One of the brilliancies of Damages is that new viewers can discover it each season and not be confused, while there are snippets of dialogue or character development to maintain satisfaction for those who have previously discovered the series' charm.
Glenn Close, Rose Byrne and Tate Donovan all return this season, joined by newcomers Martin Short, Lily Tomlin, Campbell Scott, Len Cariou, Keith Carradine, Ben Shenkmen and Dominic Chianese in a season arc reminiscent of the recent Wall Street farrago.
Executive producer David Zelman explains that while the Bernie Madoff case was a large inspiration for Season 3, as writers they also looked at other financial swindlers in coming up with the stories.
“There was an attorney named Marc Dreier who fascinated us,” he says. “He had perpetrated some $700 million con. And also, a businessman named Alan Stanford had basically created a bank in Antigua that supposedly had billions of dollars in it, but had nothing in it.”
Tomlin and Short, both actors who aren’t known for their dramatic chops, have essential roles in this theme. Tomlin plays the matriarch figure of the family Close’s character, Patty Hewes is gunning for, and Short plays the family’s attorney.
“It continues to just amaze us to work with actors and performers who aren't always given the opportunities to do something other than what they're primarily known for,” says executive producer Todd A. Kessler, citing Ted Danson’s casting as an earlier example. “They're both giving pretty iconic performances that are thrilling us daily.”
The issues are a serious one for Tomlin, who not only used to run home to watch the series before she was ever on it, but also knows people the Madoff scandal severely affected.
“It was not like it was a substantial amount of money, but it was what they needed to continue their lives,” she says of a couple of elderly writer friends. “And they've really had to go to taking other kinds of strange jobs, you know, out of their profession.”
Damages Season 3 returns Sunday, Jan. 31, 10 p.m. ET, Showcase. Episodes will be available on showcase.ca the day after.
Amber is currently reporting live from the TV Critics Press Tour in L.A. Check out her complete coverage, including a comprehensive calendar and full schedule of events here.
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