Tilt (American TV series)
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Tilt | |
---|---|
Created by | Brian Koppelman David Levien |
Starring | Chris Bauer Eddie Cibrian Kristin Lehman Todd Williams Michael Madsen Michael Murphy |
Composer | Lou Natale |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 9 |
Production | |
Running time | 60 minutes (with commercials) |
Production companies | Koppelman/Levien Orly Adelson Productions Whizbang Films |
Original release | |
Network | ESPN |
Release | January 13 March 13, 2005 | –
Tilt is an American drama television series set against the backdrop of the (fictional) World Championship of
The series title refers to being "
Tilt is a nine-episode mini-series and was not renewed beyond that. A DVD set of the entire nine-episode run of the series was released on June 14, 2005, about three months after "The Last Hand" ran on ESPN.
Plot
Most of the series takes place within the confines of the fictitious Colorado Casino in Las Vegas. There, a group of professional poker players has banded together to take down legendary gambler Don "The Matador" Everest (Michael Madsen) in a cash game. Each player has his own reason for wanting to hurt Everest, including a cop, Lee Nickel (Chris Bauer), who wants to see him in prison for killing Nickel's brother.
Everest, as it turns out, is a sophisticated
One member of the group arrayed against Everest, Eddie Towne (Eddie Cibrian), manages to gain the Matador's trust and is offered a role as one of his horses. This enables Towne to learn firsthand how Everest operates, and eventually to set up a high-stakes game involving himself, his partners and Everest, in which he and his partners plan to use the Matador's own signaling system against him. Unfortunately for them, they learn the hard way that Everest was onto them from the beginning. Towne is brutally cast out of Everest's stable, and his partners are forced to abandon their stake money to Everest (as the price for not having charges pressed against them for their own attempt at cheating).
No longer able to break Everest at the poker table, Towne's group decides to take a different approach: Join forces with Nickel to try and turn Everest's associates against him. Nickel has also gained another ally: erstwhile Colorado Casino President Bart "Lowball" Rogers, recently ousted for crossing Everest one too many times. Lowball stakes Towne and his partners the $10,000 buy-in for the WCOP tournament, so that they can keep Everest preoccupied while he and Nickel put the heat on his henchmen.
Meanwhile, one of Towne's partners, Clark Marcellin (
Cast
- Chris Bauer as Lee Nickel
- Eddie Cibrian as Eddie Towne
- Kristin Lehman as "Miami" (Ellen)
- Don McManus as Bart "Lowball" Rogers
- Todd Williams as Clark Marcellin
- Michael Madsen as Don "The Matador" Everest
- Michael Murphy as Jimmy Molloy
Cameos
The series featured cameo appearances by a few real-life poker personalities, all portraying themselves:
- Phil Hellmuth (professional poker player and 1989 WSOP main event champion)
- David Williams (another pro poker player, and runner-up to Greg Raymer in the 2004 WSOPchampionship)
- Lon McEachern and Norman Chad (commentators who cover the WSOP in real life and its fictional counterpart, the "World Championship of Poker", in the Tilt series)
- Daniel Negreanu (professional poker player and 2004 Card Player Magazine Player of the Year. Also a multiple WSOP bracelet winner)
- T. J. Cloutier (professional poker player and author, multiple WSOP bracelet winner)
- Erik Seidel (professional poker player and multiple WSOP bracelet winner)
Production
Filming took place primarily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, although scenes were shot in Las Vegas in December 2004.[1]
Episodes
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "The Game" | Brian Koppelman & David Levien | Brian Koppelman & David Levien | January 13, 2005 |
2 | "Risk Tolerance" | T. J. Scott | Roberto Benabib, Brian Koppelman & David Levien | January 20, 2005 |
3 | "The Whale" | Jeremiah S. Chechik | Nick Kendrick, Brian Koppelman & David Levien | January 27, 2005 |
4 | "The Aftermath" | T. J. Scott | Lawrence Block | February 10, 2005 |
5 | "Rivered" | Michael DeCarlo | Lawrence Block, Brian Koppelman, & David Levien | February 17, 2005 |
6 | "Gentleman Jim" | T. J. Scott | Thomas Kelly | February 24, 2005 |
7 | "Shuffle Up And Deal" | John Dahl | Willie Reale | March 3, 2005 |
8 | "Nobody Ever Listens" | Jeremiah S. Chechik | Rafael Álvarez | March 10, 2005 |
9 | "The Last Hand" | T. J. Scott | John Dahl | March 13, 2005 |
References
- ^ Cling, Carol (December 6, 2004). "'Domino' continues production, spectacular action promised". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on December 26, 2004.
External links
- Tilt at IMDb