BLOGS

24 to Life: In the Name of the Father

"No Zen for Daddy," is how Detective Charlie Crews summed up his feelings for his estranged father way back in the pilot episode of Life. Crews has had plenty of antagonists, both personal and professional, to deal with since then, leaving his parental issues simmering on the narrative back burner. But ever since the bare details about an upcoming episode featuring Charles Crews Sr. were leaked online, fans of the show have been wondering: who's going to play the dad, and what'll happen when they finally meet for the first time since Charlie's release from prison?

To find out, we went straight to Charlie himself, actor Damian Lewis. And much to our surprise (and perhaps NBC's publicists as well), he was happy to address both questions during a media conference call held today.

Filling the role of the senior Crews will be the familiar face of Geoff Pierson, perhaps best remembered as Senator (later President) John Keeler on the third and fourth seasons of 24. More recently, he's been seen as Captain Matthews on Dexter. "A great actor," Lewis said. "We filmed [the episode] just a couple of days ago. We had a lot of fun."

Just don't expect that light-hearted behind-the-scenes vibe to translate on-screen. This apparently won't be anyone's idea of a typical father-and-son reunion. "It's pretty dramatic when his arrives. Actually, it's nearly disastrous," Lewis added. "Charlie holds his dad responsible for not allowing his mother to come to visit him when he was in prison 12 years ago. His dad had, I think, disowned him to a large extent. So there's a lot of animosity there, and when they see each other, it's unintentionally aggressive and hostile with almost catastrophic repercussions."

"He's getting married, of course, to this hot, smoking young girl, Christina Hendricks from Mad Men, and Ted [Adam Arkin] is busy falling in love with her while she's about to get married to my dad. So, you know, business as usual at the Crews residence: just anarchy and chaos."

Personally, we've been waiting for this particular storyline to finally bubble to the surface -- heck, anything that gives Hendricks more screen-time is fine by us -- and Pierson is definitely inspired casting. Besides a slight physical resemblance to Lewis, he's one of those actors that brings a certain depth and gravitas to every role he plays. (Well, maybe not Unhappily Ever After.)

What do other Life fans think? Was he the best choice? Post your comments below.

22 Comments

November 12, 2008 3:34 PM
caromiller
Reply

My husband and I love this show. I wish TWOP would recap it!

November 12, 2008 3:34 PM
caromiller
Reply

My husband and I love this show. I wish TWOP would recap it!

November 12, 2008 4:03 PM
Sandra
Reply
replied to comment from caromiller

Amen to that!

November 12, 2008 4:09 PM
rgm31
Reply

I agree, we definitely need this show recapped!! It is one of the better shows on right now, and a recap may help get more viewers interested!!

November 12, 2008 4:34 PM
rose3000
Reply

Yep - it's bizarre that My Own Worst Enemy gets recapped and this one doesn't. The cast is great. Like House, it's a procedural with real character development. And Charlie Crews is one of the more unique characters I've seen on network in a while.

November 12, 2008 4:55 PM
brombones
Reply

Geoff Pierson wouldn't have been the first actor to come to mind to play Charlie's dad, but looking at them side by side, I do kinda see a resemblance. (24 seems so long ago, I completely forgot how big a role he had that season.)

November 12, 2008 6:21 PM
i_sky
Reply

I love, love, love this show, and I have been waiting to see the dad. I like how you get the story of the week, but also the simmering puzzle pieces coming together. I think I looked for recaps of it on TWoP for three weeks in a row before I could consistently remember that they don't recap it.

November 13, 2008 1:21 AM
thenakedwriter
Reply

LIFE rocks! I love that they are finally getting back to some of the core, overarching storylines, not just mystery-of-the-weeks. And yeah, TWOP, do your part already - help save the charming redhead!

November 13, 2008 2:48 AM
HoneyBee
Reply

awesome, i can't wait to see the episode! LIFE is a great show, and i also would like to see TWoP recapped this show :)

November 13, 2008 6:29 AM
Cyndie
Reply

word. I would also like to read recaps of this show.

I have been waiting for Crews' father to show up since the first episode, and thought they had dropped that storyline altogether. I think they chose well with John Keeler.

November 13, 2008 8:35 AM
Todd
Reply

I cannot believe that TWOP does not do recaps of this show. I see recaps of junk like "The Hills", "90210" and "The Biggest Loser" but a show that is actually well written acted and produced is left off the list. Please, please, please start doing Life recaps!

November 13, 2008 9:41 AM
Sandy
Reply

You have no idea how happy I was to see a story on Life featured on the front page of TWoP when I surfed here this morning. I agree with everyone else who commented - recap Life!

John Keeler is a great casting choice as Charlie's dad.

November 14, 2008 1:43 PM
Anna
Reply

Great choice, great show. Thanks for the update.

November 14, 2008 1:44 PM
Anna
Reply

Great choice, great show. Thanks for the update.

November 15, 2008 2:43 PM
Love Life
Reply

Great Show Great Acting Great Damian and everyone else. Good casting with Keeler- Finally a good, emtertaomomg show with drama and humor and all the elements of L I F E..

November 16, 2008 3:23 PM
Carole
Reply

If we start a petition will somebody please please recap Life?? Pretty please? Or we could all take a vote -- I'd bet [something] that there are more fans of Life than of several recapped shows!

November 17, 2008 2:29 PM
CDG
Reply

I'll vote for a recap too! Love this show!

November 17, 2008 2:36 PM
CDG
Reply

I'll vote for a recap too! Love this show!

November 21, 2008 10:26 AM
Life Fan
Reply

Please recap this show. It's one of the only shows on network television that I make time for every week.

December 17, 2008 11:11 AM
gwensz
Reply

yes someone please recap this show! It is a great show and Damien Lewis is awesome in it.

December 17, 2008 1:57 PM
vampmommy
Reply

please recap and add a forum.

December 17, 2008 6:17 PM
pitiless
Reply

I understand why TWoPs is not recapping Life. The purpose of recapping is to ridicule and mock the normal truly abysmal offerings on TV, such as Seacreast’s Moma’s Boys. Life is an interesting show with excellent actors. Soames (Damian Lewis) sucked me in and I stayed for the compelling story. If it were a crappy show it would have been recapped by now.

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