"My Own Worst Enemy" (2008) TV series

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Creator:

Jason Smilovic

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

September 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

One man. Two very different lives.

Plot:

Henry Spivey, an efficiency expert, lives a typical suburban life, right down to the wife, two kids...

Plot Keywords:

Television Flop | Short Lived | Government Agent | Dual Identity | Husband Wife Relationship

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Christian Slater	...	Edward Albright / ... (9 episodes, 2008)
Mike O'Malley	...	Raymond Carter / ... (9 episodes, 2008)
Saffron Burrows	...	Dr. Norah Skinner (9 episodes, 2008)
Mädchen Amick	...	Angelica 'Angie' Spivey (9 episodes, 2008)
Alfre Woodard	...	Mavis Heller / ... (9 episodes, 2008)
Omid Abtahi	...	Tony Nazari (9 episodes, 2008)
Taylor Lautner	...	Jack Spivey (7 episodes, 2008)
Bella Thorne	...	Ruthy Spivey (6 episodes, 2008)
James Cromwell	...	Alistair Trumbull (6 episodes, 2008)
Mindy Sterling	...	Arlene Scott (5 episodes, 2008)
Missy Yager	...	Mary Grady (5 episodes, 2008)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Universal Media Studios (UMS)

Trivia:

Janus was the Roman god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces or heads, facing in opposite directions.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Saturday Night Live Presidential Bash '08 (2008) (TV)

Some Terrific Acting But On A Flawed Premise

Offered as a spy thriller about a super-secret and utterly ruthless American intelligence agency capable of operating anywhere in the world, the series featured a secondary story line about a seemingly average middle class family with relationship issues-- clearly meant to rope in the ladies. With the action lurching uneasily from one to the other, the two story lines didn't quite marry up.

The casual violence of the major plot was bound to turn off women viewers far more than they would be attracted by the domestic scenes featuring white bread blonde Madchen Amick. Many also would not "get" the references to major international issues that concern this shadowy and sinister Agency. These also put a date-stamp on the series.

Christian Slater is a Jack Nicholson sound-alike who also has Nicholson's sharp, worldly cynicism. Add the gritty physical intensity of a young Robert Blake, whom Slater generally resembles, and you have a great talent. There are some steamy love scenes between the 5'8" Slater and stunning English model turned actress Saffron Burrows--six feet tall and an avowed lesbian off-screen--who plays a psychiatrist on the staff the Agency. This match-up looks ludicrous on paper yet in action it is convincing. In the ironic intelligence of the writing and in its tribute to classic British fiction of the nineteenth century this series owes a debt to "House", the hit medical series on Fox Network.