Here’s another quick set of impressions of the stuff I watched this week. I’ll post scattered quickies of some of the late-premiering stuff, but this is the last big roundup.
This week’s bias alerts come from the fact that I work for these folks, so reviews for anything in our timeslot (9/8 central, Tuesdays) or in our medical genre you should view with a wary eye. That said:
Cane (Tuesdays at 10, CBS) – It’s nice to see non-white culture represented on network TV, but the level of arm-flailing “HEY! LOOK! CUBANS!” is pretty silly. They roast pigs! They have dance sequences! They smoke enough cigars to make a viewer cough from the thought of all the secondhand smoke! The oddest aspect of this is the occasional line or set of lines in (english-subtitled) Spanish, when the remainder of the scene is in English, with exceedingly clumsy transitions between the two.
However, despite some Dynasty-level plot twists, it’s not ridiculous enough to dismiss out of hand. There are a ton of absolutely outstanding actors in this, and the setting is novel enough that once the writers hit their stride, it could turn into a really interesting show. The only question is if enough viewers will stick around to keep this show on the air until then.
Dirty Sexy Money (Wednesdays at 10, ABC) – Another entry in the overstuffed “Rich People are Fucking Crazy” genre, but this one’s at least more entertaining than most. Peter Krause is great as the lawyer trying to get disentangled with a disgustingly rich family his father got entangled with years ago.
Donald Sutherland is a bit over the top as the patriarch of said family, but the excesses here are not nearly as obnoxious as those of Big Shots (see below). Total soap opera, but it reminds me of the first season of Desperate Housewives, back when that show was actually pretty damn good.
Reaper (Tuesdays at 9, CW) – This show is a direct competitor to my employers, so I can’t give it a full review. It’s similar to Chuck in a lot of ways, but different enough to not come off as a complete clone. Ray Wise, who plays the devil, is hysterical and blatant in his thievery of every scene he’s in. Let’s just say I wish this was in another timeslot.
Private Practice (Wednesdays at 9, ABC) – Disappointing. When you take her away from the increasingly annoying characters who populate Grey’s Anatomy (from which this show was spun off), Addison just becomes another annoying character. It’s an absolute waste of Kate Walsh’s talent.
A point I agreed with that was hammered home in review after review I read of this show was that these middle-aged people have gained no wisdom with age – They’re just as neurotic as the 20-somethings who populate Grey’s, but without the excuse of youth to forgive their ridiculously unnecessary drama. If you don’t like Grey’s, you’ll hate this, and even if you do, you still may not like it very much.
Big Shots (Thursdays at 10, ABC) – Breathtakingly smarmy, and damn near unwatchable. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to punch every single main character in the face within the first five minutes of a pilot before.
Gets the uncoveted distinction of First Season Pass Deletion of the season, a feat achieved the second the pilot was over. Oh, and whoever thought this show would work well in the post-Grey’s timeslot needs to get canned, or at least drug tested, right quick.