Even the folks at Amazon might concede (quietly, while no one else was paying attention) that, while they’re doing god’s work by backing and releasing movies by people like Whit Stillman, Park Chan-Wook and Kenneth Lonergan, they’re lagging behind arch-rivals Netflix when it comes to the streaming TV war.
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They have great shows — the Emmy-winning “Transparent,” first and foremost — and they have popular shows — “The Man In The High Castle” being their biggest — but they’re probably yet to unite both in a big pop-culture dominating way, as Netflix’s “Stranger Things” has. But they have lots of great stuff on the way — this month alone sees the debut of Tig Notaro’s “One Mississippi” the third season of “Transparent” and Woody Allen’s “Crisis In Six Scenes.” And now we’ve got our best look yet at their biggest drama launch of the fall.
“Goliath” is the first venture into the streaming revolution for “Ally McBeal” and “The Practice” creator David E. Kelley, and sticks to his legal drama wheelhouse, albeit with bigger stars than we’ve ever seen before. Billy Bob Thornton headlines as troubled, heavy-drinking lawyer Billy McBride, who takes on the mammoth law firm he helped to found, and his former partner (a sinister-looking William Hurt).
Maria Bello, Olivia Thirlby and Molly Parker also star, and there’s a pleasing “Damages” vibe to the thing, albeit with a few twists (what’s that nuclear explosion doing?). Anyway, the cast are great here, and have us more than intrigued enough to tune in. The show debuts on Amazon on October 14th — watch the first full trailer below.