Toob Talk

To say I didn’t hold out a whole lot of hope for the reboot of the Friday the 13th franchise would only be a slight understatement.

I was relatively happy with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, so seeing the same team involved kept my expectations from being totally negative. There was some small spark of hope that it would cut to what I think is the core of the character and story, that it would get at least some of the terror right, that it would fix what I saw as some of the problems with the original.

Well, I’ve just finally gotten around to seeing the new Friday the 13th and it managed to disappoint me more than I thought possible.

What it has is a pretty cast and a pretty good production value.

What it doesn’t have is pretty much everything else.

If you’ve been living under a rock since the early 80s, you may not be familiar with the basic plot of a Friday the 13th movie. Let me run it down for you: Kids go into the woods to party, most of them end up dead, killed by a dude named Jason in a hockey mask who is, eventually, subdued and apparently killed by the end of the film. That pretty much covers the bulk of the other 11 films that have carried the Friday the 13th name.

And, really, it sums this one up, too.

The big difference is that the most recent incarnation of the film lacks pretty much everything that makes the franchise unique.

Jason is one of the iconic killers of the golden age of slasher films. Along with Freddy, Michael Meyers, and Leatherface (who, in my opinion, really doesn’t fit, but is typically put in the grouping… I’d be more prone to add Norman Bates) he’s part of a deeply ingrained pop culture of dark morality tales and nightmares. Like the rest of the familiar names in that list, he exists to kill. What has always set Jason apart was that he was a more blunt killer–not witty like Freddy, not single-minded like Meyers, not full of rage (or hunger?) like Leatherface. He killed in direct ways, approaching slowly, always up close.

This move got rid of all of that.

The film is populated with an overly-large cast of paper-thin stereotypes of social detritus: douchebags, pot heads, sex-hungry vixens, and horny dudes. So eager are the filmmakers to top the kill count of all the previous iterations, they give us nearly three groups of mostly white trash that get taken out. (The first is mostly implied in the poorly done prelude that more or less runs through the plot of the very first Friday the 13th in less than ten minutes.)

There are only three characters that even come close to being decent human beings. Bad news is, they’re not fleshed out much more than the cannon fodder… and one of them doesn’t make it (kind of spoiling any message one could attempt to read into the film).

The worst thing, though, is the complete and utter lack of anything to differentiate Jason from any other random serial killer. Sure, there’s the hockey mask and the oft used machete, but those don’t mean anything if anyone could be behind them.

In this movie, Jason runs. There’s none of the ominous slow stalking that upped the tension of many of the previous films. He also kills from a distance using a bow and arrow. Perhaps worst of all, he makes use of numerous tunnels and traps that betray a much higher-functioning personality behind the mask than was ever present in Jason.

He was, after all, a slightly mentally challenged 8-year-old at heart.

And then there’s the kills. While there was plenty of blood and gore in the deaths in this movie, there was no real creativity–and especially not any creativity that would be in line with Jason (if he were a unique character in the film). More than a few of the killings are convoluted and none are anywhere near as forthrightly brutal as what’s been shown in older Friday films.

(As a side note: While I was bouncing around looking for some art to put with this post, I came across a nice review of the film from James Melzer. He touches nicely on the lack of uniqueness of the Jason character as portrayed in this film as well as a few other important things. Check it out.)

The bottom line is, this film would have been just as good–or bad, in my opinion–without having the Friday the 13th brand on it. Of course, without that, no one would have gone to see it and I most certainly wouldn’t be talking about it at all now. So, good business decision, I guess.

Especially since they’re all ready to roll on a sequel. (Which I most certainly won’t be seeing in the theaters.)

I recommend you stay away from this iteration of the classic slasher flick. You’d be much better served going back and watching the originals.

I finally got around to watching the remaining four hours of AMC’s new version of The Prisoner.

After watching the first two hours when they ran last week, I can’t say I was terribly impressed. It had potential, sure, but it was missing something. And it seemed a bit more surreal at times than the original (which, if you remember the original, is saying an awful lot). But, I figured, maybe the two thirds would clear some of that up.

No such luck.

First, let me give credit where credit is due. This show is darn pretty. The sets and scenery have just the right feeling of “off” to them to echo that sense of unease one should have while watching the goings on in The Village. Scenes flow pretty well from one to the other and the music choices are interesting, atmospheric, and just as disconcerting at times as the visuals. James Caviezel as Number Six does an adequate job (with what he was given to work with) and Ian McKellan as Number Two catches some fantastic nuances of that character as it’s written in this iteration.

But none of that good stuff can balance out the lack of spunk and downright disjointed writing that fills the space between good bits.

Without question, there should be some of that off-balance and lost feeling in this show. The main character doesn’t know what’s going on, where he is, why he’s there–he doesn’t even have a clear memory of who he is. It shouldn’t all make sense. There should, however, be some baseline of “normal” to judge things by. For a while, it seems like there is, but as the hours drag on (pacing is another issue all together), things become more and more surreal and disjointed instead of more coherent.

Having watched all six hours, I’m pretty sure I know what the point was and what the filmmakers were trying to do with their splicing together of two (or three?) realities and time lines. It was done sloppily. The cues separating one from the other just fell apart, leaving the narrative dangling in an ambiguous space.

Which would be fine if this were some avant garde art film with a two hour or so run-time. In a six hour television series, you’re not going to make any friends with your viewers if you do this–unless you do it very, very well. (HBO’s Carnivale managed to do something similar to what The Prisoner has attempted, but managed to keep it organized and tight enough that it didn’t get in the way of the story.)

The problem of lack of solid ground to stand on was exacerbated by total lack of story flow from one hour to the next. More than once, I was left wondering if I’d missed something important–if there was some reason Number Six or Number Two or someone else was suddenly behaving very differently than he had been. Some of it is explained, but too much of it just “is”.

Worst of all, though, this Number Six spends most of his time brooding, moping, or swooning. Lacking is the sharp and impassioned verbal banter between Six and Two that was a high point of a number of episodes of the original show. The rivalry–and kinship–between the two key characters is much more subtle and drawn out. Again, something that would be OK if there was more solid ground to set it against.

Over all, I’m less than impressed with what AMC did to this franchise. It managed to suck out most of the life and all of the mystery while adding nothing but some pretty scenery and confusion.

It comes out on DVD in March. Without some very compelling special features, there’s no way I’ll be buying it. I’ll stick to the full box set of the original series I picked up years ago (which, oddly, I still haven’t gotten around to watching all of).

Liv Tyler attempts to escape from one of the interlopers in The Strangers.

It being the Halloween, I’ve been in the mood for horror films.

Over the last few years, there has been no shortage of supposedly scary movies. Problem is, most of the ones I’ve seen haven’t been all that scary.

Disgusting? Yes. Full of loud noises and quick movement? You bet. Violent? Uh-huh. But scary? Really scary? Nope. Not really.

“Really scary” takes some subtlety and time that’s lacking in most modern horror. Instead, writers and directors go for the quick “gotcha!” or the over-the-top blood & gore effects to try to scare the audience. When I first saw the ads for The Strangers, I was a little worried that it was just another torture porn film along the lines of Hostel.

Well, I finally got around to watching it and I’m happy to say that it’s a lot better than I was expecting. The buildup to the scares is a slow burn that gets every edgy nerve going one by one until the anticipation of the inevitable jump is barely alleviated when something actually happens. The characters–both protagonists and antagonists–are mostly a mystery to us, we’re left to fill in backstory all on our own. (Something else too many films don’t do any more–leave a little work for the minds of the audience to do when it comes to characters.)

Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) arrive at a secluded home, James’ parent’s house, that they’ve requisitioned for what was supposed to be a romantic weekend. It’s clear right off the top that things didn’t quite go as planned earlier in the evening–both are upset and distant from one another. The mood is heavy and sad as they go about settling in as best they can, brushing away the spread rose petals and sullenly drinking the champagne straight from the bottle.

That’s when the first knock comes at the door. A young–perhaps teenage, perhaps 20something–girl asks for someone who is definitely neither of them. We never see her face, for some reason the lights on the front porch aren’t working, even though they clearly were before.

And from there, the sadness turns to tension which turns to fear which culminates in a scene of true horror.

And it does it all with a minimal effects budget, next to no gore, mostly implied violence, and a whole lot of atmosphere.

Writer/Director Bryan Bertino did a fantastic job. Granted, the story is about as simple as you can get, but it’s been done much worse before. The run time of the film is short, which is good–any longer and it would have been too much of a strain or filled with gimmicks and cheap thrills. Bertino keeps things tight and tense, something much more seasoned directors seem to have more trouble doing as time goes on.

If you’re prone to an overactive imagination, I recommend you don’t watch this one while home alone, you’ll be jumping at every little noise. And for those who are looking for some sort of gore-fest… well, you probably won’t like this movie at all. Same goes for those who like everything handed to them on a gilded platter. You’re going to have to work your brain just a little to put all the pieces together. But when you do, you’ll get a good solid shiver and a lasting sense of unease that usually only comes from more classic horror films.

Things in the world outside of that box in front of my couch have kept me a bit behind on much of the new season and a wee bit too busy to get down most of my thoughts. So, here you go, in a short-ish format.

Heroes is wobbling along, sometimes more steady than others. There are some interesting new characters, but a strong, clear theme that helped make season one a popular and critical success–and was missing from the subsequent seasons–is still nowhere near strong enough to raise the show above the bad taste the last season left in many people’s mouths. I think the writers may be biting off more than they can chew by keeping the number of “main” characters as high as they have. Old habits, I guess. I do like the traveling carnival that’s been introduced, though… lots of potential there, especially after this week’s episode.

Castle is still a lot of fun. As a police procedural, it leaves a lot to be desired (man, the cop work is really not that good at all), but as a bunch of pulpy, camp-leaning characters, it is full of win. NathanFillion and Stana Katic are getting even better bouncing dialog off one another and the supporting cast is getting a little more time to shine. If you’re looking for a serious show, don’t bother. If you’re looking for something that’s got some cheese in it, then Castle is where to find it.

The Forgotten, I watched one episode of it and decided it was better left to live out its title. As much as I want to love Christian Slater in anything he does, this show just didn’t grab me at all. I would have been much happier if his vehicle from last season, My Own Worst Enemy, had survived.

Mercy was another show I only bothered to catch one or two episodes of. While it’s fun to see Michelle Trachtenberg (once again) play a sparkly, naive, newbie, it mostly felt just like every other modern hospital drama that I’ve seen ads for.

Modern Family has been a pleasant surprise from the first episode on. The show has heart and a kind of quirky sense of humor about half the stuff in it. The other half is standard sitcom fodder, but is usually carried out with just enough push from the cast that it works. Everything I’ve seen in it so far has either made me laugh or smile, and I’ve always felt better after watching an episode. That’s more than I can say for most shows I’ve ever watched.

Cougar Town had a first episode that just left me not wanting more at all. The way the main character was written in the first episode, co-star Krista Miller would have been a better fit for the lead than Courtney Cox. They seem to have fixed that problem now. The comedy now fits with Cox’s appearance better, making the whole character more sympathetic and, overall, much more funny. They still try a little too hard at times, though… and it looks like this week’s episode is going to be full of “trying too hard” moments.

Eastwick has been a very pleasant surprise. I had more then a bit of trepidation going in, seeing as how I absolutely love the film, but the cast and writers have done a good job of adding enough depth and breadth to the story to keep it interesting and on-message. The leads are doing fantastic jobs bringing three very different characters to life–different from one another and different from the 1987 film, which is good because they are different characters in a different time. Even Paul Gross is doing a good enough job to make me believe his Darryl Van Horne isn’t Nicholson’s in a good way.

Flashforward has a lot of potential. So far, we’ve seen a few different ways of dealing with characters who know a little bit of the future. They’re pacing the questions and answers (and red herrings that may not be so red or so herring) well early on, so they may actually have a plan for where this all is going. At the absolute least, we’re getting some good haunted looks from members of the core cast. If they ratchet up the strange factor just a little bit, they could be on par with early seasons of Lost for water cooler discussion factor. As it is, while I’m hooked, I question if they’ll be able to keep enough of the general population interested to keep themselves on the air.

Supernatural is in its best season yet… and it looks like its only going to get better as it goes on. Last week had a killer Abe Lincoln and Gandhi–with Paris Hilton as a guest star–and it worked fantastically! Sometime in the future, it looks like we’re up for a 70s sitcom inspired demonic infestation and numerous other things that I’m sure will leave me wanting more–but also hoping that the show goes out on top, before it all goes to hell.

Fringe is really ready to take the X-File mantel as “strange FBI show”… but it’s got more scifi in it than Mulder and Scully ever ran into. Kind of hard to avoid when your key plot involves interdimensional travel. The important part is, their characters have grown a lot since the first episode of the series and are now really coming into their own (both literally and figuratively). This is another I’m going to keep watching until they cancel it.

Smallville… I’ve only been able to make myself watch the series premier so far. And that… well… I’d have to go back and check but I think they have once againretconned their own continuity. I really hate that. The plots are also looking more and more ridiculous–some of them look to be right out of the Silver Age comics,wich were always downright silly. Again I say, this show should have ended a few seasons ago and we should be watching The Justice League instead.

Dollhouse has continued its upswing since episode six of season one. They’ve made some compelling changes to the show and have really piqued my curiosity on some other areas of how things work inside theDollhoue. The inevitable bleed-through of past imprints on some of the dolls has been distinctly creepy and sweet to see happen.

There’ll be more once I have the time to dig into the DVR and hit up Hulu.com for back episodes… and then there’s movies I want to talk about, too. Oh, but for more time in a day!

Have you ever fallen for someone without even knowing what they look like? Maybe it was on the phone or, more likely these days, over the Internet. Even then, imagine not seeing a picture of them at all until just before it’s time to make the decision to date them in the real world or not.

That, in a nutshell, is the premise behind the newest reality relationship experiment show, Dating in the Dark.

Three men and three women–most surprisingly close to average looking–spend four days getting to know one another. The catch is, the only time a man and woman can be in the same place together is in the dark room between the two wings of the requisite mansion they’re staying in.

And when they say “dark” they mean dark. The only light in that room comes from the infrared lamps that provide illumination for the infrared camera. Not a drop of visible light. This becomes quite obvious as we get to watch the two potential suitors stumble about trying to find one another and avoid the furniture.

Unlike most other “competition” dating shows, like The Bachelor or The Bachelorette,  there is no prize and no actual competition. There are no silly physical challenges or trivia contests. Nothing that purposely tries to bring out the worst in the participants.

On the contrary, much like the first few iterations of Beauty and the Geek, Dating in the Dark is much more of a social experiment we all get to watch. Sure, they throw in some neat little twists–like having professional sketch artists come in to draw pictures of how each side thinks the other looks. (In the fist episode, the guys were pretty darn close in their descriptions of the women… the women, not so much.)

Most of the action takes place in that dark room where we get to see everything the participants can’t. That in and of itself is an interesting twist. In the dark, it’s easy to forget there’s a camera there. People behave differently, are more open. And when the only company they have is the sound of someone else’s voice and, perhaps, the phantom touch of that invisible other, people can surprise themselves.

After an initial group meeting, each participant chooses one member of the opposite sex to spend some time with. Once that meeting is over, they’re all told who the “experts” (who’ve studied the massive personality tests and questionnaires they participants have filled out) think would match up best. From there on out, the participants can choose to focus on one person or continue to make time with others.

Not surprisingly, with only four days and a handful of meetings to be had, all the participants chose to spend most of their time with their expert-made match.

Right before time in the house is up, the pairs get to see one another for the first time. Again it takes place in the dark room, but this time there is a single spotlight that briefly shines down, revealing first one participant and then the other. Neither can see the other’s reaction–but we can, thank to the infrared cameras.

After that last shock to the system, each participant must decide if they’re willing to leave the house with their partner.

In the first episode, there were a couple of nice surprises. The participants were wonderfully realistic in their attitudes and reactions, not at all the over-the-top cartoons that most reality shows trot out in front of the camera. All of them seem to have done some serious thinking about what they usually look for in the opposite sex and at least considered re-evaluating their habits.

Looking at the ratings, the show did pretty well, pulling in just 200,000 fewer than its seasoned lead in, The Bachelorette.

Only the next few episodes will tell if it was curiosity or actual interest that made people tune in. Going through an entire “cast” each week is a risk most reality shows haven’t taken in a long time, relying on the familiar faces (and conflicts) to keep bringing viewers back. I admire the producers for taking that chance.

I think it will be fascinating to see how a good sized sample of participants react. Hopefully, they won’t change the process too much every week (it looks like they’ve swapped out at least one “getting to know you” bit for episode two).

If you liked Beauty and the Geek (before they started with the stunt casting and willful manipulation of the contestants), you should definitely check out Dating in the Dark. If Survivor or Rock of Love more suits your tastes, you may not be all that entertained… but you may be reminded of just how human even people on a TV show can be.

Fox just ran a two-hour TV movie that’s obviously a set up for a series. I think it would be a pretty good one.

Virtuality is set on board the first deep-space exploration vessel Phaeton. The crew has been picked for their various areas of expertise… and how interesting they’ll be on camera. See, part of the plan for their 10 year trip in search of a new place for humans to move to is to broadcast the day to day goings on of life aboard the ship.

Kind of like The Real World: Deep Space.

And that’s pretty much how the story plays out.

All the conflicts and interpersonal drama framed like your typical reality show. At first, I found it a bit annoying. But by the halfway point, I was kind of caught up in the actual sci-fi aspects of the story. See, the real hook is the virutal reality gear that the crew uses to alleviate the boredom of long-term close-quarters living. Of course, there’s also the ubiquitous ship computer (named Jean) with the erily calm demeanor, no matter what’s going on.

Oh, and then there’s the strange guy who keeps showing up in the crew’s VR sessions. He tends to do things like shoot them and push them off mountains during otherwise peaceful and relaxing happenings.

By the end–which really wasn’t a sutiable end for a stand-alone movie–there’s a whole lot of mystery and the crew is locked in to their long trip to another star.

The cast is pretty good: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (New Amsterdam), Clea DuVall (Carnivale), Sienna Guillory (Eragon) all raise the quality far enough above “reality TV” level that the show is watchable. The mystery, though, is what makes it interesting.

That mystery is co-written by Battlestar Galactica’s Ronald D. Moore.

Here’s the official Fox Preview of the show:

I could spend hours poking and picking at the things they changed from the comic book continuity I grew up on and loved. I could lament the lack of some of my favorite story bits and the light touch they gave others.

I could do all that, but, when it comes to X-Men Origins: Wolverine I don’t have to dig that deep to dislike the film.

Stepping away from my fanboy roots, forgetting how much I love the Wolverine from the 80s and early 90s (before Marvel really went wild with their continuity switching), this film is still quite flawed.

First and foremost, the pacing is all wrong. There are good parts in this film–the fight scenes are generally OK and the relationship between Logan and Silverfox plays very well and John Wraith is a good supporting character–but as a whole it’s all stops and starts, jarring transitions that interrupt the flow of what story there is and just don’t hold together.

Part of this, I’m sure, is due to a lack of coherent story to begin with. Writers David Benioff and Skip Woods don’t seem to have meshed well as a team on this project. Looking at their credits, I’m betting I could pick the bits that each wrote (Benioff, coming off The Kite Runner, I’m sure is responsible for some of the deeper stuff I liked in the film; Woods, with Swordfish under his belt, I’m sure I can clearly blame for the lack of depth in a number of characters).

The plot comes across as disjointed vignettes, the only common thread being the main character. Oh, they try to fill it up with “very important information” but fail at nearly every turn by shoving that information at us in the most bland, heavy-handed and over-used ways possible. How do we know this character is the bad guy? Mostly because of his sneer, and the standard “bad guy” camera angles chosen, and the tacky (and over-used) dialog he spouts. And that can be said about most of the “bad guy” characters in this film.

There is no shortage of material to pick from in the Wolverine stable of comic book history. Instead of mining that rich field, the writers instead opted to pull in the most generic of plot bits and haphazardly place them together with little attention to detail and little thought as to the coherence of the whole. “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if…?” seems to be the main driving force behind most of the scenes as they made it into the final film.

Getting past the poor pacing and sub-par writing, the next most notable thing is the bad effects. Not all of the effects are bad–Wolverine’s healing ability is wonderfully illustrated in a semi-subtle way, the explosions look good and, more than a couple of times, there’s some neat illustrations of powers (Gambit’s charged cards, Wraith’s teleportation)–but perhaps the most important effects in the film look unfinished and out of place. Those most important effects? Wolverine’s claws. They don’t match the lighting in the scenes, they don’t sit properly on his hands half the time and they just look plain fake. The presentation in the X-Men movies were infinitely better done. And there’s just no excuse for that.

Some of the plot and effects issues I’ll blame on the film’s PG-13 rating. Wolverine isn’t really a PG-13 character when you get right down to it. The simple fact that no matter how deep his claws have been sunk into someone there’s never any blood on them is just another poke int he eye of suspension of disbelief. Also of note: for as often as Wolverine has that cigar between his teeth, it’s never, ever, lit. Why? Because for some reason you can’t have your hero smoking and still get a PG-13 rating.

This film was full of missed opportunities and wasted characters. It threw away a fantastic lead in from the third X-Men film and instead gave us a mis-matched bunch of uneven scenes that, on their own, could sometimes be good. That just added to the frustration and disappointment of the finished product.

Now, there are people who will enjoy this film. More power to them. With more action, it could be great popcorn flick. As it stands now, it is, at best, mediocre in that category due to the action being interrupted too often by poor attempts at story.

I say skip it until it hits video and cable. But if you do go, stay until after the end credits roll–while the “extra” bit I saw was quite anti-climactic and disappointing, I hear there’s at least one better showing in some theaters and maybe as many as four variations total.

Got back a little while ago from seeing Push. Not a bad film, but definitely not as advertised.

If you’ve seen the ads, it’s being billed as “the first real action film of the year” or some such. Let me be the first to tell you, Push is not an action film. It’s got a few very well done action sequences, but they are few and far between. Everything else–most of the film–is relatively complex plot.

What Push is, is a heist/caper film. It’s got more in common with Ocean’s Eleven than it does with Die Hard (or X-Men, for that matter).

Also, this film is obviously supposed to be the first in a series. It tells its own story pretty well–a group of characters coming together to get their hands on some very important stuff that the big bad government organization wants–but the entire point of their actions in this film is so they can be ready for the next challenge: taking down the big bad government organization.

There is a lot of very neat stuff in this movie–the illustration and application of the different classes of abilities are very creative. The telekinetics (Movers) use their powers on par with the Jedi in the newer Star Wars films and video games; the precogs (Watchers) have games and limitations all their own; Sniffers, who can track tune in to the past and present of someone based on their scent, are hard to hide from; Shadows help hide people from Sniffers and, to a lesser extent, Watchers; Shifters, who can transmute objects (for a limited period of time); Bleeders, sonic attacks that just plain melt people’s brains (and break lots of glass); Wipers who can remove memories; Stitches, those with the ability to heal–or harm–with a mere touch of their hands; and, the title character type–Pushers, who can just make you do things.

It’s that titular ability that gets used more effectively in this film than most other places I’ve seen it (Heroes did a good job with Parkman’s father and the X-Files episode Pusher may be the first use of the term in general pop-culture). The subtely and cunning that the two main Pushers in the film wield their wills is both beautiful and terrifying. There is no question how dangerous people with abilities like this could be.

For all the plusses of the film, the negatives are a little difficult to overcome. The main negative being that this is being marketed as an action film. If you go in expecting action, Action, ACTION! you’re going to very, very, very disappointed. That alone could kill the chance for any income after opening weekend.

The second hurdle is that this is obviously the lead in for a series… a risky gamble. If it goes over well, you can get at least two more films out that will maybe break even. If it tanks, you end up with two types of unhappy people–those who feel they wasted their money and those who loved it and are now pissed they won’t be able to get the rest of the story.

The third “minus” is the intricate plotting. Personally, I love it when something has an intricate plot. The rest of the population? Not so much. Even more importantly, an intricate plot that actually works in a frist movie sets the bar kind of high for any sequals. If the the setup done in this film falls apart in the second one (again, if there is a second one), people get very vocally annoyed.

I’d love to have seen this as the pilot to a TV series. Not a viable option with Heroes on the air–the comparissons would be inevitable and detrimental to a TV version of Push, no matter how actually different the worlds are. A weekly series would, by far, be the best way to keep the story going.

With the marketing “bait and switch” in full play, I have my doubts about the chances for follow-up films (let alone good follow-up films), but I’d love to see them made… if for no other reason than to see more of Dakota Fanning’s tween Watcher. The brother/sister dynamic between her and our main Mover, Chris Evans (who’s playing his second super powered character, the first being The Fantastic Four’s Human Torch), is really some of the best non-special effects stuff in the film.

So I say see it, but you don’t have to rush out to see it on the big screen. The action just isn’t there enough to make a full on theater experience necessary.

Over the last two nights, The SciFi Channel has debuted two new reality shows.

Why The Science Fiction Channel feels the need to fill its schedule with the same reality show tripe (and professional wrestling) that other networks do, I don’t know. (Well, other than greed.) But they continue to insist on producing these shows. Past gems include Mad, Mad House (which was mildly annoying, but overall not bad at all), Who Wants to Be a Superhero (which could have been so much better than it was), GhostHunters (which is a real reality show, and, therefore, OK in my book), and Scare Tactics (which is just mean spirited).

The two newest additions are Cha$e and Estate of Panic. Neither has impressed me much.

In fact, they disgust me more than a bit. Just like most of the competition-based reality shows out there. There’s no question that the worst in people is brought out on purpose. There’s no encouragement to actual team-work, no reason to not screw everyone else over. (Mad, Mad House and Who Wants to Be a Superhero thankfully avoided those two major pitfalls most of the time.)

Here’s the thing, people are mean enough on their own–they don’t need any “help” to be any worse and the viewing public most certainly doesn’t need any more bad examples. Survivior has given us more than enough of those.

Cha$e is, basically, a big game of tag. Contestants get set loose in an area (the first episode was an industrial waterfront, the second looks like it’s going to be an arboretum of some sort), the money they win increases the longer they stay in, up to an hour. Before the end of that hour, they have to be the first to the exit in order to win. Oh, and while they’re running around, they’re being chased by “Hunters” and if they get tagged they’re eliminated from the game. There are gimmicks to avoid being caught and things to give them bonuses.

There’s also a camera crew and over-played Hunter characters. You want to make me a little more happy with the show? Wire the area with cameras and give everyone their own. Get rid of the camera crews. Really isolate the contestants and then maybe you’ll have something more interesting.

Estate of Panic is just about as bad. The ingredients are: 1 Creepy mansion, 1 over acting host, and a handful of easily scared and bravado-filled contestants. The challenge? Get in and out of different locations in and around the mansion, finding as much hidden money as possible. The catch? Don’t be the last one in the room and don’t be the one who gets out with the least money–those will both get you eliminated. Oh, and there’s going to be things like snakes, water, smoke and collapsing ceilings in these locations.

This game is pretty much straight on smash and grab. Not much skill needed. No time to form alliances or really backstab. No strategy in between rooms. Just pure adreanaline and stupidity.

Again there are a whole lot of little things that could make this show better. First, encourage teamwork, at least to a point. Then add in some actual strategy–let people bargin with the money they have collected in between rooms instead of counting it for all to know and instant elimination. Come up with some way for those eliminated early on to come back at the end.

Reality competition shows don’t have to be bad. They don’t have to bring out the worst in people. The Amazing Race and Kid Nation have shown that to be true. And yet, most of the shows out there sink to the lowest level possible.

So, while The SciFi Channel cancels more of their scripted shows more and more quickly, they keep proudcing sub-par reality television. I can’t say I’m at all happy about that.

Feel free to skip both of these shows.

This past week saw the premiere of a handful of U.S. remakes of shows originally done for other channels in other countries. Life on Mars, Eleventh Hour and Kath & Kim seem to be the three big ones currently being pushed. I caught all three. I also haven’t seen the original versions of any of them.

Life on Mars seems worth watching for three things: The Soundtrack, Harvey Keitel and Gretchen Mol. Not necessarily in that order. After the first episode, it feels an awful lot like Journeyman (or any of the other numerous Quantum Leap style shows that’ve been done since QL did it best) mashed up with TJ Hooker. Some of it is kind of like how I’d imagine CSI: The Past would be. The actor in the lead, Jason O’Mara, just doesn’t do it for me. Neither does the non-too-subtle bleed through of the present (especially the hospital sounds) into the past (or the future into the show’s present, as the case may be). I was hoping for a little more ambiguity than I’ve gotten so far. I don’t see it lasting, mostly because it’s so close in theme and execution as most of the shows that got canceled last season. Maybe in the next few episodes, it’ll do something to impress me. I’m not going to hold my breath.

Eleventh Hour was OK. I like the female lead, Marley Shelton, better than I like her counterpart in Fringe. The plot we have so far, though, leaves a bit to be desired. I’m OK with the big science mystery line, but Fringe beat them to the punch and has a crazier scientist character. If I could scramble the two shows together, I think we’d have a real winner. Until then, I’m on the fence with this one as much as I am with Fringe–it has potential, but I don’t know if it’ll get the chance to find it’s stride before it tanks.

Kath & Kim is utter and complete trash. Selma Blair, I love you dearly, but, damn girl, this show… why? You did your turn as trash in a John Waters movie, no need to revisit that as an inferior interpretation on the small screen. The really sad thing is that this show is even a waste of Molly Shannon’s talents. There isn’t a single likable character. They’re all dull and loud and oblivious. If I want that, all I have to do is hit the mall on any given day. Or, you know, watch news about the Republican vice presidential ticket. At most, this show’s getting one more half hour of my time to make me laugh and not groan. (And that’s only if I can fit it in between reruns of the original Addams Family.)

Of course, of these three shows, Kath & Kim will probably be the biggest hit.

Genetically engineered terrorists, superscience and heavy doses of corporate sponsorship from Microsoft, Cisco and Intel.

That’s what you get from Gemini Division, an online/On Demand series from NBC and Electric Farm Entertainment. Well that and a pretty good story starring Rosario Dawson as a NYC cop who gets drawn into an international conspiracy of secret organizations after discovering that her fiance may be keeping secrets from her.

I won’t go into deep details of the plot, but it’s at least slightly above average. It’s done using mostly virtual sets and the compositing varies from nearly imperceptible to “Do you seriously expect me to buy that?” Same with the rest of the effects in the show.

The format is good–told mostly from the perspective of Dawson’s character’s souped up smart phone in diary-like clips–and works perfectly for a show that is designed to be shown online. I’ve been watching it through On Demand on Comcast. They have week-batches tied together… which leads to three or four rounds of going through the credits.

Product placement and name dropping runs kind of rampant, but that’s to be expected. At least in the high-tech context of the plot it doesn’t seem too out of place.

It’s worth checking out, either online or On Demand. I’m interested in seeing where it’s going.

The season premier of the new HBO series True Blood quite pleasantly surprised me.

After last season’s less than spectacular experience with Moonlight, I was really wary of another vampire series. Even if it was from the same guy who gave us Six Feet Under and starred Anna Paquin. Was it going to be a sappy love story? Yet another angsty bunch of worthless vamps? So campy it would make the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie look good?

Before the premiere, HBO ran two half-hour documentary/promo bits on vampires. Those were interesting. Not a whole lot of new info for me, but at least it proved that someone had done their research and knew what had piqued public interest in bloodsuckers before. That gave me a small bit of hope. Especially the interview snippets with Charline Harris, the author of the book series the show is based on.

And so, after an hour of indulging in vampire nostalgia (which, oddly, only had one reference to Buffy in it… during a montage of pretty much every vampire thing ever made), I was ready to sink my teeth into the new show.

It did not leave a bad taste in my mouth at all. In fact, it seems like it will be quite the breath of fresh air.

What makes it different? First and foremost, vampires aren’t hiding any more. They’re right out there in the open–”out of the coffin”, in the show’s vernacular–thanks to the invention of a synthetic blood that removes their need to feed on humans. Now they’re struggling for equal rights and being subjected to that awful novelty that any recently unveiled minority/fringe group experiences. Being set in the south, the tension between the species may run a little too close to mirroring the tension between races for some… but I think it’s just the right distance and difference to allow some interesting exploration of the subject.

Sociological analysis aside, the show is populated with characters that should prove to be quite interesting. Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) is a waitress in the Louisiana town of Bon Temps. She’s more than open minded about the whole vampire thing–she’s downright exuberant about it in the cutest/most annoyingly naive way possible. The combination actually works out to be kind of endearing with Paquin in the part. But if the tone of the show plays through like Alan Ball’s other big deal HBO show, there will be some big and tragic changes ahead for pure little Sookie.

Her apparent lack of understanding of just how dangerous people can be (let alone vampires) allows her over-active sense of justice (fueled by her ability to listen in to people’s thoughts–yes, she’s a psychic) to bring her to the rescue of new vampire in town Bill (Stephen Moyer) when he’s picked out at the diner and targeted to be drained of his blood (which has some powerful effects on humans, making it quite the lucrative drug to trade in).

Since half the fun is watching it all play out, I won’t spoil anything more than that. Just know that the supporting cast is is full of quirky characters that are bound to stir up trouble and interesting situations as the series goes on. Oh, and I’m betting we already have at least one werewolf in town.

Needless to say, I highly recommend checking out the show. For a pilot episode, this one was pretty solid. Some of the characters may have been a little  too cartoonish, but I’m expecting that they’ll flesh out and develop now that we know their broad strokes.

The show’s got teeth, that’s for sure. And it bites just the way a vampire show should–with style and intensity.

Along with what I would suspect was millions of people much younger than I am, I tuned in to catch the series premier of 90210 on The CW.

I have to say, it was a lot better than I expected.

Granted, I’ve got this huge nostalgia bank saved up from the first few years of the parent series. I was there on the Walshes first day at West Beverly High back in October of 1990 and stuck with them until a couple years after they graduated (unlike some other people, I didn’t stick with that show for all ten years… and I didn’t make the jump to Melrose Place). Even without that background, I think the new show was considerably better than I expected.

While it was good to see Kelly (Jennie Garth) show up and reference things that happened when she and new high school principal Harry (Rob Estes… who wasn’t actually on the original 90210… but was on Melrose as a different character than he’s playing now… trippy, man…) were in high school together, the real joy came from watching the new fish out of water get the feel for the good ol’ currents of the school.

Granted, this being the 21st century and all, they catch on a lot quicker than Brenda and Brandon ever did. Heck, they’re lying, cheating and zipping away on private jets. Yeah, this most certainly isn’t my 90210.

But that’s what I liked about it. It didn’t rely on the nostalgia. Instead, it did what any show should do: it made its own way. The characters, while easy to spot the correlation and commonalities with other “hip” new shows are individual enough to not get totally lost in the teen-drama shuffle that The CW caters to so well. And even with the Kansas-born Wilson kids successfully stooping to the shallow level of their West Beverly peers, they still manage to maintain the special mid-west wholesomeness that adds the necessary contrast and perspective that made the original show worth-while.

There’s even a bit of snark in the teen characters. Some of the action and dialog had the vague echoes of Veronica Mars to it. (And those of you who know me, know that echoing VM or Gilmore Girls is a sure-fire way to at least get me interested.)

For a pilot, it was a bit packed. A lot of blatant introductions. A lot of odd timing and seemingly contrived situations. (Like why was the new principal starting a week into the school year?) Maybe these things will be explored more in the episodes that come. I know we’ll be seeing more alumni of the original show. I predict a visit from Ian Ziering before the mid-way point this season. And I would almost pay for Luke Perry to show up, preferably while Doherty’s all grown up Brenda is still in town.

If you missed the premier, find a way to catch it. Dollars to donuts it’ll be up online somewhere… and probably rebroadcast anther time or two over the next week.

Don’t get me wrong, just because you grew up watching the original doesn’t mean you’ll love this one. But you may find it interesting how much has changed… and how much has stayed the same.

You know, just like any high school.

…and, wow am I glad I didn’t see that in the theater!

Seriously. They could have had two good movies and, instead, they crammed it all into one kinda crappy one. Pretty, though. In fact, as long as you don’t care about semi-sensible plot, proper character development or actual working story arcs, it’s the perfect movie–a collection of clips and sound bites that vaguely hang together, mostly because they have the same characters in them.

The Sandman story could have been great… if it had had space to actually grow and, maybe, brood a little. Him and Parker could have been great dramatic point and counterpoint. Different men, different choices and all that. And the fights could have escalated wonderfully as Sandman learned more about his newly acquired powers and the Webhead slowly became more attached to his black suit.

The Green Goblin II story could have been fantastic… if Harry had a chance to grow more sinister at a more measured pace after his bump on the head. Parker’s life could have been real hell as people and things he loved were taken from him one by one. All the while his emotional turmoil feeding the black symbiotic suit and making it stronger… until it culminated in the awesome knock-down, drag-out between the Web slinger and the new Goblin. A real study in rise and fall of character that would have given all the actors (even Kirsten Dunst) a workout.

The Eddie Brock/Venom story would have been perfect for a fourth film. It was just kind of sandwiched in between everything else. What a waste of that character and Gwen Stacey. ‘Nuff said there.

So, yeah. That was almost a total waste of 2+ hours.

After being horribly disappointed by the Thursday night show I actually watched in real time, I was slightly hesitant to queue up Swingtown on the DVR.

Very quickly, that hesitation turned to elation. This show could be really good.

Yes, sex and swinging was a sizable part of this introductory episode. But it was done with style, some wonderful situational humor and with great effect for character development.

For those who didn’t catch it, the basic plot is this: Bruce and Susan Miller have come into some money, so they decide to move from their distinctly working-class neighborhood to a bigger house in a nicer part of town. The move may be just a couple of miles physically, but social and psychologically, it’s light-years different. Susan’s now former neighbor, Janet Thompson, and her husband Roger bid the Millers (Bruce, Susan, their son BJ and their daughter Laurie) good-bye during the neighborhood Fourth of July barbecue.

Everything that goes on in the old neighborhood and with the Thompsons is played beautifully. There’s an odd rapport between Susan and Roger, it wouldn’t surprise me if it comes out later in the series that they had an affair at some point. The relationship between Janet and Bruce is distinctly antagonistic–he obviously can’t stand her overly-emotional nervous ticks. The cast plays the subtlety of their characters perfectly. Anyone from a small town or close-knit neighborhood knows people like these.

Subtlety, however, is not the strong point of the neighbors at the new house. Tom and Trina Decker are hip and proud to flaunt it. Be it in their coordinated jogging outfits or the swinging (literally) party they invite the Millers to on their first night in the new place. Our first introduction to Tom tells us all we need to know right off the top: he’s an airline pilot, he’s shirtless and he’s flirting with a stewardess–who he brings home to share with his wife. And he’s got the ubiquitous 70s mustache.

The Deckers bring out the more adventurous side of the Millers, much to the horror of the Thompsons, who just happened to stop by as their old friends were on their way to the party across the street and accepted the invitation to tag along. There is much comedy in this sequence of events, but also a deal of poignancy.

We all know how easy it is to fall into a rut, and how different we feel when we suddenly get pulled out of it. That is the transition that is played out during the party.

And that’s just what the grown ups are up to.

There’s also the kids: Rick Thompson and BJ and Laurie Miller. They’ve all got plenty going on, too. Rick and BJ are young boys just discovering the joys, fears and consequences of being interested in girls. Laurie has a crush on her summer school teacher, who is a stark contrast to her (also older) stoner boyfriend.

Not as wholesome and outright family friendly as American Dreams and far from as nostalgic as The Wonder Years, Swingtown definitely has potential to be a great show. The talent is there on the screen and, if this first episode is any indication, there’s talent behind the camera, too.

If CBS gives the show a chance to find its legs, adjusts its marketing campaign appropriately and doesn’t bounce the thing all over the schedule, it may have another hit on its hands.

Of course, this is CBS. They don’t always thing things through very well. So, watch it while it lasts.

I won’t say I had high hopes for NBC’s Fear Itself, but I did have moderate ones. And still, I’m disappointed.

After a promising beginning, the first installment of the new anthology series, The Sacrifice, quickly degraded into a melange of same-old, same-old flat characters and sad excuses for plot twists. We won’t even talk about the total lack of scares in the show. I wonder if the people saying how terrifying it was on the official message board cringe when their shadow moves while they’re walking.

The only thing about The Sacrifice (kind of a misleading title once all is said and done) that is anywhere near above average is the makeup effect for the main critter. Everything else, well, if you’ve seen more than one vampire movie in your life, you’ll pretty much figure this one out right away.

Oops, did I spoil that for you by mentioning that this was a vampire story? You’ll thank me, really. Otherwise, like me, you’ll get really excited as four guys, one of them seriously injured in some way, sticking to back roads run into some car trouble and hoof it across the frozen lake to an odd little compound out in the middle of nowhere. Once there, the place seems empty until the very blond, very busty and (shortly) very friendly residents make themselves known.

Right there we have so many different directions this story could go in. Especially with a title like “The Sacrifice”. But either short story writer Del Howison or screenwriter (and series creator) Mick Garris or director Breck Eisner fail miserably at realizing any of those infinitely more terrifying directions. Nope, instead they go for the tried and true “We catch people to feed them to the vampire that lives here” route.

And, man, do we get to that plot point quickly.

Look, I understand there’s only about 42 minutes to work with. But there’s a lot a skilled writer (and a skilled cast) can do in less time than that. Just look at any half-hour episode of the original Twilight Zone and you’ll see. Heck, look at the more modern Tales from the Crypt, they only had half an hour, too. The new Outer Limits did amazing things with an hour time slot, as does the current scariest show on TV, Supernatural.

In fact, the people who put together this installment of Fear Itself could learn a lot from the cast and crew over at Supernatural.

Lesson 1: Let your quirky characters shine! This is especially true if we’re never going to see them again. In the case of The Sacrifice, that would be Lemon, the brother who’s just along for the ride and always screws stuff up. Not only do we only get to hear a handful of lines from him (most of which are the same thing repeated over and over), but he never gets the chance to do anything. OK, one thing, but we can all guess what that is (hint: it’s right out of From Dusk till Dawn, just like most of the rest of the plot). Sad thing is, he’s the most interesting character in the entire show.

Lesson 2: If you’re going to rush to get to the point, it better be a good one. There have been entire episodes of Supernatural where the viewer (and the characters) aren’t sure exactly what’s going on until the last minute. That builds tension, something this show just didn’t have any of after the first ten minutes.

Lesson 3: Give the characters a fighting chance before you take it away. Really, it’s scarier that way. If the characters think they have everything under control and then suddenly realize they missed something important, they have good reason to panic and the audience has good reason to cringe–in a good way.

Lesson 4: If you’re going to go with tried and true legends and done-it-all-before monsters, you sure as hell better come up with at least something new. Supernatural does it all the time. Yeah, we’ve all heard of Bloody Mary and that guy with a hook for a hand who kills people in their cars and every other urban legend they dredge up for the show. But there’s always some new twist they add to it that makes it worth watching. The Sacrifice just didn’t do that.

I could go on, but I’d most likely be wasting my breath.

The good news is, Fear Itself is an anthology show, so the team that made The Sacrifice won’t be back to bring us more crap. No, next week we’ll have a whole new team bringing us crap. Or not.

I really hope next week is better.

But I’m afraid I’ll be disappointed.

The annual up fronts were presented in New York City a couple weeks ago.

For those not in the know, that means that all of the networks have released their currently planned schedules for the Fall. Without a doubt, some things (like the days and times of shows) will change before September rolls around. Other things, though, won’t be changing at all.

One of those totally done deal things is what shows won’t be coming back.

As is often the case, in the graveyard are some shows I really kind of liked.

Here’s the rundown of what you won’t see anymore. (more…)

Right now there’s a documentary on the Sci Fi Channel called Mystery of the Crystal Skulls.

Obviously, it’s timed to coincide with the release of the new Indiana Jones movie that focuses on the mysterious and controversial crystal skulls. That movie has been mentioned a few times. Mostly, though, this has been a prime example of what passes for documentaries of strange and unusual things.

Some of what’s been presented is rehash of what is now ancient history and common knowledge–I remember a lot of it from Time-Life books back in the 80s. Much of that common knowledge has yet to be supported by more than hearsay and conjecture.

But here it gets presented without much counter. Definitely not enough to keep the average viewer questioning whether or not there actually was an ancient civilization of Atlantis.

There is music behind almost every bit of this documentary. Almost as if the filmmakers fear that any bits of silence will break the emotional flow of the viewer and let their more logical mind kick in, allowing them to realize just how outlandish a lot of these claims of “fact and science” are.

It wasn’t until early in the second hour of the documentary that they even brought up the fact that the Mitchell-Hedges skull (the one they talk about the most in the documentary) may not actually have been discovered in Mayan ruins. That’s kind of an important part of the investigation.

At least if you were planning on actually doing scientific investigation.

But that’s not at all what’s going on here.

What’s going on here is a presentation on myth, legend and wild speculation.

Most of that mess could be cleared up by some actual, honest, serious scientific inquiry. And it does look like some of that was done. Unfortunately for the filmmakers, the answers apparently didn’t fit with the story they wanted to tell.

So, instead, they fill the two-hours with so much pop-mystical-conspiracy-dross that even my head is spinning. Yes, these crystal skulls have been tied to just about every mythical bit of anything in the Western world, but it’s useless to just catalog and re-tell all of those connections. Pick one or two and stick with them.

Better yet, let’s just talk about the skulls themselves. Need more than that? Then let’s spend more time actually exploring the history of these things.

I don’t know why I always watch these things. I’m almost always disappointed. Mostly because I’ve been watching documentaries on these mysteries for so long, there’s very little new for me in anything produced in the past decade or so.

Here’s a rule of thumb for documentary makers out there: if you’re going to talk about an esoteric topic, do something new. Don’t throw together a hodge-podge of every hot topic you can think of. Focus. If you don’t cover everything (poorly) in one fell swoop, you’ll be able to make more (higher quality) documentaries about those topics later.

In other words, as much as I love Richard Hoagland, I don’t want to see him in a documentary about the crystal skulls–unless you’re focusing directly on the possible extra-terrestrial origins of the things.

(Also, right up front, one of Sci Fi’s own shows was misidentified… way to destroy any vestige of respectability right away!)

I’ve put off talking about New Amsterdam for a couple of episodes. Mainly because I wanted to see if it could keep up the wonderful attitude it had in the first episode.

The show really did surprise me. Right from the first few minutes, it set a good tone. We quickly got into the head of NY detective John Amsterdam, a man who’s called the area home for about 400 years or so. Unlike really old west coast vampire Mick St. John (who’s more than three centuries younger) over on CBS’s Moonlight, Amsterdam has more or less gotten over himself. In fact, he’s doing a lot better than just about any vampire that’s ever had a show.

I’m sure some of that has to do with the fact that he’s a) not a vampire and b) doesn’t have to chop off the heads of other immortals in order to finally grow old and die. No, all he has to do is find his true love.

And I think we can all relate to just how tricky that can be.

Well, he’s been at it for centuries, ever since he saved the life of a local Lenape back when New York was New Amsterdam (why they changed it, I can’t say… people just liked it better that way… everyone, sing along!) and was “rewarded” with near eternal life. He just can’t die. Not for long, at least.

New Amsterdam refers as much to the Big Apples original name as it does to the idea of the main character reinventing himself. Needless to say, he’s been there and done that before–and unlike most other Methuselan characters we’ve seen on the toob, he’s not all that shy about talking about it. Most people just think he’s joking. It must be the wonderfully dripping cynicism he usually wraps it in.

The show is enjoyable on a number of levels. With a decent bit of police procedural thrown into a mix of relationship issues (romantic, platonic and familial) and topped off with Highlander-like flashbacks to the long ago (but not so far away) events of Amsterdam’s past, there’s something here for almost everyone. Some of the interactions can be downright funny.

If you haven’t seen the show yet, pop on over to Fox’s website and catch up. I doubt it’ll be around past what episodes there already are based on the track record of the other time-traveling/sci-fi-ish shows that were (not quite) all the rage during the first half of the season.

Believe it or not, I was huge fan of Sex and the City.

I loved the show not just because the main character was a writer or because of all the actual sex that went on in it, but because the characters were strong and realistic women.

Well, at least as realistic as NYC socialites on cable can be.

The ad campaign for the new NBC show Lipstick Jungle works hard to evoke the edginess and sexual energy of that other Candace Bushnell-inspired show. Having just finished watching the pilot episode, I have to say that taking that marketing path may very well kill this show.

The only things Lipstick Jungle has in common with Sex and the City is that the base material from both sprung from the same pen and both seem pretty solid in their own right.

Victory, Nico and Wendy are most certainly not Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and/or Charlotte. They are three women in very different places in their lives from those well known characters. Nico and Wendy are both married and successful in their jobs–their very real and believable jobs that would support their lifestyles. Victory, a fashion designer, is the only single one in the bunch and floundering a bit as she tries to take her designs in new directions. Overall, these three women are more stable than the girls of Sex and the City–more mature and, ultimately, more down to earth.

Sure, they’re high-profile power-brokers in their own right, but they’re also dealing with how being high profile impacts those day to day things–like trying to do what’s best for your kids or keeping that spark alive with your husband.

It’s one of the husbands, actually, who steals the show. Paul Blackthorn as Wendy’s husband brings a depth of character and an “everyman” point of view that differentiates Lipstick Jungle more from Sex and the City than anything else in the show. Even if no other actor involved in the show could perform, Blackthorn would make at least some scenes worth watching.

Lucky for us, all the other performers in the show do turn in above average performances. Brooke Shields as movie producer Wendy has a depth that one forgets the actress can offer–and that is almost unexpected in the character. Kim Raver is back in fine dramatic form as magazine editor Nico walks that fine line between bland and sexy better than most I’ve seen try that lately. Even Lindsay Price, the youngest and least famous of the stars (perhaps best known for the disaster that was the American version of Coupling and her two year run on the later years of Beverly Hills, 90210), makes fashion designer Victory into an interesting person, not just a semi-bubbly fashion hound.

For a pilot episode, this one was pretty solid. I can see the chemistry among the three leads working very well as they grow familiar through working together. The supporting cast–especially Blackthorne and Andrew McCarthy–have just as much to offer. I have faith that the writing can stay good (it did surprisingly well in the entire run of Sex and the City and Bushnell is still cranking out new stuff).

The only two things that will hurt this show are a continued writer’s strike and a viewing public upset that they’re not getting Carrie and Samantha.

Lipstick Jungle premieres on Thursday at 10 p.m. on NBC, opposite the new quirky lawyer show Eli Stone. Give it a try there or watch it online like I did through Amazon.com’s video service. (I’m sure NBC will be running it on their website, too.)