Trailer for Bravo Reality Competition Show SPY GAMES

EW shared the first teaser today for Bravo's upcoming reality competition series Spy Games. According to EW, the show "features 10 contestants living together in a large house and attempting to gather intel on their fellow players while competing in challenges designed by three former spies, alumni of the CIA, Secret Service, and FBI. Players will be eliminated until one remains to claim a $100,000 prize." Apparently the format is in some ways based on a real-life World War II-era scheme known as Station S, "in which civilians were recruited and relocated to a 'remote estate' to be trained as spies." Spy Games, which is hosted by model and martial artist Mia Kang, premieres on Monday, January 20, 2020, at 10/9c. I tried to embed the video, but Bravo's own awful, awful video platform (which is really quite terrible) automatically plays a Real Housewives promo instead. So check out the trailer here.
Thanks to Jeff for the intel alert!

USA Shares Amazing TREADSTONE Clip on Eve of Premiere

USA's Bourne spin-off series Treadstone premieres tomorrow night. While I've been surprised by the paucity of advertising in the real world, the network has released many, many clips online over the past month--enough, seemingly, to create a fairly good assembly cut of the pilot episode! But they've saved the best for last. A clip with an extended fight scene and a chase across European rooftops shared today by the International Spy Museum really demonstrates that they appear to have captured the tone and feel of Doug Liman's 2002 movie The Bourne Identity. (The lead actor also seems to have been cast at least partly for bearing a slight resemblance to Matt Damon.) This has me very excited to sample the series tomorrow night! Watch the clip here.

Read my review of the novel that started it all, Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity, here.

Treadstone premieres on Tuesday, October 15, at 10/9c on USA.

Trailer for USA's Bourne Spin-Off Series, TREADSTONE

USA has released the first trailer for their upcoming Bourne TV spinoff, Treadstone.



Treadstone is the long in the works TV series derived from the Matt Damon Bourne films and based on the secret super assassin program originated in Robert Ludlum's novel The Bourne Identity (review here).

The project has been percolating in one form or another ever since 2010, when CSI creator Anthony Zuiker attempted a Treadstone show for CBS. But when Tony Gilroy came aboard to direct the theatrical spinoff The Bourne Legacy, he didn't want a competing version of the mythology on TV, and made it a condition of his directing that the nascent show be killed. The new incarnation comes from Heroes creator Tim Kring, who produces along with Captivate Entertainment's Ben Smith. Smith's fellow Keeper of the Ludlum flame at Captivate, Jeffrey Weiner, executive produces (as he does on the Bourne films) along with Ramin Bahrani, among others. Acclaimed Iranian-American helmer Bahrani directs the pilot. Bahrani has directed such indie features as 99 Homes and Chop Shop, the latter of which late film critic Roger Ebert famously anointed the sixth best film of the 2000s. More recently Bahrani directed HBO's Fahrenheit 451, with Michael B. Jordan and Sophie Boutella.

Seasoned spy veteran Michelle Forbes (Berlin Station, 24) leads the cast in what sounds like a role similar to Joan Allen's in the movies as "Ellen Becker, a savvy CIA veteran trying to balance the demands of work and family while investigating a conspiracy with international implications." Patrick Fugit (First Man), Michael Gaston, (Jack Ryan) Shruti Haasan (a Bollywood star), Brian J. Smith (Sense8), Tess Haubrich (Alien: Covenant), Jeremy Irvine, Omar Metwally, Tracy Ifeachor, Hyo Joo Han, Gabrielle Scharnitzky and Emilia Schüle also star.

It's clear that Kring's Treadstone takes some liberties with the versions previously established in both the books and the films, making all of the programs' assets virtual amnesiacs, in that they have been brainwashed not to realize that they are sleeper agents until the moment they are awakened. While this does somewhat undermine Bourne's own special circumstances, it also feels like a clever way to really cash in on the brand and give audiences an experience similar to what they've seen in the movies.

In Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity (review here), Treadstone 71 was the shadowy intelligence group that David Webb worked for (based out of a New York brownstone), with whom he created and assumed his more famous identity as assassin Jason Bourne. Nebulous and illegal though it may have been, in the book Treadstone's motivations were basically heroic. The Treadstone of the movies, which creates super-assassins through brainwashing and later drugs, is a much more sinister organization. It was also, I believe, officially shut down by Brian Cox's character, Abbott, in The Bourne Supremacy, and then reconstituted as Outcome by Ed Norton's character in The Bourne Legacy (review here). It will be interesting to see if the TV series mentions Outcome at all, and how closely it sticks to the mythology established in the movies.

Treadstone is not only keeping alive on the small screen, but also in print. Earlier this year, the Ludlum estate has commissioned author Joshua Hood to pen the first book in a new Treadstone literary series, The Treadstone Resurrection, which will be in stores this fall—I assume about the same time the show premieres on USA.

Tradecraft: Bourne Spin-off TV Show TREADSTONE Sets Cast, Starts Filming

It's been a while since we've heard anything about Treadstone, the TV series spun off from the Bourne films and based on the secret super assassin program originated in Robert Ludlum's novel The Bourne Identity (review here), but that doesn't mean things haven't been happening! Yesterday, Deadline gave us a glimpse at some of those developments.

Reiterating what we already knew, the trade summarizes, "Treadstone explores the origin story and present-day actions of a CIA black ops program known as Operation Treadstone — a covert program that uses behavior-modification protocol to turn recruits into nearly superhuman assassins. The first season follows sleeper agents across the globe as they’re mysteriously 'awakened' to resume their deadly missions." Assuming the series takes place in the movie universe (which seems likely), then it would make sense for the present-day segments to feature a reactivated Treadstone under new leadership, and the origin sequences to serve as a prequel to the films set in the late 90s or early 2000s, theoretically opening the door for a new actor eventually being introduced as a younger Jason Bourne.

According to the trade, spy veteran Michelle Forbes (Berlin Station, 24) leads the cast in what sounds like a role similar to Joan Allen's in the movies as "Ellen Becker, a savvy CIA veteran trying to balance the demands of work and family while investigating a conspiracy with international implications." Patrick Fugit, who stood out in a small role in last year's First Man, "recurs as Stephen Haynes, a high school math teacher with a dark side that he’s struggling to keep under control." (I'm assuming that means he's one of the sleepers.) Michael Gaston, whose extensive spy credits include playing the President on Jack Ryan as well as turns on The Americans, 24, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Blindspot, and The Man in the High Castle, "plays Dan Levine, a no-nonsense senior CIA veteran overseeing an investigation that involves some of the Agency’s darkest secrets." Bollywood star Shruti Haasan "stars as Nira Patel, a young woman in Delhi whose waitress job serves as a cover for a dangerous double life as a trained assassin." Brian J. Smith (World On Fire, Sense8) stars as Doug McKenna, and Australian actress Tess Haubrich (Alien: Covenant) recurs as his wife Samantha, a nurse who must reconcile her husband's dark past. Jeremy Irvine, Omar Metwally, Tracy Ifeachor, Hyo Joo Han, Gabrielle Scharnitzky and Emilia Schüle also star. So it sounds like Treadstone will follow characters all over the globe, similar to series creator Tim Kring's previous series Heroes.

Kring produces along with Captivate Entertainment's Ben Smith. Smith's fellow Keeper of the Ludlum flame at Captivate, Jeffrey Weiner, will executive produce (as he does on the Bourne films) along with Ramin Bahrani, among others. Acclaimed Iranian-American helmer Bahrani will direct the pilot. Bahrani has directed such indie features as 99 Homes and Chop Shop, the latter of which late film critic Roger Ebert famously anointed the sixth best film of the 2000s. More recently Bahrani directed HBO's Fahrenheit 451, with Michael B. Jordan and Sophie Boutella. His involvement really elevates this series!

Perhaps the best news related in the Deadline article is that filming on this incarnation of Treadstone is already underway in Budapest! I say, "this incarnation" since, as long-time readers will be well aware, this is not the first attempt to bring Treadstone to television. Back in 2010, CSI creator Anthony Zuiker attempted a Treadstone show for CBS. But when Tony Gilroy came aboard to direct the theatrical spinoff The Bourne Legacy, he didn't want a competing version of the mythology on TV, and made it a condition of his directing that the nascent show be killed.

In Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity (review here), Treadstone 71 was the shadowy intelligence group that David Webb worked for (based out of a New York brownstone), with whom he created and assumed his more famous identity as assassin Jason Bourne. Nebulous and illegal though it may have been, in the book Treadstone's motivations were basically heroic. The Treadstone of the movies, which creates super-assassins through brainwashing and later drugs, is a much more sinister organization. It was also, I believe, officially shut down by Brian Cox's character, Abbott, in The Bourne Supremacy, and then reconstituted as Outcome by Ed Norton's character in The Bourne Legacy (review here). It will be interesting to see if the TV series mentions Outcome at all, and how closely it sticks to the mythology established in the movies.

Treadstone is not only keeping alive on the small screen, but also in print. As I reported yesterday, the Ludlum estate has commissioned author Joshua Hood to pen the first book in a new Treadstone literary series, The Treadstone Resurrection, which will be in stores this fall—I assume about the same time the show premieres on USA.

Full Trailer for the Batman's Butler Sixties Spy Show PENNYWORTH

Following the brief teaser revealed in March, EPIX has released a full trailer for that Sixties spy show about Batman's butler, Alfred Pennyworth... long before he was Batman's butler. Hey, whatever it takes to get a Sixties-set spy show on the air today! (And clearly what it takes is some sort of popular superhero property branding.) While Pennyworth is not directly connected to any other specific incarnation of the Dark Knight (including Gotham, which hailed from the same creative team), it certainly seems as if the appealing star, Jack Bannon (Endeavor), is doing his best to channel a young Michael Caine. (Caine played Alfred in the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy, and of course embodied the quintessential 1960s London spy, Harry Palmer.) Set in an alternate reality Sixties London, Pennyworth follows young Alfred's adventures as a budding private security contractor fresh out of the SAS working with Thomas Wayne (future father of Bruce) to stop a threat against Her Majesty's Government.

Trailer: KIM POSSIBLE Live-Action Movie

Today, Disney Channel dropped the slightly underwhelming first full trailer for their upcoming live action Kim Possible movie, and announced a premiere date. It will premiere Friday, Feb. 15 at 8 ET/PT on Disney Channel and DisneyNOW. And, thanks to Deadline, we finally know a little bit more about the plot. This won't be a continuation of the cult animated show, nor will it take place within the series' continuity. Rather, it will be a full reboot, and an origin story for Kim. (It was never explained on the show how she came to be a teenage superspy beyond having inherited good genes from her brain surgeon mom and rocket scientist dad.)

While the series concluded with Kim's high school graduation, the live-action Kim Possible will pick up just as Kim and sidekick Ron Stoppable are first starting Middleton High School, and (in a page out of the Buffy playbook), the ultra-capable young woman finds navigating the classrooms and social hierarchy of high school much more difficult than saving the world. Kim will compete with her rival and frenemy Bonnie Rockwaller not for a spot on the cheerleading squad, as she did on the TV show, but the school's soccer team. And Ron will acquire his pet naked mole rat, Rufus, over the course of the telefilm. The pair will be joined on their mission by a new friend, Athena, who quickly surpasses Kim as the trio, along with gadget maker and tech expert Wade, take on the villainous Dr. Drakken and his henchwoman Shego. (Do you think the hitherto unknown Athena will turn out to be a double agent?)

I really wish this were being done as a big budget, theatrical film. The actors look fine in this trailer, but without the spacious, Ken Adam-inspired sets, and lit like a 90s TV pilot with way too much blue, it just doesn't look like Kim Possible. Here's hoping they prove me wrong! It is, after all, co-written by series creators Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle (along with The Duff's Josh Cagan).

Sadie Stanley stars as Kim Possible; Sean Giambrone (The Goldbergs) plays Ron. Todd Stashwick (12 Monkeys) and Taylor Ortega (Succession) co-star as Dr. Drakken and Shego; Ciara Wilson (OMG!) as newcomer Athena; Alyson Hannigan (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as Kim’s mom; Issac Ryan Brown (Raven’s Home) as Wade; and Erika Tham (Make It Pop) as Bonnie. Patton Oswalt reprises his voice role from the animated series as villain Professor Dementor, and original Kim Possible voice Christy Carlson Romano has a cameo.

Trailer for Park Chan-Wook's John le Carré Miniseries THE LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL

AMC has released the first full trailer for their latest BBC co-production, a follow-up to the hugely successful 2016 John le Carré adaptation The Night Manager. This time the same producers at The Ink Factory (including le Carré and his sons Simon and Stephen Cornwell) chose to tackle the author's 1983 tome The Little Drummer Girl, and they brought on the great Park Chan-Wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden) to direct. The imagery in this trailer is as haunting and awesome as I expected from him! The Little Drummer Girl follows Charlie, a naive young English actress recruited by Israeli Intelligence into the "theater of the real"– to infiltrate a Palestinian terror organization. She soon finds herself seduced by both sides and caught in the middle. Florence Pugh (King Lear) stars as Charlie, Alexander Skarsgård (Big Little Lies) plays Becker, the enigmatic stranger who seduces, recruits, and eventually handles her, and Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water) plays a ruthlessly clever, masterfully manipulative, somewhat Smiley-like Mossad spymaster, Kurtz. The miniseries will air on AMC over three consecutive nights in two-hour episodes, premiering November 19 at 9 PM ET/PT. Additional episodes will air at 9 ET/PT on November 20 and November 21. It's expected to play on BBC in the UK around the same time.

Stonebridge and Scott STRIKE BACK Again Tonight on Cinemax

While they're not part of the main cast of Cinemax's rebooted counterterrorism action drama Strike Back, Deadline reports that Sullivan Stapleton and Philip Winshester will return as the beloved and iconic Stonebridge and Scott in tonight's episode of the revived series. Stapleton and Winchester starred in the series' second incarnation when Cinemax first came aboard, following an initial UK season on Sky which starred Richard Armitage and Andrew Lincoln. The Stapleton/Winchester version came to an end after four seasons, and the two stars moved on to other shows. Then the cable network decided to reboot the show again, re-launching it with a new cast that includes Warren Brown, Daniel MacPherson, Roxanne McKee, and Alin Sumarwata. Tonight, Stonebridge and Scott will presumably show the new generation how it's done... assuming their appearance proves more satisfying than Armitage's incredibly disappointing guest spot on the first Cinnemax incarnation!

The sixth season (confusingly the fifth on Cinemax following the one on Sky) wraps up on April 6, but per Deadline the rebooted Strike Back has already been renewed by the cable network for seventh season to air next year.

Trailer and Poster for Final Season of FX's THE AMERICANS

FX has released a trailer for the sixth and final season of The Americans, which premieres on March 28th at 10pm EST. They've also released a typically stunning poster promoting the season. This series about Russian KGB spies living undercover as "illegals" in 1980s America started strong and went from strength to strength. In a word, it's been utterly fantastic throughout its run. Although a period drama set during the waning days of the Cold War, it's also become surprisingly more topical in recent years. The original plan was to see Philip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell) through the fall of the Berlin wall. Unless the final season spans multiple years, I don't see how they'll get to that point in history, but there are plenty of other burning questions to keep us on the edges of our seats until the finale. When I interviewed producer Graham Yost on the eve of The Americans' debut back in 2013, he concluded the session by quoting the FX Networks President. "John Landgraf said something that I thought perfectly sums it up: 'We know who won the Cold War. We don't know if Phillip and Elizabeth will survive. And that's the story. Will the marriage survive? Will the children survive?'" Five years later, we're on the verge of those answers. I can't wait to find out! Get a taste from the trailer below:

Read my 2013 review of The Americans pilot episode here.
Read my 2013 interview with executive producer Graham Yost here.

First Trailer for the New, Rebooted STRIKE BACK on Cinemax

Cinemax has released the first full trailer for their upcoming, rebooted new season of Strike Back. This will mark the third distinct iteration of the action series, following the more cerebral, more espionage-oriented UK original (review here) starring Richard Armitage (Berlin Station) and Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead), and the sexier, more action-packed U.S. Cinemax continuation (review here) with Philip Winchester and Sullivan Stapleton. The latest incarnation features a larger, four-person anti-terrorist team comprised of Daniel MacPherson, Roxanne McKee, Warren Brown and Alin Sumarwata, but clearly retains the focus on extreme military action familiar to fans of the previous Cinemax series. The new episodes (which debuted this fall on SkyOne in the UK) premiere Stateside on February 2 at 10pm. Take a look!

Trailer: J.K. Simmons' New Berlin-set Spy-Fi Series

Starz has premiered the first trailer for Counterpart, their upcoming Berlin-set, Cold War-inspired spy series with a sci-fi twist. And it looks, frankly, pretty freaking awesome! J.K. Simmons (Burn After Reading) stars–in dual roles, no less!–along with Olivia Williams (The Ghost Writer), Ulrich Thomsen (The World is Not Enough), Stephen Rea (The Honourable Woman), and Sarah Bolger (Stormbreaker). Justin Marks (The Jungle Book) created the series, and Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game) directs the first two episodes. Simmons plays a low-level bureaucrat at a Berlin-based U.N. intelligence agency whose life changes when he receives a walk-in defector from "the other side"–his own doppelganger. Counterpart premieres January 21, 2018.

Tradecraft: New Cast Set for STRIKE BACK's Fifth Cinemax Season

Strike Back began with a season on UK satellite channel Sky starring Richard Armitage and Andrew Lincoln (review here). Then Sky made a deal with American cable station Cinemax for further seasons (pilot review here), but Armitage had moved onto The Hobbit and Lincoln was starring on The Walking Dead, so Cinemax reinvented the counterterrorism drama with American Philip Winchester playing Brit Stonebridge, and Aussie Sullivan Stapleton playing his American partner, Scott. The series made stars of both actors. But it concluded after four seasons (not counting that original UK one), and both leads moved onto other shows. Then, last December, Cinemax decided to bring it back again. Now, Deadline reports, the all-new cast for the new season (once again a continuation, not a reboot) has been set.

According to the trade, British actor Warren Brown (Luther) stars as “Mac” McAllister, Australian Daniel MacPherson (The Shannara Chronicles) plays Samuel Wyatt, Roxanne McKee (The Legend of Hercules) is Natalie Reynolds, and Alin Sumarwata (The Diplomat) is Gracie Novin. Nina Sosanya (Marcella), Trevor Eve (The Interceptor), and Katherine Kelly (The Night Manager) round out the cast.

Filming on the third incarnation of Strike Back is already underway, with locations including Jordan and Hungary.

Tradecraft: BBC and AMC to Re-team on Spy Who Came in from the Cold Miniseries

We learned last summer that the next John le Carré miniseries would be a new adaptation of his seminal 1963 novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Now we know the networks that will air it. Unsurprisingly, given the tremendous success of The Night Manager on both sides of the Atlantic and its three Golden Globe wins last week, the BBC and AMC will again partner on this new Spy, Deadline reports.

As previously reported, The Ink Factory and Paramount Television put the project into development in June, with Slumdog Millionaire Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy taking on the unenviable challenge of adapting one of the greatest spy novels of all time. (Goldfinger's Paul Dehn wrote the script for the classic 1965 feature version along with the author.) "The old lion himself," as Hugh Laurie described le Carré at the Globes ceremony, provided a quote for the press release, saying about the new "limited series" (as miniseries are now known), "I’m very excited by the project, and have great confidence in the team." Cast and director have yet to be announced.

Read my book review of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold here.

Tradecraft: Archer Moves to FXX (UPDATED)

When Archer comes back for its eighth season it will be on a different channel. Deadline reports that the animated spy comedy is moving from its cable home of seven seasons, FX, to FXX, another Fox-owned cable station to which a lot of FX comedies and cartoons have already migrated. This move was originally planned for last season. In July, Archer was renewed through Season 10 and we learned that the upcoming Season 8 would shift milieus from its nebulous Cold War/present spy setting to 1940s detective. This won't be the first format change for the series, and the characters will remain true to themselves despite the new setting. Watch a new trailer below:

Trailer: Incorporated

Here is the trailer for Syfy's upcoming futuristic industrial espionage series Incorporated, from producers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The series, which we first heard about two years ago, takes place in 2074 when governments have fallen and corporations have taken control. A deep cover operative penetrates one such corporation to bring down the system from the inside. Incorporated premieres November 30.

Real Trailer for The Night Manager

After last week's false alarm, which turned out to be clips from the general BBC winter preview stitched artlessly together, here is the real trailer for the BBC/AMC co-production of The Night Manager. Based on John le Carré's 1993 novel, the Susanne Bier directed miniseries stars Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston and Olivia Colman. The Night Manager premieres in America on AMC on April 19, and is expected to air in the UK next month.

London Spy Starring Ben Whishaw Premieres Tonight on BBC America

London Spy, Tom Rob Smith's 5-part romantic spy drama that we first heard about nearly two years ago, premieres tonight on BBC America at 10/9c. It aired in the UK in November. Episodes will also be available on the cable network's website after it's premiered. Ben Whishaw (Skyfall, SPECTRE) stars as Danny, an ordinary civilian and romantic hedonist who gets caught up in a web of espionage and intrigue when he falls in love with the enigmatic Alex, played by Kingsman's Alex Holcroft. Just as the two of them realise that they're perfect for each other, Alex disappears and Danny, utterly ill-equipped to take on the complex and codified world of British Intelligence, must decide whether he's prepared to fight for the truth. Charlotte Rampling (The Avengers) and Jim Broadbent (Any Human Heart) round out the impressive cast. Smith won the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award in 2008 for his novel Child 44. Check out the trailer for London Spy below, and tune in tonight for the first episode.

First Photos, Airdate for le Carré's The Night Manager

AMC announced at the TCA conference in Pasadena yesterday that Susanne Bier's eagerly anticipated John le Carré adaptation The Night Manager (first announced back in 2014) will premiere in the U.S. on April 19. (It's expected to air in the UK on BBC One that month as well.) They also released a cast photo, showcasing stars Hugh Laurie (as the silkily loathsome arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper), Tom Hiddleston (as hotelier-turned-field agent Jonathan Pine), The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'s Elizabeth Debicki (as English Rose Jed, the object of both men's affection), Olivia Colman (as Pine's pregnant handler Angela Burr, changed from the novel's Leonard Burr) and Tom Hollander (as Roper's sinister majordomo "Corky" Corcoran). David Harewood (Homeland), Tobias Menzies (Casino Royale) and Katherine Kelly (Mr. Selfridge) also star. EW premiered a heroic portrait of Hiddleston on his own a little over a week ago, accompanying a short but interesting article about the miniseries.

Additionally, the third season of AMC's Revolutionary War spy series Turn: Washington's Spies, will premiere the following week, on April 25.

Tradecraft: TNT Cancels its Spy Shows Legends and Agent X

In one fell swoop, TNT has disavowed all of its spy shows. After previously cancelling Transporter: The Series, the cable network today (per Deadline) also axed its fun freshman series Agent X, and sophomore Legends. In both cases, this is really too bad. Agent X, starring Sharon Stone and Jeff Hephner, was lots of fun and delivered weekly escapist action in the Alias-vein. Legends, from Homeland and 24 executive producer Howard Gordon, started strong last season but had become absolutely brilliant in its second year after a thorough re-tooling. The Sean Bean spy series based on Robert Littell's novel had become an excellent and worthy companion for Homeland. I will miss this one greatly, and dearly hope that Netflix or Hulu or Amazon Prime scoops it up for a third season. This series has already shown an amazing ability to survive, surfacing on TNT a year after being passed on by NBC, so anything seems possible....

TNT Cancels Transporter: The Series

The Digital Spy reports (via RenewCancel TV) that Transporter: The Series, which aired in America on TNT, will not be returning for a third season, sadly. The series starred Chris Vance in the role originated on the big screen by Jason Statham in a trio of action-packed neo-Eurospy movies produced by Luc Besson. Frank Spotnitz, who served as showrunner on the show's second season and thoroughly revamped it, told the website that he would love to keep working on Transporter, but blamed poor timing for its low ratings. He also revealed that he hadn't yet seen the latest Transporter movie, The Transporter Refueled, saying, "The truth is, to make it into a TV series we had to change a number of things about the central character, because it was sort of his anonymity and his solo nature that drove the movie series. And in the TV series, because people watch TV for characters, we had to create relationships and dimensionalize him in a way that I don't think they did in the movies that I saw, anyway." Refueled does actually attempt to do that as well, by taking a page (let's face it, more than a page!) from the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade playbook and teaming Ed Skrein's younger Frank Martin with his father, played by Ray Stevenson (Rome). Spotnitz is currently producing the Amazon Prime alternate history series The Man in the High Castle.

It's unclear from Spotnitz's comments if he means that TNT is passing on a third season (which would leave the European/Canadian co-production free to seek out another U.S. partner, like the El Rey Network, where it would be a good fit), or if the European production company Atlantique has decided not to proceed... which would pretty much mean the end of the road. And what a long and circuitous road it's been for this show—nearly as twisty as one of the winding Riviera roads showcased on the series. The show was first announced way back in 2009; it was officially greenlit in late 2010, and in early 2011 it was reported that Cinemax would partner with EuropaCorp to air the series in the United States. Later that year Vance (best known to spy fans from an arc on Burn Notice) was tapped to star as Frank Martin, and subsequently joined by Andrea Osvárt as his handler, Carla, a former CIA operative and a character who didn't appear in the theatrical films. That fall, the trouble started, with the original showrunners departing over creative differences. Before the first season's twelve episodes would wrap, their replacement would also ankle, and production would shut down when Vance was sidelined with an injury. The first trailer came out in the summer of 2012, heralding airdates that fall in Europe and elsewhere, but another year went by with still no announcement of a Cinemax premiere. In August of 2013 it was announced that the cable network had backed out, and the show's international producers were seeking a new U.S. partner. Undaunted by all these setbacks, they were still pressing forward with a second season, and had tapped Spotnitz to oversee a retooling after he had shepherded two hit international action co-productions on Cinemax, Hunted and the first American season of Strike Back. Vance's option had expired, but was renegotiated. Production finally began on the second season at the end of February 2014, shooting in Canada, Morocco and the Czech Republic. TNT (where Vance was a familiar face from a recurring role on Rizzoli & Isles) came on board to air both seasons in the U.S., and last fall that finally happened. Season 2 (which was aired back to back with Season 1 here) ended on a cliffhanger, and we've been waiting ever since to hear if there would be a Season 3. Now I guess it looks like there won't be, which is really too bad. Transporter: The Series would have made a great stablemate with TNT's new escapist spy drama, Agent X.

Happily, both seasons are at least available (and quite cheaply, on Amazon!) on DVD in their full, uncut European versions. (Which means with lots of nudity. Remember, this show was originally bound for Cinemax!) And I recommend them for fans of the Statham movies, fans of the neo-Eurospy genre at large, or fans of daffy action and crazy car stunts in general.

Order Transporter: The Series - Season 1 here.
Order Transporter: The Series - Season 2 here.