Savvy is not crooks' strong suit in 'Knights'
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
Television seems to love the master criminal. From "Smith" to "Heist" to "Thief," it gives its crooks intelligence and savvy. Now it's time for the flip side.
Meet "The Knights of Prosperity," the final new-season network show to debut.
Its leader, played by Donal Logue, has more enthusiasm than brainpower.
"Have we ever played any other kind of character?" Logue asked, referring to him and his castmates. The other actors on the ABC series that debuts tomorrow are also on familiar turf. "I'm pretty stupid normally," dead-panned Lenny Venito.
Well, maybe their characters are simply in the wrong field. "They're innocent and they're naive in some ways," Logue said.
One, played by Maz Jobrani, was a lawyer in India. Now he's a cab driver, seduced by a big scheme.
These characters will spend the season trying to pull off a heist of rock star Mick Jagger's apartment in New York City. It's filmed on location with one camera, movie-style.
Burnett said it was Steve McPherson, the president of ABC Entertainment, who suggested the show's heist target.
"McPherson ... threw out the name Mick Jagger and we all were like, 'Yeah. Sure. Great.' "
All assumed Jagger would never return their calls, said Jon Beckerman, who created the show with Burnett.
Then they got the call. They could fly to New Zealand, where Jagger and the Rolling Stones had just finished a tour, and have about five hours filming odd bits for the pilot. "He seemed to have a fun time doing it," Burnett said.
That gives "Knights" an odd set of executive producers. There's Jagger and Victoria Pearman (his producing partner), plus Burnett and Beckerman and their boss, David Letterman.
The Jagger clips show an exaggerated form of his apartment. They're all stuffed into the first episode; beyond that, "Knights" leans on its less-than-savvy characters: