It's no laughing matter; Tomlin, Short, get dramatic

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Lily Tomlin

Here's a sentence you won't likely hear in relation to anything else they have ever done or will ever do:

Martin Short and Lily Tomlin -- not funny.

The two stage/screen comedy legends have joined the cast of the made-for-cable drama Damages, which is, in its third season, just as dark, sinister and desperately dramatic as it always has been.

The new campaign, which premiered last week and continues Sundays at midnight on Showcase, sticks with Damages' tradition of reflecting real-life events -- this time around, the focus is on Patty Hewes' (Glenn Close) appointment by the U.S. government as the attorney in charge of recovering billions that went missing when a high-profile financier's Ponzi scheme collapsed.

Inspired by the misdeeds of New York investment broker Bernie Madoff during the global financial meltdown, Season 3 of Damages focuses on the fictional Louis Tobin family and Hewes' effort to locate and seize their pyramid-schemed riches.

Short plays the Tobin family's no-nonsense attorney, Leonard Winstone. Despite a dearth of experience at playing fully serious roles, the former SCTV stalwart insists that this one isn't so much of a stretch.

"I wouldn't say that I've done an endless amount of serious roles, but I think of myself as a character actor, and you play characters in a sincere fashion," Short told a roomful TV critics during the U.S. networks' recently completed winter press tour in Los Angeles.

"Even if you're playing Franck from Father of the Bride, if you're trying to be funny as that character, you won't be. But if you sincerely play him as this eccentric person who exists in the world, then you're basically acting the character, who happens to be an unusual character. I don't really look at it as a differentiation between comedy and serious."

Tomlin, a recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor who has, in fact, dabbled in serious roles throughout her career, said she jumped at the chance to join Damages' cast.

"I was a fan of the show from Day 1; it's the only show I've ever run home to see, no matter what," offered Tomlin, who plays Marilyn Tobin, the wife of the fallen fictional financier. "That first season, it was on Tuesday nights (on U.S. cable's FX network), and even if I was working on another show, I'd say, 'I have to get home. I have to see it.'

"And when I'd see Glenn at an event or something, I would just jump all over her, saying, 'You've got to tell us what's going to happen. Why can't you be on every night?'

"So I was thrilled to get it. I didn't have any hesitation. I wanted to be on this show very, very much."

The third-season cast also includes returning original Rose Byrne, as Hewes' protegé/nemesis Ellen Parsons, who has joined a new firm and thinks she is free of Patty's influence until the Tobin case brings their worlds back together.

Also on the docket are Tate Donovan as Hewes' right-hand man, Tom Shayes, and Campbell Scott as Joe Tobin, son of the disgraced Wall Street tycoon.

For her part, Close -- who has won back-to-back best-actress Emmys for her Damages work -- said the new cast additions have taken the serious drama's fun quotient to a whole new level in Season 3.

"My first scene with Martin and Lily was when I was deposing Lily," she recalled, "and I was sitting across from the two of them in the conference room on our set, and it was a very surreal experience, having watched them my whole career and loved them.

"I can't tell you how invigorating, inspiring and fun it is. For me, it's just pure fun. You get a well-written scene, and you have actors who can do anything that's asked of them and have a million ideas, and... because of the pace we work at, in many ways it's like improv because you have to be very quick on your feet.

"It's just a great process."

brad.oswald@freepress.mb.ca

TV WORTH WATCHING:

Survivor: Surviving Survivor (tonight at 7, CBS/Global) -- As a lead-up to next week's premiere of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, the reality-castaway crew brings back 10 of the show's most memorable players -- including Richard Hatch, James Clement, Colby Donaldson and Cirie Fields -- to discuss their tribal-council experiences.

Undercover Boss (Sunday after the Super Bowl, CBS) -- This new reality-TV series follows the CEOs of major American companies as they make incognito forays into the often-dirty front lines of their firms' businesses. First up, Waste Management boss Larry O'Donnell, who trades his three-piece for coveralls and literally takes out the trash.

TV ON DVD:

Doctor Who: End of Time (release date: Feb. 2) -- In case you missed its recent broadcast and are wondering how the journey of the Tenth Time Lord (played by David Tennant) ends, here's the take-home version of the two-part finale. Also available this week: Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars and Doctor Who: The Complete Specials.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 4, 2010 E5