''Action'' is an American
dark comedy
Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
series about a Hollywood producer named Peter Dragon, who is trying to recover from his last box-office failure. It aired on
Fox from September 16 to December 2, 1999. The series was critically praised for its irreverent and sometimes hostile look at
Hollywood culture. Thirteen episodes were produced. The show was created by
Chris Thompson and the
show runner was
Don Reo
Don Reo is an American television writer and producer. He created or co-created numerous shows such as ''Blossom (American TV series), Blossom'' and ''The John Larroquette Show'' for NBC, ''My Wife and Kids'' and Rodney (TV series), Rodney for ...
. Future ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' cast member
Will Forte was the story editor for twelve episodes, and wrote three.
Characters
Main
* Peter Dragon, played by
Jay Mohr, is the head of Dragonfire Films. Peter got his start as a screenwriter for gay pornography, but eventually moved up the ladder of Hollywood as a hotshot producer of tasteless
action films. Under tremendous pressure to make his next film a big success, Peter is bossy, arrogant, and unscrupulous.
* Wendy Ward, played by
Illeana Douglas, is a former child actress as the cute star of the TV show, ''The Elephant Princess'' (not to be confused with ''
The Elephant Princess''). She had been a teen cocaine addict, and is now a high priced
hooker with a heart of gold. Peter names her Vice President of Production at Dragonfire Films and has a romantic open relationship. Douglas later called this role "the greatest part offered to me in my career".
* Lonnie Dragon, played by
Buddy Hackett, is Peter's uncle and chief of security at Dragonfire Films. Lonnie and Peter seem to understand each other perfectly.
* Stuart Glazer, played by
Jack Plotnick, is President of Production at Dragonfire Films. Stuart desperately wants to be taken seriously as a Hollywood developer, but is frequently abused and ordered around by Peter. In spite of his important sounding position, Stuart is often asked to do demeaning tasks like babysit, have suits dry-cleaned, and order gift baskets for star talent.
* Adam Rafkin, played by
Jarrad Paul, is a Jewish struggling screenwriter whose screenplay, ''Beverly Hills Gun Club'', was picked up by Dragonfire Films for development. Adam's script was actually bought mistakenly by Dragonfire Films because his name was confused with the much better known writer
Adam Rifkin.
Supporting
* Asher, played by
John Vargas, is the
Eurotrash maître d' that runs the high-end restaurant where every power player in town lunches. Getting the right table is vital, and Asher wields his power with the same aplomb as Peter does. Watching Peter squirm is one of Asher's delights.
* Bobby Gianopolis, played by
Lee Arenberg, is the chief executive of the unnamed movie studio. He uses menacing threats to get what he wants from Dragonfire, such as withdrawing his massive financial backing or exposing his gigantic penis. He is homosexual, but married Jane, Peter's ex-wife, to quell any rumors of such. Many critics have suggested that Bobby is a parody of former FOX CEO
Barry Diller.
* Jane Dragon, played by
Cindy Ambuehl, is Peter's ex-wife. She married Bobby Gianopolis mostly to spite Peter. She is manipulative, scheming, and is so orally gifted she can hum and whistle at the same time. She has a daughter by Peter named Georgia and was pregnant with his second child, unknown to him.
* Georgia Dragon, played by
Sara Paxton, is Peter's daughter by Jane. 11–12 years old, she is deceptively innocent but mildly stone-hearted for her age, a trait she gets from her parents.
* Jenny, played by
Erin Daniels, is a struggling Hollywood career woman. She used to work at
UPN, but after having sex with Peter, moved on to become a production assistant at Dragonfire Films, where she then had sex with Wendy. She is in competition with Stuart.
* Cole Riccardi, played by
Richard Burgi, is a famous action star who has been in many of Peter's movies. He is introspective, self-obsessed and secretly gay.
* Connie Hunt, played by
Amy Aquino, is the aggressive publicist assigned to Peter Dragon by Bobby Gianapolis after a major public relations disaster. She is dry, practical, and cold-hearted.
* Titus Scroad, played by
R. Lee Ermey, is an eccentric American movie director loosely parodying real-life Italian director
Tinto Brass
Giovanni "Tinto" Brass (born 26 March 1933) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. In the 1960s and 1970s, he directed many critically acclaimed avant-garde films of various genres. Today, he is mainly known for his later work in the Erot ...
(albeit lightly crossed with
Terrence Malick).] He has a predilection for hydro-colonic therapy and tends to accentuate his bravado by grabbing his listener's testicles.
* Holden van Dorn, played by
Fab Filippo, is a hotshot young actor, with a very public record of alcohol and drug abuse.
* Reagan Lauren Busch, played by Jennifer Lyons, is a sexy starlet with an anxious appetite and recurrent weight problems.
''Action'' also frequently used celebrities playing themselves in
cameo appearance
A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...
, including
Keanu Reeves,
Sandra Bullock,
Salma Hayek
Salma Valgarma Hayek Pinault ( , ; ; born September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela ''Teresa (1989 TV series), Teresa'' (1989–1991) as well a ...
, and
David Hasselhoff.
Theme song
The song in the opening credits, "Even A Dog Can Shake Hands", was performed by
Warren Zevon from his album ''
Sentimental Hygiene''.
Episodes
Reception
Caryn James of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' said "the show is truly subversive and daring in its scabrous attitude".
Tom Shales of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' called it "the most daring and outrageous new comedy of the season", and ''
The Seattle Times
''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...
'' called it "a dead-on satire of lost souls in the entertainment biz, with enough boldness to qualify for cable viewing".
Ken Tucker of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' gave the series a grade of B, saying, "''Action'' shreds Hollywood corporate culture more viciously than current big-screen spoofs like ''
Bowfinger'' and ''
The Muse''. The difference is, ''Action''s acid heartlessness renders it a more artful but ultimately less likable piece of work."
David Zurawik of ''
The Baltimore Sun'' found the series insulting and the pilot episode in particular to be culturally insensitive.
He wondered whether audiences are supposed to identify with or despise Peter Dragon.
Broadcast and syndication
Fox canceled it due to ratings. Of the 13 produced episodes, only 8 ran on Fox in 1999. The remaining five episodes were eventually broadcast on other networks such as
FX and
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...
. This is the first Fox series to receive a TV-MA rating.
The show reran on
IFC from 2012 to 2013.
Home media
On February 21, 2006,
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Region 1.
On August 27, 2013, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to various series from the Sony Pictures Television library including ''Action''. The complete series was subsequently re-released on April 1, 2014.
As of March 2009, the show can be purchased on
iTunes
iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
.
References
External links
*
*
{{Satellite Award Best Musical or Comedy Television Series
1990s American black comedy television series
1990s American LGBTQ-related sitcoms
1990s American satirical television series
1990s American single-camera sitcoms
1999 American television series debuts
1999 American television series endings
American English-language television shows
Television series about filmmaking
Television series about show business
Television series by Sony Pictures Television
Television shows set in Los Angeles
Warren Zevon
Fox Broadcasting Company sitcoms