Bull

BULL / (2000) ***1/2 (out of four)

It is so difficult these days to find involving, thought-provoking television programming. Far too many programs feature shallow characters, disposable stories, and a wasteful cast; in our present generation TV has become a tool to reduce boredom instead of enriching audience's lives and portraying their culture. Turner Network Television (TNT) will launch their first-ever dramatic series in August and has ordered thirteen episodes of the one-hour long production. I do not watch much television, but "Bull" is one array that I definitely would consider viewing on a weekly basis. The show is interesting, dramatic, and offers more artistic merit and fine performances than most sitcoms can dream about.

"Bull" details the choice of several Wall Street investment bankers to break away from a financial firm in order to start their own business. There is Robert "Ditto" Roberts III (George Newbern), who is used to being treated with spoiled tactics and generous income because his enormously wealthy grandfather, "The Kaiser"(Donald Moffat), owns his previous company. Carson Boyd (Christopher Wiehl), laid off recently at the firm and his open to any new developments that will provide his family with steady income. Marissa Rufo (Alicia Coppola) just resigned from the big-time firm because she is tired of the moguls hurting others for the cash they already obtain. Also Alison Jeffers (Elisabeth Rohm) and Corey Granville (Malik Yoba), who risk everything in order to join "Ditto" on his quest for new ideas.

Dialogue is what this production is all about; many of the characters just stroll around in office buildings, so what they say had better be interesting. It is. The writers provide the characters with sufficient intelligence making the dialogue smart, decisive, edgy, and it clearly defines the culture in which the characters inhabit.

The characters are vividly detailed through convincing dialogue, actions, subplots, and relationships; the individuals here are free to explore their territory and examine their material by contributing more than it has to offer. There are several subplots offering variety and help to propel the story along smoothly.

When we think of good performances, normally that means there is a combination of good casting and a solid, convincing actor portraying a character. "Bull" contains ethical acting throughout. Donald Moffat is probably one of the more effective performers here, with his alluring personality and devious arrogance that brings his corporate tycoon to life in many perspectives. George Newbern furnishes his character his enthusiasm and eccentricity. Alicia Coppola is believably panicked and stressed over personal matters that are not yet explored. Christopher Wiehl is perfect for his grief stricken role.

Arrogant investment bankers are not usually the type of characters audiences are likely to sympathize with, but "Bull" offers a wide variety of relateable characters, one who will surely make contact with the feelings of an audience. "We have six completely different characters; everybody can relate to at least one of them," explains producer Michael S. Chernuchin in the press notes. To some extent he is in the fault when placing such a variance of characters all over the board, assuring the production will not miss because the targets are accustomed. However, there is a central motivation here, which justifies the production's actions. It will be interesting to see if this series will flourish or bomb, but being the timely, smart spectacle that it is, my money is on its success.

"Bull" follows the professional and private lives of a group of Wall Street stock-brokers.

Robert Roberts III (nicknamed "Ditto", for obvious reasons) leads a revolt from his grandfathers firm to start up his own firm, HSD Capital. But things may not be as easy as they first thought.

I found myself getting really engrossed by the characters lives and the story-lines. The acting is well done, you learn a lot about the back-story and family lives of the main six, and I like the fast paced dialogue.

I think the theme music is good and is quite distinctive. Also, the show's score will be familiar to fans of 'The X-Files' and "Millennium' etc, as Mark Snow is responsible for Bull's music. I also love the scene dividers, which are beautiful shots of New York in fast motion.

I don't really have a favourite character, as they all have their strengths and weaknesses. Carson "Rookie" Boyd is very interesting, as he supports his wife and baby, and sometimes they affect his judgements. Martin Decker is an odd guy! The scenes with his wife and son are amazing. His son is obsessed with his father's job and will probably be a stockbroker as well. Martin's wife keeps him grounded by offering sane advice whenever he is cooking up an insane plan. And the scenes with Marissa and her family are heartfelt and meaningful. It was a nice surprise to see Ryan O'Neal from 'Barry Lyndon' and in the last episode Tippi Hedren, 'The Birds', makes an appearance.

With the events of September 11, 2001, I was interested to see how this affected the show and how the writers handled it. But it was axed before it had the chance to tackle this issue.

I'm very disappointed to find this show was axed after such a short time. Bull is an intelligent, engrossing and witty program, and you don't need to be a business freak to understand it (though, if you have absolutely no idea about business your patience might be tested.)

At first I thought this would be one of those series about the boom in IT-stock, and that it, in part thanks to that, would be real bad. But, they really managed to keep it real interesting during the whole series.

At first it is real focused upon stock and work, but the longer into the series you get, the more it is about the peoples own problems and issues.

A real good series, watch it!!

What's up with the lighting on this show? I never notice these kinds of things, but I could not help noticing that in several scenes of the show one character's face was half lost in shadow, while another character's balding head was hit by a spotlight(?) which created this blinding reflection. Very distracting.

This show KICKS BUTT! While it has already shown a couple of re-runs, I think it gives people a chance to live vicariously through each of the characters. Not that I consider myself a Ruffo, but I wouldn't mind making a bid on Ashton Paper! These characters are tough, smart, and classy. It seems like they're always one step ahead, and that's a good place to be.