Stupid Cupid

Being the Veronica Mars devotee that I am, I can't help but to give Rob Thomas (the VM writer/showrunner guy, not the Matchbox 20 guy) productions a shot, but his last few endeavors have left me unimpressed. I don't know what all he had to do with 90210, but it was pretty awful. As I recall, he passed on showrunner, but still had some sort of something to do with it, which is nigh unforgivable (seriously, if he so much as walked by the writers' room, I might have to hold a grudge). I have only seen clips of Party Down (because it airs on Starz), but it looks like it has potential... Anyway, mixed reviews of his recent projects aside, I was willing to give his new (slash old) series Cupid a shot, even though it really doesn't sound like something that would be up my alley.

The new Cupid is a semi re-launch of the 1990s series of the same name, which starred Jeremy Piven as a man who believes he is the god of love and that his duty on earth is to match up a bunch of couples. I never saw the original incarnation, but I had heard it was actually a pretty decent show. The current iteration isn't terrible in theory, but is terrible in execution.

The concept is light and fanciful and could have been a no commitment guilty pleasure, but with the unrelentingly unappealing Bobby Cannavale at the helm, it was tepid and off-putting. It might just be me, but I found him to be completely uninteresting, obnoxious, and extremely uncharming in that "I'm trying desperately to be charming and failing miserably" kind of way. He has a vague Brad Garrett quality to him, and that's kind of like when you drink something that tastes vaguely of cough medicine... It's not that that whatever it is is completely awful, but it reminds you of something that is awful just enough that you have a hard time enjoying it. Enter Bobby Cannavale and his Robittussim-esqueness...

Most people on the web seem to love this guy for some reason, but I found his over-acting annoying and his presence on screen uncharismatic and completely unengaging. Add to that the total lack of chemistry with Sarah Paulson (Cupid's psychotherapist and obvious intended love interest), and you've got a fairly painful romantic pairing to watch. I generally like Sarah Paulson (I was one of the 9 people who watched Studio 60), but her character on Cupid (Dr. Claire McCrae) is pretty dry and kind of a nag. I understand that that's kind of the point (he's a free spirit, she's repressed, yada, yada, yada, been there, done that), but so far, she doesn't strike me as a lovable neurotic so much as a... well, pesky micro-manager. For what she was given, Paulson did a decent job, and I anticipate she could make the character work after some tweaking, but her interactions with Cannavale were so lackluster that I don't think it's worth the effort.

The whole (and very obvious) point of the show is that he is Cupid and she is Psyche, who, in mythology was ultimately married to Cupid. It's obvious from the get-go that there's supposed to be sexual tension between Claire and Cupid (who has adopted the name Trevor Pierce, for... tax purposes, or whatever), but it doesn't come across on screen. There was absolutely no chemistry (whether romantic, friendly, love-hate, hate-hate, etc) whatsoever. I not only don't have any desire to see the pair hook-up, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to see them as long-distance pen pals. I have to assume that if I found Cannavale appealing at all, this wouldn't be the case, but what can I say? The actor alone doesn't do anything for me, and then put him in a role that I find annoying and it's not going to be a winning combination. She's the typical wet blanket who needs to live a little and he strikes me as more of a dundering idiot than anything else. Not exactly the makings of a mythic romance...

Aside from Claire and Trevor, the only other series regulars are a brother and sister team (husband and wife? gambler and bookie? who the hell knows (or cares)) who manage some sort of karaoke cantina bar or something where Trevor works. They really didn't serve any purpose in the pilot and I can't even remember their names. So yeah, the leads don't work together and the supporting cast doesn't lend any support. We're really cooking now.

Sadly (and quite frankly, I don't think this has ever happened before), I was more interested and invested in the week-to-week storyline than any of the over-arching characters. The basic structure of the show is that Trevor has to hook up 100 happy couples in order for him to return to Mount Olympus. Hence, each week will focus on him helping people find true love, and then we'll never see those characters again, I suspect. As such, it's not a good sign when I'd much rather the couple-of-the-week were the series regulars. They were charming and engaging and actually had chemistry together. By the end of the episode, I was hoping to hell I had misinterpreted the concept of the show and that we would casually leave Trevor in NYC and follow the couple-of-the-week to Ireland. I'd much rather watch them every week. Generally, the A-plot (the story-of-the-week) is of secondary importance to me, but with Cupid, it was the only storyline I even kind of cared about. Yikes.

Long story short, I was unimpressed. I might give it one more chance, but that's only if there's nothing else to watch (you know, if the weather channel goes out or something). I can't imagine it could rebound in a way that would make me a fan, but I might get just bored enough to give it a second chance. If you want to watch a fun, quirky, squee-worthy love-hate romance that really works, I'd recommend you watch Castle instead. The two leads on that show actually have chemistry together (what a novel concept!). If, however, you'd prefer a show that feels like a brother and sister have been forced to play Romeo and Juliet opposite one another in a school play, Cupid is your show.

Overall, I give the Cupid pilot a C-. The bare bones could have worked, but the romantic leads just don't work together at all... and when that's all you've got, you've got a whole lotta nothin'. Look on the bright side, it's one fewer show that will be gumming up your DVR. :)