America is having a love affair with British television. This irresistible lust with BBC programming has brought us such TV juggernauts as The Office and American Idol, so it is with bated breath that we await HBO’s newest British import to be adapted to American television: Suburban Shootout. Shootout is a satirical comedy about a woman who leaves the city for the safety of suburbia only to find herself caught between two rival gangs of vigilante housewives. (June Cleaver these women are not.) Both gangs are fighting for control of their small suburban neighborhood in the same homicidal spirit that Tony Soprano and his boys wanted to control New Jersey.
The American cast has just been finalized and from the looks of whom they have cast, this series seems very promising. Judy Greer is on tap to play the central role as the new housewife on the block that slowly finds out that these suburbs are no safer than the city she fled. This series could finally be Greer’s time to shine. In the past she hasn’t had the best of luck with sitcoms: Arrested Development only developed into three short seasons; Love Monkey got no love; and Miss Guided was led down a pathway to cancellation. I’ve been a huge fan of Greer’s ever since she stepped into the roll of the “flashy” executive assistant Kitty Sanchez in Arrested Development so it is great to see that she will finally get to showcase her comedic talents in another dark comedy — only this time she is heading a cast instead of playing a supporting role.
Kelly Preston is also on-board, playing Camilla, the leader of the “bad gang.” Preston has previously starred in some movie called Jerry McGuire and (more importantly) as Famke Janssen‘s character’s girlfriend in the movie Eulogy. Rounding out the cast is two of today’s highly underused comedic talents: Rachel Harris and Kerri Kenney. Harris gives Tina Fey‘s trademark glasses a run for their money. Her dry wit was the main reason to tune into the (now canceled) ABC series, Notes From The Underbelly, in which she co-starred with Kissing Jessica Stein‘s Jennifer Westfeldt. Kerri Kenney’s most notable role is as Deputy Trudy Wiegel on Comedy Central’s series Reno 911. Prior to that, Kenney starred in the short-lived series The Ellen Show — not to be confused with Ellen DeGeneres’ other show, Ellen, or her current wildly popular show called … Ellen. (Hmm, we may need volunteers to help Ellen think of prospective show titles next time around.)
I can’t wait to see how well this show will translate into American television. HBO is in dire need of a great female ensemble cast since the end of the Sex and the City era. Do you think this show will have what it takes to fill the female void on HBO?
