We're not entirely sure what to make of this trailer for Will Ferrell's upcoming IFC show, The Spoils of Babylon. All we can surmise is that Ferrell stars as Eric Jonrosh, author of the book series explored here, who opens and closes each episode. Tonally and visually, it seems to be pulled from the miniseries' heyday, when The Thorn Birds and Dallas ruled the evening's airwaves. Combine that with some Blood Simple-style violence and intrigue, as well as Ferrell's camp sensibility, and you get a dramedy about a wealthy Texan oil family, headed by Jonas Morehouse, played by Tim Robbins.
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His children, the well-coiffed Cynthia (Kristen Wiig) and degenerate Devon (Tobey Maguire), vie for control of the family business, but are besieged by treachery, heroin addiction, and a forbidden affair with one another. And, Haley Joel Osment, who emerges from semi-obscurity to play Winston, Cynthia's malicious son.
We're also promised appearances by Val Kilmer, Michael Sheen, and Jessica Alba, who apparently meets a watery end. The show premieres on Thursday, January 9 on IFC, which is picking up steam for its offbeat original programming. If Comedy Bang! Bang!, Portlandia, and The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret are any indication, Spoils might actually be, well, fresh. (Huffington Post)