Strap on your seat belts and put down your coffee! The makers of Desperate Housewives at CBS have discovered the military’s Delta Force and sees plot potential! Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Eric Haney book "Inside Delta Force is being made into a TV series titled “THE UNIT.” It has attracted the support of “Desperate Housewives” sponsor CBS chief executive Les Moonves.
But, according to Haney, all that creative and ex-Army firepower wasn't what drew CBS chief executive Les Moonves to the drama about Special Forces operatives at work and at home, where their families cope with a life of secrecy.
"Had you come in here with only an action series, I would have passed. But when you said the wives, the sweethearts, that depth of humanity, that's when you had me," Haney recalled Moonves saying after a successful pitch meeting.
Wags have dubbed the series "Desperate Housewives Meet G.I Joe." The quip draws a measured response from Mamet.
"Maybe. It gets pretty desperate on both sides," he said.
Dennis Haysbert ("24") stars as Jonas Blane, respected leader of the unit that includes a recruit played by Scott Foley ("Felicity") and Robert Patrick's ("Walk the Line") Col. Tom Ryan. Holding down the homefront are Regina Taylor, Abby Brammell and Audrey Marie Anderson.
In "The Unit," perilous missions are mixed with domestic dangers that include an extramarital affair, adolescent angst and wives who resent the camouflage needed to protect their husbands and the national interest.
The series, which debuted last week, deliberately avoids identifying the unit as Delta Force to keep its dramatic options open and, Haney said, to limit the carping he expects from ex-colleagues over whether every detail is true to life.
"The Unit" draws heavily on Haney's experiences, both from the book and from memory -- with sensitive information omitted, he said.
I don’t expect this to be “Major Dad,” but I really hope they don’t fark this up the way the makers of “Enemy at the Gates” turned the story of WW2’s most storied sniper dual into a love story.
I don’t expect this to be “Major Dad,” but I really hope they don’t fark this up the way the makers of “Enemy at the Gates” turned the story of WW2’s most storied sniper dual into a love story.
Actually, that last part should read "...into a love story with a clumsy, fully-clothed, positively unsexy sex scene at a makeshift Red Army infirmary."
It would be nigh on impossible for The Unit to botch things up more than that.
"Desperate Housewives Do Stalingrad." Not even John Waters would touch that one.
IMHO, they farked it up. I could tolerate a certain amount of the home scene but they lay it on pretty thick--pretty much soap opera. As for the action scenes, the military stuff, it felt slapped together to me, with inconsistencies here and there that seemed thrown in for visual effect rather than logic. The terse, real-man script was almost comical at times.
I confess I only watched the first two episodes and then told the wife to take if off the recorder's memory. Others may enjoy it; I'll pass.
Agreed with #3. The acting isn't bad... but it's almost impossible to get to suspension of disbelief.
Only saw the first episode. There was certainly a generous amount of soap, but it did touch on issues that most people never think about, particularly how this kind of life is not compatible to "normal" family life. Prices are being paid by people not on the payroll.
The episode was a little glib about the relationship between The Unit and the rest of American bureaucracy, including other military organizations. That seemed more "wet dream" than real.
The Unit?
What's next, Desperate Housewives and the U.P.S driver called the "Package"?
Give me a break!
David
vet66 - They liked your concept and double entendre title a lot, but felt there would be too much gunplay for prime time. So they ratcheted down and settled for Delta Force as their model instead.
Isn't Desperate Houswives on ABC?
I agree with Gordon. I saw the first two episodes and don't plan on seeing anymore. It's a nicely written bland story that is meant to be all things to all people. It misses every target it aims for. It can't be violent for those that thought this might be a "Band of Brothers II" and it isn't a "Desperate Logistics Officer" to those who want to watch Rear Echelon Mothers at play.
Here's a link to my quickie review of 'The Unit" :
http://www.tacitus.org/story/2006/3/10/12642/5174
As for 'Enemy at the Gates'; while credit was given to the fine book of the same name, the script was actually stolen (at times word for word) from David L. Robbins' 'War of the Rats'. I assume some legal provision was made with him--if not, his claim in court would certainly be more pertinent than that of Baigent & Leigh.
The love story really happened, though it was fictionalized in both Robbins' and the film's versions, and for many years was the 'Romeo and Juliet' of the USSR in the postwar period. The lovers never saw each other again, however; almost certainly 'Juliet' died in hospital.
As for the 'Unit', episode 2 was a vast improvement, according to my wife.