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Believability Factor, Moral Concerns Interfere In Drama About Extreme Interventionists

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By WALT BELCHER The Tampa Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 15, 2008

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - "The Cleaner," not to be confused with one of those HGTV home declutter shows, is about a reformed addict who leads a ragtag team of intervention heroes.

Debuting at 10 tonight, this dark tale of flawed do-gooders is A&E's first original scripted drama.

The network started out eons ago with the high-minded notion that it would run on "arts" programming with an occasional "entertainment" program thrown in.

It has since degenerated into reality hell, with series such as "Dog the Bounty Hunter" and "Gene Simmons: Family Jewels."

"The Cleaner" is a step up, but it's not as good as other cutting-edge cable shows with flawed heroes, such as "Rescue Me," "Damages," "The Closer" or "Mad Men."

The concept of an "A-Team" for addicts is a stretch, and the interventions aren't as interesting as the personal dramas of the show's recurring characters.

"The Cleaner" stars a rugged-looking Benjamin Bratt ("Law & Order") as William Banks, a recovering addict who made a pact with God to help others get clean by any means necessary.

Banks also is trying to reconnect with a wife (Amy Price-Francis) who has left him twice and with his teenage kids, who haven't forgiven his absences during multiple stints in jail and rehab. One of his quirks is that he frequently talks aloud and informally to God. God doesn't talk back.

His team includes Akani (Grace Pack), a beautiful, tough and wealthy mystery woman who seems to owe Banks something; Arnie (Esteban Powell), a scruffy young slacker; and Darnell (Kevin Michael Richardson), a deeply religious and jovial car salesman indebted to Banks for helping his younger brother get clean.

In the opening episode, they help a mother get her runaway drug-addled son back before he commits any serious crimes.

This kind of action raises one of the moral dilemmas of the premise. Forced interventions like the ones depicted in this series are illegal in most states.

These "cleaners" are depicted as above-the-law saviors coming to the aid of desperate loved ones. How they support themselves is another murky area that isn't fully explained.

At a Television Critics Association panel in Beverly Hills, Bratt said, "I actually dig this character, and I think it could be a really good series. My only concern is that how believable will it be that there's such a guy as an 'extreme interventionist,' and what the hell is that?"

He added that he signed on after being assured that it was inspired by the real-life experiences of Warren Boyd, a celebrity "addiction counselor" whose clients include Mel Gibson and Courtney Love.

Boyd, a co-producer of the series, may be conducting "extreme interventions" on the sly, but his high-profile clients are light years away from the lost souls on "The Cleaner."

BLOGGING FROM BEVERLY HILLS: Get the scoop on HBO's "True Blood," the steamiest vampire series ever. Find out what Kiefer Sutherland has to say about the movie "24: Exile." Read my take on "Lost" producer J.J. Abrams' much-anticipated sci-fi thriller "Fringe."

You can find all that and more at my blog at TBO.com, keyword: Walt TV, where I am posting daily (and sometimes live) from the Television Critics Association summer preview tour in Beverly Hills.

I've seen the pilot episode of Fox's "Fringe." Think "House" meets "The X-Files" (with an occasional chase scene). It's about a special FBI team that uses "fringe science" to solve weird, seemingly unexplainable cases.

Also, read about the Jim Henson Co.'s revolutionary new digital puppets and PBS' plans for a new Miss Marple and more Hercule Poirot episodes.

TUNE IN TONIGHT

I Survived A Japanese

Game Show, 9 p.m., ABC

This show, which has contestants dressed as babies, spinning in circles and trying to pour milk into bottles, has us wondering: What's in the sushi?

Tori & Dean: Home Sweet

Hollywood, 10 p.m., Oxygen

Tori prepares to sell her jewelry line on a home shopping channel, but her trip is thwarted by early contractions.

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