Action: The Complete Series

This fast-paced, made-for-cable comedy series, shot cinema vérité style, numbered among its biggest fans the very Hollywood insiders it viciously lampooned. Bawdy, irreverent, and profane, Action exposes Hollywood's seedy underbelly, personified here by ruthless young producer Peter Dragon (Jay Mohr), whose stellar record has been marred by a flop. Determined to reestablish himself on the “A” list, the desperate Dragon resorts to slimy, underhanded tactics, throwing caution to the wind, and making child-star-turned-prostitute Wendy Ward (Illeana Douglas) his new “development executive” because she's the only one who'll tell him the truth. He can't depend upon his VP Stuart Glazer (Jack Plotnick), neurotic writer Adam Rifkin (Jarrad Paul), or slothful security chief Uncle Lonnie (Buddy Hackett), but he keeps them around to feed his ego. Real-life stars such as Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves, and Salma Hayek pop up as themselves, while the show depicts the sleazy Hollywood milieu with deadly accuracy: the cutthroat business practices, dishonest deals, hookers, cronyism, nepotism—everything that fuels Tinseltown's wildly dysfunctional system. The scripts are very funny and erstwhile standup comic Mohr is nothing short of sensational as the backstabbing, phony mogul who'll do anything to get back on top. Compiling all 13 episodes from the 1999-2000 series on a two-disc set, DVD extras include audio commentary on three episodes and a 25-minute featurette with cast and crew interviews. Highly recommended. (E. Hulse)