TV Review: Nip/Tuck

Nip/Tuck is a show that constantly reinvents itself. Rather than following its name however and going for little tweaks here and there, the show routinely undergoes total and complete makeovers. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) are always at the heart of the tales, and they in fact change very little, but everything else shifts like buildings during an earthquake. For a couple of seasons the show is about work and family, then it is about a serial killer, then family, now it is about our two doctors moving to Los Angeles from Miami.

McNamara/Troy had been a hugely successful practice in Miami, but the beginning of this season finds our doctors unable to get any clients to grace their new digs. In a town that is all about name recognition, McNamara and Troy are two unknowns. After an unsuccessful attempt to troll for clients at a bar (it seems that every attractive woman in the city already has a plastic surgeon of choice), they come across Fiona McNeill (Lauren Hutton), publicist to the stars. Left with little choice, the boys hire Fiona to help them out and the season gets under way in earnest. From the bar scene through at least the end of the second episode, Nip/Tuck whips out one Hollywood stereotype after another.

The first episode focuses on the addictive nature of power via Craig Bierko's portrayal of Bob Easton, an industry heavyweight who can only lower his stress level with frequent trips to his dominatrix, Mistress Dark Pain (Tia Carrere). It focuses on the inability of middle-aged actresses that look middle-aged to get good roles using Daphne Zuniga as Carly Summers as their prime example. And, the season could not be complete unless Sean and Christian found themselves working on a television show, so the boys quickly end up working with Freddy Prune (an over the top Oliver Platt) who is the show runner for Hearts 'n Scalpels, a plastic surgery-based drama. It almost goes without saying that the star of the show, Aidan Stone (Bradley Cooper) is a narcissistic, shallow, prima donna.

Despite its heavy use of stereotypes, Nip/Tuck's look inside Hollywood is exceedingly entertaining to watch. They are by no means breaking new ground, but the guest stars on the show are all fantastic and help bring new life to the fifth season. Particularly good in the premiere is Bradley Cooper, whose scenery chewing portrayal of Stone is hysterically funny from beginning to end, and his character on Hearts 'n Scalpels is Troy, but ratcheted up a few notches.

Article Author: Josh Lasser

Josh Lasser, formerly known as "TV and Film Guy," and complete with a Masters Degree in Critical Studies in said areas, gives his opinions on TV, Film, and Entertainment in general. All of which he does in a shameless attempt to try to get paid to do the exact same thing. …

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