Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 187

toils TTBififi)' Some publicists are calling "Street Time," Showtime's new series about federal parolees, "Life After Oz," a reference to HBO's prison drama. Bleak, grim and violent as "Oz" is, that HBO series offers more intrigue, contrasts and filiation. "Street Time," which has tons of profanity but only a little violence, improves in its second episode (tonight's pilot drags). But the show has a consistently washed-out look varying that contributes to ROB OWEN TUNED IN shades of drab I --J' its monotonous tone. Rob Morrow stars as Kevin Hunter, a parolee who went to jail for five years for selling marijuana.

His parole officer, James Liberti (Scott Cohen, "Gilmore warns him to stay away from past associates, including his brother Peter (Christopher Bolton), who's still involved in the drug trade. It doesn't help that Hunter moves in with his 8-year-old son and his common law wife, Rachel (Michelle Nolden), who smokes pot in the living room and tries to get him to join her. He can't due to random drug tests, but how long will he be able to resist the pull of his past life? Liberti has demons of his own, most notably a gambling addiction that he swears to his wife (Kate Greenhouse) he's over. He's not. A more immediate concern is a parolee who's three weeks late to check in.

Then he meets Hunter. "I did my time," Hunter says. "No, you owe us five years on the street," Liberti replies. In addition to five years of parole -the perfect length for the duration of a TV series Hunter also owes a $1.8 million fine. Hunter asks how he's expected to pay it.

"I expect you to go back into the drug business," Liberti says without a hint of sympathy. Rob Morrow stars In "Street Time." E.W 'Street Time' When: Tonight at 10 on Showtime. Starring: Rob Morrow, Scott Cohen, Erika Alexander. aren't so different. Both have children and their kids attend the same school.

They both do things that are "wrong," but they're both trying to improve their lives. Erika Alexander plays another parole officer who describes her job as "risk management" the parolees are the risk, she's the management. Early episodes also include a guest turn by Red Buttons, who plays a parolee with a dying wife. Although tonight's pilot feels inter- Contlnued on page 10 Despite an adversarial relationship, the teleplay by executive producers Stephen Kronish and Richard Strat-ton makes clear the two characters TV WEEK PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE.