He really needs a cane and a pronounced limp.
PAD
Posted by Peter David at September 21, 2006 10:30 PM | TrackBack | Other blogs commentingI'm liking this. James Woods hasn't been this good in years. Just send the daughter off to NY, she's a distraction. Sure beats out tired ol' E.R.
I wasn't overwhelmed. Some good bits of dialogue, but I feel you can pretty much see the formula for every episode now. And I the only who's a bit tired of seeing Jeri Ryan in yet another weekly series? Incidentally, I see Woods and Ryan's character in the sack by episode 12, although I'm not sure the series will make it that far.
Personally, and I may be in the minority here, my favorite new series of the week was Kidnapped. Favorite returning series was The Office. If tonight's episode is any indication, it's as funny (and painfully uncomfortable) as it was last season.
I noticed that Spike Lee has directed the first episode. Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like the Spike Lee who directs films too.
The dialogue between Woods and his cadets as I call them is not what I want to see each week. I'd rather see Woods being the lawyer than teacher of new wanna bees....
This show is something I'd rather watch than the endless CSI clones that have taken over the schedule. How can they juggle three shows without repeating themselves?
I loved the line in this show where James Woods said the decisons are made on who the winner is before the trial begins....
What was the name of that Spinal Tap album again? Shark Sandwich? I believe that one got a two word review. As for the myriad forensic parades on the tube, the original CSI is the only one still bringing me any joy. The clones really do degenerate after a few replications. Well, now we have the requisite ascerbics in both the medical and the legal. The universe is in balance once more.
I like James Woods, but the last thing I want to watch is another lawyer show (well, actually, the last thing I want to watch is another doctor show, but lawyers are a close second), so I opted for Six Degrees. It was predictable, and every single story line is a cliche, but somehow I enjoyed it anyway. It's refreshing to see a show that's just about people, rather than murder cases, legal cases, medical cases, kidnappings, prison breaks, etc.
The Office was hilarious. Best show on TV.
Yup, I got the House vibe too.
Black Holes don't activily suck as much as this show did. Was there a cliche that they didn't use?
He gets custody of his teenage daughter..his ex-wife actually says to him: "This is the biggest case you'll ever have."
Joe N: I agree. Jeri Ryan has only ever inspired me to change the channel.
Still waiting on Shark... if Woods can hold the center, it'll probably work. The basic set-up seems generic enough, so I figure it's all down to him.
Neither of the CSI spin-offs seems to replicate the original to any degree. Its novelty relying on being a slightly different angle for a cop show, with scientists being the ones solving the crime.
Both Miami and New York shift the focus back over to the cops, pushing the scientists more into the background. Miami manages to surgically remove everything I found enjoyable about the original, and is one of the most laughably bad cop shows I've ever seen... just ridiculously over-wrought. Whereas New York is set in one of the most over-filmed cities in the country, so there's no exotic thrill to it (which even Miami, much as I hate it, has)... it feels like Law & Order: Crime Scene Investigators, instead of a CSI spin-off.
Kidnapped starts off great. Really hope that keeps up, although I'm nervous about every single serial drama that comes out, because American TV really isn't set up for finite stories, and these things have a tendancy to degrade over time.
Smith started off reasonably strong, although the pilot is a little too cluttered with characters... a common failing of ensemble pilots. I figure it'll calm down as the action focuses on a few leads and everyone else becomes color.
Studio 60 was entertaining, but I always hate the Sorkin attitude that bleeds through. He just can't seem to help tearing down everything around him to make himself look like a genius. Everytime the show had a "put up or shut up" moment (such as the opening tirade), it was rather noticeably weak and not the QUALITY!!!! that it so desperately wants to pass itself off as. We'll see what happens when they start showing a few comedy sketches. If they're your standard SNL crap, then the show is not on any real firm ground... just more "why can't we do quality television" rants that tire me so.
Wow, a few weeks ago when Warren Ellis reviewed an early tape of the show, he called it House for lawyers. Uncanny.
I watched it last night and thought it was interesting enough to stick with until the end. But I thought of sweeps period stunt they can do to get viewers:bring in Steve Buscemi to play Shark's brother. I could be wrong but both Woods and Buscemi have similar acting styles that I think they could pull that off.
"Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like the Spike Lee who directs films too."
IMDB says it's the same one.
Ok show but not sending me over the moon. Hope it gets better because I really like James Woods. But, hey, if he can make Vampires watchable then he should be able to carry this for a year or two at least.
Shark was good. Better then I thought it might be.
Still, the best show on right now is definitly House. With Prison Break close behind imo (and CSI's premire, while mostly just ok, wowed me at the end. whew. looking forward to next episode). And out of the new shows, I liked Jerichos premiere episode the best. Though Vanished, Kidnapped, Standoff, and Justice are all good too (aside: out of those I'd say the two best are Kidnapped and Justice).
Hopefully all these shows will continue to be good. Also looking forward to Heroes next week.
Off topic: since there's no thread yet, I just gotta say this: I read X-Factor #10 and #11 on Wensday and WOW. GREAT stuff PAD. Just excellent. X-Factor is definitly my favorite comic right now!
DF2506
Posted by Rob at September 22, 2006 09:54 AM
Wow, a few weeks ago when Warren Ellis reviewed an early tape of the show, he called it House for lawyers. Uncanny.
Not sure if you're being snarky or sincere, but *everyone* calls this House with lawyers. I believe it was pitched that way.
"it feels like Law & Order: Crime Scene Investigators, instead of a CSI spin-off."
Thats it, the next mid season replacement hit Law & Order: CSI spin-off!
Posted by Hulkin Vulcan at September 22, 2006 12:41 AM
The dialogue between Woods and his cadets as I call them is not what I want to see each week. I'd rather see Woods being the lawyer than teacher of new wanna bees....
Which is why I suspect that Cowboy Pete compares this show to "House."
The hospital in that show is a "teaching hospital," so the teacher/protege relationships make sense on THAT show. Where does it fit in here?
Posted by Joe Nazzaro at September 21, 2006 11:22 PM
I wasn't overwhelmed. Some good bits of dialogue, but I feel you can pretty much see the formula for every episode now. And I the only who's a bit tired of seeing Jeri Ryan in yet another weekly series? Incidentally, I see Woods and Ryan's character in the sack by episode 12, although I'm not sure the series will make it that far.
I disagree, Joe. Sexual tension has carried MANY TV dramas over the decades. Remember "XFiles" and "Moonlighting?" Dave & Mattie finally "doing it" KILLED that show.
The show "Justice" is promoting itself as "a legal 'House'." "Shark" DEFINITELY bears a stronger resemblance.
David, I agree with your main point, but I suspect that hooking up Woods and Ryan will be the result of 'Hey, wouldn't it make a great story?' more than a long-standing sexual tension dynamic.
It would be fun to see him handling a malpractice case against Greg House. :)
"Smith started off reasonably strong, although the pilot is a little too cluttered with characters... a common failing of ensemble pilots."
I didn't think it was too cluttered -- it's basically just the Ray Liotta character, his wife, his four-man crew, and his boss, all of which are necessary -- but I did think it was a fairly generic heist thriller, with uninteresting characters (which is surprising, given the cast). And the non-linear storytelling just seemed like a pretentious gimmick. There was no reason to depict the heist in that way, and it actually made it less suspenseful and involving.
Other than Jeri Ryan, the best looking female in the cast is the actress who plays his daughter. Sorry, other than the House for the legal system, it's the only thing I really took away from the show.
Pilots have a tendancy to hit you over the head with who all the characters are. Take the Eureka pilot, which had several bits where the female detective reveals herself to be a total badass... once the series got going, they toned those gags way down and let her just be a total badass without constantly reminding she is. Feel that way with Smith... they were just trying a bit too hard to remind you who the bit characters were, like the whole thing with the guy taking out the surfers or the non-trustworthy blonde... just lots of little character moments that really weren't needed, but they threw into the mix, probably because the writers were trying to figure out who these characters were.
As for the non-linear storytelling... a bit clumsy, but it felt like they were trying to lead with the most exciting thing possible, which lead to another backtrack to set that scene up, followed by another backtrack to set up the whole caper. Looked like they were trying to grab you right at the start, whereas I think starting at the beginning of the caper would have been a better place to start, and less jumpy.
Agreed. If I were making that show, I would have started with Ray Liotta in his suburban husband-father role, set up the characters that way, and THEN have him start planning the caper. The way they did it, you're right, it seemed like they just wanted to start with the most exciting thing possible (and slightly ripping off Reservoir Dogs in the process), but the writers didn't quite have a handle on the story structure, and since there was no internal reason for doing it that way (like, say, something is revealed to us that becomes important when we jump back in time later), it all felt very amateurish.
It's a case of a mixed-up world where Hugh Laurie can produce a vain, egotistical yet compelling character and James Woods' comes across as too soft and 'heart of gold'.
The writers of Shark obviously want to emulate the House formula, but seem to chicken out of creting the 'monster' and give a nod to the audience saying 'He's gruff, but means well'.
The secret of House is that he's a genius doctor but doesn't 'give a flying' about well-meaning.
I also saw the unscreend pilot for Sean Bean's Faceless. That's another pilot show (not picked up) that scuppers a good idea and gets the editing wrong - giving the 'origin' and 'reveal' at the beginning when it would have been significantly more effective to have the 'twist' come in later and wrong-foot the audience.
[b]Posted by Ray at September 22, 2006 02:11 PM
[i]Posted by Rob at September 22, 2006 09:54 AM
Wow, a few weeks ago when Warren Ellis reviewed an early tape of the show, he called it House for lawyers. Uncanny.[/i]
Not sure if you're being snarky or sincere, but *everyone* calls this House with lawyers. I believe it was pitched that way.[/b]
Being sincere, actually. Since the show holds no interest for me, I haven't been searching out reviews. The two I happened to come across are PAD's and WE's. Didn't realize everyone was comparing the two. Not quite as neat or uncanny now.
Actually, I think he should have a cane and dark glasses, since the series is as much about real law as DAREDEVIL was and is.
The pilot was written by the show creator. You would think someone writing about the Los Angeles DA's office would know something about it -- y'know, like the facts that it is not run by the city, but by the County of Los Angeles; so the mayor has no control over it. (There's a County of LA seal on the wall of Jeri Ryan's office -- in the same scene in which she asks him what it's like to be a city employee.)
Aside from the reality aspects, the idea of a prosecutor who wants to win at all costs offends me. An ideal prosecutor is not out to convict every suspect and keep him or her in jail; he or she is out to put guilty people in jail. When a jailed person turns out to be innocent, the DA's office will go to court to free that person. That may not always be a reality; but idealizing a win at all costs philosophy really irritates me.