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44 reviews in total

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21 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
Ahead of its time, 1 January 2004
Author: Leah (SepiaTone)

If you like the current FOX TV series "Arrested Development" (perhaps even "Dream On") you would have liked FOX's "Action." Set in the intensely high-stress environment of Hollywood, this show had the same tone, feel and cynicism of "Arrested Development", but with humour a touch more risque - perhaps too risque for a 9:00 pm timeslot.

Critically well-received with decent reviews, the show was also aired on Bravo's "Brilliant But Cancelled" showcase. "Action" was simply too edgy, too offensive, and too jaded for its time, with wickedly dark humour and remarkable wit. In time it would have found its audience, but the plug was pulled too soon.

Those involved in the entertainment industry would, in particular, enjoy the loathsome humour and cynicism.

Rumour has it, it may be released on DVD.

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18 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Short lived, 24 July 2000
Author: MisterWhiplash from United States

This show was so funny I don't know why they (FOX) cut it off. This was such a hilarious look at Hollywood producers it boggled my mind. Jay Mohr makes a terrific lead as the main guy Peter Dragon, a guy who will do almost anything to get pictures made. Great fun, but shorter lived than a fly. Buddy Hackett got the most laughs from me as the crazy uncle. A+

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17 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
THE GREAT JAY MOHR. Respect., 27 November 2002

Author: Janne Kainulainen (ichabod81) from Finland

This show is amazing. It breaks my heart to know, that people didn't have the humor for this. I mean is a show good only when there's an audience laughing in the background?! Maybe some people just don't know when to laugh without it. Anyway, I admit that for people who don't perhaps know much about the film making process, this could be somewhat of a question mark, but for any filmbuff, I would recommend this in a heartbeat! Jay Mohr is my favorite comedian and this is no question his best work. The way he portrays the sleezy film producer Peter Dragon is an enjoyment in itself. Add to that the body language, the cunning jokes and a terrific supporting cast and we're really onto a winner. That said, forget Boston Public. Forget C.S.I.. Forget Ed. These are just some of my favorite shows and even put together they couldn't measure the respect I have for this one. Bravo!

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16 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Oh my gosh, it's good writing., 3 July 2000
Author: tbabe29 from SF Bay Area, CA

Where have I been? Here I am sitting on my couch on a Sunday evening, looking for something halfway bearable to watch and I see Jay Mohr doing television. Right away, I was intrigued. And right away, I stayed. Why do people like this show? It's called GOOD WRITING. And FINALLY, these excellent actors have something to work with. Too bad this series got cancelled, it must have been a little too honest for some people.

For mature audiences only and a hilarious mockery of Hollywood.

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11 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
"Even a dog can shake hands...", 10 November 2002
Author: Victor Field from London, England

The continuing story of high-pressure Joel Silver-type movie producer Peter Dragon's battle to produce a make-or-break actioner called "Beverly Hills Gun Club" in view of obstacles from financing through to the writer (who in true Hollywood fashion is nearly always at the short end of the stick) to his cast, with hilarious consequences. Seriously.

Shot on film without a laugh track and with enough strong language and adult content (such as Sandra Bullock berating our hero for making a tape of the two of them having sex and selling it as "While You Were Sleeping On My Face") to irritate America's Bible Belt and get it dropped after eight episodes - at the end of one episode our hero mentions that a show like this could be a big hit in a good time slot (in Britain it was given an even worse slot; Channel 4 never showed it before midnight. Isn't it ironic, don't you think?) - "Action" is often crude and continues Hollywood's apparent unwillingness to glamourise itself as much as everything else, but it's very, very funny if you can get all the references, with a nice line in caustic insults from Dragon. My favourites: Dragon seeing the pretty but overweight blonde MAW Reagan Busch (a funny name in itself) and pointing out to the writer, "Yeah, she's got a cute face... ON TOP OF BRIAN DENNEHY'S BODY!!!" (This can be seen as a comment on Hollywood body fascism, because she isn't really that fat. Which is not to say that when we see her post-liposuction it isn't nice...), and his suggestion that Matt Damon winning an Oscar was the first sign of the Apocalypse.

Harlan Ellison said of "Bracken's World," "It has the evil fascination of rotting fruit. And smells about the same." I think he'd have kinder opinions of this short-lived gem. And remember, Silver may have produced "The Matrix," but he also did "Xanadu"...

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10 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Funny as all get-out, 13 April 2004
Author: Eric from Honolulu, Hawaii

Wow! That's all you really need to say about this too-short-lived series.

But since I have the space, let me say this too: I don't think a funnier satire exists or has ever existed on TV. I pray for the day an uncensored DVD is released - this show has me laughing my @ss off for just about the entire time I'm watching it. It's amazing that it ever got made at all, what with all the jokes ripping on the Hollywood community, and everyone gets an equal dose - producers, actors, writers, you name it, this show makes fun of it. Jay Mohr is funnier in this series than in anything else I've ever seen him do, and Ileana Douglas is, as always, fantastic.

Watch it! And to the execs at Fox - put out the DVD, already!

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10 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
One of my all-time favorites, 19 October 2003
Author: fwright (fwright@myself.com) from Slatersville, RI

I've read almost all the other comments on this wonderful, black, well-written series and for the very first time on IMDB, I agree with almost all of them! That must mean something. 'ACTION' is certainly one of the funniest shows I've ever seen, particularly the episode where the closeted gay actor considers coming out and Peter Dragon goes the extra mile to keep his star.

"ACTION" makes pointed and very deliberate fodder of Hollywood's appalling treatment of gay characters. I (as a full self-aware, well-adjusted MASCULINE gay male) found the constant juxtaposition of on-screen attitudes versus off-screen reality wonderfully funny. It explains why writers and actors who know many gay people and have dozens (or hundreds) of gay friends can write horribly insulting trash like 'Will and Grace' -- for them, it really is just a job, with no connection with reality!

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10 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Where's The DVD?, 31 October 2002
Author: kpmcdermott from Newton, NJ

With so many television shows being re-issued on DVD, where is "Action"? Everyone I know who watched this show loved it. Fox had it on Thursday nights, where all shows go to die, so it was destined to get bad ratings. We really need to have all 13 episodes released on DVD so fans can relive this great series over and over again!

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5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Totally hilarious, 26 September 2002
Author: Benjamin

I never understood why this extremely funny and wonderfully cast show wasn't a bigger hit. It really was very, very good. Too bad it didn't get the audience it needed to continue. Oh well. Jay Mohr was perfect in the lead, and Ileana Douglas is a treat. Cameos by Sandra Bullock and others were hilarious.

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5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Eureka! I have found it--, 11 October 1999
Author: Eric Rodriguez (eric.rodriguez2@phs.com) from Studio City, CA

Very much in the spirit of "The Newsroom" (Canadian sitcom, 1996), this is not only the best show of the new Fall lineup, but possibly the best show of the last few decades. I am very critical and would never say such a thing lightly.

Kudos to FOX for, rather than pushing the envelope in the direction of greater sensory stimulation, going the other way--daring to air a show with limited music, few seasick-inducing camera movements, little overt emotion and no laugh track. These four elements, once used to spice up programs, have come to be relied upon exclusively. The nature of the new lineup makes it obvious that even if the viewing public have not yet been dumbed down to the level of monkeys who have lost the ability to detect nuances of character, speech and plot (and whose attention can only be held with bells, whistles and flashing lights), Hollywood certainly believes we have and treats us accordingly.

Thus the more refreshing the arrival of "Action," which bucks the bread-and-circus trend with true sophistication. The persistent AMORALITY of the characters in an era of extremes on either end ("7th Heaven" vs. "Beavis & Butt-Head," for instance) is a relatively new concept. Instead of doing a 180, so to speak, from morality to immorality or vice-versa, the show is able to sustain this 90-degree variation and make it believable.

Fine acting ability along with well-written scripts allows the characters to convey abundant meaning through raised eyebrows, intense looks, sly grins, double-entendre and body language. In fact rarely does anyone break a smile. Thus there is no need to hammer the viewer over the head with laughter, crying, screaming, hollering, or slapstick. There is bad language, but just as violence supported the plot in the film "Die Hard" instead of the other way around (which is customary), the cursing merely supplements the script rather than being its bread-and-butter. And amazingly, the crude frankness of the characters does serious damage to the concept that Hollywood is a plastic town full of phonies who never speak their minds. Indeed, most of the superficiality is to be found in the characters on other shows.

But, tuning in each week is a bittersweet experience because you realize that few shows that reach such a high level (e.g., "Homicide") pull in the numbers, so the next few episodes may be the last. Or, as happened with "The Newsroom," the creative types behind the project may just decide one day that they're tired of this and move on to something else.

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