Kimputer's Weblog

Back to just the cases. While they’re still inventive and interesting, it’s too bad the character development is being put on the backburner, again.

With a lot of starpower (Rebecca DeMornay, Vanessa Williams, Kelly Hu) guesting on the season opener, you certainly don’t get a lot of content. All the characters are empty, including the show’s regulars. The story is too simplistic and the dialogue is stiff. If they try this all season long, they’ll probably end up in NBC’s trash bin.

As you’ve noticed, old TV shows turn up on the silver screen, but have you noticed a lot of movie producers and directors turn to TV ?
Jerry Bruckheimer of course, made the most notable jump, with some NINE (!!!!) TV shows running CONCURRENTLY this season, while keeping busy being successful in the movie bizz.
The rest:
Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro, Vertical Limit) is doing 10-8: Officers on Duty (yeah, though the earlier cop TV shows list was long, I didn’t include all of’m).
Danny DeVito combines his powers with Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black I & II) on Karen Sisco.
Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven, and the upcoming Ocean’s Twelve) does K Street.
Russel Mulcahy (Highlander I & II) does Bruckheimer newest, Skin.
Mark Pellington (The Mothman Prophecies, Arlington Road) also helps Bruckheimer a hand on Cold Case.
Phillip Noyce (Sliver, The Saint, Clear and Present Danger) is developing the series premiere of Tru Calling, starring Eliza Dushku.

And of course, I didn’t catch them all, there are some more to be found. Can you ?

After a few consistently written episodes, the signs of tiredness are already showing. Episode 305 showed us a writer’s block larger than the whole Milky Way galaxy, and while the episode after that tried some character exploration, it was too predictable. Hopes are down, only 75% more of a season to go.

Another crime show on the CBS line-up, and after only 2 show, you kinda have the whole concept figured out. Every episode revolves around an old unsolved case, circa 20 years or so. Then comes in a witness or a victim, trying to push the case. And so the investigation begins. One small clue is enough to get the whole gang started, all witnesses are miraculously still in town and easy to find. They also prove to have excellent crystal clear memories. All have some kinda intricate detail they didn’t mention 20 years earlier, and conveniently decide to spill it after all this time. Crosscut a few young and a few old actors to get the whole feeling right, and put on some happy eighties rock tunes (even though the cases are mostly about murders) on, and all you have is a show with no promise.

Ending last season with quite a cliff-hanger, it needed 2 episodes to resolve it all to a more normal state. While most characters are more elevated to the extreme side, the subtlety, which has given this drama series its flair, is still there. With the drama so overpowering, one can easily overlook the details that are not thoroughly worked out, and nitpickers will have a joy finding them again, but the lack hereof is not really distracting, as the writers keep you engaged.
While previous seasons lacked strong written episodes in the middle of the season, the ending and beginning made up a whole lot. Let’s hope this season keeps its high quality throughout the whole run.

Also a CBS show, advertised as Emmy Award winner starrer, Joe Pantoliano (which he did for The Sopranos), plays a very busy FBI agent. Training rookies, keeping contacts with a few undercover agent, and all that in a day, without breaking a sweat. Not only a bit far fetched, but the perfect good cop routine is so cliche, it’s not interesting anymore, even if played by an Emmy Award winning actor.

Another new show from the CBS, which already have around 10 shows running on various law enforcement issues. A spin-off from JAG, if focuses on anything with Navy and Marine, and while that seems very limiting, the stories have so far been interesting (and with the same focus, JAG is already in its ninth season too), with enough variety so they won’t feel like last week’s episode. Mark Harmon as the lead character, is a no brainer, as he has always been a good TV actor. Other characters around him get some screen time too, although with a lot less depth. This is at least a point the show can improve on. Not overly serious, there’s room for humor to give the show a lighter feeling. There’s even a few mysterious traits left to be discovered for the Mark Harmon’s character. Propaganda or not, for now it’s fun.

A new show from ABC with an eighties feeling to it. Karen Cisco, a tough US Marshall, is a very standard heroine type of girl, and it shows. There not much new to learn about her. While the show is setup to be focused on her, and not too much to the case, which should be a good sign, I still have no feeling of what’s really going on, beyond all the cliches, that is. The babbling with her father, the small talk in the office, nothing adds up to a good show. All fingers point to a character driven show, but somehow, in the execution, something must’ve gone awry, coz in the end, it’s pretty boring.

Starting a new season with a two parter, the story is still strong, and the character, while familiar, are still interesting. While other shows keep the focus on the weekly cases, CSI still leaves enough room left for the characters, and that keeps it head and shoulders above even its own spin-off CSI:Miami. While it lacked exactly this during the third season, we can only hope that the production team of CSI and CSI:Miami (which needed the start up period) are seperated enough to work indepedently now.

A new series from UPN, focusing on a not so hero type nerd, who gets superhuman powers by accident in an NSA lab. Episodes are a mix of spy type mysteries and personal development, as the nerd must cope with his new powers, his previous failures with women and his new job as an NSA agent. The whole nerd-hero thing still works, as does the shaky experiences with women, but the future will show if that’s enough to keep a show running.

A new ABC series, focused on terrorism. A team of special agents, each with a specific task, hunts them down. The sensitivity on this issue makes the show a streamlined, cut to the chase type of show, with an over the top stern and serious look. Not only does catching a terrorist week in, week out, make it a bit unbelievable, this whole setup leaves no room for other aspects, such as humor, character development or anything else. The standard hero type is so empty, it’s not interesting at all. As a propagande machine it even tops series like JAG or NCIS. I would give this show a second chance, but hey, it probably makes the US citizens sleep better, so expect a few more season.

Did you know it’s more likely you land a role on a cop show in the States than to win two hundred bucks in any random lottery ? The last five years, not only reality shows have sprouted like mushrooms on TV, but the cop/law enforcement kinda TV shows are right on par.

Here’s a list of oldies:

Law&Order (NBC)
NYPD Blue (ABC)
Cops (Fox)
JAG (CBS)

Here’s a list of new ones over the past 3 years, and they haven’t replaced the previous list, no, they have been added !

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS) – Jerry Bruckheimer’s shot at TV
CSI: Miami (CBS) – dito
Cold Case (CBS) – Focussing on old unsolved cases, also a Bruckheimer’s.
Without a Trace (CBS) – Does Bruckheimer ever stop to catch a breath ? Another one, focusing on missing persons
Robbery Homicide Division/LA (CBS) – standard cop show
The District (CBS) – Focusing on the chief of the Washington D.C. district
The Handler (CBS) – Joe Pantoliano plays an FBI agent who trains rookies
Hack (CBS) – Ex cop driving around in a cab, still fighting crime
NCIS (CBS) – This Navy Crime Investigative Service is a JAG spin-off, with a bit of copy-catting the style of CSI
Law&Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC)
Law&Order: Criminal Intent (NBC)
Third Watch (NBC) – Only half of this show is focused on the cops
Hunter (NBC) – revival of the old 80-ties series
Boomtown (NBC) – The same crime seen from all angles (cops, bad guys, etc)
Crossing Jordan (NBC) – Medical examiner works with the police
24 (Fox) – Jack Bauer, former special agent, head of CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit)
Fastlane (Fox) – Charlie’s Angels director McG’s view of a hip cop show with fast cars
Threat Matrix (ABC) – Another show featuring special agents focusing on terrorism
Alias (ABC) – Jennifer Garner plays an undercover double agent who works for the CIA
Karen Cisco (ABC) – She’s an US Marshall, based on the Out of Sight movie (which was then played by Jennifer Lopez)
Monk (ABC) – Tony Shalhoub plays a former police detective with some obsessive compulsive traits
Dragnet (ABC) – another 80-ties revival
10-8: Officers on Duty (ABC) – Nudding interesting here either.
Jake2.0 (UPN) – Young NSA tech dude turned agent
Peacemakers (USA) – Tom Berenger is a sheriff of a small town

And these are show that are currently on the air !!! In those three years a few got created and cancelled after one or two seasons (UC: Undercover, The Agency, Special Unit 2, Haunted, John Doe)

A long list, with only a handful worth watching (CSI’s strong writing, 24’s glued on chair storyline and Alias’ extended story arch). But I still suggest you watch them all, so you can see that most of them are so alike, it’s not fun anymore, even if it’s meant to lift the spirit of all those US citizens.

Still a mixed bag, as there are still some senseless one story episodes, but then comes the next one, which is another well integrated show continuing the story arch. With more setbacks along the way, desperate moves are required, so the series still has a few breaths left if it continues this way, and a few seasons if it is able to improve what it’s doing now.

Having seen the second episode already, I can conclude that we actually are seeing some kind of improvement (of course, being so bad in the first place, improvement is the only thing possible). The main focus shifts from the hour long non-memorable episodes to a new big story arch with much more at stake. This helps highten the tension, and even some of the characters get more depth this way, albeit it’s almost microscopical. While other new elements are put into this season (exploiting T’Pol’s sex appeal for instance), the special effects have suffered, maybe due to budget. The 3D effects look cheasier every time, and even texturing and simple bumpmapping seem like too much trouble. Let’s see how things unfold after ten more episodes.