My Own Worst Enemy
- TV Series
- 2008
- 1h
Henry Spivey, an efficiency expert, lives a typical suburban life, right down to the wife, two kids, dog, and minivan. In contrast, Edward Albright is a lethal, multilingual operative. It wo... Read allHenry Spivey, an efficiency expert, lives a typical suburban life, right down to the wife, two kids, dog, and minivan. In contrast, Edward Albright is a lethal, multilingual operative. It would seem the two men have nothing in common -- except for the fact that they inhabit the s... Read allHenry Spivey, an efficiency expert, lives a typical suburban life, right down to the wife, two kids, dog, and minivan. In contrast, Edward Albright is a lethal, multilingual operative. It would seem the two men have nothing in common -- except for the fact that they inhabit the same body. When each personality finds himself out of his element, things go awry.
- Awards
- 1 win & 3 nominations total
Featured reviews
But there were scripting and conflict issues with Henry v. Edward. I found myself yelling at Henry when in difficult situations because of his utter stupidity for self preservation. Laughing at Edward when he diddled with the wife and she was suddenly a very, very happy stay at home mom.
As the season went on, I wasn't sure how long I could put up with Henry's stupidity....then there was a plot turn, a scripting turn and it all came together. It then hit me -- Henry, though lovable family guy -- was *supposed* to be the clueless wonder. The company made sure of it. The military/intelligence orgs' programming of people is already good, but the premise of this show brought that to new heights. Kicking that kind of behavioral programming up to that notch, Henry was what they made him -- a pencil pusher, number cruncher who was afraid of his own shadow, and above and beyond the call of the perfect rube if it all went bad.....the uber ultimate in plausible deniability. He couldn't have behaved any other way.
Henry also is a good person, good to the bone, the best of the best ethics, and in recent episodes, we finally find out how that trait (among others) benefits the big picture.
So now, when all the questionable scripting and plot points come together in a fluid manner -- as I imagine it was intended -- NBC realizes that they stuck the show in the middle of two ratings nut busters that have been duking it out since they went head to head (CSI: Miami and Boston Public)......so seems to me that NBC is the ultimate idiot. And the public looses out....again.
If NBC really thinks their mid-season replacement is going to get them the ratings push they want or need, they are even dumber than I said previously. Another hooray for us on the receiving end.
For those of you who haven't watched all or any of the show, time to download it, watch it realtime on the various places on the web, and/or get it all On Demand and watch it from beginning up to now. I promise, you will be just as disgusted and infuriated as I am right now.
Once everyone is caught up, let me know and we can all storm NBC together and demand they bring it back, put it in an honest time slot and then make them step away.
The problem begins when the switch is not staying in the right position at the right time and the family dad side have no clue about the mercenary side, but vise versa does. It is fun and exciting and really good.
The casual violence of the major plot was bound to turn off women viewers far more than they would be attracted by the domestic scenes featuring white bread blonde Madchen Amick. Many also would not "get" the references to major international issues that concern this shadowy and sinister Agency. These also put a date-stamp on the series.
Christian Slater is a Jack Nicholson sound-alike who also has Nicholson's sharp, worldly cynicism. Add the gritty physical intensity of a young Robert Blake, whom Slater generally resembles, and you have a great talent. There are some steamy love scenes between the 5'8" Slater and stunning English model turned actress Saffron Burrows--six feet tall and an avowed lesbian off-screen--who plays a psychiatrist on the staff the Agency. This match-up looks ludicrous on paper yet in action it is convincing. In the ironic intelligence of the writing and in its tribute to classic British fiction of the nineteenth century this series owes a debt to "House", the hit medical series on Fox Network.
Did you know
- TriviaHenry and Edward are the first names of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, respectively.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Séries express: Episode #1.4 (2008)
- How many seasons does My Own Worst Enemy have?Powered by Alexa
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- Mon Meilleur Ennemi
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro