FRINGE (FOX) - It's no secret I am a huge Bad Robot fanboy. The addition of Pacey Whitter and Deputy Op Daniels to the Bad Robot pedigree only made me even more excited. Ultimately, though, I liked it but didn't love it. First of all, the pilot is two hours, and even with the action they crammed in, it feels a little bloated. There's just too much exposition to get out of the way... which I don't think will be a problem for the series, but it did hurt the pilot episode. John Noble and Kirk Avecedo also deliver the goods, but the jury's still out on the lead female. Little too soft for my taste. And I love Josh Jackson, but some of his dialogue is just criminal. If you take a shot every time he says sweetheart, you may not be alive for the twist ending. Overall, it's a pretty solid pilot, but it doesn't hold a candle to the LOST or Alias pilots. ADD TO SEASON PASS.
TRUTH IN ADVERTISING (TNT) - If I didn't love him so much, Tom Cavanaugh could get a little grating. Monica Potter's storyline never resolves and I want to stab her character in the face for being so quirky. And it will always pale in comparison to that other ad show, MAD MEN. But damn, this was a fun pilot and the chemistry between Cavanaugh and Eric McCormick as partners is crackling. In some weird way, this show could be the bizzaro STUDIO 60. I think this is gonna broaden TNT's appeal beyond its Tough Award Winning Chick Procedural slate. ADD TO SEASON PASS.
SURVIVING THE FILTHY RICH (CW) - Gossip Girl is on my DVR's season pass. I won't pretend it was an accident. And when I came across this script, it was actually pretty smart given the target audience. But the pilot is a 20 minute presentation with some seriously bad acting and at least one role is already being recast. The potential is there, and the key demo will probably watch it regardless, but I hoped for a little more. AVOID.
THE MENTALIST (CBS) - Normally, I hate crime shows. I accept the writing and production values are usually pretty good, and with the exception of David Caruso, the acting's usually pretty solid, too. They just don't grab me in any way as a viewer. I went into this pilot not liking the genre and hating the premise because I thought it was just a serious rip off of PSYCH, which is one of my guilty pleasures. Consider me pleasantly surprised. The twists of the A-story were nothing unpredictable, but the backstory to Simon Baker's character and the balance between sly lighter drama and morbid, depressing drama was handled with care. I don't know that I'd watch it on a regular basis, but I won't make fun of anybody who does. ADD TO SEASON PASS IF YOU LIKE PROCEDURALS WITH A LITTLE BITE.
DO NOT DISTURB (FOX) - Jason Batemen, why on Earth did you direct this pilot? Did you burn through your HANCOCK fee already? Do you have a crack addiction? Or are you just punking Jerry O'Connell and forgot to tell FOX? This pilot was so god awful I couldn't even finish it. Pretty sure FOX will have the same response once it hits the air. AVOID.
RAISING THE BAR (TNT) - Steven Bocho is a TV legend. Steven Bocho is also 65. Maybe it's time to hang it up? I know Bocho's NYPD Blue buddy, David Milch, got some great dramatic work out of Zack Morris before, so I was willing to give it a shot, but man did this thing disappoint. The legal cases were pedestrian and the character reveals underwhelming. The tone was all over the place. To top it off, they utilized the cheesiest time-cut transitions in any scene with a crowd slowly filling in (courtroom, bar, party, etc) that I thought I was watching a student film. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. AVOID.
coming soon... TRUE BLOOD (HBO), LEVERAGE (TNT), and maybe more.
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