Cupid pilot review

Cupid


god of love (maybe) on earth making matches



Type of Pilot: Romantic Comedy-Drama


Similar Shows: Cupid I, Valentine


The Inner Light: There is someone for (almost) everyone, but it takes a bit of hard work


Strengths: Great premise


Weaknesses: It's good, yes, but let's not forget that it's a remake of a superior show


Impressive Characters: Cupid/Trevor is a likable hero. Innocent and naive in ways, but forceful and heroic at the same time. Plus he's got a vulnerable side. Gotta love that. He looks like lost puppy on a few occasions.
Claire is a bit of a cold fish, yes, but she's a perfect match for Trevor and they make an obvious couple right from the moment they meet.


Impressive Actors: Bobby Cannavale is more of a 'big lug' type than I would have expected for a role like this, but he sure makes it work. I've seen Sarah Paulson in many, many shows and I would never have picked her for a role like this. Yet, somehow, she makes it work, too.
The supporting cast are wonderful. Rick Gomez and Camille Guaty are each utterly adorable (possibly the strangest sentence I have ever written, but there you go).


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: None.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Same as. This is a strong cast.


Continuity: None. The old show had very little, too, with only Claire's relationship adding any story arc element to the show.


Rewatchability: I was utterly charmed by the love story between Sean Maguire and Marguerite Moreau and would watch it again, no problem. I'm a sucker for a good love story, which is why I love the original show so much.


Other Info: Remake of Cupid.

Three Things I Really Like About This Pilot:

The love story between Sean Maguire and Marguerite Moreau

The premise: god of love (maybe) on earth making matches

The chemistry between the leads.

Miscellaneous Comments:


Bobby Cannavale is no Jeremy Piven, and Sarah Paulson is no Paula Marshall but - to my surprise and delight - the new Cupid show is good. I liked the characters and I liked the story-of-the-week. Count me in!

GRADE: A

Melrose Place pilot review

Melrose Place


soap opera set in an apartment complex



Type of Pilot: soap opera; murder mystery


Similar Shows: Melrose Place I, Models Inc., any other prime-time soap


The Inner Light: your neighbours are crazy/dangerous/lustful, etc.


Strengths: A murder-mystery can be a compelling hook, if done right, and by the time the closing credits came up there was a part of me that would like to stick with it to see who the murderer is.
I liked many of the cast and could watch them again.
I even liked some of the characters and would be interested in knowing what would happen to them next.


Weaknesses: There were times when I was bored. Once it got going the old show was never boring. And the opening ten minutes or so (before the credits) were truly awful. David calling all the gang because Sydney needed them? What was all that about? And then there was the godawful video montage that Jonah showed his girlfriend.


Impressive Characters: Sydney and Michael are awesome. That's a given. Of the new bunch...
I like Ella. Not when she's being a bitch. That's not totally convinving, it's more of a desperate attempt to recreate Amanda for the new show and it takes me right out of the show. But I liked the fact that she appears to have a crush on the only nice person in the cast. The one person you would expect her to have total disdain for. I liked that aspect of the character. And they would be a fun couple if they ever get together.
Lauren, as a character, is nothing special but her storyline is very Melrose Place. When I was watching that story unfold I felt like I was watch the old show. And that's a good thing.
David, too, had a strong storyline for the duration of the episode but the revelation at the very end took him very much into classic MP territory, and it would be fun to watch that play out.


Impressive Actors: Katie Cassidy did a fine job of making her character likable (like when we sussed that she had a crush on Jonah) and a so-so job making her character a bitch. I don't know, I just didn't buy it all. But I still liked Cassidy.
Great to see Stephanie Jacobsen. She had a pretty good role, too, and came across really well. She very well suited to MP.
Michael Rady was great, even if some of the writing (for his character) was awful. A character who is this naive and nice is very hard to like, in the world of Melrose, but Rady almost made it work. It'll be more fun, however, when his character starts giving in to temptation. I hope. If the pilot had ended with him deciding to blackmail that movie guy I would have a lot more impressed and more interested in watching the rest of the series.
Shaun Sipos was a lot of fun, too. His character was well written and interesting (particular in his final scene) and he's one of the strengths of the new show.
That's the cast, then there was the Special Guests...
It was great to see Laura Leighton as Sydney once more. She was a bit more subdued than I remember, but some of her one-liners were terrific.
Same goes for Thomas Calabro. Not quite as much fun as I remember him being, but still great to see him back.

Less-Than-Impressive Characters: Violet and Auggie were non-entities in this pilot. Neither had very many scenes but Auggie, at least, had a scene at the end that made him interesting. No such luck for Violet.
Riley had loads and loads of scenes, but she was boring as frak. I've no interest in knowing what happens to her next.
Jonah (the nice guy) was a total drip. If he had opted to follow the blackmail route, at the end of the story, it would have much more interesting and I would have liked the character. Also: it would have been a more-Melrose Place kind of thing to happen.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Colin Egglesfield wasn't given much to do. Three scenes? In which is just looked brooding and stuff. However, the last scene gives the impression that he might be getting some worthwhile scenes in upcoming episodes...
Jessica Lucas was pretty, but little else. Hard to guage her acting, really, since the script gave her nothing much to do. And her character is kinda hateful.
Same goes for Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, who had very few scenes and played all of them in a monotone fashion.

Continuity: Lots. Of course. It's a soap.


Rewatchability: Not really. It wasn't so much fun that I would want to see it again.


Other Info: Sequel to (continuation of) the FOX series Melrose Place which was a lot of fun when it got going.

Three Things I Really Like About This Pilot:

Shaun Sipos

Michael Rady

Thomas Calabro

Three Things I Really Don't Like About This Pilot:

The identity of the murder victim.

Ashlee Simpson-Wentz

That god-awful video montage that Jonah made for Riley was painful to watch. Truly painful.

Miscellaneous Comments:


Not completely awful. Not as much fun as Original MP, but I did end up liking some of the new characters and if I have a free hour next week I'll watch episode two.

Which is the problem. There are lots of very good shows on TV, and not enough time to make room for the Average ones. I liked 90210 last season. I even stuck with it for several weeks. But, as the season wore on, and more and more very good shows came on it just got pushed further and further down the viewing list, until I was hopelessly behind and had no real intention of jumping back in.

I'd like to like Melrose. It would be great to have a show to watch like the '90s version, where plot twists were crazy and the show chewed up storylines at a furious pace. And the women were hot. And dangerous. My favourite kind of women. There wasn't much in the pilot to convince me that this Melrose will be like that Melrose. Of course, you can't indicate those things in a pilot. The pace and style of this show will only become apparent after three or four episodes.

So, is this pilot good enough to keep me around for those three or four episodes?

Sure, if I have a free hour ever week...

GRADE: B

Royal Pains pilot review

Royal Pains


doctor-on-call to the rich/crazy/spoiled



Type of Pilot: Medical Comedy/Drama


Similar Shows: Burn Notice (guy kicked out of his line of business, uses his special skills to help people anyway), MacGyver (hero uses odd things to save lives),


The Inner Light: What if Burn Notice was a medical show?


Strengths: Fast pace, a great sense of fun, good casting, beautiful women, funny lines, great soundtrack,


Weaknesses: It's silly.


Impressive Characters: Hank's a likeable lead character. He's a good guy, but he's crushed when his life takes a bad turn. He's lost and directionless and he resists when life throws a strange opportunity in his path. His brother is hilarious. They are a perfect match (and a classic TV pairing like hundreds before them). I liked the hospital administrator lady. I liked her because the show writes her as a nice person, who cares about her patients. And I liked her because the show avoided writing her as an antagonistic character, as a means towards creating false romantic tension. Instead, she goes after Hank. It's refreshing and sweet to see this on TV.


Impressive Actors: Mark Feuerstein and Paulo Costanzo. I'm a fan of both from previous projects and their chemistry here is sizzling. Brothers and bickering best friends, I very much want to spend my summer watching them get into (and out of) various scrapes.


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: Divya is the weakest character in the pilot. Even in a pilot of crazy, silly coincidences I can't buy the arrival of a willing Assistant with a van full of medical equipment. Yes, I can buy the idea of the benevolent billionaire providing a 'home' for them to live in, but I can't take enough of a leap to accept Divya. Yet.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Great casting in terms of regulars and guests.


Continuity: I presume this will follow the Burn Notice model, and be a case-of-the-week driven show, with occasional ongoing elements. I presume Pascale Hutton, Ezra Miller and Tamara Feldman will be back since all three of those characters have a lot more story in them.


Rewatchability: Pretty good. I would watch this pilot again. It's a fun pilot. The music is great and it moves fast. It made me laugh, and I love the lead characters. Yeah, I would watch this again.


Other Info: Critics like this one: Check out MetaCritic.

Three Things I Really Like About This Pilot:

Paulo Costanzo.

The sense of fun.

The music.

One Thing I Really Don't Like About This Pilot:

Divya

Miscellaneous Comments:


I had a ball watching this. The hero is heroic and likable. A nice guy, and - since they have given him MacGyver-like powers - he's cool. The brother is hilarious and - by being there - he makes the hero even more likeable and interesting. It's set up a nice, sweet romance and dropped the lead in a very interesting world.

GRADE: A

Nurse Jackie pilot review

Nurse Jackie


day in the life of a nurse




Type of Pilot: Medical Drama


Similar Shows: St. Elsewhere


The Inner Light: Small victories in a crap day.


Strengths: Edie Falco. She's really good. Really likeable (much more than the character is). She is the show, and the show is her. Like her and you'll probably like the show. Also: Paul Schulze. He only has a couple of scenes but he makes a strong impact. I like the guy. He was on 24 and Journeyman.


Weaknesses: It's not the first grim and gritty medical drama and - except for Edie Falco I'm not sure why I'd care about this one. If you aim for the same territory as St. Elsewhere you are aiming pretty darn high, so you'd better have the goods to back it up.


Impressive Characters: Jackie Peyton herself is the only really interesting character. And the pilot is really a character portrait of her. We watch her get through a day. Cope with patients dying due to inept doctors, cope with her own weaknesses, cope with grieving family members and find ways to do some good (mostly by bending the rules). She's basically a good person, I think, but seriously flawed which is what makes her interesting and worthy of a TV series to follow her 'adventures'. Her flaws are shown, I think, as flaws and the pilot certainly offers up no excuses for her. She's not perfect and that's it. But, at least, she tries to do a few good things along the way.


Impressive Actors: Edie Falco and Paul Schulze stand out. I never watched The Sopranos past the pilot, but I saw her on 30 Rock. The woman has star quality. And she could do better than this show.


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: The rest of the characters are ignored in this opening episode. Which is fair enough. The first episode is about Jackie. I understand that. We get brief character sketches of the others: smart-talking female doc, over-eager student nurse, gay best friend, nice guy lover, pretty-boy idiot doc and stern hospital administrator. Nothing in the pilot to interest me in any of these. Early days. I'm sure the show will flesh them out. The priority is making Jackie interesting and they managed to do that.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Seems like a solid cast all the way through.


Continuity: Probably be mild.


Rewatchability: Zero. Watched this once. I'll either watch Episode Two next or nothing. No real reason to go back and watch this specific half-hour pilot again.


Other Info: Check out the review at The Futon Critic.

Three Things I Really Like About This Pilot:

Edie Falco

Paul Schulze

Jackie Peyton

Three Things I Really Don't Like About This Pilot:

It's yet another grim, gritty medical drama.

Not enough fleshing out of the supporting characters. Yes, I know it's a pilot and only a half-hour long, I'm just saying, that's all...

Not enough Paul Schulze. Seriously. The guy is barely on camera. Yet his is the closest thing the show has to a genuinely nice character. Although he has flaws, too.

Miscellaneous Comments:


I like Edie Falco and I like the lead character. I'm not sure I'll go back to this hospital, though, to see the (grim) daily grind. Jackie is likable because of Falco. I'm not sure another actress could make me care about the character. And if it's not in the writing, should I bother going back for more?

GRADE: B+

Knight Rider first episode review

Knight Rider


high-tech car driven by spies



Type of First Episode: Sci-Fi; Action


Similar Shows: Knight Rider I (a man and a talking car solve crimes), Bionic Woman (dreadful remake of a show that lots of people love)


The Inner Light: It takes a man, a woman, a genius, two nerds, an FBI chick, a foreign agent and a lab full of faceless techs to replace David Hasselhoff! Sigh. Bring back The Hoff!


Strengths: None.


Weaknesses: Too many to mention. The big ones are: talentless leading man and leading woman, the car doing stupid things that defy logic or common sense, lots of scenes that are supposed to be funny, lots of scenes that are supposed to have romantic tension, lots of scenes that are supposed to be exciting, and so forth. While I am not a fan of the original series, I can understand it's appeal: lone hero, cool car. But what the heck is the appeal of this show meant to be? This guy is not out on his own saving the world, he's got his frakkin' girlfriend in the passenger seat and he needs a lab full of faceless techs to help him (and KITT) do stuff. How naff is this KITT, anyway? The old one did lots of cool stuff and needed no team to watch him 24/7. This one is rubbish. Plus, he/it does things that defy logic/physics. Even if you could forgive that, this new KITT is on screen very little. Most of the show is devoted to the denizens of this underground lair. So, again, I ask: what is the appeal of this show?


Impressive Actors: None. Well, Bruce Davison is an impressive actor. Just not in this.


Impressive Characters: None.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Deanna Russo is really bad, but her cleavage is distracting in several scenes (and the show wastes no time in stripping her down to her undies). Justin Bruening seems much worse than her but that could be because he doesn't have cleavage to distract me. Everyone else is rubbish, too, but the fake chemistry between Paul Campbell and Smith Cho is particularly hard to watch.


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: All of them. Bland hero with a mysterious past that he can't remember, pretty side-kick with, um, cleavage, two computer techs with 'hilarious' bickering chemistry (oh, gosh, my sides are sore from laughing), tough FBI chick with a gun and a plan, foreign guy with ties to foreign government and a genius with long white hair. All of them are rubbish.


Continuity: ugh, I hope I never find out...


Rewatchability: Hell, this mess doesn't even have watchability!


Other Info: It's a big pile of crap. So was the pilot movie that aired last Spring. Different crap, but still crap.

Three Things I Really Don't Like About This First Episode:

Deanna Russo

Justin Bruening

KITT doing stuff that blatently defies physics.

Miscellaneous Comments:


Worse than Bionic Woman. For that alone, it deserves a footnote in television history. I never thought NBC would surpass that pile of manure...

GRADE: C

Valentine pilot review

Valentine


Greek Gods play matchmaker



Type of Pilot: Romantic Comedy/Drama


Similar Shows: Cupid (guy with god-like powers is a matchmaker),


The Inner Light: We've lost our way in this modern world of computer dating, but Fate still wants us to find true love...


Strengths: Superb casting, very funny, sweet.


Weaknesses: The story in the pilot is a bit corny: girl overlooks nice-guy best-friend in favour of the jackass Alpha Male. In the real world, of course, the Alpha Male jackass always wins, so on TV (and in the movies) the nice-guy best-friend wins instead and they live happily every after (eating ice cream in front of the tv, in this instance).


Impressive Characters: All of them! Grace is the leader of the pack. Danny is the over-eager sex-solves-everything kind-of-guy. Phoebe is over-eager and innocent. Kate (the mortal) is the 'love expert' who messed up her own life. And Leo is the amiable, strong one.


Impressive Actors: Jaime Murray is sexy and sultry and all-knowing and smug and... rather wonderful in the main role. Kristoffer Polaha is hilarious as the lusty Danny. He wants to shoot everyone (with his love gun. Not that is NOT an euphemism!) He plays it like a big kid in a candy store. Just as hilarious is Autumn Reeser who virtually jumps up and down with innocence & enthusiasm and gets some of the pilot's best lines. Christine Lakin arrives late in the pilot and makes her mark with a couple of great scenes: her orgasm scene and her backstory reveal (told while driving the case-of-the-week to meet her true love). Lakin manages to sell everything about the absurd concept (mortal hired by God to help matchmake). Finally, Robert Baker brings earnest goodness to the role of Hercules (Leo). The always great Patrick Fabian pops up in a supporting role.


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: I loved them all.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Strongest ensemble cast on any TV show this season.


Continuity: None. I imagine that this will be a case-of-the-week show, unless they try to pair Kate up with one of the guys.


Rewatchability: Some. It was very funny in places. Worth a re-watch.


Other Info: I was just thinking how compatible this would be with Reaper, then I read that creator/writer Kevin Murphy has worked on Reaper (as well as the wonderful Jack & Jill).

Three Things I Really Like About This Pilot:

Superb cast.

Very funny.

Sweet.

One Thing I Kinda Don't Like About This Pilot:

The case-of-the-week is corny.

Miscellaneous Comments:


Sure, it's nowhere as good as Cupid but it manages to bring something new to the table. Besides, I fell in love with this bunch of characters and I like the idea of watching a funny show about love/romance.

GRADE: A

Eleventh Hour pilot review

Eleventh Hour


scientist works for the FBI looking at crimes of science



Type of Pilot: Drama; Sci-Fi


Similar Shows: X-Files (man and woman investigate strange cases), Fringe (man and woman investigate strange cases), Monk (woman looks after a man who is investigating stuff),


The Inner Light: We can clone TV shows.


Strengths: None.


Weaknesses: Lots. Generic premise, bad dialogue, bad acting, bad story (the same story as the first one-hour Fringe episode).


Impressive Characters: None.


Impressive Actors: Rufus Sewell is allegedly a very good actor. I've read that in several places. This show completely manages to hide his talent under pages of banal dialogue and a truly awful climax where he reveals (to the bad guy) that he lost his own wife in tragic circumstances (while the female sidekick/bodyguard) gazes on with adoring eyes.


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: Both of them are awful TV clichés, but the female FBI agent (his bodygurad) is especially bad. Pulling her gun on a cop for no reason, kneeing a suspect in the groin to get him to talk, running through the hotel lobby in her underwear, looking all doe-eyed at the hero, the list goes on and on and on (much like the show itself).


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Marley Shelton. She gives the impression of a model pretending to be an actress pretending to be an FBI agent. A clichéd FBI agent. Her opening lines of dialogue (describing the hero and, indeed, the premise of the series) are truly dreadful and her delivery does them justice (ie. it was dreadful, too.)


Continuity: I imagine this will be a case-of-the-week type show, with a will-they-won't-they dynamic between the leads. Because that's what always happens in these shows.


Rewatchability: None.


Other Info: Based on a TV series from the UK.

Four Things I Really Don't Like About This Pilot:

Marley Shelton.

It's a clone of lots of other shows.

It was boring.

The FBI Agent running through the hotel in her underwear scene was insulting both to the character and to the audience.

Miscellaneous Comments:


What we need is a show where a scientist works for the FBI and looks into crimes of television!

GRADE: B-

My Own Worst Enemy pilot review

My Own Worst Enemy

guy discovers a split-personality that is a spy



Type of Pilot: Action


Similar Shows/Movies: Alias (running around shooting and blowing things up in foreign lands, while trying to live a normal life), The Bourne Identity (hero is a bad-ass spy and doesn't know it), James Bond (spy's boss is a really superb actress who is totally slumming by playing this part),


The Inner Light: Everyone has secrets?


Strengths: Christian Slater gives a great performance as both lead characters.


Weaknesses: Lots. First off, if you are going to do a show where an ordinary guy finds out that he's a spy-by-night, the secret life should be fun and interesting (to fuel the fantasy for viewers at home) instead of dreary and drab. Secondly, what kind of loopy idea is it to bury secret agents in suburbia and 'wake' them up when needed. Goofy nonsense which doesn't fit the tone of the show. Thirdly, the show never explains why Edward does the things that he does. Why does he reach out to save Henry's life? Because he enjoyed banging Henry's wife? What? Overall, it's an interesting idea, but he execution of this pilot is really, really poor.


Impressive Characters: Despite the show's many flaws, the character of Edward Albright comes across as fascinating. More than a spy cliché he seems interesting and original.


Impressive Actors: Christian Slater


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: The wife and family. The show really misses the boat here by giving the hero a generic TV family. The wonderful Madchen Amick is totally wasted in a thankless role and there's never a sense that Henry has anything to lose. Did Edward save him, for instance, because he had such a great family life? Not based on what I saw.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Madchen Amick and Alfre Woodard are totally miscast and wasted in their roles. Both actresses should immediately fire their agents since they always seem to wind up in the wrong projects.


Continuity: Probably a lot.


Rewatchability: None.


Other Info: Writer Jason Smilovic worked on last season's horrible Bionic Woman which also presented us with a dreary, self-important world of spies that nobody wanted to watch.

Three Things I Really Like About This Pilot:

Christian Slater

The twist as to which one was the real personality and which was the manufactured one

Edward Albright

Three Things I Really Don't Like About This Pilot:

Madchen Amick is wasted in this show.

There's no sense of fun. Being a spy is dreary.

Henry's family is more fake than Henry is. Straight from sit-com land, or a breakfast cereal commercial.

Miscellaneous Comments:


I wanted to like this. I was looking forward to this. But it was dreary and disappointing.

GRADE: B-

Gary Unmarried pilot review

Gary Unmarried


recently divorced dad copes with kids, ex-wife, new girlfriend and her kid



Type of Pilot: Sit-com.


Similar Shows: Two And A Half Men (irresponsible rogue as parent-figure), Old Christine (hero copes with life after marriage), It's Not Easy (single dad plus ex-wife, her new husband and lots of kids running around),


The Inner Light: Divorce is funny.


Strengths: Jay Mohr.


Weaknesses: It's a dumb, only-on-TV, premise, and we've seen it lots of times before in other failed sit-coms.


Impressive Characters: None of them.


Impressive Actors: Jay Mohr is the best thing about this. His wonderful snarky persona manages to raise laughs from even the weakest of lines. Imagine if he was in a well-written sit-com?


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: They are stock TV characters: The teenage son is afraid of girls, the teenage daughter is prissy and bossy, the ex-wife is a hateful shrew, and - in the middle of it all - you have the lovable rogue we are supposed to like and cheer for: Gary. None of them seem like real people, and it's hard to imagine that this was a real marriage at any time in the recent past.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Who knows? The material is unfair to everyone.


Continuity: None.


Rewatchability: None.


Other Info: Creator Ed Yeager's previous credits include stuff like: Still Standing, Dharma & Greg and Suddenly Susan.

One Thing I Really Like About This Pilot:

Jay Mohr

Three Things I Really Don't Like About This Pilot:

It's a dumb premise.

We've seen it before lots of times.

Paula Marshall and Ed Begley Jr. are wasted in average fare like this. Two great performers and nothing they do here is amusing or interesting, yet I've seen enough of them in other/better shows to know what they can do when given the material.

Miscellaneous Comments:


I might watch again for Jay Mohr.

GRADE: B

Worst Week pilot review

Worst Week
bad luck dogs our hero in front of his girlfriend's parents



Type of Pilot: comedy


Similar Shows: The Worst Week Of My Life (the BBC Original that this is based on), Chance In A Million (a wonderful Channel Four sit-com from the 80s in which crazy bad luck also befell the hapless hero),


The Inner Light: The worst possible thing will happen.


Strengths: It's very, very funny and the hero is a really nice guy who totally doesn't deserve this. But he soldiers one with a hopeful grin on his face.


Weaknesses: The writers have to stretch things somewhat to make the comedy work and we have to take a leap to go with them but - I think - it's well worth it.


Impressive Characters: Poor Sam. I like him. He's just an ordinary guy, very likeable, and horrible things happen to him. But I like him, I really like him and I'm prepared to stick around and root for him. I also like his girlfriend. She's on his side. That's something, at least.


Impressive Actors: Kurtwood Smith is great, but you know that going in. You know before you even watch the first scene that Smith will be terrific. He's been partnered with Nancy Lenehan, another pro who never fails to deliver. This has the makings of a great TV marriage. Maybe it can even rival Smith's previous TV marriage (on That '70s Show). Yes, it's that good. And they are only the supporting players! Erinn Hayes plays the girlfriend. She's a babe. And very, very funny. She was great on The Winner back in 2007, but this script gives her more of a chance to shine. And her delivery is great. However, great and all as the supporting cast are, this show belongs to Kyle Bornheimer. Who the heck is this guy? I've never seen him before, but he brings a great sense of "Really? This is what's gonna happen now?" to the character and I totally love him.


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: Great bunch of regular characters.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Top notch talent across the board.


Continuity: Strong, I suspect.


Rewatchability: Well, I've watched the pilot three times so far. That should tell you something.


Other Info: Based on a BBC comedy series called The Worst Week Of My Life.

Three Things I Really Like About This Pilot:

Kyle Bornheimer

Kurtwood Smith

It's hilarious.

One Thing I Really Don't Like About This Pilot:

You really have to suspend disbelief to accept that events could play out this way.

Miscellaneous Comments:


Hilarious.

GRADE: A

Z Rock pilot review

Z Rock
rock band by night, kids party band by day



Type of Pilot: Comedy


Similar Shows: Flight Of The Conchords (comedy about musicians trying to make it big), Entourage (friends living the dream),


The Inner Light: Um, rock stars get laid?


Strengths: Likeable cast


Weaknesses: Very thin premise (they are a real rock group at night, but pay the bills by playing for kids parties during the day). However, a thin premise won't matter much if the show is funny and we like the characters.


Impressive Characters: I liked their manager. And, though her scene was short, I like the girlfriend that one member of the band has. She seems ill-suited to the world of rock bands and that can lead to comedy.


Impressive Actors: Lynne Koplitz is the stand-out here, she's gorgeous and very funny. The three males leads are likeable, but don't seem to be the best actors. They seem to be playing themselves and they can carry it, which works just fine here. Koplitz however, as their manager, is in a different league. Having her in the cast, to counterpoint the guys, is a stroke of genius.


Continuity: I imagine their lives will go from random disaster to random disaster without many soap-opera elements. But I could be wrong. I thought that about Flight Of The Conchords, too, and it was highly serialized for much of it's first season.


Rewatchability: Some. It was easy going and would certainly pass another half-hour in re-runs or on DVD


Other Info: ZO2 is a real Brooklyn-based rock band signed to New York indie label, Riker Hill Records.

Four Things I Really Like About This Pilot:

Lynne Koplitz

The female nudity. Many off-network shows include topless scenes at some stage. Sometimes it's very much a part of the world being depicted (The Sopranos) and sometimes it is gratuituously tacked on (Dream On) and sometimes it is included as re-filmed scenes on the DVD release (Blade)! But, never has it made more sense than in a show about rock stars. I mean, c'mon, it's a show about rock stars and it's aimed at adults, they have to show this kind of stuff or we won't take it seriously.

These guys can rock! The music is good. The lead singer has a great voice and the show - wisely - allows us to hear the band in action.

The theme tune is a classic example of telling-you-the-premise-in-a-song. I like it. Makes me lonesome for the days when every TV show had a TV Theme.

One Thing I Really Don't Like About This Pilot:

Thin premise. But, again, if they make it funny then that won't matter. Flight Of The Conchords has an even thinner premise, but the episodes are so inventive and funny that it's doesn't matter any more what it is supposed to be about. Z Rock runs at a more relaxed pace, so what it's all about might be more important. Time will tell, I guess.

Miscellaneous Comments:


It's certainly amusing, but it ambles along without any sense of zest or purpose. Seems like this will be about a bunch of guys who can't seem to make it big, or get their big break. However this first episode paints them as very ordinary, very nice guys. And, as I see it, characters who fail in sit-coms are failing because of their own flaws. The more exaggerated the flaws are the more amusing we will find it. In theory. These guys aren't exactly flawed. What do they do to screw things up in the opening episode? Um, they overslept. Yes, it was after partying with some groupies but still... it's hardly a fatal character flaw, is it? Wanting to sleep with hot groupies?
Never mind me, I've overanalysing. It was funny in places, so I will watch it again.

GRADE: B+

Sons Of Anarchy pilot review

Sons Of Anarchy


biker club



Type of Pilot: Drama


Similar Shows: The Sopranos (they are bad guys, but we like them), The Shield (they are bad guys, but we like them)


The Inner Light: They are bad guys, but we like them.


Strengths: Ron Perlman, Katey Sagal. He's great as the leader of the club. She plays his wife.


Weaknesses: Nobody is particularly likable.


Impressive Characters: Gemma Teller Morrow (played by Sagal) is one tough lady. Although this is the story of her son Jackson she gets a lot to do in the pilot and she's fun to watch. Jackson... not so much.


Impressive Actors: Ron Perlman, Katey Sagal, Ryan Hurst, Sprague Grayden. Hurst and Grayden aren't given much to do (they play minor guest characters) but they are both very good. Perlman and Sagal (the hero's parents) are the best thing about this pilot.


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: Jackson, the lead character, is a bit blah. He's likable enough, but not dynamic enough to make me really care what happens to him next. His mom is a pistol, however, and his stepdad (Perlman) is gun-toting tough. The ending of the pilot is action-packed and violent.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Most members of the club are just forgettable faces in the crowd, but this is early days. Lots of episodes ahead to flesh them out as characters. Thus giving good actors like Kim Coates a chance to shine. Maggie Siff has a few scenes are a potential love-interest for the hero (Charlie Hunnam).


Continuity: Lots.


Rewatchability: None.

Three Things I Really Like About This Pilot:

Ron Perlman

Katey Sagal

Ryan Hurst

Three Things I Really Don't Like About This Pilot:

Nobody is particularly likable.

Jackson, the lead character, is a bit blah.

Most members of the club are just forgettable faces in the crowd.

Miscellaneous Comments:


It passed an hour. Nothing to get excited about.

GRADE: B

Privileged pilot review

Privileged

rich teens in Palm Springs and their tutor



Type of Pilot: teen drama


Similar Shows: Any other teen drama where the kids are rich.


The Inner Light: Rich brats need an education, too.


Strengths: Um...


Weaknesses: Lots. The funny bits weren't funny. The characters are unsympathetic. The situation is strained.


Impressive Characters: None of them.


Impressive Actors: Michael Cassidy was great in Hidden Palms (which I loved) and he was pretty good in this, too. He has a thankless role, however: The heroine's platonic best friend.


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: Megan, the lead character, whose goal in life is to write about rich people comes across as a very shallow pointless person, and she's been pretty crappy to her family, too. I think we're supposed to like her anyway, but Joanna Garcia's performance didn't make me warm to the character at all. Rose and Sage (the rich spoiled girls) were rather boring, too. Definitely a TV version of spoiled heiresses: The worst thing these girls are doing is being photographed in a bikini. Seriously, what planet is this thing set on? Lucy Kate Hale and Ashley Newbrough were passable in the roles, but the roles are badly written/defined, so there wasn't a lot they could do with them.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Anne Archer seemed to be asleep during her scenes are the mother of the rich twins. Kristina Apgar had very little to do in her role as the heroine's sister, but she was one-note and unexpressive when she was on-camera. Allan Louis was neither asleep nor unexpressive unfortunately in his role as the very gay chef. Loud and annoying, sigh.


Continuity: Slight, I imagine.


Rewatchability: None!


Other Info: Based on the novel How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls.

One Thing I Like About This Pilot:

Michael Cassidy

Three Things I Really Don't Like About This Pilot:

The scene where Megan lied to the other girls to help Sage save face was embarrassing to watch.

The scene where Megan and the two girls talked about the novel was embarrassing to watch.

The scene where Megan was fired and then told Sage off was embarrassing to watch.

Miscellaneous Comments:


Not funny enough or interesting enough. A female writer (who is from the Ally McBeal school of TV females) becomes a tutor to spoiled heiresses. There were many bits here and there that were obviously supposed to be funny, but did nothing for me.

GRADE: B-

90210 pilot review

90210


rich teens in Beverly Hills



Type of Pilot: teen drama


Similar Shows: Beverly Hills 90210


The Inner Light: "people who are friends but have different ways of looking at things"


Strengths: Strong cast, likeable characters


Weaknesses: There are lots of teen dramas/soaps and there is nothing special about this one. Good and all as it is.


Impressive Characters: All of the characters are fairly blah. The cast sells a show like this.


Impressive Actors: Jessica Walter (as the hard-drinking grandmother) is the best thing about the pilot. Very funny. Rob Estes (as the dad of the family) is very likable. He's better than this. Estes should be playing a cop again. Anyway, he's already played someone in the 90210 universe (Kyle McBride on Melrose Place) so having him here annoys the continuity freak in me(!). Shenae Grimes is good (as the nice girl). She's pretty, but not enough to threaten female viewers, who will - consequently - identify with her and live vicariously through her. At least, I'm sure that's the way the producers want it to happen. Tristan Wilds (as the nice boy) is a male version of Shenae Grimes! Big smile and very likable. He's everykid. Both are fine, but not as good as Dustin Milligan (as the bad boy of the piece) and AnnaLynne McCord (as the bad girl of the piece). Milligan's character isn't much of a bad boy, really. He's cheating on his girlfriend, but he sure seems guilty about it. So even he wins the sympathy of the audience. McCord is beautiful and knows exactly how to play the character of the bitch. She appears to be having fun, but knows not to camp it up. Lori Loughlin (looking like Charisma Carpenter) plays the mum of the family to blah effect.


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: All of the characters are fairly blah. The cast sells a show like this.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Jessica Stroup as Silver. Her character's story arc was dreadful, but I totally didn't warm to her on-screen presence either. She doesn't really seem suited to the warm and fuzzy best friend character. She'd be much better as the bad girl, I bet. But they don't need another one, McCord is perfect in the part.


Continuity: Probably slight, in line with the original show which ran for years on the strength of good self-contained stories while the relationships advanced from episode to episode. Meaning you need to watch the episodes in order, but it won't ruin the show if you miss one or two along the way.


Rewatchability: None. It's nice and entertaining and everything, but one viewing is enough.


Other Info: The pilot and second episode aired as a 'movie' to decent ratings. Rob Thomas (of Veronica Mars and Cupid) was involved with this pilot. And it shows.

Four Things I Really Like About This Pilot:

Jessica Walter

It's exactly like Beverly Hills 90210

Dustin Milligan

AnnaLynne McCord

Three Things I Really Don't Like About This Pilot:

Jessica Stroup as Silver

Not enough screentime for Jennie Garth as Kelly

The sidekicks are all pretty bland

Miscellaneous Comments:


This was a really good pilot. I'm outside the target demo, but I don't care. If they can tell good stories and make me like the characters I'll watch every episode. I watched this with another guy in my age-bracket who wouldn't normally be interested in shows like this but he loved it too. We both laughed every time Jessica Walter did anything and we were both impressed with the way it all ended: Naomi finding out that her boyfriend had cheated but not making a scene, instead she sucked it up and pretended to enjoy her party. While all the regular character watched and felt bad for her. That, to me, is much more interesting that over-the-top histrionics and "tv behaviour". Fact is, when the pilot was over I liked Naomi a lot, for all her faults.

I liked the show, too.

GRADE: B+

Flashpoint pilot review

Flashpoint


the life of the police sniper



Type of Pilot: Cop Drama


Similar Shows: SWAT, The Unit, Standoff


The Inner Light: If you're a cop, you're three times more likely to kill yourself than to be killed by a bad guy.


Strengths: Strong lead actor, slow thoughtful style, lots of good music, fresh take on an old idea.


Weaknesses: It might be a fresh take, but it's still an old idea...


Impressive Characters: While each character (in the pilot) could be seen as a standard TV cliché (silent tough guy, wise boss, cute tomboy girl, overeager newbie) the sum of the parts implies that they will each turn out to be something greater. The show's considerable style, fresh take and strong cast makes the characters more interesting than they sound when described.


Impressive Actors: Hugh Dillon is perfect as main character who doesn't tell anyone what's going on in his head, Enrico Colantoni is typically scene-stealing as his boss who has words-of-wisdom for every occasion and Amy Jo Johnson stands out from the rest of the cast as the very cute (but still very credible) female team member. Putting a tiny (and adorable) woman in the middle of a tough group like this is a risk, but Johnson is fantastic, and seems like she totally belongs there.


Continuity: Probably light.


Rewatchability: It's a great pilot and I would watch it again.

Three Things I Really Like About This Pilot:

Hugh Dillon. This is his show all the way.

The fact that the focus is on the sniper and the aftermath of the crisis. This is a story I've not seen before.

The music.

Miscellaneous Comments:


Not what I was expecting. If you sit down to watch a drama about a SWAT team, you imagine that all the scenes with no dialogue will be scenes of the team getting ready for the kill, not scenes of the team members thinking about what they have just done. But that's what you get here. The bad guy is surprisingly ordinary. After the crisis is over, nearly every scene showing how people react is done without dialogue. Also, the crisis is resolved by the mid-way point of the episode. This show is not about the action, it's about what happens afterwards.

GRADE: A

The Mentalist pilot review

The Mentalist


quirky detective



Type of Pilot: Cop Drama


Similar Shows: Psych (he's good at reading people, and things, so much so that he could be psychic), House (he's brilliant, he speaks his mind and often offends people), Profiler (our hero has an ongoing battle-of-wits with a nasty serial killer who killed a loved one), Criminal Minds (it's a bland CBS Crime Procedural), Profit (you'll know why I added Profit to the list when you see the pilot...)


The Inner Light: The truth is mine.


Strengths: Simon Baker


Weaknesses: It's a standard CBS police procedural with one very interesting character in the mix.


Impressive Characters: Patrick Jane, former fake psychic now working as an investigator with the California Bureau of Investigation (the what?!). Jane's a likable and interesting character. And much like Greg House he wears his pain on his sleeve and it dictates how he deals with people. If someone annoys him, he says it to their face. Also, he plays his own game and doesn't tell his team what he is up to. He's a "Grade: A" character in a "Grade: B" show, basically.


Impressive Actors: Simon Baker is a great lead actor. He was terrific in The Guardian and he's going to be fantastic in this, too. He's created a very distinct persona for this role, and there are no traces of poor hassled, stressed Nick Fallin from The Guardian. This is a different type of person. A silent people-watcher, who is always behind the eight-ball. A lesser actor might have failed to make Jane into a real person (since he's such a TV cliché) but Baker breathes life into the character and his heartache. So much so that I'd prefer if there were no other regular characters to distract from the focus of the show.


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: Most of the regular characters come across as bland in the pilot. One is by-the-book, one is a novice, one is brawny and one is asian. It's a typically diverse team, as seen on one-hundred other TV shows.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: All of the cast are very good, but none of the regulars except Baker were given much to do in the pilot. Despite this, Amanda Righetti makes a strong impression with her few scenes. More than any other supporting character, I want to see more of her. Her character's dynamic with Patrick Jane is particularly interesting and is something I would like to see again.


Continuity: I imagine the show will be driven by stand-alone cases, with elements of continuity concerning the serial killer that Jane has a history with.


Rewatchability: None. Seen it once. Once is enough.


Other Info: Every preview/review/comment mentions Psyche, but this is nothing like Psyche. It's not light-hearted and he's not pretending to be anything that he is not.


Other Review: The Futon Critic.

Three Things I Really Like About This Pilot:

The cast and guest cast are fantastic. Steven Culp from Traveler, Gail O'Grady from Hidden Palms, Zeljko Ivanek from Damages, Robin Tunney from Prison Break, Amanda Righetti from Reunion, Owain Yeoman from The Sarah Connor Chronicles pilot, Jeffrey Nordling from Once And Again, and Tim Guinee from lots of stuff. And with Simon Baker, from The Guardian, you have - pretty much - a dream cast.

Simon Baker.

Amanda Righetti.

Two Things I Really Don't Like About This Pilot:

It reminded me too much of the pilots for Criminal Minds and The Inside. But it's not quite as nasty and it doesn't leave you with the same icky taste in your mouth. Still, though, when all is said and done - except for Patrick Jane - it's very bland and forgettable.

It was obvious who the killer was. In both storylines. Predictable is never good. But it was still fun to watch Jane doing his thing. This time anyway.

Miscellaneous Comments:


If I watch this show it'll be because of Simon Baker and what they do with the lead character. Nothing else about this would interest me at this point. It's kinda depressing how much it resembles other cop shows.

GRADE: B

Leverage pilot review

Leverage


thieves help ordinary folk defeat bigger thieves



Type of Pilot: Comedy; Action;


Similar Shows: Hustle (good crooks cleverly outwit bad crooks), Mission; Impossible (good spies cleverly outwit bad spies), Three (thieves with special talents team up), The A-Team (a mysterious group helps ordinary folk)


The Inner Light: If no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire...


Strengths: Light fun.


Weaknesses: See it before.


Impressive Characters: Nate Ford, the "one honest man" in the group is interesting. His quest to get revenge for the death of his son makes him stand out from the crowd a bit. He's the Jim Phelps of this group, the one with the plan. The rest of them are typical of the characters you find in this kind of thing.


Impressive Actors: Aldis Hodge was the best thing about the pilot. He's cool and all his one-liners hit the mark. He's not the main character here, but he should be. Gina Bellman is also a bit of scene-stealer. She's very sexy and her chemistry with Timothy Hutton is right where it should be.


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: All the characters are typical of what you find in this kind of thing.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Christian Kane (one of my favourite actors) seemed curiously off his game in this one, and Beth Riesgraf was the absolute weak link in the cast. I bought none of what she did.


Continuity: Can't imagine that there will be much.


Rewatchability: None.

Three Things I Really Like About This Pilot:

Aldis Hodge

Gina Bellman

Timothy Hutton

Three Things I Really Don't Like About This Pilot:

Christian Kane

Beth Riesgraf

The "twist" halfway through the pilot was predictable.

Miscellaneous Comments:


Exactly what it sounds like. Nothing more, nothing less. Done right, it could be fun.

GRADE: B

True Blood pilot review

True Blood


a mind-reading waitress befriends a vampire in a world where they are just another minority group



Type of Pilot: Fantasy Soap


Similar Shows: Kindred: The Embraced (loads of vampires and none of them are cops or private eyes!!), American Gothic (small town sex and darkness)


The Inner Light: Vampires have "come out of the coffin".


Strengths: Anna Paquin running around in a white t-shirt and shorts is no bad thing. And she kicks ass when she has to. And she reads minds. All of that is good (particularly the white t-shirt and shorts!).


Weaknesses: It takes a while to "buy into" the ideas that this show is offering. I didn't really connect with it until it was half over. By the mid-way point I had gotten used to the weirdness and started to pay more attention to the characters. But, to be honest, none of them were particularly compelling.


Impressive Characters: Hmm... That's a tough question to answer. They are an odd bunch. Sookie Stackhouse (the main character) is more strange than anything else. They are all a bit strange. Interesting, but strange. I'm not sure, however, that I would be interested enough to visit them every week...


Impressive Actors: Anna Paquin is good. I've not seen her in anything other than The X-Men so I can't be sure: but she appears to doing here exactly what she does there. Which is fine by me. I like her. None of the rest of the cast really stood out. Stephen Moyer, Ryan Kwanten, Brook Kerr and Sam Trammell played the boyfriend, brother, best-friend and boss. (Moyer's not actually the "boyfriend" but he's certainly the love interest and I liked the alliteration!!)


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: Despire their strangeness most of the characters are rather bland. Sookie's brother is having a lot of unusual sex, but he's not particularly memorable. Her best friend is prone to shouting at random strangers, but none of it was particularly good or funny. Her boss has a crush on her, but is as dynamic as ten year old wallpaper. Even the dark, mysterious vampire that walks into her life is curiously unexpressive and detached from it all. The cast is rounded out by some other people that work with Sookie, some guys that work with her brother, a couple of cops and Sookie's grandmother. It's hard to introduce a large cast successfully in a pilot and this pilot... doesn't succeed.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Hard to blame the actors when the writing is this... unusual.


Continuity: Lots.


Rewatchability: None.


Other Info: Based on the "Southern Vampire" series of books by Charlaine Harris. It has been adapted for television by Alan Ball. The opening theme music is "Bad Things" by Jace Everett.


Other Review: The Futon Critic.

Three Things I Really Don't Like About This Pilot:

It takes a hell of a long time to accept this world that the show is setting up. Not just the fact that Vampires are an openly acknowledged part of society, but the fact that everybody else in town is so openly sexual and Sookie... isn't. It's all rather odd.

Lafayette Reynolds, the gay chef, is very annoying.

Too many characters.

Miscellaneous Comments:


It's an acquired taste, and I haven't made my mind up yet. I have a funny feeling this will have a hard time finding an audience.

GRADE: B-

Canterbury's Law pilot review

Canterbury's Law


tough female lawyer



Type of Pilot: Courtroom Drama


Similar Shows: Damages (tough female lawyer does whatever has to be done), Matlock (clever lawyer does whatever has to be done),


The Inner Light: tough female lawyer does whatever has to be done


Strengths: Julianna Margulies


Weaknesses: See it all before. Done better.


Impressive Characters: None.


Impressive Actors: James McCaffrey shines as the private eye who works for Canterbury. He only has a couple of scenes, but he is terrific. I like Julianna Margulies but she does nothing to aid her reputation in this nonsense.


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: All of the characters are idiots.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Ben Shenkman brings little or no charisma to the role of Russell Cross. Linus Roache is so bland as her husband, he might as well has phoned in his performance. Jocko Sims & Trieste Dunn have almost no scenes, and when they do appear they fail to make an impact. This show does nobody any favours.


Continuity: None. Who would care?


Rewatchability: Zero. It's pretty darn hard to watch it all through the first time, without attempting a re-watch.

Three Things I Really Like About This Pilot:

Julianna Margulies

Canterbury's relationship with Russell Cross is very interesting. They are on the same side. But they argue a lot. Not the romance-charged fighting you normally see between men and women on TV, but they fight because they disagree. I suppose the writers were going for a House-vibe, or whatever, but I liked it.

James McCaffrey

Three Things I Really Don't Like About This Pilot:

The real bad guy is very easy to spot. Since he is (a) the only suspect, and (b) the actor acts like a nut-job whenever the camera is on him. So, you gotta wonder: how stupid is everybody else in this show? How come Canterbury is the only one who can see that this nut-job is the real killer?

In an effort to make Canterbury seem really clever, the writer's make everyone else seem really stupid. Canterbury is the only one in the room who understands how TV News works. Canterbury is the only one in the room who can see that her client might commit suicide. Canterbury is the only one in the room who can see who the real killer is. Since all of this is obvious to even those with the lowest of low IQs you've gotta wonder what the heck is up with all the morons in this show?

Yet Another Lawyer who does what has to be done to get their client off. Are we ever going to see a show about a lawyer who doesn't give a ****?

Miscellaneous Comments:


What a yawn-inducing, disappointing hour of TV.

GRADE: C

New Amsterdam pilot review

New Amsterdam


immortal cop turns mortal when he meets his one true love



Type of Pilot: Fantasy; Cop Drama


Similar Shows: Highlander (particular during the awesome Season Three when Duncan, the immortal, was dating Dr. Anne Lindsay), Life (quirky cop with a new female partner)


The Inner Light: Sometimes you have to wait a hell of a long time for true love.


Strengths: Imaginative twist on the Highlander forumula. Imaginative twist on the cop procedural.


Weaknesses: None, really. Sure, it's a clone of Highlander and it's a clone of loads of other cop shows, but - I feel - they have brought more than enough to the table. It's pretty much a winner all round in my book.


Impressive Characters: Amsterdam is impressive because he's cool and lonely. His fascination with death leads to his becoming a homicide detective, which makes sense, and he is surprisingly open about his long life (constantly making jokes about it, in front of people). Most important, though, is his lonliness which is well illustrated without ever going over the top. His new partner, Eva Marquez, is given a good background and she seems like a great partner for the quirky Amsterdam.


Impressive Actors: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is simply superb as the hero. He brings everything to the role that is required and, thanks to him, Amsterdam is cool, quirky and lonely in equal measure. Alexie Gilmore only has a couple of scenes in the pilot but she is exceptionally beautiful and - therefore - perfectly cast as the woman he's waited hundreds of years to meet. Finally, Zuleikha Robinson (also exceptionally beautiful, it must be said) is impressive as Amsterdam's new partner. He treats her like crap at first (because that's the way quirky cops on tv behave, I guess) but soons warms to her and, by the end of the pilot, they have formed a likable partnership.


Continuity: Slight. Probably be more of a case-of-the-week show, with minimum continuity.


Rewatchability: Lots.

Three Things I Really Like About This Pilot:

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Alexie Gilmore

Zuleikha Robinson

Miscellaneous Comments:


It's got elements of Highlander (one of my all-time favourite shows) mixed in with two of this seasons new offerings. You've got a quirky cop paired with a new female partner (which is what you get in Life) and this also has a very romantic storyline wherein the immortal hero faces the prospect of death now that he's met his One True Love (which shares similar themes, if not exact details, with Pushing Daisies). I enjoyed the cop procedural aspect, and I absolutely loved the Love Story. Alexie Gilmore is truly beautiful. When she walked into shot, in the midst of a large crowd, I noticed her straight away. And when her presence causes our hero's heart to stop. I got it. I totally got it.

GRADE: A