Nip/Tuck: On the Cutting Edge
The much-promoted Tuesday night season premier of Nip/Tuck on FX Channel did not disappoint this viewer.
In keeping with a standard Hollywood practice, the hyped first episode hinged around guess what? Hype and promotion. Our plastic surgeons, Christian McNamara and Sean Troy, are newly arrived from Miami, but naively astounded to be underemployed. To keep their hands in shape, they set up a basketball court in their otherwise unused but lavishly-equipped operating room.
Awakened from their arrogance by their hot-shot office manager, our boys quickly redeploy by hiring a hot publicist, hitting the party circuit, where with a touch of bona fide reality, Dr. Sean asks: "Anyone in this town not had cosmetic surgery?" Then, in a maneuver mirroring the real-life path taken by some super-ambitious, newly-arrived Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeons, Christian and Sean attach themselves to a plastic surgery TV series.
In classic NIP/TUCK style, the action happens very quickly; you need to pay attention to savor the undercurrents. Christian, a player and hype-ster extraordinaire, and immediately at home with Hollywood glitz, is at odds with Sean, his more conservative, old- school, traditional partner. As the team wrangles a spot as advisors on an amateurish TV series, Hearts and Scalpels, they deftly slither to on-camera supporting roles. Of course, the over-confident Christian maneuvers best into the camera's eye but when the program airs, inexplicably, it is Sean who gets the "face time" ( I learned that term as one of the original E! Channel's DR. 90210 Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon ensemble).
In the classic role reversal, the ostensibly less ambitious of the partners, Sean, wins the "celebrity" lottery by instantly becoming the Hollywood plastic surgeon du jour. His phone rings while Christian fumes. And, all the attention suddenly makes Sean a convert to celebrity.
I find the program "edgy" at several levels. First, there is eternal tension between the two plastic surgeons. The two different personalities are strummed very smoothly. The program itself carries an edgy flavor with the sub-plots including patients who are into sado-masochism. Then, depiction of a reconstructive procedure by which the lining of the vagina is used to rebuild burnt lips. I need not enumerate the assorted plays on that operation.
The office scenery is very stylish, contemporary and yet cold. Says something about the doctors, of course.
Summary: Great entertainment. With gentle pokes at Hollywood staples: goofy producers, killer publicists ( Lauren Hutton great in the role; she tells the boys that studious publications in medical journals are no match, marketing-wise, for a mention in PEOPLE magazine), hungry for fame and fortune plastic surgeons. And, catchy music, nifty sets and sexy costumes for all.
This doctor's prescription: Stay tuned.
Robert Kotler, MD, FACS
Author, SECRETS OF A BEVERLY HILLS COSMETIC SURGEON
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: nip-tuck, cosmetic surgery, reviews
In keeping with a standard Hollywood practice, the hyped first episode hinged around guess what? Hype and promotion. Our plastic surgeons, Christian McNamara and Sean Troy, are newly arrived from Miami, but naively astounded to be underemployed. To keep their hands in shape, they set up a basketball court in their otherwise unused but lavishly-equipped operating room.
Awakened from their arrogance by their hot-shot office manager, our boys quickly redeploy by hiring a hot publicist, hitting the party circuit, where with a touch of bona fide reality, Dr. Sean asks: "Anyone in this town not had cosmetic surgery?" Then, in a maneuver mirroring the real-life path taken by some super-ambitious, newly-arrived Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeons, Christian and Sean attach themselves to a plastic surgery TV series.
In classic NIP/TUCK style, the action happens very quickly; you need to pay attention to savor the undercurrents. Christian, a player and hype-ster extraordinaire, and immediately at home with Hollywood glitz, is at odds with Sean, his more conservative, old- school, traditional partner. As the team wrangles a spot as advisors on an amateurish TV series, Hearts and Scalpels, they deftly slither to on-camera supporting roles. Of course, the over-confident Christian maneuvers best into the camera's eye but when the program airs, inexplicably, it is Sean who gets the "face time" ( I learned that term as one of the original E! Channel's DR. 90210 Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon ensemble).
In the classic role reversal, the ostensibly less ambitious of the partners, Sean, wins the "celebrity" lottery by instantly becoming the Hollywood plastic surgeon du jour. His phone rings while Christian fumes. And, all the attention suddenly makes Sean a convert to celebrity.
I find the program "edgy" at several levels. First, there is eternal tension between the two plastic surgeons. The two different personalities are strummed very smoothly. The program itself carries an edgy flavor with the sub-plots including patients who are into sado-masochism. Then, depiction of a reconstructive procedure by which the lining of the vagina is used to rebuild burnt lips. I need not enumerate the assorted plays on that operation.
The office scenery is very stylish, contemporary and yet cold. Says something about the doctors, of course.
Summary: Great entertainment. With gentle pokes at Hollywood staples: goofy producers, killer publicists ( Lauren Hutton great in the role; she tells the boys that studious publications in medical journals are no match, marketing-wise, for a mention in PEOPLE magazine), hungry for fame and fortune plastic surgeons. And, catchy music, nifty sets and sexy costumes for all.
This doctor's prescription: Stay tuned.
Robert Kotler, MD, FACS
Author, SECRETS OF A BEVERLY HILLS COSMETIC SURGEON
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: nip-tuck, cosmetic surgery, reviews
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