Unscripted

Is anyone out there watching Unscripted on HBO? It's an improv comedy/drama based on real life experiences of struggling actors in LA. They ran a marathon last Friday which I've been watching on TiVo, and this show is WONDERFUL! Six Feet Under is and will always be my favorite HBO original series, but this is a very close second...

HBO says: As its name implies, Unscripted features no written lines of dialogue. The cast members improvise their lines in situations based on their own experiences and those of the show's creators. There are no rehearsals, no retakes and no reshoots. The result is a dry-humored insider's look at what it takes to make it big — or at least make a living — in Hollywood.

There are dozens of cameos including Uma Thurman, Meryl Streep, and Brittany Murphy. I also read, but haven't yet seen the episodes where Brad Bitt, Angelina Jolie, Noah Wyle, and Hank Azaria show up to audition for a role or have lunch with a director. Cool. I love celebrities being themselves.

Krista Allen is one of the main characters (you old-school Days of Our Lives fans will remember the good Billie - oh wait, she was never good - let's just call her the hot Billie).

I laughed so hard at this scene:
Enter handsome hungover guy in his grundies.
Enter equally handsome and equally hungover roommate.
"Dude, there's a girl in my bed, and I have no idea who she is".
Stop. I've retyped it three times and can't do it justice. Just imagine the girl coming out of the bedroom wrapped in a sheet, and she figures out her previous night's lover can't remember her name. It's classic.

There's another hilarious scene where one actor happens to be at the right place at the right time to stand in for a commercial-actor who doesn't know how to ride a horse. So we see our guy galloping majestically down the beach on his white horse, his curly locks flowing in the wind, a gorgeous damsel enveloped in his arms. (Uh, do you see where this is going?) Cut to the guy and his roommate popping in a video tape to watch the finished commercial. The guy smiles proudly watching the commercial with the romantic music in the background. Then the voiceover cuts in: "Do you want to last 20, 40, even 60 minutes in bed?!" or whatever the hell they say. Guy in complete disbelief. Roomate laughing his ass off.

I've never been big on the trying-to-make-it-as-an-actor/musician/writer-in-the-big-city type films, but this is one is a classic. It's oddly easy to relate to the characters and their struggles. And it's really funny. Oh, and did I mention our friend George Clooney is producer? Check it out.