I'm hooked on a new show on the AMC cable channel, which I've been watching since the premiere earlier this year.
The show is called Hustle and it's on Saturday nights (10pm, 9pm central).
It's about a team of con artists in London who pull "long cons", swindling rich fat cats out of their money, with carefully planned Ocean's Eleven-type setups. A bit like Mission:Impossible too.
The cast is great:
The style is modern and sophisticated, with excellent camera angles and scene changes. The characters sometimes give knowing smiles or winks to the camera/audience, and they have occasional scenes where they freezeframe on the marks (victims) and the con men talk to each or to us as a way of showing what they are thinking. Even the theme music is great.
Even though you are rooting for crooks (grifters), they try to make it acceptable by showing that they have high moral standards (at least for crooks). They take care of each other like a family, and they only pick marks who are greedy and of low character. Law enforcement is rarely part of the story, so they get away with most of these cons.
Things don't always go right with their plans, so they have to improvise, and the plots are varied enough to keep it interesting.
You can read about the show here.
I recommend the show for those who get AMC, and would love to hear what anybody else who's seen it thinks of it.
The show is called Hustle and it's on Saturday nights (10pm, 9pm central).
It's about a team of con artists in London who pull "long cons", swindling rich fat cats out of their money, with carefully planned Ocean's Eleven-type setups. A bit like Mission:Impossible too.
The cast is great:
Mickey Stone, the team leader and "inside man" (played by Adrian Lester)
Albert Stroller, the "roper" (played by Robert Vaughn -- a great role for him)
Stacie Monroe, the "lure" (played by Jaime Murray)
Ash Morgan, the "fixer" (played by Robert Glenister)
Danny Blue, the "wild card" (played by Marc Warren)
Stroller was Stone's teacher. Now Stone, having learned the trade from Stroller, is considered the best con man around. Monroe and Morgan are experienced pros too, while Blue is the new kid, very skilled with cards but wet behind the ears playing long cons. Stroller/Stone/Blue are like Yoda/Obi Wan/Luke.Albert Stroller, the "roper" (played by Robert Vaughn -- a great role for him)
Stacie Monroe, the "lure" (played by Jaime Murray)
Ash Morgan, the "fixer" (played by Robert Glenister)
Danny Blue, the "wild card" (played by Marc Warren)
The style is modern and sophisticated, with excellent camera angles and scene changes. The characters sometimes give knowing smiles or winks to the camera/audience, and they have occasional scenes where they freezeframe on the marks (victims) and the con men talk to each or to us as a way of showing what they are thinking. Even the theme music is great.
Even though you are rooting for crooks (grifters), they try to make it acceptable by showing that they have high moral standards (at least for crooks). They take care of each other like a family, and they only pick marks who are greedy and of low character. Law enforcement is rarely part of the story, so they get away with most of these cons.
Things don't always go right with their plans, so they have to improvise, and the plots are varied enough to keep it interesting.
You can read about the show here.
I recommend the show for those who get AMC, and would love to hear what anybody else who's seen it thinks of it.
At least I have my 4 series of Spooks to keep me happy 
