—>When Aldis Hodge auditioned for the role of Leverage uber-hacker, Alec Hardison, it was important to him that the character portrayal was non-stereotypical, an African-American who was not just smart, but very smart and savvy. Creators John Rogers and Chris Downey were equally impressed with the (then) 21-year-old actor’s delivery, which rivals Eddie Murphy’s “48 Hours” performance.

Ah, the bromance. The deep – nonsexual! – abiding love/friendship between dudes. It’s become one of TV’s greatest, most enduring and probably realistic tropes. Nowadays, bromances are everywhere, whether they’re the basis of whole series (“Entourage”), reluctant (“Hawaii Five-O,” “The Vampire Diaries”) or simply the by-product of a good working relationship (“White Collar,” “House”). Occasionally, bromance even occurs between actual brothers (“Supernatural”).

Whatever the case, the end result is usually an awesomely hilarious good time for viewers – not to mention some serious fan fiction fodder for certain people. You know who you are.

That being said, here are our picks for Most Amusing Summer TV Bromances. Feel free to suggest your own favorites.

<snip>

Source: NY Post

If you’ve seen the movie Boiler Room, you’ve got a fair idea of tonight’s second Leverage. Minus Vin Diesel. However, there is chocolate, and one heck of a final twist, so it’s all good.

The bad guy is Greg Sherman (The Shield star David Rees Snell), who gives bombastic speeches about being “on top of the food chain” because he’s that corny. Unfortunately, Hardison’s cover gets blown quickly - it’s really not a good week to be Alec Hardison! – and he’s forced to spin a tale about a faux play with Sophie playing a mark known as “the chocolate whisperer.” Now that would be a TV show I’d watch.

The first of two all-new Leverage installments tonight looks, at first glance, to be a take-off on the recent Ryan Reynolds flick Buried. How did Hardison end up trapped in a coffin in a cemetery? That’s one heck of an open.

It has something to do with a funeral home run by Darlene Wickett (Anne-Marie Johnson, last seen on Fairly Legal), who likes to swipe money at the most inappropriate time and hide it in her spiffy wall safe. The team’s attempt to search the funeral home takes a turn when they realize Darlene is also stealing the identities of the deceased. Nate decides to give Darlene a not-so-helping hand, but her greed puts everyone on the wrong side of some nasty drug runners who kidnap Hardison as their own kind of leverage.

Get ready for more Leverage. TNT has ordered a fifth season of the Timothy Hutton starrer that’s currently averaging 4.8 million viewers, up 10% over season three.

The new season will bow next summer.

The series centers on a gang of grifters, hackers and thieves who are out to settle scores against the rich and powerful. After the show’s Aug. 28 summer finale, Leverage will return to wrap up its fourth season with new episodes in November and December.

Leverage first premiered on TNT in 2008.  Besides Hutton, who plays an insurance-investigator-turned-thief, Leverage also stars Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf and Aldis Hodge.