While BREAKING BAD left a void in my heart, MAD MEN has partially filled it. I’m so glad I started watching this show, which continues to be clever and immersed well in the time period.
Jon Hamm is obviously one of the standouts, but since the show has aired, the actor has branched out to comedy and seems to excel. Now Hamm is headed for real life drama with Disney’s MILLION DOLLAR ARM.
The film is, “the true story of how sports agent J.B. Bernstein (Hamm) discovered professional pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel through a reality show he staged in India with cricket players. Bernstein repped top talent, but was burnt out and disillusioned until he watched the cricket game on late night TV and noticed how similar the game’s throwing motion was to that of baseball pitchers. He headed to India and wound up hatching the reality show Million Dollar Arm and auditioning 40,000 hopefuls. He brought back the two 19-year old finalists to the U.S., but it wasn’t as simple as signing with a ball club and heading to the minor leagues. Neither player had ever ventured beyond their rural village and Bernstein had to teach them as much about American culture and speaking English as he did the rules of baseball. All the work paid off when the imports became the first Indian players to sign pro baseball teams when they got contracts with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Not sure if I’m feeling this, however, it could turn out to be pretty decent. I just hope that more opportunities (good ones) come Hamm’s way.