New Shows

Because it is summer, there aren't very many new series on TV. Cable networks, however, have begun to change that. We no longer have to wait till the fall for the new season--several cable networks have new seasons every few months and the new season has just started for some shows. Today I will write about two shows that have just aired their second episodes for the summer. One of these shows was over-hyped and one wasn't advertised heavily at all. Here goes. (Spoilers will show up!)

SAVING GRACE

TNT hyped this show to death. I swear they put on an extended commercial to promote this show every hour during the evening programming. I guess if you have Holly Hunter as your star--she DID win an Academy Award, after all--then you want to make sure people will hear about your show. (As an aside: Will SOMEONE PLEASE throw this girl a sandwich! I have seen pictures of concentration camp inmates with more meat on their bones. Or, at the very least, will you stop showing her nakedness!? Not attractive at all.)

Hunter plays an Oklahoma City detective. Through two episodes of this show, I still am not sure why they even bother making any to-do about her job. It just seems to be incidental--they don't spend enough time on the cases she is working on and they almost seem to get in the way. I guess they needed her to be a cop so her best friend, who happens to do all of the CSI stuff for the police, can test all of the angel evidence Grace comes up with.

Yes, people, I said angel. You see, Grace is a wreck. She is an alcoholic, she is a slut, she is an adulterer, she has no belief in God--and she doesn't seem to know how to clean up her house to save her life. When she hits and kills a man while driving drunk, she calls on God to help her, so an angel is sent to her as a last-ditch effort to help her straighten out her life. The angel is something else, too. He is a slovenly, long-haired, tobacco chewing, homeless-looking sort. Nothing stereotypical here. Michael Landon, he ain't.

I don't know what the show is trying to be. There isn't enough about the crime of the week happening to make it a crime/cop drama. It definitely isn't 'Highway To Heaven' or 'Touched By An Angel'. It wants to 'push the envelope' and see how far things can go before the censors scream 'STOP!' I thought 'The Shield' got away with things never before seen on non-HBO TV, but this show seems to put things in just because they can. And that, I think, is the problem: there is just too much in the show that seems to be in there for shock value. Not enough has been done in character development, and that is too bad. It seems to jump around too much--too much going on and not enough time spent on anything to hook you. I think the show could have been good without being sappy. Too bad they haven't come up with a solid direction for this show. And the shocking, unexpected shooting of Grace's boss at the end of Monday's show isn't really enough to make me want to spend any more of my time watching it. Sorry, but this one is being put on my 'do not watch' list.

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DAMAGES

I believe Fx has a hit with this show. Come on now, with Glenn Close and Ted Danson as two of the main characters, how can you NOT?

This show is a legal thriller. Glenn Close is the best litigator in the US and she represents the class action suit against Ted Danson, an allegedly corrupt, extremely wealthy, CEO. A young, newly hired lawyer--played by Rose Byrne--is the 'central character.' At least, the story seems to revolve around her.

The show jumps back and forth from the 'now' to the 'past.' In the 'now,' we know that the fiance of Byrne's character has been murdered and she is sitting in jail as a suspect. We also know that she DOESN'T call her boss, Close, to come and help her. It seems as if the show will continue in this same manner until the timelines merge. Obviously (?), the murder has something to do with the lawsuit--but it definitely ISN'T clear as to who is the bigger villain: Danson or Close.

Close is an absolute joy to watch. She can be the sweetest, almost motherly, person one minute and the most vicious bitch the next. The transformation from one to the other is so sudden that you are just as surprised as the character she is dealing with. She has to be thanking her lucky stars for being given this role-of-a-lifetime.

For anyone who only thinks of Ted Danson as 'Sam' from 'Cheers,' this role is a shocker. He is quite a smarmy character--and will probably do anything to make this whole lawsuit go away. (Just because he finally DID call off the hit on the witness, doesn't mean he ISN'T willing to do anything.) It was actually quite brilliant to have him call for the 'hit' as they did: in the backseat of his car after having sex with a hooker and after snorting cocaine. This after showing how much he cared for his family. REALLY upped the smarmy level for him.

I'm loving this show, but I feel it should only be a one-season show. I don't think they can sustain it for longer than that. The story should only go as far as solving the mystery of the murder and that's it--cause that will also be the settlement of the lawsuit and then at least ONE of the main characters will have to go away. They really can't keep this lawsuit going for more than the one season or it will become too boring--no matter how much goes on. It would just feel too dragged out. Once the lawsuit is over, there is no reason for Danson to stick around. I can't see the show without Danson--he is just too good. And to keep the show going just to watch Byrne become a hardened person like Close isn't going to make it. All in all, a great show and one I happily put on my 'do not miss' list.