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From nydailynews.com By ERIC MINK Daily News TV Critic RATING: one and a half stars GvsE. Sunday, 8 p.m., USA Network. I claim no special insight into what's cool and what's not, but this much I know: You can't try to be cool and succeed. "GvsE," a new action series premiering Sunday night at 8 on USA Network, tries with all its might to be cool. Naturally, it fails. From the all-but-unreadable title — Gus who? — and the deliberately jittery camera work, to the bleeped profanities, the rapid-fire patter of its characters and the unending streams of pop-culture references, "GvsE" has exactly the amount of originality and vitality that you'd expect from a blatant "Pulp Fiction" copycat: none. The premise of the show, I feel obliged to relate, is the constant battle for human souls on Earth between the forces of good (G) and the forces of evil (E). The show's hero, Chandler Smythe (Clayton Rohner), dies and then agrees to work for the Corps, i.e. the good guys, against the Morlocks, i.e. the demons, who are trying to lure humans into making deals with the devil. Chandler teams with the late Henry McNeil (played by Richard Brooks). The show's one nifty twist is the recurring use of former NFL great Deacon Jones as a kind of spiritual and practical guide for new members of the Corps. |
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From apbonline.com GvsE: RIGHTEOUS ENTERTAINMENT Agents Vie With the Devil for Lost Souls in New Series July 16, 1999 By Christine Champagne Combine the horror elements of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with the attitude of Pulp Fiction and the vibe of Shaft and you've got GvsE, the new USA Network comedy/thriller debuting July 18 (8 p.m. ET). Built around the premise that beneath the facade of everyday life a battle is being waged between good and evil, GvsE is unlike anything on TV today. In the premiere episode, "Orange Volvo," Chandler Smythe, played by Clayton Rohner (Murder One), is murdered. The workaholic reporter hasn't exactly been a doting dad to his teenage son, Ben (Tony Denman), so he can't be admitted to heaven and reunited with his late wife. Soul searching However, two agents of the Almighty -- Decker (Googy Gress) and Ford (Marshall Bell) -- offer Chandler a deal: He can earn a trip to heaven by working as an operative for The Corps, an organization devoted to saving souls and killing morlocks, the agents of evil. Chandler takes the pair up on their offer and gets a quick course in the work of The Corps by watching an instructional video hosted by football Hall of Famer Deacon Jones, who also narrates the series. "I'm here to teach you how to whip evil's ass," Jones says at the start of the tape, before outlining the three rules all members of The Corps must abide by. No. 1: Operatives are not allowed to have sex (they could wind up in bed with a morlock). No. 2: Operatives are not allowed to contact their families (because the morlocks may seek retribution against family members). And rule No. 3: Operatives are not to be given any magic powers with which to defend themselves. So, as Jones points out, if an operative gets hit by a bus, he or she is dead. Dark dealings in Hollywood Reporting to work at the Hollywood Division of The Corps, Chandler encounters Agent Walker (Susie Parks), who explains that more deals with the dark are made per capita in Hollywood than anywhere on earth. Don King, LeAnn Rimes and Love Boat captain Gavin MacLeod are among those topping The Corps' most-wanted list. The new recruit meets his partner, Henry McNeil, played by Richard Brooks, best known for his three-year run as Law & Order's Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette. Henry is a Corps veteran who favors '70s duds and soul music and drives an orange Volvo, a stark contrast from the subdued Robinette. The pair's first assignment is to get an innocent man off death row. Chandler and Henry are an odd yet engaging couple, and the two men share one thing in common: Unlike most TV heroes, they are in way over their heads, and you can't help but root for the underdogs to beat the bad guys, who will include some celebrities in subsequent episodes. Celebrity cameos In "Buried" (airing Aug. 1), TV's Webster, Emmanuel Lewis, guest stars as a morlock. Meanwhile, "Gee Your Hair Smells Evil" (Aug. 8) has former '70s TV stars Jill Whelan (Love Boat), Erin Moran (Happy Days), Charlene Tilton (Dallas) and Dawn Wells (Gilligan's Island) playing evil Hollywood babes. Created by the Pate brothers (Jonah and Josh, who co-directed and co-wrote the 1997 film Deceiver), GvsE has the feel of an independent film, and it's clear that the Pates -- much like South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker -- are trying to entertain themselves rather than TV executives. That makes for one original program. In a TV landscape filled with indistinguishable, cookie-cutter fare, GvsE stands out as a hip, gritty, risk-taking show with an ample sense of humor. Christine Champagne is chief television critic for GIST TV, and her reviews regularly appear in Time Out New York. |
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From apbonline.com GvsE: a Heavenly Job for Star Clayton Rohner But Playing an Agent for the Almighty Has Its Real-Life Hazards Aug. 13, 1999 By Christine Champagne LOS ANGELES (APBNews.com) -- On the set of the USA Network's new comedy/thriller series, GvsE, Clayton Rohner is known as "Kenny." As in South Park's Kenny. Clayton Rohner "They call me Kenny because I get killed in practically every episode," the actor clarifies. Fortunately his character, reporter Chandler Smythe, is already dead and an operative of the Almighty. Chandler and his funky, stuck-in-the-'70s partner, Henry McNeil (Law & Order's Richard Brooks), have been charged with the task of saving souls by either killing or rehabilitating morlocks, lost souls who have turned to the dark side. "I get hurt all the time," Rohner adds. "They're always picking me off the floor and bandaging me up." A real trouper He isn't just talking about his character. Rohner has already had his share of injuries on the set of the fledgling series, which debuted last month. And one required more than a bandage. Rohner was shooting a scene in which he had to stab a morlock in the foot with a knife. The actor playing the morlock was wearing a rubber boot, and the knife bounced in the air and went through Rohner's right hand, pinning it to the floor. "I pulled the knife out, and they rushed me to the hospital," Rohner recalls. "I was in the hospital all night, and I had to come back and shoot 18 hours the next day after getting 2 1/2 hours of sleep. I fainted on Hollywood Boulevard in the middle of a take, and they took me home." Feels like an indie film He has a scar as a souvenir, but thankfully Rohner didn't suffer any permanent damage. And, remarkably, he doesn't seem too worried about getting hurt on the set again. When he returned to work after the accident, everyone was afraid to ask him to handle a knife. "I was like, 'Give me the knife. I'll kill another morlock!'" Rohner says, laughing. Perhaps Rohner can be so blase about the painful incident because he loves his role on GvsE so much. "This is the first time I've really enjoyed doing TV," says the actor, who made his film debut in the 1985 teen comedy Just One of the Guys and also appeared in 1997's The Relic. His was a regular on the short-lived Steven Bochco series Murder One and has been a guest star on The X-Files, NYPD Blue, L.A. Doctors and Star Trek: The Next Generation. What makes GvsE so much fun, from Rohner's point of view, is that it's shot more like a let's-break-all-the-rules independent film than a formulaic television series. Rohner credits the show's creators, brothers Jonah and Joshua Pate, with being willing to take risks. Chance to 'do their thing' "They don't play by any rules," says Rohner, who adds that the Pates are eager to let the actors show their stuff. "We get scripts sometimes where they'll just set the scene up and only write, 'Chandler and Henry do their thing.' We ad-lib a lot." That gives the show a spontaneous quality rarely scene on television. The show is also different in that it doesn't neatly fit into any particular genre. It's a unique combination of everything from detective series to sci-fi shows. "Someone once called it a supernatural Rockford Files," Rohner says. "I've been saying that it's kind of like The Simpsons meets The X-Files. I think of Chandler and Henry as animated characters. I see myself as a cross between Homer and Bart." How about Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Shaft? "That's good, too," Rohner says. "That's how I describe Richard. He's more Shaft than Shaft." Critical acclaim can be fun Television critics are raving about it. "You know how much fun it is to do interviews when people like your show," Rohner says. "It's like going on a date where they think you're really cute." Rohner thinks audiences will also fall in love with GvsE. "I think it will appeal to people who are a little bored with television. That's why we made it," he says. "I think we're all a little bored of the same old thing." With 13 episodes already under his belt, Rohner says he'll be happy to shoot more if USA picks up the series for a longer run -- especially because it would mean working with the Pate brothers. "I would do anything for them," he says. "I'd even put a knife through my hand for those guys." Christine Champagne is chief television critic for GIST TV, and her reviews regularly appear in Time Out New York. |
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From Aint-It-Cool-News.com For those who have been enjoying USA's GvsE, I thought I'd pass on a friendly reminder about tonight's episode. I received a copy of the first and third episodes of the series for initial review on Coaxial. I did not see last week's second episode until its actual airing - otherwise I might have implored readers to "hang in there". Personally, I thought last week's second episode was considerably softer than the first. To those of you who may have been let down a bit by episode #2, I wanted to let you kow that the third episode (which airs TONIGHT) is generally considered to be much stronger than the second: many consider it better than the first installment of GvsE. I would tend to agree with both sentiments. So if your faith in the series wavered a bit after episode number two, be sure to hop back on board for tonight's installment. Additionally, I have seen next week's episode, called "Gee Your Hair Smells Evil". If you have liked the series thus far, you'll likely be knocked out by next week's show. Said episode features Charlene Tilton (Dallas), Dawn Wells (Gilligan's Island), Jill Whelan (from the original Love Boat), and Erin Moran (Joanie from Happy Days) as wicked council of Morlock evil doers who become involved in a black market scheme spearheaded by the treacherous Morgan LeFay. Any series which features the whistfully spoken line: "If only we had an army of Erin Morans" rocks hard in my book... |
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From multichannelnews.com USA Tops July Primetime New York -- Helped by a little boost from the premiere of its quirky series GvsE, USA Network was tops in the July basic-cable primetime ratings. USA posted a 2.4 rating, the same as it tallied a year ago, according to Nielsen Media Research data supplied by Turner Entertainment Research. Turner Network Television and Nickelodeon tied for No. 2 in primetime. TNT and Nick were each down 10 percent, to a 1.8 from a 2.0 for both networks. In third place, TBS Superstation and Cartoon Network also tied with a 1.7 rating. TBS was down 6 percent, from a 1.8, while Cartoon Network was flat. USA got a lift in July, in part from its launch of its original series GvsE on July 18. The show garnered a 2.7 rating, 42 percent more than the time period averaged in the previous quarter. The GvsE launch attracted the largest audience of any of the new basic-cable series debuts this summer. In total day for July, Nick was flat at No. 1, with a 1.6 rating; Cartoon Network ranked No. 2, with a 1.2 rating, up 9 percent from a year ago; followed by TBS, with a 1.1, up 10 percent. - 7/28/99 |
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From multichannelnews.com USA's 'GvsE' Shows Some Potential By MICHAEL DEMENCHUK July 12, 1999 Pulp Fiction meets Men in Black in USA Network's latest foray into the arena of original dramatic series, GvsE. Created by the brother film-directing team of Josh and Jonas Pate, GvsE tracks the adventures of Chandler Smythe (Clayton Rohner), a journalist who is killed while trying to prevent a robbery just minutes after his 40th birthday party. Because he hasn't lived the most virtuous of lives, Smythe can't get into heaven to see his wife, who died several years earlier. Instead, he is offered the chance to join the "Corps," a group of coplike representatives of Almighty who are charged with ridding the world of "morlocks" -- supernatural creatures who help mortals to make deals with the devil. But Corpsmen Smythe and his at-first-reluctant partner Henry McNeil (Richard Brooks) -- who work in a shabby police-precinct-like headquarters housed in the back of an auto-parts store -- don't have any special powers to combat the forces of evil. Their weapons are a dagger "soaked in the blood of innocents," an orange Volvo and their wits. Those wits do produce some sharp dialogue -- the verbal interplay between McNeil, Smythe and their bosses, Ford (Marshall Bell) and Decker (Googy Gress), is clever and funny -- although I hope future episodes of the show will include some things that Quentin Tarantino hadn't thought of first. As for morlocks, maybe the show's quick edits can stun them into submission. The Pates also mirror Tarantino's frenetic visual style, using a lot of quick cuts and odd angles. But the technique doesn't translate well to the small screen. Making the cinematography just a tad more conventional would make things a bit easier to follow. While Rohner's performance comes off as a bit nonchalant, the rest of the cast performs well -- particularly Bell and Gress as the Corps' deadpan commanding officers. There are also a few cameo appearances by minor celebrities: The narrator of our story is Deacon Jones -- yes, that Deacon Jones. And in the episode entitled, "Buried Alive," Smythe is swapped for a morlock prisoner named Emmanuel Lewis -- yes, that Emmanuel Lewis. Although its first two episodes sometimes stray too far from its premise, GvsE shows promise. GvsE premieres Sunday (July 18) at 8 p.m. on USA. |