TV/Thief

When I saw that the credit sequence was a direct homage/ripoff of the Sopranos' opening, I was extremely wary. Also the camerawork is a little wonky, like they were trying a bit too hard for grittiness. But the show brought me around, big time. It was an excellent first hour, and I'm definitely in for the next 5--it's only a six episode season--and next season if it gets picked up. Check it out if you don't have HBO, or if you're a fan of any of the other FX series (the Shield, Rescue Me, Nip/Tuck). Plot stuff down below, maybe spoilers, we'll see.

Nick (Braugher) is the titular thief, a patriarch of sorts to his odds-and-ends team of ne'er-do-wells, Elmo, Gabo, Jack, and Izzy. They steal stuff for a living, but not in a glitzy Oceans 11-style hustle. No, they're more of an old-fashioned smash-n-grab outfit. Operating out of Nick's classic car dealership in post-Katrina New Orleans, they work for Linda Hamilton and basically just try to get by. There's also a corrupt detective and some Chinese assassins from San Francisco who are after Nick and the boys for a job gone wrong. Oh, and that's not counting the drug addictions, unruly teenaged kids, pregnant wives, interracial marriages and loan sharks breathing down their necks. And George Clooney made it look so easy. Anyway, Braugher rocks, and I would watch him do anything if they put it on screen.