Sat 13 Jun 2020
A TV Pilot Review: HUSTLE “The Game Is On†(2004).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[7] Comments
HUSTLE “The Game Is On.†BBC One, UK. 24 February 2004 (Series One, Episode One). Adrian Lester, Marc Warren, Robert Glenister, Jaime Murray, Robert Vaughn. Creator-screenwriter: Tony Jordan. Director: Bharat Nalluri.
Of the eight seasons this British TV series was on, only four have been released on DVD in the US. I recently caught up with the first episode when I saw that it was streaming online. Well worth the wait, I’d say, on one hand, but on the other, I have to ask myself, why did I wait so long?
I have known what the basic premise was all along, of course. Every week it was on a gang of very experienced con artists pull off a long complicated scam on some unsuspecting victim. One crucial ingredient, or so I’m told, is that very often in each episode when it looks as though their plan is going to collapse, that’s when the real con takes over. It is difficult to imagine how many times the writers of this show can fool the viewer for eight seasons like this, but spread out over as many years, well, why not? Obviously they did it.
In “The Game Is On,†not only do the basic members of the gang get together for “one last con,†but a new member of the team invites himself in, all the while playing on the greed of a victim who thinks he’s about to make a no-risk fortune on the stock market.
The story is told in very obvious tongue in cheek, and it’s pleasure to see Robert Vaughn (the senior member of the group and the only member of the cast I recognized) play a role obviously meant for him. It is also very obvious that this is a series that I will be watching more of.
June 13th, 2020 at 7:23 pm
I have tried several times to like this series but never have been able to get into it. It reminds me of later American version LEVERAGE where I had a similar problem.
There are only a few con artist as protagonist I enjoy. I am a big fan of Donald Westland Dortmund, the film STING and James Rockford working the con. The con is a popular theme for fiction but for me it is hit and miss – liked ALIAS SMITH AND JONES but not SWITCH.
One day I will figure it out.
June 13th, 2020 at 8:06 pm
Me, on the other hand, loved SWITCH, never cared for SMITH AND JONES.
And yet, on the other hand (I always carry a spare), am also a fan of Dortmuder, Rockford and think THE STING was the best movie of 1973.
When you figure it out, you can tell me what it all means.
PS. I have yet to sample LEVERAGE. Will I like it or not?
June 13th, 2020 at 8:21 pm
There are many LEVERAGE episodes on YouTube. Here is one from the first season
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G07S11oaKGE
For those wanting to look at more from other seasons, click on the episode link above. There you will see below left of video the name of the channel, click on it and that will take you to more episodes.
June 13th, 2020 at 8:26 pm
Thanks, Michael. It’s in the queue, even as I speak. (Don’t ask how long the queue is!)
June 13th, 2020 at 9:34 pm
This and LEVERAGE are both well written tricky shows both with excellent casts, and both with favorite actors of mine (Hutton and Vaughan).
Same basic theme, slightly different approach, but both fun to watch and generally intelligently done.
June 14th, 2020 at 12:50 pm
I’m a big LEVERAGE fan. The show is a good mix of humor and suspense with a personable cast. I understand it’s being revived at the end of this year with the original cast except for Timothy Hutton.
June 14th, 2020 at 2:31 pm
I’d never heard of this. And have only seen a tiny bit of LEVERAGE.
So thanks for telling us about this!
My favorite show about a con man is WHITE COLLAR. Have seen most of the episodes more than once. Like everything: the plots, the clever dialogue, the actors, the modernist set design, the New York photography.