Thinning the Herd

I don't know if you've met most shows, but the vast majority of them suck. As such, while I watch nearly every pilot that comes out (whether I mention it on this blog or not), only a few make it into my regular rotation. It's not often that I'll either pick up or completely discredit a show based entirely on the pilot, so I usually give those with even a modicum of potential a couple of episodes to really grab me. Don't get me wrong, when it comes to bags of crap like The Beautiful Life, The Deep End, or The Forgotten, I only need about ten minutes of the pilot to decide it falls into "Show Fail" territory and never look back, but most shows have a least a glimmer of hope.

In looking at the new shows for this summer, a few shows managed to make it onto my schedule, but the majority fell by the wayside pretty quickly. ABC, NBC, and Fox tried their hands at summer programming, but by and large, they failed pretty spectacularly. It's cute that the big four thought they could really challenge the cable networks... Sad, but cute.

With a schedule as jam-packed as mine is, I can't really afford to keep shows that don't have me truly interested on some level. Don't get me wrong, the three tiered system is still in place, but it's become so overflowing that I've found I have to cut my losses quicker and quicker. Back in the day, I was able to give shows more time to impress me, but with my DVR prioritizer bursting at the seams (literally, it can only hold 50 shows, and I've had to break up with old ones in order to make way for new ones), I just can't do it anymore. Sometimes you just have to thin the herd...

Here are the sickly little gazelles that didn't survive:

• The Gates
  I actually enjoyed the first couple of episodes of The Gates well enough (it seemed like a nice, thoughtless summer guilty pleasure), but it just didn't keep my attention. That, coupled with the dismal ratings and I knew it wasn't worth dedicating myself to a lost cause. Also, confoundingly, for a show about vampires, witches, werewolves, and whatever else, it was surprisingly slow.
  
  
• Scoundrels
  This crap-fest didn't stand a chance. I barely made it through the pilot alive. I realize summer isn't really your key season here, but if you're going to make a foray into this kind of scheduling, at least make it bearable...
  
  
• The Good Guys
  This one's a heart-breaker. I wanted to like it, I really really did, but alas, I just plain didn't. I thought my allegiance to Matt Nix knew no bounds, but apparently I was wrong. It knows some bounds all right... bounds called The Good Guys.
  
  
• Memphis Beat
  This show actually had a fairly solid pilot, and while I can appreciate that it's well-made and certainly has its charm, at the end of the day, it's your standard cop procedural and I lost interest after only a few episodes. The dynamics of the show just didn't really gel for me and after only the second episode, I felt like it was a chore to watch and gave up.
  
  
• Rizzoli & Isles
  Again, it's not a bad show really (which isn't to say it's a good show either), but if you've seen one cop procedural, you've seen 'em all, and this show did very little to reinvent the wheel. I found the relationship between R and I boring, uninspired, and generic. Add to that Donnie Wahlberg as a love interest and I officially reached my limit (and tested my gag reflex to the breaking point. Think unsexy thoughts... Think unsexy thoughts... Oooh, that's unsexy...).
  
  
• Pretty Little Liars
  On a purely trivial level, I wish I had stuck with this one. From what I hear, it's the perfect summertime soap opera. I caught the first few episodes, and while I could appreciate the shallowness and intrigue, I ultimately found that I needed more substance. I just plain didn't care what crazy things were happening because I didn't care about any of the characters. I'm not saying it needed to be a deep, cerebral tour de force or anything, but a dollop of substance would have gone a hell of a long way.
  
  
• Huge
  Ugh. I only made it through the pilot. I found it completely charmless and dour from beginning to end. They had a real opportunity here to present an uncommon television demographic here, but all the characters were fairly unlikeable. I toyed with the idea of giving it a few more episodes to draw me in, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth it.
  

Here are the shows of hardier stock that have made it into my regular rotation for various reasons (some more justifiable than others):

• Covert Affairs
  As per usual with USA network, it only took a few episodes for this show to find its feet and really suck me in. Truth be told, every episode since the pilot has been better than the pilot. Much better. From the pilot alone, I had feared the show would be too light and fluffy to really have any gravity or suspense, but it's actually pretty well grounded. Like other shows on this network, it has a pretty nice balance and light and heavy. The show is still a bit rough around the edges, and at times doesn't quite seem to know what to do with some of its characters, but it has found a good groove and has plenty of room to grow and improve. Piper Perabo has been much more engaging and likable than I ever would have expected. There are still certain aspects of her character (and acting) that I would change, but by and large, she's grown on me rather quickly. Her partner in crime (and I suspect, soon to be partner in the sheets) Auggie is an absolute delight. From the pilot, I was apprehensive that the show wouldn't have the dramatic chops to really explore his character, but fortunately, they've settled into a narrative tone that allows for just about anything. The most recent episode helped illuminate some of Auggie's psychological turmoil and I loved it. The more Auggie, the better. I've always loved Christopher Gorham and I'm thrilled he's found such a plum role. His chemistry with Perabo is a big part of why this show is working for me. You can tell that they really seem to enjoy one another and I suspect they get along famously in real life. It shows onscreen. They clearly form the foundation of the show, and more and more it's seeming like they're the only characters. While I appreciate a show that doesn't feel the need to use actors in every episode (if there's no reason for them to be there, leave them out), I get the impression the writers just don't really know what to do with Anne Dudek and Mohinder. Hopefully they'll either cut the dead weight or better yet, find something important and interesting for them to do. As is, Mohinder is largely absent (and nigh-unrecognizable), and Dudek is wasted on a thankless role. All in all, however, I find that I'm really enjoying this one and am actively excited for it week-to-week.
  
  
• Boston Med
  The best little show that no one is watching... but me. I realize this is more up my alley than most, so it comes as little surprise that it hasn't exactly been a ratings juggernaut (although I hear it's been improving). I'm a sucker for documentaries and medical shows, so this one really appeals to me. It would never be appointment TV or anything, but it makes for a nice alternate.
  
  
• Rookie Blue
  On the more embarrassing end of the spectrum, we have Rookie Blue. It's unabashedly Grey's Anatomy with cops, but you know what? I quite enjoyed Grey's Anatomy at first, so it stands to reason that Rookie Blue would hold some appeal. It's predictable and generic and fairly cheesy, but ultimately pretty harmless. It's not the kind of show I would miss if it disappeared, but for what it is, it's enjoyable enough. It makes for a nice summer distraction, if nothing else. Although, while I salute Ephram for trying to break out of the Everwood mold, I can't say I like his new character much at all and I spend the better part of each episode wishing he'd start playing the piano or pining for Amy. On an unrelated note, I knew this was a Canadian production, but didn't truly grasp the depth of its Canadianness until I hear a "Soory" slip by. Excellent. :)
  
  
• Rubicon
  In all honesty, I've only seen the pilot, but it was intriguing enough that I'm ready for more. This is a cerebral conspiracy thriller (well, maybe not "thriller" per se... the pacing of the show leaves a bit to be desired) that is extremely well-made and doesn't assume the viewing audience is as dumb as a post. It's a nice change of pace when a show presupposes that viewers will understand what they're trying to do and that they don't need to be spoon fed. That said, it still needs to find its feet. The pilot was a bit uneven for me, but I think they've set up a situation that could be exhilarating. As mentioned, the pacing is really the only aspect of the show that might become an issue. I'm not saying it needs to have one mindless car chase after another or anything, but a little suspense would have done wonders for it. As is, I just didn't get that nail-biting sense of simmering dread that you'd expect from this kind of a conceit. Again, we've only just begun, so here's hoping it figures out exactly what it wants to be and knocks it out of the park.
  
  
• The Glades
  Okay, I'm as shocked as you are on this one. It's basically your standard crime procedural, but for some reason, I keep coming back week-to-week. The lead actor carries the show and he's just charming enough that I want to see more. When I first heard about the show, I had no intention of keeping it. Maybe it's that it airs in an uncrowded timeslot... Whatever the reason, I'm actually quite enjoying this one. It kind of has a House vibe to it, but with a more playful, boyish, carefree bent. If you're in the market for a new crime procedural to add to your slate, I'd recommend you check this one out. Otherwise, I could take it or leave it. I wouldn't be too upset to see it canceled, but I enjoy having it around.
  

Anyway, for good or ill, this has been the most crowded summer viewing schedule I've ever faced. I usually spend the summer tapping into serieseses that I've been meaning to see, but either never watched, or missed the first few seasons of when they actually aired. At present, I've been watching The Wire, Criminal Minds, Rescue Me, Weeds, and Lost, but haven't really had time to polish them off. I'm mired in the middle of each at this point. Sigh. I kind of miss having the summers off. It's also the reason I haven't had a chance to post previews of the other pilots airing this fall. I soldiered through all 817 of NBCs new shows and simply didn't have the time or energy to attack the other networks. Maybe someday...

Mothers and Sons

Note to writers and showrunners everywhere: If you can make me smile, surprise me, or pique my interest with something new (or shiny--I have more raccoon tendencies than I'd like to admit) within the first five minutes, I can't help but to want you to succeed overall. TNT's latest summertime venture rose to the occasion. Memphis Beat, starring My Name Is Earl alum Jason Lee, could easily have been your typical cop drama, but I knew from only the first few moments of the show that I was in for something a little different, and to great extent, a little better than your standard fare.

The show had me rooting for it almost instantly. The show opened in such a way that it was unmistakably Memphis (even though I hear it's filmed in New Orleans, the essence of the appeal is that it's the South), but for me, and much more importantly, it made it refreshingly clear that this was not New York or Los Angeles. Saints. Be. Praised. In much the same way that Justified piqued my curiosity right off the bat, a simple change of scenery (and by extension, soundtrack) can imbue a show with an entirely different tone and feel (and sticky humidity). The writers made a point of making Memphis itself a character on the show (even to the point of it being heavy-handed). This may be your typical detective drama in many ways, but just the fact that we weren't in your typical locale made it all seem a little fresher, a little newer, and a little more original than its genre compatriots. To boot, the show didn't open on a grisly murder scene or some blustering bad guy interrogating a bad guy. It opened on an entertainer preparing for a show. A scene which would unexpectedly bookend the pilot.

Along with Memphis as a very welcomed change of backdrop, the characters and the writing have quite a bit going for them. The locale had already put the show in my good graces, but it was the simplest, most unassuming of lines from one of the supporting characters that initially won me over. As Detective Dwight Hendricks (Jason Lee) arrives at a grocery store shooting, he asks a beat cop (who had been getting something to eat across the street) how long it took him to get to the grocery store after hearing shots fired. The beat cop responds, with all attendant urgency and seriousness, "It didn't take me more than 29... 30 seconds, tops!" Heh. So simple, and yet it totally elicited a smile. Because, you know, leave it to some young rookie cop to think that the difference between 29 and 30 seconds would actually matter. I think what really made that work for me was that the show wasn't asking for the laugh and the line simply floated by. If you weren't paying attention, you could very easily have missed it. It was in that moment that the tone for the show was set for me. Very serious situations peppered with a sort of quiet humor that isn't trying too hard, but that totally works. Just the kind I like. From that point on, I wanted to like this show (you know, instead of wanting to dismember it, as per my usual), and I think that's why I was willing to let a lot of things that should have annoyed me off the hook.

In spite of wanting to like the pilot, I have learned to be cautious. For you see, the first 10 minutes of The Good Guys also had me smiling and wanting to like it. I did not. At all. So, when Alfre Woodard, the new police chief and resident hardass, showed up at the precinct to ostensibly enforce rules and just generally be a bitch, I was afraid this show was headed in an equally disappointing direction (and to certain extent, it very well did). Alfre Woodard is a power-player to the nth degree. I adore her. So you can imagine how irksome I found it when she initially seemed to be your standard cliche of the woman in power (read: mega-bitch). For the better part of the pilot, in fact, I was frustrated and annoyed with the angle the writers chose for her character. The new chief, a woman, saunters into this man's world and expects them submit daily reports, file necessary paperwork on time, do exactly as she says (regardless of what actually works), and even banishes the guys' favorite lamp (a naked woman's torso that lights up in the bust area). Don't get me wrong, I agreed with her that "Many of the female officers don't appreciate their desks being illuminated by nipples," but other than that, Woodard was presented as your typical, controlling, unreasonable overlord. To see such a great actress seemingly reduced to such a lazy, insulting cliche was starting to break my heart, but then the show put some factors into motion that helped change my perception of Woodard's character and her dynamic with Detective Hendricks.

In Woodard's initial scene with Hendricks, she explains how she's a mother, and that although her children didn't always want to do as they were told, they did it, and ultimately accepted that she was right. I short-sightedly assumed that this was a writer tapping into the genre's more regrettable views of women and a lazy way of creating conflict with the whose maverick protagonist. To a certain extent, that's absolutely the case, but in the grander scheme, the writers' clearly put a lot more thought into this than I initially expected (not that that made it any less annoying while it was happening, tough). The real heart of the matter isn't fully elucidated till the end, but the seeds of their dynamic are sown throughout the pilot.

The A-plot involves the case of a Memphis radio legend (a tiny little old woman) who is the victim of elder abuse. Through this storyline, it not only sews Memphis into the very fabric of the procedural (which was nice, and helped mask the New Orleansishness), but helps highlight the central theme of the pilot, and what I assume with be a central theme of the series: mothers and sons. Hendricks, whose relationship with his own mother is incredibly strong (and of which he is extremely protective), is thrown off the case at one point by seeming mega-bitch Woodard. He solves the case anyway, of course, and is then at the mercy of his new police chief who spends the better part of the pilot trying to keep him under her thumb. After seeing his dedication to his work, to the victim, and the fact that he managed to do right by everyone without her supervision, Woodard's character reevaluates her relationship with him, and more intrinsically, her relationship with her own children. It is revealed that for all her blustering about being a mother and raising kids right, her children hardly speak to her at all. Her efforts have driven them away. It was at this point that I gave the writers some credit. They didn't write a two-dimensional stock character of the "woman in power," but rather set up an unexpected dynamic that will affect the whole series. In essence, she is the mother of the precinct and Hendricks is her unruly son. A bit cheesy, and a bit heavy-handed, but it worked for me. Seeing how strained and distant her relationships with her own children are, she has to swallow her pride and acknowledge that her way of doing things doesn't work. I'm actually pretty intrigued by this pairing and I'm willing to give this show a few more episodes to really suck me in. This is a new interpersonal relationship for a show to explore, and for a crime procedural, it's a surprising, and welcomed move.

It's a good thing the relationship between "mother" and "son" has me interested because so far, they're basically the only two characters on the show (besides "Memphis"). I assume there are other series regulars, but the pilot showcased Woodard and Lee exclusively. As engaging as that dynamic may be, it's certainly not enough to sustain an entire series. Perhaps if I were more of a fan of crime procedurals I wouldn't be as concerned, but this loyal TV viewer needs more on her plate. They both need people to play off of and right now, the only possible candidates are Hendricks' mother and he his partner, neither of whom were given much of a role in the pilot. It'll be interesting to see where things go from here, but I have a sinking feeling things could stagnate. I'm just now sure how much exploring they can do with just Woodard's and Lee's characters alone, and the "cop show" genre needs quite a bit extra for me to really find it engaging. Although, to the show's credit, the A-plot murder was well-written and surprising. It had a lot of nice twists that I didn't see coming and did a really good job setting up characters that I cared about. I hope they continue to integrate the murder of the week into the overall themes of the show because that's when a procedural really works for me (a la Buffy and Veronica Mars). It's really the only way A-plots make much narrative sense to me.

All in all, this is kind of a strange little nugget of a crime procedural. It had your standard detective show elements, but also had a healthy dollop of surprising elements and interesting character choices. That entertainer getting ready to perform in the opening shots of the pilot? Well, that would be Detective Hendricks, as is revealed in a very effective bookend to the show. I'm not so sure that was Jason Lee actually singing, but it made for a nice character quirk that I honestly didn't see coming.

Lee forms the obvious foundation for the show and I think his character has a lot of potential depth (although Lee doesn't seem entirely at home in the role quite yet). It really all depends on where the series goes from here, but so far, the pilot has me intrigued enough to keep going for a while. Unfortunately, for all the show's potential, at the end of the day it's a cop show, and I'm just not sure all the bells and whistles in the world will be able to win me over in the long run. The pilot was fairly solid, if not perfect, but I always find myself wishing these shows were serialized instead of self-contained. We'll see just what a balance this show strikes and whether or not the ratio of A-plot to everything else is enough to keep me interested.

Pilot Grade: C+