We’re pretty excited here at Reel Life With Jane, what with all the announcements of new shows coming up this summer and fall. I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a crime procedural nut, but I’m super geeked about “King & Maxwell,” premiering Monday, June 10, 2013 at 10/9c on TNT.
A crime show has to have a few things for me to jump onboard: a good storyline, exciting action, and cool characters. “King & Maxwell” has all of that, ratcheted up several notches by lead actors Jon Tenney and Rebecca Romijn.
Based on the blockbuster novels by David Baldacci (just added to my summer reading list), the show centers on Sean King (Tenney) and Michelle Maxwell (Romijn), private investigators who used to be Secret Service agents. But both have a less-than-stellar backstory to those esteemed careers.
According to Baldacci’s Web site, Sean allowed his attention to wander for a split second, which resulted in the death of the presidential candidate he was supposed to be protecting. Meanwhile, Michelle “lost” the politician she was protecting when he vanished behind closed doors while comforting a grieving widow.
Their destinies converge when Michelle becomes obsessed with Sean’s case, and when Sean needs the help of a new friend to solve crimes that implicate him as the culprit. Thus are the humble beginnings of the crime-solving dynamic duo.
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The pilot episode jumps right into it with a high-action chase scene. Maxwell is in hot pursuit of a bus being driven by a guy in a beaver suit. Yes, you read that right. A beaver suit.
The bus even skids out of control and rolls on its side at one point (which was really fun for the Toronto residents watching the scene being filmed), and it occurs to me that’s a pretty high-budget stunt for a TV show. But hey, they’re pulling out all the stops to get us hooked — and it’s working! I’m hooked!
Plus, the opening scene features The Heavy’s “How Ya Like Me Now,” one of my favorite tunes (and perhaps one of the most-used songs for action scenes, and I’m cool with that) — especially paired with Romijn chasing after a guy in a beaver suit.
Another reason I love “King & Maxwell” is that it’s a bit of a gender bender in terms of who gets to do what. It’s clear from that opening scene that Romijn will be getting her fair share of action in this show, and that is awesome.
“A man of words, a woman of action,” Romijn says in the interview clip below. “She’s a big girl,” Tenney says in a scene right before she beats the living tar out of some poor guy. You go, girl! Makes me want to – argh! – learn how to fight!
But … Romijn’s “Rene Russo in Lethal Weapon 4” fighting skills doesn’t mean she’s lacking in the verbal department. Romijn and Tenney have great chemistry, along with the witty banter to prove it. Not to mention that she rows (yes, in a boat) to the little office where they work every day, and then takes a shower in said office with the door open, which causes Sean to completely lose focus.
Rounding out the cast is Michael O’Keefe (huge movie and TV star) as FBI Agent Frank Rigby, Ryan Hurst (“Opie” in “Sons of Anarchy”) as Edgar Roy, and Chris Butler (Matan Brody in “The Good Wife”) as FBI Agent Darius Carter.
By the way, Tenney played Agent Fritz Howard in “The Closer” and “Major Crimes,” and thank goodness TNT had the good sense to cast him in “King & Maxwell.”
Visit TNT (the Home of Crime Drama and the perfect place to play “armchair detective”!) for more info about “King & Maxwell,” as well as other summer shows like “Rizzoli & Isles,” “Falling Skies,” “Major Crimes,” and a cool new competition show called “The Hero,” starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (love him).
What’s your favorite TNT crime drama? Are you looking forward to “King & Maxwell”?
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