Get your panties in a liberal bunch

HBO is struggling to regain it's number one spot in the hearts and minds of pay cable viewers since the double whammy loss of The Sopranos and Sex and the City (never you mind the premature death of Deadwood and the take down of GOAT [Greatest of All Time] The Wire) but this hasn't stopped them from indulging in quality programming. Promising projects like the new Bob and David show and solid material like Flight of the Conchords are likely to keep the network on the cutting edge of original programming and then there are special even shows. First there was the sprawling and wonderfully acted John Adams series and tonight brings Recount an original film based on the events of the Florida recount scandal. The freshman debut of screenwriter Danny Strong is as powerful and snappy as his namesake. The performances are uniformly excellent with Kevin Spacey, Laura Dern and Shiva himself Tom Wilkinson being special stand-outs. The film takes minor liberties with character personalities but the facts ring true and the best compliment I can give the thing is that it fills me with the same mouth filling bile I felt during the actual events.