I honestly thought it was going to be more difficult than this to come up with random thoughts for my weekly round-up... When I stole this feature from all those other sites, I assumed they actually had to work at it, but it's actually a little too easy... (This is all code for: Sorry for the length... this sucker got away from me.)
Worst Tech: Chuck
I’m sorry, but who the hell puts a beeping sound on their spy gear? People who want to get their agents killed in a wine cellar, that’s who. Really, it didn’t occur to anyone in the tech department to add a vibrate feature to their microchip detector thingamajig (because spies never need to sneak around or anything)? But if it doesn’t beep at them when they get closer, how will they know they’re in proximity?! A swift bullet to the head my give them a clue…
Best Accident: How I Met Your Mother
Although I totally saw the pocket dial coming when Marshall said he had a voicemail from his dad, it was still a happy accident and the least annoying instance of a pocket dial on record. Hats off to the Foley artist for the pocket dial recording, by the way. Spot on. (He probably just used a message he already had saved on his phone. Or simply asked anyone on the planet to use theirs.) It’s not easy for a comedy to tackle something like a devastating death, but this episode really made it work.
Biggest Tease: Castle
Mean. Just plain mean. So yeah, after offering up the “most titillating preview of next week’s episode” after last week’s outing, I was met with a rerun last night. I was unduly irked. When a preview tells me “in 2 weeks” I always notice, and I certainly didn’t remember being outraged after last week, so I literally queued up last week’s episode to see if I’d somehow missed it. No, those saucy minxes simply put, “On the next all new episode of Castle…” or some other such bait and switch. Boo. I guess they figured they’ve been dangling the kiss carrot for 2 ½ years now, what’s one more week? Cause for revolt, that’s what.
Most Apparent Style Over Substance: Shameless
It was only the second episode of Shameless, but it already felt like the writers were spinning their wheels. I couldn’t decide if they were simply so focused on trying desperately to shock viewers that they simply forgot to have any real narrative drive behind the episode or if they’ve already run out of road, but I got kind of bored. They seemed to be having a hard time filling an entire hour, and an event harder time shocking me, so they let scenes drag on for entirely too long. So far, the only thing that has been truly shameless is their economy of narrative. If this is the going trend for the show, I might not be hanging on for very long…
Best Awards Show: The Golden Globes
Given that TV is my specialty, and that I see maybe 2 movies a year in theaters, the Oscars holds very little appeal to me. Same goes for Grammys. Seriously, I’m more attuned to the nominees at the Tonys, which is really saying something (something fabulous, I suspect). This is why I enjoy the Golden Globes so much. Sure it’s a ridiculous farce, but for once, I’m actually curious in the outcome and I have an informed opinion. Not all those who deserved to win actually won (or were even nominated), but with Ricky Gervais at the helm, I don’t think anyone really cared who won. He’s the perfect host for such a laid back affair, particularly because his shtick is more roast than host. Introducing Bruce Willis as Ashton Kutcher’s dad kind of made my night.
Best Sartorial Surprise: Trent Reznor looking sharp and dapper in a suit at the Golden Globes. Seriously, as he and that other guy were walking onto the stage, I couldn’t help but think, “Uh, where’s Trent Reznor?” Between the designer suit and the short haircut, I think we all did a double-take… No that wearing Prada doesn’t say “I want to fuck you like an animal,” but you know what I mean.
Worst Sartorial Surprise: Just about everyone else at the Golden Globes. Who knew the 80’s were still back… and with such a shoulder-paddy vengeance.
Most Perplexing Lack of Dye Job: Miss America Teresa Scanlan
Seriously, you’re competing in the ditzy dingbat Olympics, the pinnacle of all a beauty queen could ever hope to achieve in life (besides trophy wifedom, of course), and it didn’t occur to you to get your roots touched up? Oh sure, you remember the hemorrhoid cream for the bags under your eyes and the kitchen spray to keep your bikini stuck to your ass, but you didn’t look in the mirror long enough to see that they’ll be placing your crown on some bleached blonde tendrils hovering over your, shall we say, humble roots? Wow.
Biggest Fundamental Flaw: Harry’s Law
You know you’re in trouble when the only real, huge, show-threatening flaw in your legal procedural is the fact that it’s a legal procedural. The first half of the pilot was actually pretty good… but then, inevitably, there was a second half. The characters were quirky and funny (Kathy is a pro and I love Nate Corddry) and the set up had some promise, but the actual courtroom scenes and legal antics were absurd and annoying. I kept thinking that the producers must not know a damn thing about how the law actually works and have never even seen a show that knew. But, to my dismay and surprise, I found that David E. Kelley was at the helm, so not only has he seen shows that knew about law, but he’s produced them (The Practice, Ally McBeal, etc). So I guess the real flaw here is amnesia… Worst of the worst? “Turns out, the only one we needed was the judge…” Of course he was the only one you needed! Judges doe the sentencing! We all already knew he was guilty! And so did you! This was never about getting a “not guilty” verdict, and yet, when the verdict was announced, you looked so surprised, Kathy! Boo.
Most Unnecessary Remake: the US bastardization of Skins
For a show like Skins, you’d think bastardization would be a good thing (semantically speaking), but believe me, this is yet another pathetic attempt at revamping an excellent British show for primetime TV. In all honesty, I couldn’t even bring myself to finish the first episode. Scene for scene, the story is very similar to its superior British counterpart, but in execution, it’s yet another American embarrassment. The US version is water-down and tamed to the point where it doesn’t even make sense. The greatest of America’s sins when it comes to adopting foreign shows is with censorship, and with Skins, censorship is the death knell. It made this version seem completely inauthentic and lame. I’d say it was akin to a fourth grade class putting on a production of Rent. Or, how about a Glee version of Rocky Horror… Dear America, please stop. Seriously though, the British version is gritty, sharp, realistic, ballsy and incredibly creative. If you’re looking to add such a show to your rotation, seek out the British version. It’s on Netflix Instant Play, so it doesn’t get any easier than that. It is far better than the ersatz crap that MTV is offering. Trust me.
Best Way to Distract a Jury from the Presumed Nazism of the Defendant: Throw a Scientologist into the mix, a la The Good Wife
Man alive, this show is exciting, intricate, cerebral, sexy, and funny as hell. When their client is thought to have Nazi sympathies (he was actually a WWII buff who participated in reenactments, but that didn’t make the pictures any less incriminating), the defense comes up with a plan to give the jury someone new to hate by going after the religion of one of the witnesses. I honestly couldn’t think of what religion they could possibly attack that would deflect some of the presumed Nazi sympathies… Oh my god, I about died laughing when it was revealed to be Scientology. Ha! Nice job, Kalinda. I love her. No wonder she was one of Cary’s top concerns when deciding to take a new job. He tried to play it off all cool, but trust me Cary, no one would fault you for accepting a job simply because Kalinda was there.
Most Linguistically Ridiculous Final Straw: Off the Map
I tried to give this sucker one more episode, but after about 10 minutes of its second outing, I called it quits. Much like Matt Saracen not knowing what a “gringo” is (and apparently never having owned a TV or driven by a restaurant before), now Mamie Gummer seems terminally stupid. Apparently she couldn’t be bothered to learn what the Spanish word is for “sick” prior to moving to South America to provide medical care in a rural clinic, and somehow managed to get through more than 20 minutes on the job without picking up that little tidbit. It’s ridiculous on about 87 different levels. I’m pretty sure that the main thing esta enferma on this show is the writing. Annnnd, we’re done. Stop. Delete. Buh-bye.
Quotes of the Week:
Alicia: “Yes, your honor, I’m all laced up and ready to go.”
(The Good Wife, where Alicia manipulates the judge with hilarious enthusiasm, and more than a few sports-related colloquialisms. The true context would take forever to explain, but I seriously busted up. You had to be there.)
Gloria: “Why the whoosh? Where is the email?! It sended! Make it come back!”
(Modern Family)
Abed: “We should really start learning people’s names.”
Jeff: “I agree with the brown Jamie Lee Curtis.”
(Community)
“She has eaten 7 couches and 2 chairs.”
(My Strange Addiction, regarding a woman who had been eating the yellow foam cushions of furniture for over 20 years.)
Showing posts with label Harry's Law. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harry's Law. Show all posts
Friday, January 21, 2011
Thursday, May 27, 2010
NBC Pilots 2010: Volume 2
This volume should round out NBC's new dramas. Below you'll find clips and snap judgments on The Event, which will premiere this fall, as well as Harry's Law and The Cape, which are slated for midseason. Whether or not that's how things will actually pan out, however, is up for grabs. As you may have noticed on NBC's fall schedule, Wednesday nights have Law & Order: Los Angeles penciled in for a fall pairing with SVU. I say "penciled in" because as near as I can tell, they have yet to do absolutely anything with this yet (you know, aside from killing off original flavor just one season shy of the record). Beyond the title, they don't seem to have a clue in hell what this is going to be (and I suspect, if this is going to be). At any rate, the total lack of anything about this one means I don't have much to review really, so at least I can knock one pilot off my list. (The fact that LOLA got picked up without so much as a pilot makes the unceremonious death of The Rockford Files reboot all the more embarrassing. Word is, even after re-cutting the pilot extensively, it was still too dull to make it on the air--ouch.)
Anyway, without further ado, here's three more of NBC's deluge of pilots (seriously, I don't know how they are affording all these new shows and can't imagine they'll have the budget to promote them properly)...
THE EVENT
Description: Stars Jason Ritter (The Class, and most recently as Lorelai's love interest on Parenthood), Sarah Roemer (Disturbia), Blair Underwood (Dirty Sexy Money), Laura Innes, (Dr. Weaver from ER), and Scott Patterson (Gilmore Girls). Ian Anthony Dale (Daybreak) and Emmy winner Željko Ivanek (Damages) also star in the ensemble drama. Steve Stark (Medium, Facing Kate) serves as executive producer, Nick Wauters (The 4400, Eureka) is creator/co-executive producer and Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights, Trauma) is the director/executive producer; Evan Katz (24) also is an executive producer.
My Take: Well, they certainly told us a whole lot about what The Event is not, I'll give it that much. The very fact that they have titled the show with such a bald-faced plea for this show to become appointment TV is annoying enough, but then for the trailer to be all vague in a "you can't handle the truth" kind of way is bordering on obnoxious. It honestly looks like a slick, high-budget, high-concept show with some serious talent on and off the screen, so I guess I'm mainly just quibbling with how it was presented. They're quite obviously aiming for the kind of mystery and intrigue that gave Lost its luster, but the trailer for Lost had people salivating for more. When people first started watching Lost, no one really knew just how many twists and turns they were in for. With The Event's trailer, the producers are basically shouting at potential viewers, "Hey, look over here! There's going to be all sorts of mystery, and everyone loves a good mystery, right!? Okay, I'll give you a few hints... The assassination plot isn't the event. Are you glued to your TV yet?!" I, for one, am not. I'm not saying it won't be a good show, because it very well may be, but the way they're promoting it just isn't doing it for me. As with other recent high-concept serials like The Nine, Six Degrees, and FlashForward, I have a sinking feeling that unless they start presenting this to people in a more tantalizing, concrete way, the show is going to start off very strong, then falter. Off the bat, it strikes me as a good idea for a movie or miniseries than a TV show. But, once again, it's hard to really sum up the show given that the trailer basically told us a whole bunch of what the show isn't. I'm not even sure what the base conceit is, so really, we have a mystery at the core, surrounded by more mysterious mysteries. At the end of the day, really good thrillers are as solid in some areas as they are amorphous in others. They should give you an idea of what you're in for week-to-week, but hold back enough to keep you sucked in. So far? The Event gives me nothing tangible to latch onto. On the plus side, this series has some real power-players at the helm, so assuming the pilot tells viewers even 1% of what is going on, they might just be able to hit this one out of the park. The trailer was too unnecessarily disjointed to really get a feel for who's who (one minute the president knows Dr. Weaver, the next minute he doesn't? One minute Jason Ritter's fiancee is missing, the next she's running with him?), but assuming the show itself manages to define them, it could be pretty spectacular. I'm no fan of Blair Underwood, but the rest of the cast is very strong. I'm not too familiar with the behind-the-scenes production crew though, so it's a tough call. This one could really go either way. I was unimpressed and a little annoyed by the trailer, but I was able to parse out enough solid fundamentals that they might just pull it off. Again, I'm left with the feeling that I don't actually have any clue in hell what this show is going to be (seriously, who are these people?), so I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to tune it. My prediction? Well-made, engaging pilot with strong ratings, soon to be followed by people losing interest as the show meanders its way through 873 mysteries while it forsakes actual substance. For those of you hoping to break into the biz, that, my friends, is not the impression a trailer should be hoping to make. Inexplicably, I learned a hell of a lot more about the show based on this blurb about it on the web than I did from the trailer:
"The Event" is an emotional high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter), an Everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée, Leila (Sarah Roemer), and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. Sean's quest will send ripples through the lives of an eclectic band of strangers, including: newly elected U.S. President Martinez (Blair Underwood); Sophia (Laura Innes), who is the leader of a mysterious group of detainees; and Sean’s shadowy father-in-law (Scott Patterson). Their futures are on a collision course in a global conspiracy that could ultimately change the fate of mankind.
Oh, so that's what this is?! Good to know! Why, that's the kind of information that should have been delivered via the trailer! Oy... Anyway, at least from the blurb it sounds like they have a plan. Probably an overly-ambitious plan, but a plan nonetheless. This show has gotten quite a lot of buzz on Twitter and elsewhere, so it looks like the trailer has sucked others in more so than myself. Here's hoping this is simply a classic case of bad trailer, awesome show, because by most accounts, this show looks to have some serious promise.
HARRY'S LAW
Description: From Emmy Award-winning creator David E. Kelley (The Practice, Boston Legal). Stars Kathy Bates (Misery, About Schmidt), Ben Chaplin, (Me and Orson Wells, The Truth About Cats and Dogs) and Aml Ameen (Kidulthood). Also stars Brittany Snow (Hairspray) and Beatrice Rosen (Dark Knight) David E. Kelley and Bill D’Elia (Boston Legal, The Practice) serve as executive producers.
My Take: Well, after several years of drought in the "legal drama" department, we seem to have an inundation on our hands. Last season, it was all about medical shows (what with ER coming to an end and all), and before that, it was nothing but crime procedurals. What sparked the resurgence of lawyer shows, you ask? It's a good question and a tough call. On NBC alone, three of their new dramas fall into this category. The legal drama has always been a mainstay of primetime television, and after a prosperous time in the 90's, hit a rough patch in the oo's. My theory? After the success of CBS's The Good Wife, and declining ratings in the "cop show" arena, networks decided it was time to resurrect the genre. Why the hell they can't design a show that doesn't revolve around one of those three professions (cops, docs, or lawyers), I'll never understand. Anyway, preamble aside, Harry's Law has its fair share of standard legal cliches (rogue voice fighting for the little guy in blustering, heart-wrenching speeches about justice, etc.), but this show is at least aiming for some originality as well. I'm honestly not too sure how the two fellas will play into the show (the English bloke appears to be some sort of teacher who decides to work for her after she saves him... I assume the other guy will do the same?), but at least it's an interpersonal dynamic that has a unique spin and seems worthy of exploring. I'm not sure what this says about the series as a whole, but the most exciting part of the trailer? Paul McCrane! (aka Dr. Romano from ER--hey, hey, they've combined two of the three to professions now). He isn't listed as a series regular, that I've found, so that's a bummer, but even as a recurring guest star, I'd be delighted. This show is slated for midseason, and while it has some original-ish elements, I'm afraid the trappings of the genre might just be its undoing. All legal shows are a lot alike, especially all legal shows by David E. Kelley, and from what I've seen, I'm not convinced Harry's Law is going to have enough going for it to really make a splash. It seems like the kind of show that will appeal to my sensibilities, but doesn't strike me as a top tier contender right off the bat. Kathy Bates is a true power player and the supporting cast is strong, so that's something. I think the show is going to have hard time finding a sizable audience with an older actress anchoring the show, however. Geez, even The Good Wife skews to an older demographic and it has about a million times the sex appeal of this show. Unfortunately, advertisers, and by extension networks, don't exactly melt into puddles of joy for shows that skew older. Hopefully the supporting cast attracts some younger viewers, but I honestly don't think your average college student is going to be twittering over this one. All in all, it seems fairly generic, but at least they're trying for a new take on things. I'll certainly be giving it a shot, but I'm not chomping at the bit for this one--except for maybe some cartoon nostalgia from my childhood... good god, I loved that woodpecker.
THE CAPE
Description: Stars David Lyons (ER), Jennifer Ferrin (Life on Mars) Ryan Wynott (Flash Forward), James Frain (The Tudors), Keith David (Death at a Funeral), Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarach Connor Chronicles, Firefly), and Dorian Missick (Six Degrees)Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun production from executive producer/creator Thomas Wheeler (Empire), executive producer/director Simon West (Con Air), the executive producing team of Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun (NBC’s Mercy), and executive producer Gene Stein (Accidentally on Purpose).
My Take: This one proving to be incredibly difficult to snap judge. On paper, it sounds horrendously god-awful (seriously, when I stumbled across an internet blurb about it, it reads like a cheesy short-story written by a middle school student). But, in its finished state, it looks like it could have some serious potential. I think it's all going to boil down to execution with this one. This is the kind of concept that needs to be handled in just the right way or it'll be laughable. It'll be a fine line to walk. From the trailer, it hard to tell if the show is taking itself too seriously, or just seriously enough. As with so many shows that sound positively ridiculous on paper (teenage girl slays vampires with her friends, high school student moonlights as a private eye, computer geek has government database downloaded into his head), this will take a skilled hand... and looking at the production team behind this one, I'm pretty skeptical about their ability to pull it off. Most of the executive producers most recently helmed terrible beyond terrible shows, so here's hoping that was more the writers' faults than their own. At least the on-air talent seems solid. It's a tough call. I'm definitely intrigued, but still cautious. I keep expecting pure horribleness (in which some aspects of this show appear to be striving for a PhD), but am usually met with better. The thought of a bad guy using his cape as his weapon still smacks of lame on more than a few levels, but the special effects are slick enough for me to suspend my mocking. The go-go gadget goblet retrieval aspect of the cape didn't really dazzle me, but the poofy disappearing act was admittedly snazzy. I'm still not sold on him learning to fight bad guys from some ragtag group of circus performers, but whatever. I guess it might be okay...? The bare bones seem workable, and the concept could turn out to be pretty stellar, but so far, the dialogue had me cringing. Good lord, there weren't even that many lines said in the trailer and I was absolutely rolling my eyes. It all sounded a little Michael Bayish in that we're-trying-a-little-too-hard-to-be-badasses kind of way. "Say hello to Dorothy, bitch!" Ugh. That's a writer who's trying too hard and succeeding too little. If a show has a solid concept and superior execution, it shouldn't have to rely on cheesy one-liners. I'm really hoping that whoever put the pilot together just happened to think those lines were hilarious and picked out the few eye-rollers of an otherwise brilliant script, but I'm not holding my breath. Bad dialogue will ruin just about any show for me and this one appears to have it in spades. When it's not trying desperately to be badass, it's striving unsuccessfully for profundity and heart. Again, I've only seen the trailer and read a few things, but so far? It's too close to call. The good and the bad seem about equally weighted at this point. Hopefully this is a case where the creative team comes up with something fairly ridiculous that turns out to be insane genius, but looking at said creative team? I'm not so hopeful...
Anyway, without further ado, here's three more of NBC's deluge of pilots (seriously, I don't know how they are affording all these new shows and can't imagine they'll have the budget to promote them properly)...
THE EVENT
Description: Stars Jason Ritter (The Class, and most recently as Lorelai's love interest on Parenthood), Sarah Roemer (Disturbia), Blair Underwood (Dirty Sexy Money), Laura Innes, (Dr. Weaver from ER), and Scott Patterson (Gilmore Girls). Ian Anthony Dale (Daybreak) and Emmy winner Željko Ivanek (Damages) also star in the ensemble drama. Steve Stark (Medium, Facing Kate) serves as executive producer, Nick Wauters (The 4400, Eureka) is creator/co-executive producer and Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights, Trauma) is the director/executive producer; Evan Katz (24) also is an executive producer.
My Take: Well, they certainly told us a whole lot about what The Event is not, I'll give it that much. The very fact that they have titled the show with such a bald-faced plea for this show to become appointment TV is annoying enough, but then for the trailer to be all vague in a "you can't handle the truth" kind of way is bordering on obnoxious. It honestly looks like a slick, high-budget, high-concept show with some serious talent on and off the screen, so I guess I'm mainly just quibbling with how it was presented. They're quite obviously aiming for the kind of mystery and intrigue that gave Lost its luster, but the trailer for Lost had people salivating for more. When people first started watching Lost, no one really knew just how many twists and turns they were in for. With The Event's trailer, the producers are basically shouting at potential viewers, "Hey, look over here! There's going to be all sorts of mystery, and everyone loves a good mystery, right!? Okay, I'll give you a few hints... The assassination plot isn't the event. Are you glued to your TV yet?!" I, for one, am not. I'm not saying it won't be a good show, because it very well may be, but the way they're promoting it just isn't doing it for me. As with other recent high-concept serials like The Nine, Six Degrees, and FlashForward, I have a sinking feeling that unless they start presenting this to people in a more tantalizing, concrete way, the show is going to start off very strong, then falter. Off the bat, it strikes me as a good idea for a movie or miniseries than a TV show. But, once again, it's hard to really sum up the show given that the trailer basically told us a whole bunch of what the show isn't. I'm not even sure what the base conceit is, so really, we have a mystery at the core, surrounded by more mysterious mysteries. At the end of the day, really good thrillers are as solid in some areas as they are amorphous in others. They should give you an idea of what you're in for week-to-week, but hold back enough to keep you sucked in. So far? The Event gives me nothing tangible to latch onto. On the plus side, this series has some real power-players at the helm, so assuming the pilot tells viewers even 1% of what is going on, they might just be able to hit this one out of the park. The trailer was too unnecessarily disjointed to really get a feel for who's who (one minute the president knows Dr. Weaver, the next minute he doesn't? One minute Jason Ritter's fiancee is missing, the next she's running with him?), but assuming the show itself manages to define them, it could be pretty spectacular. I'm no fan of Blair Underwood, but the rest of the cast is very strong. I'm not too familiar with the behind-the-scenes production crew though, so it's a tough call. This one could really go either way. I was unimpressed and a little annoyed by the trailer, but I was able to parse out enough solid fundamentals that they might just pull it off. Again, I'm left with the feeling that I don't actually have any clue in hell what this show is going to be (seriously, who are these people?), so I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to tune it. My prediction? Well-made, engaging pilot with strong ratings, soon to be followed by people losing interest as the show meanders its way through 873 mysteries while it forsakes actual substance. For those of you hoping to break into the biz, that, my friends, is not the impression a trailer should be hoping to make. Inexplicably, I learned a hell of a lot more about the show based on this blurb about it on the web than I did from the trailer:
"The Event" is an emotional high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter), an Everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée, Leila (Sarah Roemer), and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. Sean's quest will send ripples through the lives of an eclectic band of strangers, including: newly elected U.S. President Martinez (Blair Underwood); Sophia (Laura Innes), who is the leader of a mysterious group of detainees; and Sean’s shadowy father-in-law (Scott Patterson). Their futures are on a collision course in a global conspiracy that could ultimately change the fate of mankind.
Oh, so that's what this is?! Good to know! Why, that's the kind of information that should have been delivered via the trailer! Oy... Anyway, at least from the blurb it sounds like they have a plan. Probably an overly-ambitious plan, but a plan nonetheless. This show has gotten quite a lot of buzz on Twitter and elsewhere, so it looks like the trailer has sucked others in more so than myself. Here's hoping this is simply a classic case of bad trailer, awesome show, because by most accounts, this show looks to have some serious promise.
HARRY'S LAW
Description: From Emmy Award-winning creator David E. Kelley (The Practice, Boston Legal). Stars Kathy Bates (Misery, About Schmidt), Ben Chaplin, (Me and Orson Wells, The Truth About Cats and Dogs) and Aml Ameen (Kidulthood). Also stars Brittany Snow (Hairspray) and Beatrice Rosen (Dark Knight) David E. Kelley and Bill D’Elia (Boston Legal, The Practice) serve as executive producers.
My Take: Well, after several years of drought in the "legal drama" department, we seem to have an inundation on our hands. Last season, it was all about medical shows (what with ER coming to an end and all), and before that, it was nothing but crime procedurals. What sparked the resurgence of lawyer shows, you ask? It's a good question and a tough call. On NBC alone, three of their new dramas fall into this category. The legal drama has always been a mainstay of primetime television, and after a prosperous time in the 90's, hit a rough patch in the oo's. My theory? After the success of CBS's The Good Wife, and declining ratings in the "cop show" arena, networks decided it was time to resurrect the genre. Why the hell they can't design a show that doesn't revolve around one of those three professions (cops, docs, or lawyers), I'll never understand. Anyway, preamble aside, Harry's Law has its fair share of standard legal cliches (rogue voice fighting for the little guy in blustering, heart-wrenching speeches about justice, etc.), but this show is at least aiming for some originality as well. I'm honestly not too sure how the two fellas will play into the show (the English bloke appears to be some sort of teacher who decides to work for her after she saves him... I assume the other guy will do the same?), but at least it's an interpersonal dynamic that has a unique spin and seems worthy of exploring. I'm not sure what this says about the series as a whole, but the most exciting part of the trailer? Paul McCrane! (aka Dr. Romano from ER--hey, hey, they've combined two of the three to professions now). He isn't listed as a series regular, that I've found, so that's a bummer, but even as a recurring guest star, I'd be delighted. This show is slated for midseason, and while it has some original-ish elements, I'm afraid the trappings of the genre might just be its undoing. All legal shows are a lot alike, especially all legal shows by David E. Kelley, and from what I've seen, I'm not convinced Harry's Law is going to have enough going for it to really make a splash. It seems like the kind of show that will appeal to my sensibilities, but doesn't strike me as a top tier contender right off the bat. Kathy Bates is a true power player and the supporting cast is strong, so that's something. I think the show is going to have hard time finding a sizable audience with an older actress anchoring the show, however. Geez, even The Good Wife skews to an older demographic and it has about a million times the sex appeal of this show. Unfortunately, advertisers, and by extension networks, don't exactly melt into puddles of joy for shows that skew older. Hopefully the supporting cast attracts some younger viewers, but I honestly don't think your average college student is going to be twittering over this one. All in all, it seems fairly generic, but at least they're trying for a new take on things. I'll certainly be giving it a shot, but I'm not chomping at the bit for this one--except for maybe some cartoon nostalgia from my childhood... good god, I loved that woodpecker.
THE CAPE
Description: Stars David Lyons (ER), Jennifer Ferrin (Life on Mars) Ryan Wynott (Flash Forward), James Frain (The Tudors), Keith David (Death at a Funeral), Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarach Connor Chronicles, Firefly), and Dorian Missick (Six Degrees)Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun production from executive producer/creator Thomas Wheeler (Empire), executive producer/director Simon West (Con Air), the executive producing team of Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun (NBC’s Mercy), and executive producer Gene Stein (Accidentally on Purpose).
My Take: This one proving to be incredibly difficult to snap judge. On paper, it sounds horrendously god-awful (seriously, when I stumbled across an internet blurb about it, it reads like a cheesy short-story written by a middle school student). But, in its finished state, it looks like it could have some serious potential. I think it's all going to boil down to execution with this one. This is the kind of concept that needs to be handled in just the right way or it'll be laughable. It'll be a fine line to walk. From the trailer, it hard to tell if the show is taking itself too seriously, or just seriously enough. As with so many shows that sound positively ridiculous on paper (teenage girl slays vampires with her friends, high school student moonlights as a private eye, computer geek has government database downloaded into his head), this will take a skilled hand... and looking at the production team behind this one, I'm pretty skeptical about their ability to pull it off. Most of the executive producers most recently helmed terrible beyond terrible shows, so here's hoping that was more the writers' faults than their own. At least the on-air talent seems solid. It's a tough call. I'm definitely intrigued, but still cautious. I keep expecting pure horribleness (in which some aspects of this show appear to be striving for a PhD), but am usually met with better. The thought of a bad guy using his cape as his weapon still smacks of lame on more than a few levels, but the special effects are slick enough for me to suspend my mocking. The go-go gadget goblet retrieval aspect of the cape didn't really dazzle me, but the poofy disappearing act was admittedly snazzy. I'm still not sold on him learning to fight bad guys from some ragtag group of circus performers, but whatever. I guess it might be okay...? The bare bones seem workable, and the concept could turn out to be pretty stellar, but so far, the dialogue had me cringing. Good lord, there weren't even that many lines said in the trailer and I was absolutely rolling my eyes. It all sounded a little Michael Bayish in that we're-trying-a-little-too-hard-to-be-badasses kind of way. "Say hello to Dorothy, bitch!" Ugh. That's a writer who's trying too hard and succeeding too little. If a show has a solid concept and superior execution, it shouldn't have to rely on cheesy one-liners. I'm really hoping that whoever put the pilot together just happened to think those lines were hilarious and picked out the few eye-rollers of an otherwise brilliant script, but I'm not holding my breath. Bad dialogue will ruin just about any show for me and this one appears to have it in spades. When it's not trying desperately to be badass, it's striving unsuccessfully for profundity and heart. Again, I've only seen the trailer and read a few things, but so far? It's too close to call. The good and the bad seem about equally weighted at this point. Hopefully this is a case where the creative team comes up with something fairly ridiculous that turns out to be insane genius, but looking at said creative team? I'm not so hopeful...
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