificing reality for sensationalism ).
WEEDS does seem to be flipping this year as the focus is going in far too many directions and the main story is lost in the shuffle. Too may absurd subplots are ruining the soup...still it's a satire and not supposed to be taken too seriously, so I am inclined to give it some slack.
Showtime 's newest show, THE UNDERGROUND is pretty horrible. Here is a show that is trying way too hard to be outrageous, and most of the skits go nowhere and just end randomly. I can't tell if Damon Wayans has just lost his edge and thinks this crap is funny or what is going on here. It's IN LIVING COLOR but without the talent, the format is seriously dated with the Fly Girl type dancers, and the cast is forgettable. THE UNDERGROUND so far has made for painful viewing and after only 2 episodes, I am ready to write it off. I do feel bad for Showtime though, they are forever in the shadow of their older brother HBO. But they keep on trying, throwing tons of money at new programs and pretty much fall flat on their faces year after year. BROTHERHOOD really surprised me with it's overall high quality and made me think they were turning a corner, but THE UNDERGROUND was a hard fall back to earth.
Next up is the Michael C. Hall as a serial killer vehicle DEXTER that starts this Sunday, which sounded promising when I first heard about it. As more details have been made known though, I have lowered my expectations considerably.

I assume DEXTER is based on the fine novel DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER, but I'm not burning with enthusiasm to see it.

. . . happy to dig up an old thread to report (according to my September Cable Guide), BROTHERHOOD will return on the 30th of September with a second season (I was starting to get worried about this one) . . . in my opinion, this is still the best series SHOWTIME has yet produced - I am very happy to use this opportunity to prepare myself for more adventures with the Brothers Caffee, as they merge family life on "The Hill", the world of the Irish Mafia, and local/state politics, by re-watching season one on DVD . . .

I'm not familiar with the novel, but DEXTER -- in my opinion -- is the best thing on Showtime.

BROTHERHOOD will be back.

The only mention I've read of WEEDS "jumping the shark" this season has been on this thread.

I can officially say that I like a Showtime program: THE TUDORS, which returns next year with Peter O'Toole in the cast.

I feel WEEDS jumped last year..too many subplots..the murder...not enough about the main character. I have yet to watch it yet, ditto TUDORS, which I may try On Demand and see how it goes. I have seen the first 2 Eps. of DEXTER Season Two and it's very, very good. BROTHERHOOD I enjoyed, but I am not too excited about it returning. They eliminated the best reason to wacth at the end of Season 1.
Showtime has come a long long way, they may have the egde over HBO right now in terms of show worth cathing.

. . . if you are making reference to the character for whom things were looking quite bad at the end of season one, never fear, he is back (in the hospital) for season two - according to the little plot outline I read . . . there is a funny remark about BROTHERHOOD in the current ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY article by Dalton Ross ("CRUEL SUMMER") in which he says people should "pick up Showtime's BROTHERHOOD . . . spend hours trying to convince everyone how gripping it is, and to tune in when it returns Sept. 30. Receive blank stares in return." . . . well, I certinly know the feeling - the only way I have been able to pull this off is by lending someone my DVDs of season one . . .