I caught the pilot of “Dirty Sexy Money” and I really enjoyed it. Peter Krause (“Six Feet Under”) has an intrinsic watchability about him and he’s proven he can be the centerpiece for a compelling series. He plays Nick George, a lawyer who unwillingly replaces his deceased father as the legal counsel for the super-rich Darling family in New York City. Nick grew up with the family, so he has history with each and every member of the family. The show is quite funny, but there is an underlying darkness to it (which is readily apparent by the end of the pilot) that gives it a certain depth. With so much history and so many secrets, the writers have a lot to work with, so I think the show has loads of potential.
For those that missed the pilot, ABC.com is streaming at their website.
Like any good drama, “Ugly Betty” said its springtime goodbyes in grand fashion. Betty’s father was left in Mexico awaiting his immigration papers, Henry left for Arizona to be with a now-pregnant Charlie, Wilhelmina was busy planning her wedding, Claire Meade broke out of prison, Daniel and Alexis became Crash Test Dummies, and Amanda discovered that she might be the daughter of Fey Sommers. And let’s not forget about poor Santos who, while trying to play hero during a robbery at the local convenience store, is shot dead… or is he? Quite a lot to wrap your head around in only three months, and though the season two premiere doesn’t quite tie up all the loose ends left lying around, it does show great initiative in getting to the point.
The first episode of the new season picks up three weeks later, and Betty is stressing out more than ever. When she’s not being hounded at home by cousin Justin’s complaints about attending summer camp, she’s forced to deal with much bigger problems – like the fact that Wilhelmina is using Daniel’s hospital stay as a means to take over at Mode. Daniel is doing just fine, but when Alexis awakens from her coma thinking she’s still Alex, well, it yields some interesting results. Amanda, meanwhile, has put on a few pounds while stressing about the whole Fey Sommers debacle – a point made only more worrisome when Mark suggests that Bradford Meade might be her birth father. This will surely become a major subplot throughout the rest of the season, but admirers of Becki Newton needn’t worry – the actress ditches the fat suit before the next episode.
The other players help to keep things light in episode two; namely Michael Urie as Wilhelmina’s lapdog, Mark – making the most of his new promotion when he’s put in charge of the summer interns. Trumping the witless peons as the only intern worth his salt is teenage fashionista Justin, a veritable carbon copy of Mark who works well enough with his older counterpart that one can only hope the creators will find another reason to get the pair on screen together. How a kid Justin’s age got a job at a prestigious magazine like Mode is beyond me, but he serves as a welcome replacement when Amanda is too busy to play along.
And what of Santos? Well, you’ll have to tune in to find out exactly what’s happening on that front, but let’s just say it’s a bittersweet moment that may leave viewers perplexed as to why it was even included. Will you necessarily like their decision? Probably not, but though the series has never been flawless, one thing’s for certain: the magic is still there. And to think, Freddy Rodriguez doesn’t join the cast until week three.
I might have some bad news for anyone who walked out of my Fall TV Preview thinking that “Bionic Woman” was going to be one of the best shows of the new season. Not that I’d blame you for thinking that, given that I offered the very dangerous claim that “it’s hard to imagine this not being the ‘Heroes’-like break-out series of the 2007 season.” But now that I’ve watched the recast and slightly-retooled pilot, I find that I’m not nearly as excited as I was when I watched the original pilot…and, ironically, the reason why doesn’t really involve the things that have been changed!
But, okay, even so, we should first focus on what has been changed. In the original pilot, the character of Jaime Sommers’ (Michelle Ryan) sister, Becca, was played by Mae Whitman (“State of Grace,” “Arrested Development”), but she’s since been replaced by Lucy Hale. More importantly, though, Becca used to be deaf; now, however, not only can she hear, but she’s also developed a talent as a computer hacker. Hmmm…maybe it’s just me, but this feels like one of those cases where someone in Research & Development said, “Yeah, here’s the thing: deaf characters don’t play real well in the sticks, but, hey, you know what does? Super-cute, super-smart teenage girls who have a natural aptitude that meshes well with their older sister’s newly-acquired bionics!” A deaf character would’ve been extremely interesting, but as it stands right now, this revised version of Becca feels less like a character than a plot device.
Yet, as noted, the change to Becca really isn’t what made me start to feel less confident about my initial assessment of “Bionic Woman.” No, basically, what happened was that as I watched the revised pilot, I began to realize that I’d been so taken by the awesomely kick-ass fight scene at the end of the show that I’d essentially forgiven it for anything and everything that had happened before it. This time around, however, I realized that even though it still has a dark look and feel to it that makes for good viewing, it’s riddled with way more cliche-ridden dialogue than I’d remembered. Also, Katee Sackhoff’s attempt to deliver the lines of her character – Sarah Corvus, the first bionic woman – like she’s a too-cool-for-school bitch actually plays more like she’s reading off cue cards. I did not, however, share the feelings of some of my fellow Bullz-Eye / Premium Hollywood contributors about Ryan’s performance; they didn’t think she had much in the way of charisma…and, somehow, I don’t think my suggestion that she reminded me of Ione Skye did do my contrary opinion any favors. But my take on Ryan’s take on the role, however, is that Jaime Sommers is a normal, ordinary woman who’s been placed in an extraordinary situation, and it’s gonna take some time for her to step up to the plate and become a larger-than-life heroine type…and, okay, admittedly, once she gets to that point, I hope she develops a more confident and threatening delivery than she has at the end of the pilot when she utters her farewell line to Jonas (Miguel Ferrer), the director of the bionics program. (Even *I* groaned at that.)
So, anyway, if you’re taking notes, here’s my new, revised opinion of the new, revised “Bionic Woman” pilot: I get the feeling that someone at the network might be pulling the strings to produce a show that’s focused more on thin characterizations and action at any cost than it is on the more interesting possibility of an intellectual technology-centered drama…and the fact that Glen Morgan has evacuated the project makes me even more concerned that that’s the case. Also, as the turmoil with CBS’s “Moonlight” has shown us, there’s nothing like the departure of a member of a show’s creative team to totally screw with its creative direction…and, unfortunately, that’s generally an ailment that all the nanite technology in the world can’t repair.
In closing, here’s a trailer for the show for your viewing pleasure:
Well, this morning’s FedEx delivery brought the screener for the 2nd season premiere of “30 Rock,” and the good news is…it’s still funny! Hooray!
Actually, that’s particularly good news, given that the series just won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series…not that an Emmy Award has ever been anything approaching an indicator of what the public likes. After all, the two highest rated episodes of “30 Rock” during its first season were its pilot and the episode where Tracy Jordan (played by Tracy Morgan) goes on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” Okay, so, basically, people were curious enough to tune in the first week, but then the only other thing that caught their fancy was the idea of seeing Conan O’Brien in prime time…and we attribute that to the fact that most prime-time viewers have never stayed up until 12:30 and finally wanted a chance to see what all the fuss was about with this lanky, red-headed young upstart. And given that these episodes rated #58 and #57 in their respective weeks means that even when people were curious, they weren’t that curious.
Clearly, however, someone at NBC saw this trend and said, “Hmmm…well, if they’re mildly curious about seeing Conan O’Brien in prime time, I’ll bet dollars to donuts that they’ll be super crazy curious about seeing Jerry Seinfeld return to an NBC sitcom for the first time since ‘Seinfeld’ ended!”
My God. It’s crazy…but it just might work!
Actually, the way they work Seinfeld into the show is one of those concepts that you can almost imagine a panicked television network executive…like, say, Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin)…coming up with: they take all the unused footage of Seinfeld that they have lying around, then use it to digitally insert him into every single show on the network. (Yes, they do show examples; no, I’m not going to tell you which shows you’ll get to see him in.) Unfortunately, the problem is that Jack has decided that it’ll be much easier to move forward with the idea if they just, uh, don’t tell Jerry ’til after it’s already on the air. Seems easy enough, since the Seinfeld family is supposedly out of the country on vacation…except that – cue the dramatic music – they’re actually not!
My only complaint about the season premiere is that things mostly start out focusing on the same main triad of characters: Jack, Liz (Tina Fey), and Tracy. Not that they’re not funny, but it’s like I said in my review of the Season 1 DVD set: it’s the episodes that explore the intricacies of the ensemble that prove the most memorable. Yes, it stands to reason that we’d want to know what Liz did during the summer hiatus – even if no-one on her staff does – but the goings-on of the lesser members of the cast are barely touched on…well, except for Jenna. that is. But the fact that the explanation about what’s kept her occupied for the last few months (and the effect it’s had on her) is one of the funniest parts of the episode really only goes to prove my point. C’mon, let’s spread the wealth a little more for the rest of the cast, shall we?
Well, let’s blame that on the fact that everyone’s storylines probably got shrunk as a result of trying to be sure Mr. Seinfeld scored enough face time in the episode and just hope for the best, shall we? In the meantime, have a look at a wrap-up of Liz Lemon’s worst dating experiences from Season 1…
Man, Kristen Bell’s voiceovers sure are comforting. The creators of “Gossip Girl” were smart to enlist Bell to be our unseen guide through the happenings of the teenage elite in Manhattan. Her blog is the proverbial finger on the pulse of all the social happenings at a ritzy prep school in the Upper East Side. Think “Cruel Intentions” for the CW set.
Bell’s aural presence draws fans of “Veronica Mars” in, but “Gossip Girl” is lacking her old show’s depth. Granted, it’s just the pilot, but the character of bad boy Chuck is written thin, an amalgamation of every soulless rich boy we’ve ever seen on TV or in film. Even at their worst, Logan Echolls and Dick Casablancas were funny, witty and somewhat charming. Chuck is none of that.
In “Gossip Girl,” too-familiar triangle of personas exists within each gender. There are the evil and shallow (Chuck and Blair), those floundering in the middle (Serena and Nate), and those goodhearted souls that are simply struggling to fit in (Dan and Jenny). There were a few good lines in the pilot, and by the time the credits roll there are heroes and relationships you can root for, but it lacks the intrinsic charm of “Veronica Mars.” Maybe it’s not fair to compare the two, but when the same network cancels one and develops another, using the star of the former as its invisible poster girl, the comparisons are inevitable – especially to a still-bitter “Mars” devotee, like myself.
I’ll tune in for another week or two, but I don’t get the feeling that I’ll still be watching “Gossip Girl” in a month.
What did you think?
For another (more extensive) take, be sure to check out Will Harris’ review. If you missed the premiere, the CW is airing it again in most cities this Sunday.
