FTA-TV Rake

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Watched the first episode of the US version earlier tonight and didn't mind it, I'll definitely keep watching it to see where it goes.

Watched it the other day and I really enjoyed it. Plenty of Aussie actors in it as well.
 
Watched the first episode of the US version earlier tonight and didn't mind it, I'll definitely keep watching it to see where it goes.

Was Greg Kinnear anywhere as "rough" as Richard Roxburgh's Rake?? Where did you see/watch it?
 
Was Greg Kinnear anywhere as "rough" as Richard Roxburgh's Rake?? Where did you see/watch it?

Unfortunately I haven't really seen the aussie version yet. Just checked out a couple of trailers and no, they seem pretty different. Greg Kinnear is..... Greg Kinnear, he seems pretty "soft" compared to what I've seen of Roxburgh. I'll have to track it down and watch the whole thing.

My friendly neighbourhood torrent site, the scene release date was 24/1/14 so there's only been two eps so far.
 

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Found a few things on you tube. I thought it was going to be on some minor network but its on Fox. Keegan Deane isn't as rough around the edges as Cleaver Greene. Having lived in Sydney for 15 years part of the charm for me is that this is the most Sydney centric show on Oz TV and maybe ever. Not sure if some of those typical Sydney shady characters will translate to the US production. But creator Peter Duncan is also the creator and producer of the US series and even Richard Roxburgh.








 
Having lived in Sydney for 15 years part of the charm for me is that this is the most Sydney centric show on Oz TV and maybe ever.
Is it though? For a while at least, they seem to go to painful lengths not to mention the location, instead saying 'this city', 'this state', etc.
But creator Peter Duncan is also the creator and producer of the US series and even Richard Roxburgh.
I imagine these are glorified producer credits, like Gina Riley and Jane Turner on the US Kath & Kim, or Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant on The Office, et al. having little or no involvement in the new version.
 
Is it though? For a while at least, they seem to go to painful lengths not to mention the location, instead saying 'this city', 'this state', etc.
......

Doesn't matter what they mention or don't, but the setting and philosophy of the characters and subject matters is classic Sydney. The Cal McGregor joint attorney general + police minister character is classic NSW shady politics.
 
....
I imagine these are glorified producer credits, like Gina Riley and Jane Turner on the US Kath & Kim, or Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant on The Office, et al. having little or no involvement in the new version.

Maybe for Roxburgh but not Peter Duncan. From US entertainment bible Variety

‘Rake’ Boss Peter Duncan Bridges Cultural Divide

Aussie show creator stays hands-on, as his charming criminal defense lawyer sets up shop at Fox

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.....

Fox earlier this month greenlit an American spin on the format from Sony Pictures TV, toplined by Greg Kinnear.

Even more unusual is the fact that Duncan is now in the U.S. co-piloting the ship for the Fox series with veteran showrunner Peter Tolan. The major U.S. networks have been eagerly scooping up foreign series for adaptations in recent years, but in most cases the creators get little more than a check and an exec producer credit. Duncan credits Sony TV brass and his reps at CAA for recognizing that he needed to steer the new version if they wanted to retain the flair that made the show stand out in the first place (the Oz series had exposure on DirecTV’s Audience Network channel).

Sony said, if we’re going to do it, you’re going to come on the journey with us and lead us,” Duncan says. “The show is not a widget. There are bits of this show that I know better than anyone. We all thought it was in the show’s best interest that I be there to make sure we captured that certain tone and the dramatic essence.”

Initially, Duncan was paired with Paul Attanasio on the Sony TV adaptation, but “for one reason or another it didn’t work out,” Duncan says, noting that Attanasio got busy writing another feature project. Tolan, late of FX’s “Rescue Me,” proved to be a good fit with Duncan’s sensibilities, and they collaborated on numerous drafts of the pilot script that eventually impressed Fox.

“A lot of (Tolan’s contribution) was the Americanization of it, which is great because he’s so clever and so funny,” Duncan says. “Despite the fact that I grew up on American television, I’m not an American, so the vernacular is not there for me. I write what I think is a good pass, and then it goes into the Tolan machine and comes out making sense to the American public.”
 
Good solid series return episode. I struck gold with my timing on watching this show. Ive known about it for a while but hadnt got round to watching it. Started watching series 1 on iview last week finished watching series 2 Friday and then discovered on Saturday series 3 started tonight.

This is easily the best Australian drama/comedy Ive seen.
 
I've seen the odd episode and enjoyed it. Just started season one last night and it seems like it's actually a show that's progressively bettered itself, where it's slowly kind of found what it wants to be. I love the humour too, good stuff. As a hopeful screenwriter it's endearing to see something like this come out of Australia.
 

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Yeah, I tend to think they overdo the twists and taboo-breaching a little too often. The first season in particular had some heavy cases and it just seemed a little too over the top when it happened every single episode.
 
Yeah, I said to the missus that this was a typical "Rake" ending Cap. One you could see half way through the episode.

Still great writing.

Loved the professor on the stand.
yeah that was good, I didn't expect that.

What I always notice with shows like this is that the reason I watched it (the cases) slowly get replaced with character development.

Now don't get me wrong, the Rake character is hilarious, but for me a lot of the appeal of the show was watching him perform during cases, the character development piece was secondary.

It has now gone full circle - to me that is a sign that show is likely to be slowly dying. I hope that I am wrong because they have truely developed an Australia show with a fantastic array of characters.
 
Only caught the occasional ep, so it's been interesting to read a few comments about the Sydneycentric nature of this show.

Always been something which irritated me about this show I couldn't quite put my finger on, but yeah I suspect it's largely to do with my own West Australian inabilities to give a flying fig about the goings on in the Sydney/NSW legal and political scenes.

This minister, that minister, Macquarie Street this, Macquarie street that.....just could not give a damn.

Don't get me wrong...I quite enjoy Roxburgh's character, but as a whole the show itself feels like a relentless Sydney suit and wine bar masturbation fest for mind.

Amazed it's audience appears as large as it does quite frankly.

Obviously preferable to Winners and Losers mind.
 
given I don't watch much TV, my opinion isn't reliable

But tonights episodes was one of the best Aussie TV I have seen in years, the setup for next week is brilliant.

Why doesn't this show get more kudos?

It was a great episode, with so much current day stuff peppered throughout the episode.

I go back to what I have said to friends about why Australian TV or films make it or are flops.

Its the writing, its the writing, its the writing. Throw in good to great actors and you end up with a top product. But the writing is the key. Its why Shakespeare and co. have survived 400 years or more. Peter Duncan has done a brilliant job with Rake. He probably has some handy assistant writers.
 
Only caught the occasional ep, so it's been interesting to read a few comments about the Sydneycentric nature of this show.

Always been something which irritated me about this show I couldn't quite put my finger on, but yeah I suspect it's largely to do with my own West Australian inabilities to give a flying fig about the goings on in the Sydney/NSW legal and political scenes.

This minister, that minister, Macquarie Street this, Macquarie street that.....just could not give a damn.

Don't get me wrong...I quite enjoy Roxburgh's character, but as a whole the show itself feels like a relentless Sydney suit and wine bar masturbation fest for mind.

Amazed it's audience appears as large as it does quite frankly.

Obviously preferable to Winners and Losers mind.

I no longer live in Sydney, and I have probably made most comments about the Sydneycentric nature of the show, but for me its the reason why it works so well. If you can ignore the parochialism of the show then you will have no problem enjoying it.

But the fact that Sydney has always had so many colourful Sydney racing identities and businessmen types + all the political shenanigans and probably more extreme than in other cities is why these type of characters work so well - for me anyway.
 
Classic finale. Tied together beautifully. Great show.
 

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