1 Law & 2 Orders

Good lord, if I never see another mediocre cop show or legal drama again, I just might die happy. But, until then, I’ll just have to slog through the ever-present deluge of standard clichés that seem to crop up in every single set of pilots for just about every network on the air. Sigh.

At some point, it gets difficult to even assess this kind of show because you’ve seen so many iterations. How can something be interesting if you’ve already seen it? How can a story suck you in if you already know the outcome? After watching enough of these shows, it ultimately boils down to the characters themselves. If you’ve seen one legal drama or cop show, you’ve seen ‘em all, but if there are truly interesting characters at the show’s core, it can make up for a lot of the drudgery of the stories-of-the-week. That’s how The Good Wife made it into my top tier. Sure, I’ve seen a million and a half legal shows in my day, but I haven’t seen characters quite like these and dynamics quite like theirs. In fact, when there are engaging, distinctive characters at the core, it manages to make the A-plots more interesting. I care about this random court battle because Alicia Florrick cares about it. Unfortunately, most shows aren’t The Good Wife, and don’t have such a solid foundation to build on. As such, I don’t really care about the characters and subsequently, couldn’t care less about the mundane details of their daily lives.

To varying degrees, new shows Detroit 1-8-7, The Whole Truth, and The Defenders all fall into this disappointing category.

We’ll start off with our latest cop show…

DETROIT 1-8-7

This is your typical cop show. For what it is, it’s fine. That’s really the primary impression this pilot made and that’s not a particularly a good sign. All the actors do a respectable job and the writers at least tried to make the characters original, but when it all boils down, these are the same standard characters tackling the same standard cases in about the same way. The show had its charms, and over time, I think I could probably grow to appreciate them all on a deeper level, but I was so bored by the A-plot case-of-the-week that it would take a much more intriguing set of character profiles to get me invest. If you’ve never seen a detective drama before, you would probably enjoy this show quite a lot, because honestly, in terms of genre, this pilot did a better job than a lot of them that have come down the pike lately, but given that I have seen cop shows before, and a whole lot of them, I was pretty bored. This show does very little to reinvent this particular wheel and I don’t think I’ll be sticking around for long. This show seems to be aiming for a grittier than the network would allow and they just didn’t know what to do with it after that. Decent effort, but there was really nothing new or innovative about this take on an overdone genre.

Pilot Grade: C+

And now for more legal dramas… you know, because we haven’t seen enough of those…

THE WHOLE TRUTH

To the show’s credit, they’ve taken a bit of a different spin on the old genre and that’s really the only reason the pilot held my interest. This legal drama shows audiences both sides of the case, the trial, and then the truth is revealed. In essence, the show gives compelling arguments for both scenarios and then allows the audience to decide what really happened. It’s not the most novel approach I’ve ever seen, but at this point, even a slight deviation from the norm makes a show seem fresher and better than its counterparts. It’s lovely to see Maura Tierney in good health again, but Her Royal Dourness did very little to bring life to this pilot as the tough and talented DA. Her sobering tone suits her character well enough, but the fact that her character is unlikable to the other characters spills over into the audience as well. There are a lot of characters out there that you love to hate or that you love because they’re neurotic control freaks (or whatever), but Maura’s character is not one of those. But, in all fairness, her glum exterior was nowhere near as irksome as Rob Morrow’s obnoxious over-acting, so she wins some points. Morrow plays the defense to Tierney’s prosecution and goes completely overboard in playing the foil. His brashness and casualness were unconvincing and just plain annoying. I actually said to the TV at one point, “Cool it, Rob. We get it!” Sheesh. The writers are obviously pointing to a future opposites-attract will-they-or-won’t-they (or have they already?) romance between the pair, but I sensed very little chemistry between the two. It's impossible to know if things would have been better with original DA Joley Richardson, but I have an inkling it would. It wasn’t a terrible pilot and it was honestly kind of fun to decide for myself whether or not the defendant was guilty, but I don’t know that I’d want to do that every week. The case itself was pretty thin and while the jury convicted the guy (rightly, as it turns out), there honestly wasn’t enough evidence to convict him. I was willing to give this pilot a “meh” until the final scene when the truth is revealed. Apparently, the murder victim’s bloody cross necklace was stashed at the defendant’s home, only to be found by the guy’s daughter, thereby proving his guilt to the audience. I’m sorry, the police didn’t search the house? It took the daughter all of five minutes to stumble onto this key piece of evidence, but the police didn’t even bother to look? Ugh. If this points to the kind of thought being put in week-to-week on the A-plots, I think I’ll pass, thanks. Based on the ratings, I’m not the only one.

Pilot Grade: C

THE DEFENDERS

This show about a pair of buddy lawyers working kooky cases in Las Vegas had the unfortunate distinction of being the last one I screened. I was already pretty bored with these standard genres, so I wasn’t really in the mood for more. From what I could discern through the law-show-addled fog was a pretty typical law show that was executed decently, if not all that compellingly. I’m not much of a Jim Belushi fan, so that didn’t help, but Jerry O’Connell did a nice job. He seemed to be enjoying the role and played off Belushi pretty well. Once again, the case of the week was pretty thin and I became annoyed at the ridiculous courtroom antics more than amused. I really have to question whether or not either of these legal shows has any lawyers acting as consultants because the legal wrangling is often unconvincing if not utterly absurd. I’m no lawyer, but I watch them on TV and I know when a show is just being lazy. Anyway, the actors were all likable enough and the Vegas bent does add a bit of a different flavor to the show, but honestly, for procedurals that are heavy on A-plot, there needs to be one hell of an A-plot, and that just wasn’t the case here. The best part of the pilot was Natalie Zea as feisty prosecutor/occasional lover to Jerry O’Connell’s character, but near as I can tell, she’s not a regular cast member. All the better for Justified, all the worse for this show. It was honestly no worse or better than most other cheesy law shows, but that’s just not enough for me these days.

Pilot Grade: C-

ABC Pilots: Volume 1

I was all gung-ho to get all the new network pilots reviewed for this here blog, but then NBC decided they'd wage a war of attrition by picking up... well, basically they're an entirely new network. Never, in all my days, have I seen so many new pilots for one network. Don't get me wrong, the reign of terror implemented by Jeff Zucker (what I affectionately refer to as a "clusterzuck") essentially decimated the network, prompting the complete overhaul, but this all begs the question, where did they get this kind of money?! Seriously, the network was ailing before they decided to shell out millions of dollars in development. Well, however it happened, it wore me out. As such, it's only now, with barely a month to go before premiere week, that I finally move on to ABC.

Oh, ABC... They're a bit more subversive about their implosion, but show for show, they're in almost as much trouble as NBC. Once again, they've picked up a hell of a lot of pilots and forked over obscene amounts of cash. Suffice it to say, both these networks need some major hits to come out of this fall's slate of pilots. The fate of each network (or at least the suits in charge of this mess) may very well depend on it. Seriously, last season was a disaster. With the exception of Modern Family, nearly their entire slate got canceled, or should have. If ABC had more going for it, V wouldn't be come back and neither would The Middle. They can't afford to have another season turn out like that, so they've picked up a lot of shows (rather expensive shows) and are promoting the hell out of them. Some appear to have some promise. Others? Not so much... At present, their established shows are a little too established (i.e. they're getting a little long in the tooth... that is, to say, they're OLD), so they're banking on some new blood. They pretty much have to at this point.

Here is the tentative ABC schedule for this fall (please bear in mind that this list is subject to change--and quite frankly, it's been months since this list was first compiled, so it might have errors already):

MONDAY
7 p.m. Dancing with the Stars
9 p.m. Castle

TUESDAY
7 p.m. No Ordinary Family (new)
8 p.m. Dancing with the Stars Results Show
9 p.m. Detroit 1-8-7 (new)

WEDNESDAY
7 p.m. The Middle
7:30 p.m. Better Together (new)
8 p.m. Modern Family
8:30 p.m. Cougar Town
9 p.m. The Whole Truth (new)

THURSDAY
7 p.m. My Generation (new)
8 p.m. Grey's Anatomy
9 p.m. Private Practice

FRIDAY
7 p.m. Secret Millionaire (new)
8 p.m. Body of Proof (new)
9 p.m. 20/20

SUNDAY
6 p.m. America's Funniest Home Videos
7 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
8 p.m. Desperate Housewives
9 p.m. Brothers & Sisters

There are other new shows which will be reviewed here, but I assume they'll be premiering at midseason. Or, depending on how well these ones do, they could premiere earlier than that... The suits at ABC are already shaking in their boots and hoping to hell that isn't the case. Heh.

Anyway, as per my arbitrary usual, we'll start off with the dramas.


BODY OF PROOF

Description: Stars Dana Delany as Dr. Megan Hunt, Jeri Ryan as Dr. Kate Murphy, Geoffrey Arend as Dr. Elliot Gross, John Carroll Lynch as Detective Bud Morris, Windell Middlebrooks as Dr. Curtis Brumfield, Nic Bishop as Peter Dunlap and Sonja Sohn as Detective Samantha Baker. Christopher Murphey wrote the pilot, which was directed by Nelson McCormick.



My Take: First thought? Ugh. As much as I’d like to believe that this is a searing character piece about a woman trying to start over, I think we can safely assume it’s actually a crime procedural dressed up as an actual drama. Dana Delany is a power-player who can absolutely anchor a show, but I find myself wishing she were at the helm of something else. Based solely on the trailer, it’s hard to tell just what proportions of the show will be drama and procedural. If this were CBS, I’d err on the side of lots of procedural, very little everything else, but this is ABC, so it’s a tough call. They’ve been trying to tap into this woefully overdone genre for ages, but with very little success. Off the bat, I’d say the procedural elements seem pretty generic, and for as much as I enjoy Delaney, the drama elements seem pretty bland to boot. ABC hasn’t really been delivering quality drama on its dramas lately, so the odds of them delivering in an overdone story like this are slim. Overzealous neurosurgeon ruins relationship with child then has life-changing event (a car accident) that causes said doctor to reevaluate life. Been there, done that. Only in more compelling ways (you know, with the adorably moody Ephram Brown on hand). This show is already making me miss Everwood. Long story short, this looks pretty hackneyed and uninspired. If anyone could make this more than your typical crime procedural, it’s Delaney, but I’m less than confident that she can make that happen. Truth be told, even if this is considerably more drama laden than it looks, it’s not the kind of concept that has me chomping at the bit. Delaney deserves better, and the viewer audience at large deserves fewer procedurals on the docket. People seem to love this procedural crap, however, so this one might just have a chance. The sexy medical examiner (a la Rizzoli & Isles, and to a certain extent, Castle) seems to be the latest trend these days… for completely unknown reasons. Ugh.


DETROIT 1-8-7

Description: Stars Michael Imperioli (“The Sopranos”) as Detective Louis Fitch, Jon Michael Hill as Detective Damon Washington, James McDaniel (“NYPD Blue”) as Sergeant Jesse Longford, Aisha Hinds (“True Blood”) as Lieutenant Maureen Mason, Natalie Martinez as Detective Ariana Sanchez, D.J. Cotrona as Detective John Stone and Shaun Majumder as Detective Aman Mahajan.



My Take: In case Body of Proof just didn’t manage to plumb the depths of overdone genres enough, ABC has also decided to take on a cop show. Sigh. This seems pretty standard as well, but there were little elements of the trailer that pointed to something more unique. They’re taking the angle that there’s simply so much crime and murder in Detroit that the good guys are simply trying to stem the tide because there’s no conceivable way to actually stop the violence. The fact that they take a very matter-of-fact approach to such a horrific problem has a certain quirky appeal, but I think it was primarily a reaction to being on network TV. When they were looking for a shell casing on the street was probably the best aspect of the trailer for me. “I think I’ve got it! Oh, nope, it’s a .45.” Heh. I couldn’t help but to smile. I’m hoping they find a way to make this genre new and fresh, but I’m pretty sure at this point, even all the trappings in the world couldn’t make it truly special. After watching The Wire, I’m supremely confident that for a cop drama to really be as gritty as writers want it to be, it needs to be on HBO or Showtime. Even basic cable would have a hard time doing it justice, but network TV? I’m not holding my breath. I have a sinking feeling that they wanted this to be a realistic, hard-hitting, brutal look at one of the roughest cities in the country, but that it had to be sanitized and watered-down for the general public. The “cop show” has never been very high on my list, but it has been infiltrating my schedule more and more lately. Will Detroit 1-8-7 continue the trend? I seriously doubt it. I’ll give it a shot, but suspect the pilot will be the only episode I’ll ever see.


MY GENERATION

Description: Stars Michael Stahl David as Steven, Kelli Garner as Dawn, Jaime King as Jacqueline, Keir O’Donnell as Kenneth, Sebastian Sozzi as Falcon, Mechad Brooks as Rolly, Anne Son as Caroline, Daniella Alonso as Brenda and Julian Morris as Anders. Created and written by Noah Hawley (“The Unusuals,” “Bones”), who is also an executive producer, along with Warren Littlefield, Henrik Bastin, Patrick Magnasson and Martin Piersson.



My Take: In theory, this show should speak to me and my peers more than just about any other demographic. I graduated in 2001, so this pseudo-docu-soap should tap into my sensibilities on a fundamental level… and yet? Not so much. I don’t know, this trailer was really more of a behind-the-scenes look than anything else, so it’s hard to tell exactly what the show itself will look like, but from what clips they did show us, it looks pretty damn sappy. Have you chased your dreams? Faced your fears? Gag me. If they present it as a straight up narrative about people who just so happen to be this age, that could fine, but I have a sneaking suspicion this is a platform for the writers to send a heavy-handed message. Call me crazy, but I’m not so much a fan of the ham-fisted soap-boxing, thanks… I want to give them a little credit for at least trying to come up with a basic conceit that’s a little different, but at the end of the day, they’ve simply picked a few handfuls of clichés out of a bag and put them all in the same show. The jock, the rich kid, the overachiever, the good girl, we get it. We get it a lot, in fact. I realize that they’ve constructed the show around high school clichés (and what clichés those clichés turn into), but that doesn’t make them any less generic. There were a couple of elements of the trailer that had me mildly interested, but by and large, this doesn’t strike me as a keeper. The only way this is really going to work is if they’ve hired some actors who can turn those standard one-dimensional characters and make turn them into something really special. I have serious doubts, but with a considerable amount of luck, this might be something worth watching. Chronologically speaking, I kind of feel like it’s my duty to watch it, so here’s hoping it’s better than it looks. To its credit, it was created by the same guy behind The Unusuals, which happens to be a show that turned out to be just that. Better than it looked.


NO ORDINARY FAMILY

Description: Michael Chiklis (“The Shield”) stars as Jim Powell, Julie Benz (“Dexter”) as Stephanie Powell, Romany Malco (“The 40-Year-Old Virgin”) as George St. Cloud, Tate Donovan (“Damages”) as Mitch McCutcheon, Autumn Reeser as Katie Andrews, Christina Chang as Yvonne Cho, Kay Panabaker as Daphne Powell and Jimmy Bennett as JJ Powell. The pilot was written and executive-produced by Jon Feldman. The series is executive-produced by Feldman, Greg Berlanti, Morgan Wandell and David Semel, who also directed the pilot.



My Take: I’ve heard pretty good things about this one on the web, and I want to be excited for it, but I’m apprehensive. It’s the kind of concept that has to be handled in just the right way or it could be disastrous. On its face, a show about a family of superheroes sounds like carefree fun. Those associated with it keep saying that it is NOT The Incredibles, but first off, yeah, actually, it kind of is, but secondly, only not as good. I think I’d be a lot more excited about it if it were animated… you know, because then it wouldn’t have Michael Chiklis or Julie Benz at the helm. I honestly never watched much of The Shield and that has a lot to do with how unappealing Chiklis is. Aside from being difficult to look at, his overall manner and acting style are off-putting. He isn’t someone who would have me excited for a show simply because he’s in it (I’m not going to lie, the primary reason I’ve been watching Criminal Minds is that Matthew Gray Gubler is simply beautiful). Then there’s Julie Benz. I’ve hated most of her past characters (even the ones the audience wasn’t supposed to hate), so I have to assume it has something to do with her. She’s a fine actress, and I suppose she’s just doing what is asked of her, but for whatever reason, I generally hate her. I really hope her newest incarnation is nothing like her previous roles, because frankly, Darla redux? Rita 2.0? No thanks. Aside from disconcerting casting decisions, this one looks like it could be a lot of fun. If handled in just the right way, I think this show could do for the superhero genre what Chuck did for the spy-thriller. A more light-hearted, carefree approach could work incredibly well... I’m not totally sure how they’d make this work in the long term, but presumably, they should be able to bank a least a season or two of quality. Here's hoping. I mean really, how bad could it be? It can’t possibly follow the same trajectory as Heroes, right...? Right?!