CBS brings back 1994 ‘True Lies’ in modern spy drama form

Rodney Ho THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION

In 1994, Arnold Schwarzenegger at the peak of his box office power landed the third most popular movie of the year with “True Lies,” an entertaining blend of action, comedy, drama and romance produced by James Cameron.

It seemed ripe to become a franchise, like a twist on James Bond. Yet it never happened. Cameron got wrapped up producing a little film called “Titanic.” Then 9/11 soured

Cameron on a “True Lies 2,” and Schwarzenegger became the governor of California. By the 2010s, the original movie was but a distant memory.

Only now, nearly three decades later, CBS has managed to take the “True Lies” conceit and turn it into a weekly spy procedural with Cameron as an executive producer and Schwarzenegger nowhere in sight. (The legendary action star, by the way, is doing his own Netflix series, “FUBAR.”)

The role of Harry Tasker, a super spy for Omega Sector, has been given to Steve Howey (”Reba,” ”Shameless”), who does not remotely resemble or sound like Schwarzenegger. (Then again, who does?).

Instead, Howey’s Harry is tall and lithe, possessing a far more down-to-earth, family man persona than Schwarzenegger could muster.

His wife Helen, who was played by Jamie Lee Curtis in the original film, is now portrayed by Ginger Gonzaga (“She-Hulk”). Helen is raising two teens while working as a linguistics professor and is a bit bored with her marriage.

Harry’s spy cover for 17 years has been a computer equipment salesman for the insurance industry. But in the first episode, she suspects his evasions are a cover for an affair. When confronted, he spontaneously takes her on a surprise trip to Paris that also happens to be a workrelated job trying to stop illegal arms dealers.

Unfortunately, said bad guys find him at a fancy restaurant while he’s having a dinner date with Helen.

“Helen!” he said, interrupting a serious marital discussion. “There are men here! They’re coming for us.”

Helen is annoyed: “Oh, OK. Are they single? Can they talk about their emotions. Is this a joke?”

Then he breaks into fight mode. She uses martial arts skills she picked up from exercise videos and yoga classes to help fend off the terrorists.

Harry’s cover is blown. The betrayal is serious. But he isn’t cheating on his wife per se.

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His justification is he’s saving the world and had no choice but to hide it from her. And she buys it.

“I think she finds it kind of sexy that her boring computer salesman husband is an international super spy,” Howey said. “That’s the unspoken dialogue of the show.”

Plus, lucky for Harry, Helen has plenty of spy-friendly skills. She knows multiple languages, be it French, Swahili or Russian. She has yoga and martial arts skills. She isn’t fazed by much. So his bosses hire her as well.

Gonzaga, who has an improv background, worked hard “to insert quirks for Helen, anything to make it not generic. I’m glad they allowed me to do it. It keeps everything fresh.”

“She’s a comedic assassin,” Howey said. “She made me laugh every day. We broke a lot during shooting which is a lot of fun for us. Everyone else hated us. There was such a time crunch.”

One of the funnier side characters is Mrs. Myers (Deneen Tyler), a seemingly boring catloving neighbor who watches their clueless kids while they’re killing trained assassins. The joke? She is a trained assassin herself. But she takes tracking their daughter’s possible boyfriends with the same seriousness as tracking down a terrorist with a chemical bomb.

The show is helmed by Matt Nix, who created USA’s lighthearted action comedy series “Burn Notice.”

Nix loved the over-the-top nature of the 1994 movie and said he knew how challenging it would be to replicate that on a broadcast TV series budget.

“It’s hard for me to get a horse on an elevator,” Nix said. “If you happen to know a hotel in Atlanta that will allow me to put a horse in an elevator, get back to me!”

On top of that, “True Lies” has to be in a different city every episode. In Episode 2, while Harry is in a motorcycle chase, the streets of downtown Atlanta are used as Madrid. In Episode 3, the spies are standing on a rooftop supposedly in Zurich, but the Hilton Atlanta is clearly in the background.

Nix, who worked in Atlanta on the short-run USA drama “Complications” in 2015, said he’s amazed how quickly sites that he knew about before are now condos: “You’re going to get TV producers starting a campaign: ‘Keep warehouses empty! Stop redeveloping train yards!’ We need them!”

He said it helps that a lot of his crew came from a previous CBS show “MacGyver,” which shot in Atlanta from 2016 to 2021 and also featured its cast putting out fires all over the world. “Our location scout knows what places could double for Berlin in Atlanta,” he said. “Before the show started, he took me around showing me Eastern Europe, Spain, Mexico. That’s Morocco. Of course, Morocco in Atlanta is half a block. You have to write to that.”

Nix said the toughest part of doing “True Lies” is balancing the various genre elements. “You can come up with the greatest spy story but it also needs to be romantic and fun and relevant to the relationship of Harry and Helen,” he said. “You can create a fun, sweet and engaging romantic story but it also needs to involve nuclear weapons being stopped in Qatar. You have to hit this trifecta of action, comedy and romance.” And an acting job like this is not for the faint of heart. Howey said he insisted on doing many of his own stunts, firing his own weapons and jumping in and out of vehicles. As a result, he pulled a quadricep and hurt his back. But the worst happened during the season finale: he broke his left ring finger, snapping it all the way back to the knuckle.

Word Sleuth

Crossword by Phillip Alder

Bridge and West had an automatic diamond lead. Declarer correctly ducked East’s king at trick one and won the second diamond trick with the ace. When South ran the heart queen, East took the trick and returned his last diamond. Declarer won with the queen and turned his attention to the clubs. He cashed the ace and finessed the jack, losing to East’s queen. Back came the spade nine.

Is it correct to play the king or the jack?

Clearly the diamonds were initially 5-3; otherwise, East would have led his last diamond and the defenders taken their five tricks: two diamonds and one from each of the other three suits. Given that South knew West was holding two diamond winners, he put up the spade king. If West had the ace, declarer was down for sure. He made the play that maximized his chance of keeping West off the lead.

Keep Your Eyes On The Target

During the card play, both sides should keep their eyes firmly on the number of tricks needed for success. Suppose the contract is three notrump. The declarer should numerate to nine tricks, while the defenders should be foraging for five.

The auction was straightforward,

When the spade king won the trick, declarer cashed his club and heart winners, ending with an overtrick.

True, if West had the spade ace, and East the queen, going up with the spade king (instead of finessing the jack) would have resulted in down three instead of down two, but that extra 50 points would have been nothing when compared to the lost game bonus if East held the spade ace.

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Sudoku by Wayne Gould

Bridge

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3/7/23 KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE TARGET

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 grid contains the digits 1 through 9, with no repeats. That means that no number is repeated in any row, column or box. Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com

During the card play, both sides should keep their eyes firmly on the number of tricks needed for success. Suppose the contract is three notrump. The declarer should numerate to

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Difficulty level: SILVER

Yesterday’s solution:

Baby Blues Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

Zits Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Candorville Darrin Bell

Baldo Hector Cantú and Carlos Castellanos

Pearls Before Swine Stephan Pastis

‘Scream VI’ sees survivors fighting a new enemy

SuSan Hiland SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The sequel to “Scream 3” is coming to theaters this week. The lucky survivors leave town and set up a new life only to find a new killer is aiming for them.

Also in theaters is a sci-fi film about a crashed pilot who finds himself far into the Earth’s past and must find his way home.

In another film, Woody Harrelson plays an unwilling coach for a team of Special Olympics team.

Opening nationwide are:

“65,” in which pilot Mills (Adam Driver) crashes on an unknown planet and quickly discovers he’s actually stranded on Earth . . . 65 million years ago. Now, with only one chance at rescue, Mills and the only other survivor, Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), must make their way across an unknown terrain riddled with dangerous prehistoric creatures in an epic fight to survive. The film is rated PG-13.

“Champions,” in which a stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach (Woody Harrelson) is sentenced to community service and forced to coach a Special Olympics team. The film is rated PG-13.

“Scream VI,” in which the four survivors of the latest Ghostface killings leave Woodsboro behind and start a new life in New York City only to be attacked by a new killer in the Big Apple. The film is rated R.

Opening in limited release are:

“Future TX,” in which a couple of tweens get their first cellphones. In a strange incident, the phones ring at the same time with a message from a mystery man with the caller display of Future TX, saying he needs their help to save the future. The film is not rated.

“Southern Gospel,” in which Samuel Allen, a 1960s rock star, finds himself in jail after struggling with years of anger and blame toward organized religion that has led him down a road of rebellion. In a moment of divine intervention, the judge dismisses drug charges against him under the pretense that Samuel speaks to local schools and churches about the dangers of drugs. Given a second chance, he follows in his father’s footsteps to become a preacher, overcoming the influence of a powerful church leader with a personal vendetta against his family. The film is rated PG-13.

“The Magic Flute,” in which Tim has been dreaming his whole life about attending the Mozart All Boys Music School, but already his first days there confront him with a hostile headmaster, the stresses of a first love and serious doubts about the authenticity of his singing voice. When he discovers a mystical gateway in the school’s library, he is pulled into the fantastic cosmos of Mozart’s opera, “The Magic Flute,” where imagination has no limits and the Queen of the Night reigns. The film is not rated.

“Unwelcome,” in which a couple escape their urban nightmare to the tranquility of rural Ireland only to hear stories of mysterious beings who live in the gnarled, ancient wood at the foot of their new garden. As warned by their new neighbors, in Irish lore the Redcaps will come when called to help souls in dire need of rescue, but it’s crucial to remember there is always a dear price to pay for their aid. The film is rated R.

For information on Edwards Cinemas in Fairfield, visit www. regmovies.com/ theatres/regal-edwardsfairfield-imax. For Vacaville showtimes, visit www.brendentheatres.com. For Vallejo showtimes, check www. cinemark.com/theatres/ ca-vallejo. More about upcoming films is available at