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SUMMER 2005 NEWSLETTER


Update: 8/25/05:

What a wonderful surprise that Coyote was able to return for the last two episodes of THE 4400's  second season on the USA Network. If you missed the show that aired on August 21st, you still have a chance to view it this Saturday on USA's marathon. Check your local TV programming for exact times. In last week's episode called "The Fifth Page", the 4400s across the world come down with a strange and life-threatening illness so Dennis Ryland (Coyote) comes back to head NTAC and issues the unpopular order to quarantine the sick as well as the unaffected 4400s. This Sunday he'll appear in this season's finale episode called "Mommy's Bosses".  For extensive information on the series, visit the USA Network's 4400 web site.

Here are some excerpts from today's news bulletin from Zap2it.com entitled 'The 4400' Dwindles to One - "After a successful six-episode first-season run in the summer of 2004, USA Network's 'The 4400' closes out its second, 13-episode season on Sunday, Aug. 28, with 'Mommy's Bosses.' It's essentially the conclusion of a two-part storyline that began last week with 'The Fifth Page.' That episode marked the return of season-one star Peter Coyote as Dennis Ryland... According to executive producer Ira Steven Behr, who co-wrote the last two episodes with Craig Sweeney, this was only the beginning. "We're going out with a bit of a bang," he says of 'Mommy's Bosses.' 'There will be much smoking out of people's computers. We end this season with five different moments, that each alone would be enough to have people go, "What the hell does that mean?" It's almost too much. We had to end it in act three of the second hour, because we needed the rest of the time to do the Holy mother...'kind of thing.'"

Here's some glowing words about Peter regarding both THE INSIDE and THE 4400.

Kansas City Star (8/19/05 - "The 4400" howls once more:
"Peter Coyote deserved better than he got this summer from Fox, which dispatched 'The Inside' after five weeks on the air, not nearly enough time for viewers to discover the deliciously dark, Svengali-in-a-suit FBI character he’d created. So he’s back where he belongs, on 'The 4400', a better show with a bigger cast and a network that knows what it’s doing. Coyote is brought in to manage the bizarre outbreak that has suddenly struck one-fifth of the 4,400 alien abductee-returnees. The telltale rash on their arms is leading to some rash decision-making, both by the 4400 and nervous U.S. officials, and nobody seems to want to listen to a voice of reason, not even one as silky smooth as Coyote’s."

Switching channels.... So now Coyote has gone from USA to Fox and then back to USA and now to ABC in the new series, COMMANDER IN CHIEF, starring Geena Davis. It will premiere Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 9/8c. As of now, Coyote has done three episodes and will make his first appearance on October 4th. It may end up to be a recurring role. The following is a description of his character, General Warren Keaton - A lean, mean fighting machine of a man, he was the Supreme Allied Commander of Nato, and he has the authority and decisiveness of a born leader. Keaton ran against Alllen for the vice presidency, but an unfortunately sexist comment at a public debate lost him the election. A man of conscience and definite opinions, he's uncompromising and extremely popular with the public. Keaton has made it clear that he's not interested in serving as Vice President for Allen's new adminstration. However, when Allen calls him in for a special confab, he changes his mind, but only after realizing that he and Allen talk the same language and share the same goals for the public good.

If you look under the Black and White Photo Gallery, you'll find the two most recent portraits of Coyote.

Earlier this month I reported Coyote's attendance at Michael Madsen's party in celebration of his book "The Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madsen: Vol I, 1995-2005" From the LA Weekly - "'I met him 10 or 12 years ago,' recalls a dapper, affable Coyote of the poet. 'I’d written a screenplay for him that neither of us had the juice to get off the ground. Turned out that we were both writers, both ex-dopers, both kind of reformed carousers. I saw that sensitive side of him then, and I’m glad he’s making it public.”

Dimension Home Video has announced the DVD release of WRITTEN IN BLOOD on September 6th. This crime thriller, directed by John Terlesky, also stars Michael T. Weiss and Maureen Flanigan. The synopsis is as follows: When Detective John Traveller (Coyote) is convicted of the murder of his wife and her lover, his partner, Detective Matthew Ransom (Weiss), begins to try and find out what really happened. As he investigates the murder further, the only clues he uncovers are baffling – including a name that is written in blood. Ransom also finds himself drawn to Traveller’s daughter Jude (Flannigan). As more murders occur, Ransom finds that he must include Jude as a possible suspect. The 94-minute film is rated R for language, violence and some sexuality. It's presently being shown on some premium movie channels. You can pre-order it now at Amazon.com

Update: 8/02/05:

On July 31 Coyote attended the Food Network's "Behind The Bash" Party for Michael Madsen's  new book of poetry. The event was held at the Loggia at The Highlands in Hollywood.


Michael & Peter


Peter with guest

With Peter now joining the cast of "Commander in Chief", he was invited to ABC's Television 2005 Summer Press Tour All-Star Party at The Abby Club in West Hollywood on July 27th.

DEEPWATER is now being screened at Germany's Fantasy Filmfest this month. The Seattle Film Festival hosted the premiere of Deepwater back in June. Described as a psychological thriller à la Hitchcock, the film has enough twists and turns to satisfy just about anyone.

The San Francisco Jewish Festival, which runs July 21-August 6 is screening two Coyote films. The first is a 78-minute documentary called COMMUNE (2005). Jonathan Berman’s exploration of the allure that utopian societies hold for Jews, looks at the Black Bear Ranch, a 1970s community in Northern California’s Siskiyou County, and features Black Bear members Harriet Beinfeld, Peter Coyote and Daily Planet contributor Osha Neumann. The second film is the French Yiddish comedy, LE GRAND ROLE (2004), directed by Steve Suissa and featuring Coyote as a famous American director - think Steven Spielberg.

Update: 8/01/05:

Upon returning from the beach and enjoying the simple life minus radio, tv or newspapers, I was so surprised and much disappointed to learn of the cancellation of THE INSIDE series. Apparently, the two episodes aired back to back on July 6th were the last shows. As a rule, I don't watch much television, but I thoroughly enjoyed the clever scripts with that dark edge, and the cast was excellent. It was a terrific role for Coyote and he played it purr-fectly.

Brian Bellmont of MSNBC wrote a commentary on July 7th called "Gloomy, moody shows brighten summer TV" and this is what he had to say about THE INSIDE:

You want dark? “The Inside” is murkier than a sludge-filled sewer. On paper, it’s “Law and Order: Serial Killers,” a run-of-the-mill cop show about the FBI’s Los Angeles-based Violent Crime Unit. But in the hands of quirkmeister Tim Minear (“Angel,” “Firefly,” “Wonderfalls”), “The Inside” is “Se7en”-lite, an unapologetically dark and moody look at sickos, psychos, and the people who track them down.

Front and center is Rebecca Locke (Bridget Fonda look-alike Rachel Nichols), a fresh-faced, doe-eyed new recruit with some firsthand experience dealing with violent offenders. Turns out she was kidnapped as a child by just the kind of guy she and her new colleagues are after. Just what kind of damage did her experience inflict? As the episodes unfold, viewers are getting plenty of clues that Locke’s flawless skin may be holding together a scarred, unstable core. Peter Coyote adds a menacing layer as the rogue unit’s enigmatic boss, who may be more interested in solving crimes than making sure his agents come out of their investigations physically — and psychologically — in one piece.

It took until the fourth episode — written by “Buffy” alum Jane Espenson — for the show to really gel into a solid mix of black humor and piano-string tension. But if you want to check out this moody hour, you’d better act fast. Online buzz — including Minear’s own Web site — is already sounding the show’s death knell.

\Here's the latest from Zap2It:

FOX Entertainment President Peter Liguori takes full responsibility for the summer profiler series' "The Inside's" failure.

"I'll take the heat on how that show as scheduled," he says. "I think if I could rethink that decision, the way to have premiered that show would have been a bit earlier, right on the heels of '24's' finale, right on the heels of 'American Idol's' finale."

Instead, "The Inside" premiered on Wednesday, June 8 and promptly fell off most viewers radar, despite a strong cast and clever writing.

Despite Liguori's promises that the network will air all of "The Inside's" remaining episodes, on Friday it was announced that for at least the next two weeks it will remain off the Wednesday schedule in favor of expanded 90-minute episodes of the reality show "So You Think You Can Dance," followed by "dance themed" episodes of "The Bernie Mac Show."

Meanwhile, "Inside" stars Rachel Nichols and Peter Coyote have both jumped ship over to ABC for the fifth season of "Alias" and the new presidential drama "Commander In Chief," respectively.

So, Coyote has now joined the cast of ABC's COMMANDER IN CHIEF in recurring roles. He'll play President Mackenzie Allen's (Geena Davis) Vice Presidential nominee and will appear in the second episode. The series will air at 9 p.m. Tuesdays beginning Sept. 27. Also added to the cast is Donald Sutherland who plays the speaker of the house and  Kyle Secor who plays Allen's husband. "Commander in Chief" stars Geena Davis as a married mother and independent vice president who is thrust into power after the death of the Republican president, battling concerns by her predecessors' advisers and cabinet as well as her family and associates. Creator/executive producer Rod Lurie said there will be politics in the series but it's not the only focus of the show. Lurie called "The West Wing" "one of the great shows in the history of television" but its focus is more political than the family values that will be embodied in Davis' character.

Apparently, Coyote will also be appearing in some new episodes of the sci-fi series, THE 4400. After doing six episodes of the drama last season, he's been in Vancouver shooting some upcoming shows, once again playing the director of Homeland Security. In an interview with the Marin Independent Journal, he responds to the cancellation of THE INSIDE - "It's just a drag because it was an interesting show. Given the amount of work we did, it's sad, but what can you say?"

There are rumors that all of the episodes will eventually be released on DVD, so let's keep our fingers crossed.

Update: 7/05/05:

Remember there are back-to-back episodes of "THE INSIDE" tonight. Fox is hoping the double exposure might boost the ratings for the show, which has been attracting only some 3.9 million viewers each week. "The Loneliest Number" will be shown 8-9 PM ET/PT and then "Thief of Hearts" from 9-10 PM ET/PT. Here are some comments from today's London Free Press - "At the centre is the angry wizard, Coyote, who, besides being the boss, is also a famed behavioural scientist. He's also a ruthless, Hannibal Lecter character, according to Minear (executive producer). A stretch for Coyote? Hardly. 'I think if you were to ask my children, they'd say it was a close match on some days' he joked. Certainly Coyote (Bitter Moon, Femme Fatale) has made a career playing a succession of dodgy creeps. 'If I wasn't an actor, I might well have been a serial killer, who knows,' he said. 'This is a very safe and controlled environment in which to explore these things and it's a great deal of fun.' 

Deepwater premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival on June 9th. Director David Marfield and cast members Lesley Ann Warren and Mia Maestro attended the screening. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer gave it the following review - " Here's a taut and tense twist on an already tightly wound noirish classic and modern thrillers like The Postman Always Rings Twice, Blood Simple and Body Heat. This world premiere by David S. Marfield boasts the treadworn plot of a drifter coming to town, taking one look at the sultry wife of the seemingly corrupt older businessman, and finding himself in hot water after embarking on an affair. Yet Marfield, whose cinematic influences definitely show (add Psycho to the mix of movies above), subverts everything we think will happen. He does it with stylish pulse and visual creativity and -- with a solid cast that includes Peter Coyote, Lesley Ann Warren, Lucas Black and Mia Maestro - makes something fresh and suspenseful out of a successful, if standard, formula." To view the trailer, visit Seattlefilm.org.

And here's a great review by Variety:

Low-budget neo-noir looks like more than a million bucks, thanks to the vision of debut helmer David S. Marfield, who adapted story from a Southern Gothic novel by Matthew F. Jones. It also offers one of strongest, most unusual turns yet by Peter Coyote, as a rural tycoon who is either an evil manipulator or an outsized good ol' boy, depending on the interpretation -- with pic's main p.o.v. called into question as things get increasingly weird. Distribs will need muscle to get "Deepwater" out of the shallow end of theatrical play, but cable and vidvid follow-ups should go swimmingly.

Noir format initially feels more than familiar, with damaged young drifter, Nat Banyon (compelling Lucas Black from "Friday Night Lights"), just out of rehab for an unexplained mishap and on his way to a new life in Wyoming (pic was shot in rural British Columbia). He rescues one-named Finch (Coyote) from a bad road accident and is rewarded with a job at the man's run-down resort motel.

The cigar-chomping, glad-handing Finch has his fingers in numerous local pies, such as car dealership (run by Michael Ironside, usually a bad omen) and a casino nominally headed by natives (including always-great Ben Cardinal).

Despite tough survival skills, Nat feels in over his head. What really does it is Finch's beautiful young wife, Iris (Argentine up-and-comer Mia Maestro of "The Motorcycle Diaries"). Her mysterious combination of come-hither hints and what-are-you-doing reactions baffle the blonde youngster, especially after they engage in several semi-nude gropes.

He's further confused by conflicting gossip from locals, including a lonely waitress played by fetching Lesley Ann Warren. But Nat's bewilderment also offers a suggestion not to trust his version of events, as people and pets -- like Finch's German shepherd -- go missing.

Helmer keeps heat on throughout, and viewers who don't cotton to the Chinese puzzle aspect of the tale will still respond to startling images from resourceful lenser Scott Kevan, who fashions iconic silhouettes and hallucinogenic, brightly colored dreamscapes out of what could have been bleak northern settings.

Charley Clouser's subtly burbling score is another unsettling plus. Critics could argue with Eric Strand's acid-dipped editing and pic's hyped-up sound, but Darren Aronofsky-stlye disorientation ultimately pays off in a thriller twist that carves out unique territory -- even as it may freak out fans of genre convention.

Update: 6/22/05:

Tonight's episode of THE INSIDE is called "Pre-filer" - When a spate of murders targeting future serial killers start piling up, the VCU team find themselves matched against a cunning profiler who executes these would-be killers in the same way they would have killed their victims. Be sure to catch it at 9 pm (EDT).

Fox has just announced that they will air original back-to-back episodes on Wednesday, July 6th from 8-10 pm.

"The Loneliest Number" (8-9 pm) - When the VCU team investigates a series of suicides, they discover them to be murders linked to a suicide hotline. Meanwhile, Paul (Jay Harrington) suspects that Web's influence over Rebecca (Rachel Nichols) is growing stronger and may lead to fatal consequences.

"Thief of Hearts" (9-10 pm) - Paul re-lives his first case under Web when a serial killer imprisoned for removing the hearts of his female victims is released because additional victims turn up bearing his killing signature while he is behind bars.

Update: 6/15/05:

You may have recognized Peter's narration of the 30-second Oracle ads on television, which will run over the next three months. The world's biggest database software maker is specifically targeting rival database maker IBM, the technology industry's heaviest television advertiser, which offers a competing grid strategy that Oracle argues relies heavily on IBM mainframes.

More reviews of THE INSIDE! — Alessandra Stanley of the NY Times: "Peter Coyote adds a refreshing touch of evil as the mysterious boss, Virgil (Web) Webster, who is feared, loathed and respected by his agents." — Rick Bird of the Cincinnati Post: "This tale of a special FBI unit that investigates serial crimes is full of wicked good twists and turns and great characters including Peter Coyote's amoral chief. Newcomer Rachel Nichols is excellent as a child-abduction victim who grows up to be an FBI profiler." — Robert Lloyd of the LA Times: "Minear and Gordon know how to prepare a red herring - you won't get to the end of a story 20 minutes before the detectives do. And the cast is excellent. Like Patricia Arquette in The Medium, Nichols has a kind of aqueous, dreamy quality and a face that draws the camera in close, while Coyote is a naturally unsettling presence."

In an interview with Bangor Daily News (6/11/05), Augusta native Rachel Nichols commented on her role in THE INSIDE - "I have a great team of people who work on it with me, all of whom have more experience than I do. Take, for example, Peter Coyote, who's distinguished, talented and a perfect mentor figure."

Coyote says his character is so smart that he makes Einstein look like a special needs student! Be sure to visit the official web site for complete information as well as interviews with each of the cast members. Don't forget THE INSIDE airs every Wednesday night throughout the summer at 9 pm (EDT) on the FOX channel. The second episode is called "Old Wounds" airing tonight - A federal prosecutor and former co-worker of Paul's (Jay Harrington) is murdered. The VCU team suspects a serial killer who meets women through a kinky sex club. One of the establishment's patrons is a wealthy playboy to whom Rebecca (Rachel Nichols) feels drawn.

Update: 6/11/05:

Some great reviews on Coyote's new role in Fox's THE INSIDE:

Nancy Franklin, The New Yorker:
The new Fox Wednesday-night drama, “The Inside,” about an F.B.I. profiler whose own personal history makes her all too suited for the job, wastes no time playing its trump card—and that card is not the profiler. It’s Peter Coyote, in the role of Virgil Webster, her boss at the Violent Crimes Unit in Los Angeles—an unsmiling, manipulative man with what would pass in polite company for a cruel streak. Coyote has always had a strong presence on the screen, both in movies and on TV. He didn’t start acting until he was almost forty—he was, and still is, a broadly engaged political activist—and perhaps his full life as a human being is what makes him seem so grounded as a performer. He comes across as not needing the attention the camera provides, and so the camera willingly gives it to him. He’s a tall, trim tree, and still good-looking at sixty-two. And then, tying it all together, there’s that voice: it’s measured and sane yet passionate, serious but not stern or judgmental, warm but not gooey—and, amazingly, though Coyote couldn’t possibly be unaware of the persuasive power of his instrument, he doesn’t seem to be in love with the sound of it. Television advertisers know that you would buy anything from this man: in addition to the dozens of narrations Coyote has done for documentaries and live TV broadcasts, he has had a very successful career doing commercial voice-overs.

Jeffrey Sisk, Daily News:
Rookie FBI Agent Rebecca Locke (newcomer Rachel Nichols) is the latest member of the Los Angeles-based Violent Crimes Unit headed by shady Supervisory Special Agent Virgil Webster (a wonderful Peter Coyote)... The cast - especially Coyote, Harrington and Nichols - is uniformly strong, though Webster may well be the worst boss ever. With his apparent disregard for the well-being of those who work for him, a mutiny seems likely.

Joy Press, Village Voice:
Buried among the dozens of throwaway reality shows cluttering up the summer schedules is one scripted program with a serious pedigree. The Inside (Wednesdays at 9 on Fox), a stylish and creepy addition to the violent crime-solving genre, boasts a sterling staff of writers and producers from shows like Buffy, The X-Files, and 24. And although the series theoretically revolves around a blonde novice FBI agent named Rebecca Locke (Rachel Nichols), the real attraction is co-star Peter Coyote, who plays her Machiavellian supervisor Virgil "Web" Webster. Web takes only the most emotionally punishing cases, exploiting his own employees' vulnerabilities; his relationship with Rebecca promises to be particularly twisted. Coyote explains in a telephone interview, "It's not a lab show. You don't have people saying, 'Let's flush this with five cc's of dexothorpan.' This is about unexpected turns the human mind can take. Each character has personal and ethical limits, except Web. Just when you think he has rendered himself completely corrupt, it turns out he's ahead of everybody."

Coyote spent many years pushing limits in the counterculture—as a member of the '60s anarchist group the Diggers and a denizen of various communes. He remains a political activist, regularly supporting lefty causes and documentaries. So why does he end up with so many cop and sheriff roles? (In last season's USA miniseries The 4400, he even played a Homeland Security chief.) "For some reason, casting people and directors see me as the Robert Vaughn of my generation," he says dryly. "I guess it's just an irony of history." But he's enjoying The Inside, not least because of his longtime interest in serial killers. "I spent a lot of my life hanging around outlaws, some of whom were extremely dangerous—a few were actually murderers. These are people who don't have internal restraints, and I think it's fascinating to look at where the difference is between them and me. To find the line I refuse to cross.

Kat Parr, TV Squad:
Peter Coyote has a huge resume, and if you knock out the B-list, there's still E.T., Erin Brockovich, and a slew of suspense films that gift him with appropriate proportions of irony and gravitas.

Jonathan V. Last, Weekly Standard - The Inside has many virtues, not the least of which is an embarrassment of acting riches in the cast. In addition to Coyote's cool devilry, there's Adam Baldwin's congenital malice as Danny Love and Katie Finneran's pitch-perfect Melody Sim rounding out the squad. But the show's most important virtue is its sense of off-kilter mystery - just a few episodes in we can tell that not everything is quite right with The Inside. There is the vaguest hint of the supernatural hanging about the show. Not quite Lost, not quite Twin Peaks, not quite The X-Files, there are, nonetheless, larger forces at work in Virgil Webster's office. Let's hope The Inside survives so that we can find out what they are.

Jason Davis, Cinescape - Veteran actor Peter Coyote brings an interesting ambiguity to Virgil Webster, who seems, in many ways, to be just as dangerous as the monsters he pursues.

Aaron Barnhart, Kansas City Star:
Coyote brings an almost unbearable heaviness of being to his part, which creates enough believable tension with all his agents to propel “The Inside” forward.

Alan Pergament, Buffalo News:
Coyote, a veteran film and TV actor with a powerful voice heard on many a commercial, could play this cold role in his sleep. He is far from the caring boss we've grown to love on CBS dramas, and we learn next to nothing about his history.

Mike Hughes, Honolulu Advertiser:
This tough and tense series about an FBI unit investigating violent crimes is the cure for summer blandness. At the core is Rebecca Locke, played well by Rachel Nichols. She's a young FBI agent with a past that seems, at first, eerily vague. Her new boss is Virgil Webster, who is played by the always-terrific Peter Coyote. This is a fascinating character, almost in the league of Fox's Gregory House. Webster might seem to lack a heart or a soul. He'll risk the lives of others to do his job. He's terribly good at it — and he may have seething emotion under the surface.

Mike Duffy, Detroit Free Press:
With its compelling atmospherics, solid cast and Coyote's fine performance as the manipulative top cop, series creators Howard Gordon ("24") and Tim Minear ("Wonderfalls") have concocted a taut little thriller.

Victor Balta, Daily Herald:
Webster is played with an unsettling brilliance by Peter Coyote ("The 4400"). Webster is seemingly always a step ahead of his subordinates and doesn't necessarily appear to have their best interests in mind.

Tom Jicha , Sun Sentinel:
Peter Coyote effectively portrays Webster as a cranky, controlling, results-oriented superior officer, whose regard for his squad members is based on what they can do to make him look better. He's an off-putting individual -- think House as a cop -- but he does something in the final act likely to endear him to fans of this genre.

Mark A. Perigard, Boston Herald: He picks his operatives because he's aware of their emotional problems and he's more than willing to exploit their weaknesses to capture the bad guys. This creepiness gives ``The Inside'' an edge the other procedural shows don't have. Coyote summons up the Cigarette Smoking Man without the devilish nicotine fix.

Robert Philpot, Star Telegram:
The eccentric Coyote, by the way, could play this role in his sleep, but he's one of the elements that keeps the show awake.

Jonathan Storm, Philadelphia Inquirer:
The Inside departs from most of the grim autops-a-thon procedurals that ooze over the TV landscape, spending time dissecting its central characters. Who are they? Why were they chosen by the bewilderingly unemotional unit chief, played enigmatically by Peter Coyote, who is so archly juicy in these kinds of roles?

Mike Kelly, Toledo Blade:
Coyote, a veteran character actor, brings a stern-faced strength and gravity to his role, and a bit of a sinister quality as well. He's not your typical gruff-but-goodhearted TV police commander, and it's easy to imagine that he might have a few dark secrets of his own.

Kevin D. Thompson, Palm Beach Post:
Coyote, who always exudes The Voice of Authority no matter the role, is perfectly cast as enigmatic Webster.

Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post Gazette:
The most intriguing aspect of "The Inside" is the creepy Web Minear has woven with Coyote as the spider at its center. Is Webster a good-guy boss or a master manipulator who's using Locke for her talents?

Laura Urbani, Tribune Review:
Coyote does a good job of portraying a shady bureaucrat, a role he practiced on "The 4400."

Tim Goodman, San Francisco Chronicle:
If Coyote actually had this role in a more believable series -- say, on CBS -- he'd be looking at five highly rated seasons and syndication.

Eric Berlin, Blogcritics.org:
The old crotchety boss is given a nice twist by way of Peter Coyote in the role of Virgil “Web” Webster. The character arc of the show will likely focus upon the reason that Web selected each member of the elite team. He has, we’re told, an ability to pick assets and then control them to suit his needs.