Keen Eddie

Keen Eddie
Genre	Police procedural Comedy-drama
Created by	J. H. Wyman
Starring	Mark Valley Sienna Miller Julian Rhind-Tutt Colin Salmon
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	J. H. Wyman Warren Littlefield Simon West
Location(s)	London, England, United Kingdom
Cinematography	Martin Kenzie
Running time	44 minutes
Production company(s)	Frequency Films Simon West Productions The Littlefield Company Paramount Television
Release
Original network	Fox
Original release	June 3 – July 24, 2003

Keen Eddie is an American action, comedy-drama television series that aired in 2003 on the Fox Network. The series follows a brash NYPD detective who goes to London when one of his cases goes sour and remains to work with New Scotland Yard. The soundtrack and incidental music for the first episode was provided by British techno duo Orbital. Daniel Ash of Love and Rockets scored the rest of the series.^[1]

The series was scheduled to premiere during the 2002–2003 television season, but was postponed and premiered in summer 2003.^[2] The series was then moved to Thursdays with its seventh episode to help improve its ratings, but Fox canceled the series due to its low ratings of 5.1 million viewers.^[3]

The American cable network Bravo picked up the series to begin airing in January 2004, including the six episodes never aired on Fox.^[4] All thirteen episodes of the series were released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment on September 7, 2004; however, some of the music was replaced for the DVD release.^[5]

Plot

After his investigation into an oxycodone ring results in a botched drug bust, New York police Detective Eddie Arlette is sent to London to assist Scotland Yard with its work on the same case. Eddie and his British police partner, Inspector Monty Pippin, help crack the case, and Eddie is asked to stay on at Scotland Yard. He initially declines but suddenly changes his mind to the surprise of those around him.

In addition to his work, Eddie has an adversarial relationship with Fiona, who occupies the flat he is renting from her parents; she begrudgingly puts up with him (and his Bull Terrier, Pete), because he has threatened to reveal to her parents that she is not actually enrolled at university. Eddie frequently tries to make Fiona question her relationship with her boyfriend, Nigel. It is possible that he would like them to break up so he might be able to date Fiona. In the final episodes of the series, Eddie and Fiona seem to be forming a deeper connection with each other, while still maintaining their teasing relationship. In the final episode, it is predicted that Eddie will fall in love with a woman on a red bus. In the last moments of the episode, Eddie sees Fiona get off a red bus. He clearly notices this fact but chooses not to tell Fiona.

Eddie's other influential relationship, while in England, is with his friend and co-worker Monty Pippin. On his first day in London, Pippin takes Eddie to a swingers club. Pippin explains that he is not actually married but he and a friend pretend to be, so they can take part in the club. Pippin has many other strange sexual habits. In one episode, Pippin joins a support group for "sexaholics" (nymphomaniacs) but tells the group his name is Eddie Arlett. He also drops his English accent and takes on an American one. He never takes the support group seriously and promptly attempts to seduce one of his group members. While Eddie puts up with Pippin's antics, he frequently tries to encourage Pippin to change. Eddie also states that Pippin's personality is not natural as everything Pippin does contradicts something he did previously.

Eddie also has a flirtatious, albeit a seemingly imaginary, relationship with Carol Ross (Superintendent Nathanial Johnson's assistant), whom he calls "Ms. Moneypenny" and with whom he banters using double entendres. When he asks her seemingly innocent questions, she gives a sexual reply ("How are you, Miss Moneypenny?" "Completely...shaved." or "What's new, Miss Moneypenny?" "Crotchless panties." or "What's your position, Miss Moneypenny?" "On...all...fours."). Eddie frequently asks those around him if they heard her response. Excepting a single incident in the episode Keeping Up Appearances, no one ever appears to have heard her sexual response but simply hear a neutral comment (when he asks her how she's doing, he hears her say "Terribly horny", but anyone he asks heard "Terribly well").

Eddie owns a bull terrier named Pete, who is extremely ill-tempered. Eddie attempts to leave him in quarantine at the airport when he arrives in England but Pippin rescues Pete, by claiming Pete is a police dog. Pete chews on everything and frequently destroys TV remote controls and cellphones. He also has strange sexual appetites, from Fiona's cat Princess to a fur coat to sleeping humans. More than once, he has aggressively cornered visitors at the apartment and forced them to stand motionless for hours until Fiona or Eddie come home.

Eddie also has a catchphrase when introduced to a villain or upon making an arrest: "Hi, I'm Eddie...how do you like me so far?"

Cast

Main cast

The main cast of Keen Eddie

• Mark Valley as Detective Eddie Arlette, NYPD
• Sienna Miller as Fiona Bickerton
• Julian Rhind-Tutt as Inspector Monty Pippin, New Scotland Yard
• Colin Salmon as Superintendent Nathanial Johnson, New Scotland Yard
• Alexei Sayle as Rudy Alexander (episodes 1-2; guest star afterward)

Recurring cast

• Rachael Buckley as Carol Ross
• Theo Fraser Steele as Nigel
• Sophie Hunter as Lois
• Daniel Goldenberg as Johnny Red
• Alex McSweeney as One Ball Bill
• Sarah-Jane Potts as Audry
• Ivana Horvat as Milli
• Anya Lahiri as Zoe
• Meredith Ostrom as Dominique
• Sarah Vandenberg as Valentine Hughes
• Martin Hancock as Fishy
• Nick Malinowski as Cheap Trick

Episodes

Paramount opted to put the episodes in the order they were aired, not produced, for the DVD release. The most notable evidence of this is Eddie’s map of London, where he tacks a matchbook relating to his adventure, as well as Nigel's re-appearance after he's moved abroad. The number of matchbooks noticeably fluctuates when watched in broadcast order. The episode list below is ordered by their production numbers and not their air dates. The DVD release also replaces the music that was originally used when the show was originally broadcast.

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code
1	"Pilot (a.k.a. Eddie)"	Simon West	J. H. Wyman	June 3, 2003	101
2	"Horse Heir"	Simon West	Andi Bushell & Jim Praytor and J. H. Wyman	June 10, 2003	102
3	"Keeping Up Appearances"	Paul Shapiro	J. H. Wyman	April 7, 2004	103
4	"Citizen Cecil"	Tony Bill	Jeff Vlaming	March 2, 2004	104
5	"Who Wants to Be in a Club That Would Have Me as a Member?"	Bryan Spicer	Steven Kane	March 24, 2004	105
6	"Sucker Punch"	Jefery Levy	Robert Palm and J. H. Wyman	July 1, 2003	106
7	"Black Like Me"	David Jones	Richard Dresser and J. H. Wyman	July 24, 2003	107
8	"Inciting Incident"	Michael Engler	Jeff Vlaming	February 17, 2004	108
9	"Achtung Baby"	Charles McDougall	Robert Palm and J. H. Wyman	June 17, 2003	109
10	"The Amazing Larry Dunn"	Tim Van Patten	J. H. Wyman	July 8, 2003	110
11	"Sticky Fingers"	Alan Taylor	Teleplay by: Willie Reale Story by: Jib Polhemus	January 27, 2004	111
12	"Eddie Loves Baseball"	Nick Gomez	Steven Kane and J. H. Wyman	June 24, 2003	112
13	"Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité"	Leslie Libman	Richard Dresser and J. H. Wyman	April 14, 2004	113

References

1. Bax, Mike (July 16, 2009). "An Interview with Daniel Ash from Love and Rockets". Lithium Magazine. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
2. Brian Ford Sullivan (March 3, 2003). "'Bob,' 'Eddie' Sent to Summer". The Futon Critic. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
3. Brian Ford Sullivan (August 20, 2003). "Passport Revoked: FOX Cancels 'Keen Eddie'". The Futon Critic. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
4. Brian Ford Sullivan (December 11, 2003). "Bravo Slates 'Keen Eddie' for Tuesdays Starting in January". The Futon Critic. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
5. "Keen Eddie - Complete Series". TVShowsOnDVD. Retrieved November 15, 2010.

External links

• Keen Eddie at the Internet Movie Database
• Keen Eddie at TV.com
• Keen Eddie: An American Cop in London – PopMatters Review