Hiring Ben McKenzie

Wow, has it been a week and a half? Sorry about that. There’s been nothing going on in the world (damn Olympics), plus I’ve been away celebrating my friends Travis and Jodi’s wedding. Now that my DVR is recognizing the existence of fall TV, let’s ramp it back up! So, in order to feel constantly inspired, I leave myself little notes of future topics to blog about (which I shoulda checked last week). I wrote a note early last spring when the unbuzzworthy Al Pacino flim 88 Minutes premiered. In the preview, I saw the erstwhile Ben McKenzie, last seen when the O.C. signed off in ’07. The note was simply titled “Ben McKenzie needs a job.” You see, I was hardcore into O.C. reruns on Soapnet at the time, and I got a full dose of his talent and was missing him. I’m dead serious. I’ve always appreciated the comic timing of Adam Brody (Seth Cohen), but in the later episodes,McKenzie and Brody would play off of each other like the hipster Martin and Lewis (you know, after Marissa kicked it and he grew a sense of humor). Before that, he perfected the brood – he could melt you with one steely glance. Sure, he has a potato nose like a young Karl Malden, but the boy had chops. Lastly, he was a little too realistic as the stone-faced, emotionally stunted husband in Junebug. So, I was happy to read yesterday that E.R.’s John Wells was considering him for a new cop series (I thought we didn’t need another one either, but there actually aren’t a lot on these days besides The Shield and L&O franchises). So good luck Ben McKenzie. We hope you get a job really soon!