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Ray Donovan - Liev Schreiber and John Voight Fix Scandals - Sundays on Showtime

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R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus


About the Show

Set in the sprawling mecca of the rich and famous, RAY DONOVAN does the dirty work for LA's top power players. The new one-hour series stars Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award nominee Liev Schreiber in his first lead television role as the go-to guy who makes the problems of the city's celebrities, superstar athletes, and business moguls disappear. This powerful drama unfolds when his father, played by Oscar® winner Jon Voight, is unexpectedly released from prison, setting off a chain of events that shakes the Donovan family to its core.
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Watch the Pilot Now!

Censored Youtube Version
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  • Ray Donovan is a man of many faces. He's a cool, sophisticated Hollywood player but also a ruthless south Boston thug. He's a devoted family man who has trouble resisting come-ons from attractive clients, and a consummate professional who is also easily pushed to violence.
  • Ray's wife Abby enjoys the spoils of Ray's success in LA and strives to climb even higher. She desperately wants to get out of the Valley and into the neighborhoods, parties, and schools of the true Hollywood elite.
  • Bridget is Ray and Abby's oldest child. She and her brother have been kept in the dark about Ray's family, and she is eager to learn more about them and meet her grandfather. Bridget takes up with a neighbor boy, the foster child of a famous rap star who becomes one of Ray's clients.
  • Conor is Abby and Ray's younger child. He is anxious to get to know his grandfather Mickey. Mickey immediately develops a soft spot for Conor and tries to advise his grandson based on his own skewed ways of the world.
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  • Released from prison after a 20-year stint, Ray's father Mickey has arrived in LA to get what he feels is his rightful due. A murderous low life, Mickey is nevertheless charismatic and charming.
  • Bunchy is the most troubled of the Donovan brothers. Molested as a child by his local priest, he has battled with psychological and addiction issues his whole adult life.
  • Daryll is Mickey's illegitimate son from an affair. The Donovans have only recently learned of his existence and, aside from Ray, are embracing and welcoming him to the family.
  • Ray's brother Terry is a former boxer who has developed Parkinson's disease from too many blows to the head. His condition has left him despondent and shy, and therefore extremely awkward around women.
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Videos

Ray Donovan Official Trailer
Character Profile - Ray Donovan
Character Profile - Mickey Donovan
Liev Schreiber Profile
Behind the Scenes
Tease - Cool, Calm and Connected
Tease - You Don't Know Ray
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Reviews

Tim Goodman - Ray Donovan: TV Review

Early sneaks of Ray Donovan hinted that Showtime might have a real gem on its hands, but four episodes provides an absolute exclamation point.
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Sioux City Journal - 'Ray Donovan' swings but doesn't land its punches right away

“Ray Donovan” takes time to embrace. It isn’t must-see TV like some recent classics. But it has the desire to be in that category and the people who can make it happen. They’re a one-two punch that haven’t scored a knockout in the first round, but there’s still time.
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Red Carpet Crash - Showtime’s ‘Ray Donovan’ Delivers A Packed Pilot For A Great Series

Created, produced, and occasionally written by Ann Biderman (Southland), Ray Donovan develops into quite the intriguing drama. An overstuffed pilot could alienate its potential audience, but they’d be missing a very compelling series.
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Seriable - Ray Donovan – Review

Not everything lands snugly in first episode and the “fixer” subplots could drag the show down (I realize it’s part of the conceit), but allowing for world building, Ray Donovan makes a promising start with just enough signs of an interesting serial story — and with Dexter departing this year, it could be just in time too.
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Karak

Karak

Member
Saw the first episode on Youtube, not sure they still have it up, but it was for a free first watch.
It was good. Not great but good.
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
Thought that the pilot was trying to hard to be edgy. I'll watch a few more episodes for Liev and Voight, hopefully it grabs me.
 
R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Huff Po - "Ray Donovan" Begins

The show gets off to a slow start mainly because it is too disjointed. [list of storylines] Plus there are other subplot problems that pop up from time to time and overload the storyline.

Schreiber is very good as Ray but it is going to take some time to get used to him, and for him to flesh out the role. So far he is not warm and fuzzy in any way. Opposite him Malcomson does not seem to be the best fit for the role of his wife. Voight on the other hand is perfectly cast. He oozes sliminess and evil.

"Ray Donovan" arrives and "Dexter" departs. Right now it doesn't seem like an equal trade.
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Mercury News - 'Ray Donovan' a stunning showcase for Schreiber, Voight

At first glance, "Ray Donovan" is a blend of "Entourage" and "The Sopranos," but it winds up being its own distinctive thing. Sunday's pitch-perfect opener is rich with intimate character details and sets up several juicy storylines.

It's a muscular, instantly riveting series that features sensational performances by Liev Schreiber and Jon Voight. Based on the early episodes, we could be looking at television's next great character-based drama.
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Bloomberg - Schreiber Chats, Bats in ‘Donovan’

***1/2
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J

jtb

Banned
this looks like some real nice, pulpy fun. I'll check out the pilot when I get a chance.

this is airing after Dexter right? I'll probably just catch both this sunday.
 
O

odiin

My Apartment, or the 120 Screenings of Salo
I'm sorry, but I just can't stand how all showtime shows look like slightly edgier network shows. I wish they'd follow AMC and HBO's leads and go for a more cinematic feel. It might be nitpicky but it takes me out of it.
 
J

jtb

Banned
odiin said:
I'm sorry, but I just can't stand how all showtime shows look like slightly edgier network shows. I wish they'd follow AMC and HBO's leads and go for a more cinematic feel. It might be nitpicky but it takes me out of it.
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I'll take artificial #EDGY over their endless production line of generic comedy-dramas (plus nudity) any day. it's not HBO/AMC but it's an improvement.

RatskyWatsky said:
Indeed it is!
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fantastic, thanks.
 
D

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
Cornballer said:
- Sepinwall's review
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Yeah, I think I'm just going to skip this. There's already more than enough good television around. I'm especially not interested in another 'Vocational Irony Narrative', especially from Showtime. If you're gonna pull that, it should be a more organic evolution of the story rather than the foundational premise. That's just heavy-handed and obnoxious.

Comparing the world building and related tone to the likes of Entourage, Episodes and Californication is definitely a big negative.
 
R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Slant - Ray Donovan: Season One ***/****

Ray Donovan is a harsh, often excessively temperamental series, but it takes some well-timed respites from its main character's crumbling familial circumstances when it puts him in the middle of case-of-the-week-style Tinseltown conspiracies. The show's large ensemble is mostly free of stereotypes, and nearly every narrative shift feels authentic and punctual.
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Variety - Review: “Ray Donovan”

Buoyed by a riveting supporting performance from Jon Voight, it’s a dense, highly organic world — at its best, playing like a present-day “Chinatown.” More often, it’s eminently entertaining, if not initially quite worthy of a spot alongside TV’s velvet-roped A-list.
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There are more reviews out, but I'm trying to spread them throughout the day/week as a means to bump the thread with something worthwhile.
 
R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Entertainment Weekly - Ray Donovan - "B"

Together with Jon Voight, who's thrillingly twisted as Ray's crazy ex-con father, Mickey, Schreiber helps save this show from becoming just another drama about sex scandals diverted and TMZ headlines deferred.
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SFGate - 'Ray Donovan' review: Hollywood's fixer (subscription required)

At heart, this is a show about good and evil, but sometimes the catch--for both the characters and the audience--is knowing which is which. You won't be able to stop watching.
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C

Cornballer

Member
- Poniewozik: Ray Donovan
But after five episodes, Ray Donovan is still some good performances in search of a show. It feels made up of pieces of other antihero dramas–a little Sopranos here, a little Brotherhood there, even a little Entourage around the edges. Ray is so far too much a cipher to be an engaging focal character, and his flaws and failings are those of so many middle-aged cable ass-kickers in the past decade. Meanwhile, the culture-clash angle, between phony L.A. and real-as-a-brick South Boston, just makes both elements feel more caricatured.
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R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Uncle Barkey - Liev Schreiber stars in Showtime's Ray Donovan, but the victory lap's for Voight

Showtime’s taut and pretty terrific Ray Donovan.... Schreiber brings a solid, stolid presence to the role. But it’s Jon Voight as Mickey who gives this drama its ferocious, dangerous and sometimes creepy edge.

A-
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NY Daily News - 'Ray Donovan': TV review

“Ray Donovan” could be TV’s next go-to dark drama, thanks to Liev Schrieber’s mesmerizing performance as Ray and Jon Voight’s superb bobbing and weaving as the menacing Mickey.

Viewers may find it takes some concentration to sort out the lineup and the dramas here. The payoff is worth the investment.

****/*****
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R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
NY Post - 'Ray Donovan' the go-to man for Hollywood sleaze bags

Great acting, writing and direction. Ray, baby! Where you been all my life?

****/****
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The Daily Beast - ‘Ray Donovan’: Is the Liev Schreiber–Led Showtime Drama The Next ‘Sopranos’?

Ray Donovan [...] presents a fascinating portrait of warring family members and criminal behavior. The result is something extraordinary and compelling, a first-rate drama for Showtime that arrives just as the pay cable network bids farewell to its highly-rated Dexter. While it’s too soon to tell whether Ray Donovan will rank alongside The Sopranos in the pantheon of timeless drama, this is television to watch with the phone off and the second screens tucked away, a testosterone-fueled drive through the seedy underbelly of Hollywood, one punctuated by danger at every intersection.
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TV Guide - Showtime's Ray Donovan

This could be the start of something great. In just a handful of episodes, it's already powerfully terrific.
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C

Cornballer

Member
- Maureen Ryan: 'Ray Donovan' Review: Take The Anti-Hero Pop Quiz!
I wish I could say that "Ray Donovan" is just a garden-variety disappointment, but the new Showtime drama is more than just an average letdown. It seems to indicate that Showtime is not looking to the future -- a future the network was helping to create via the addictive dual psychodrama "Homeland -- but to the testosterone-soaked past.
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- The Atlantic Interview: A conversation with Liev Schreiber and Jon Voight about their new Showtime drama
 
B

Busty

Banned
I know that some of the critical reception has been uneven but I'm seriously looking forward to this show.

My only concern being whether the concept gets stale too quickly but Liev Schreiber is always worth a watch.
 
R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Wall Street Journal - The Moral Life of a Fixer

Sharply written, sophisticated even at its most melodramatic, with first-class performances throughout. Not the kind of thing that comes along often in the summer, or any other time of year, for that matter.
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USA Today - 'Ray Donovan': A fine family drama, with a twist

Schreiber and Voight may not save the summer, but they've certainly made Showtime a summer place to be.

*** 1/2 out of ****
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NY Times - Family Ties, Boston Style, in Los Angeles

But the first few episodes of “Ray Donovan” are disappointing — grandiose, predictable and painfully slow.
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Boston Globe - ‘Ray Donovan’ brings Southie to Lala Land

Electricity flows through the entire series, which charges forward confidently but without glossing over any of its many intricate story lines. As “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” prepare for their final rounds of episodes, “Ray Donovan” arrives at just the right time. It’s not as meticulous, cinematic, or original as those two shows, but it’s got the same kind of storytelling ambition. It’s the most vital new series of the year so far.
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dead souls said:
I don't know whether to be hyped or not. It doesn't look all that good
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Yeah, I was pretty 'meh' on the trailer and just decided to throw up a thread for the hell of it - it's not like I'm super hyped or anything.

Sepinwall and Ryan hate it so that's a plus.
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hehe
 
E

ezekial45

Banned
I kinda liked it. Though it seemed like they were going back and forth with infidelity plot. I can tell that'll be a big focus for the season.

I'll stick with it, regardless.
 
J

jtb

Banned
caught the pilot on youtube earlier today. a resounding "meh." will stick with it for a couple episodes due to the talent (acting, at least... no idea about the writing side of things) and the production values, but not for long if it keeps this up.

breaking bad's secret has always been it's sense of humor and the fact that it's incredibly self-aware of its relatively misanthropic protagonists and subject matter. this was just played incredibly straight (which is absolutely fine; but you have to give me more than just by the number daddy issues if it's going to be compelling). I know the obvious parallel to this show is the Sopranos but for whatever reason, this show's complete lack of anything resembling an identity (yet) just seemed to contrast so sharply with a show like BB.
 
D

dead souls

Member
Well that was quite mediocre. I guess I'll stick with it for a while given that it's summer and not much is on but I'm not sure if I can make it through 11 more episodes.
 
G

GQman2121

Banned
One and done for me. I can't imagine why anyone would watch this. The Ray character seems so full of himself that he can't even be bothered to show any type of emotion. The plot and overall narrative is also not interesting or original. Everything about the show seemed CBS hour circa 98'.

I give it 4 trying too hard out of 5.
 
Z

zugzug

Member
SnakeXs said:
I saw one trailer/preview for this and it looked like a TBS show.
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you could not be more wrong, we saw this tonight. Holy Shocking cast of casts. Its like everyone on the show 15 actors we've seen in other shows thru the past 10 years. Amazing amazing cast.

I've never really felt Liev was that good of an actor but I guess he really does fit the role quite well. Beautifully shot episode crisp and clean colors on my screen in good focus with great light.

Would love to see the story line go in certain direction but I feel it won't.
Would love to see Ray and his men defend against the church to keep his father Jon Voight alive however the seediness and grittiness of this show would be hard to cast the church and its power in a light that fits well with the design of this show. Just saying I would like to see that but not sure how they can show it well enough, loved when they said Davinchi code style

So yeah I'll be in this show, and the acting very stronk much better acting and camera work than what we saw in last Monday's premiere of Under the Dome.

I got one thing to say to you, Bag or the baseball bat.

Edit: luls the previous responses to my post all call this meh, this is a great pilot building up a baseline storyline that only gets better as the season goes on. You guys sound to me like your all being greedy and not letting this show getting a foot and develop itself. To the GQman2121 of course Ray is full of himself but that man can back it up he has great presence he is a leader in a room.
 
J

jtb

Banned
Impressive ratings, but doesn't mean a whole lot yet... it's obviously benefiting a huge amount from the Dexter lead in.

also, is that 66% up from Homeland's S1 premiere? or s2? because S2 has turned into quite the ratings juggernaut for Showtime, higher rated than Dexter towards the end iirc.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
jtb said:
Impressive ratings, but doesn't mean a whole lot yet... it's obviously benefiting a huge amount from the Dexter lead in.

also, is that 66% up from Homeland's S1 premiere? or s2? because S2 has turned into quite the ratings juggernaut for Showtime, higher rated than Dexter towards the end iirc.
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Press release:
RAY DONOVAN delivered the network’s highest-rated original series premiere ever with 1.35 million viewers at 10 p.m., besting all other SHOWTIME freshman comedy and drama series including Homeland’s blockbuster premiere in 2011 by 25 percent (vs. 1.08 million). The series delivered 2.22 million viewers for the night, the highest-rated freshman series night of any SHOWTIME series to-date, up a staggering 61 percent versus the season one premiere night for Homeland (with 1.38 million viewers).
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I

ivysaur12

Banned
Paula Malcomson's Boston accent is the definition of an abomination.

FUCK YOU RAAAAAY! Ugh. She always plays characters that seem to be boardering on the edge of sanity.
 
A

Alpende

Member
I'm not entirely convinced yet, was kind of disappointed to be honest. But I'll give it a few more episodes, I like Liev.
 
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