The Brink

Tim Robbins, Jack Black and Jerry Weintraub brought this superb satirical series, created by Roberto and Kim Benabib, to the screen via HBO. It ran one season, was renewed, then suddenly cancelled because "they could not do it justice," which may mean that it was expensive. (Well, yes, there are a lot of planes.)

A "Dr Strangelove" for the new millennium, this pacey, dark political farce fairly rips across the screen. It's superbly written, beautifully cast, and artfully performed by everyone from its stars to its bit players (though I feel that Aasif Mandvi, Pablo Schreiber and Eric Ladin deserve special mention.)

I cannot recall ever laughing so hard at anything, or seeing Cabinet in-fighting illustrated so credibly and outrageously.

Now that we Americans have a President who could never have got the part via Central Casting, I fear that The Brink's apocalyptic take on politics and antics at the highest levels may be closer to the truth than we would ever want it to be.

When the End of Days is upon us, it'll be a shame that we won't be able to go out watching at least three seasons of The Brink. Boo to whoever made this decision, because this show is a classic and deserved better.