The Journey(man) continues

OK, Journeyman is good, really good, and getting better with each episode. Unfortunately for the show, it's the kind of story that you have to watch from the beginning to be able follow it. Fortunately for anyone with a high-speed internet connection, NBC makes all the episodes available online. (Not a bad way to watch, by the way; there's way fewer commercials.)

What's so cool about Journeyman is the way details are added to the back story while adding plot points and complexity to the story going forward. It doesn't hurt that there are some great actors, delivering lines from clever scripts.

If you gave Journeyman a try with its maiden episode and decided it wasn't worth it, you should give it another try.

Pushing Daisies is pushing it

I caught the series premiere of Pushing Daisies last week, and I can't understand why it is the critics' darling. I give it points for being original and having a style: the colors seem preternaturally bright and vibrant, which gives it a fairy tale feel. The voice over (by Jim Dale, famous lately for being the narrator of the U.S. version of the Harry Potter audio books) adds to the feeling. But the show struck me as more dopey than funny and made me wonder if it will fulfill its promises.

The premise is great: a boy named Ned discovers he can bring dead creatures (including people) back to life with a touch. There are two catches, however. First, the deceased can live again for only one minute or else someone else must die in his place. Second, if Ned touches the person again, he will die, for good. He discovers these caveats when his mother dies in front him, in the midst of baking a pie. He touches her, and back to life she springs, but his best friend's father dies instead. (Living across the street, he was in the vicinity -- its a random proximity kind of thing.) Then, later, his mother kisses him goodnight, and she keels over.

Fast forward 15 or 20 years, and we find our hero has become the owner of a pie shop. He still has the dog he brought back to life (although he can only touch him with a back scratcher). A private detective discovers his gift, and they go into the business of reviving the victims of murders to ask them who killed them and collecting the reward. Their latest subject turns out to be none other than his long-lost best friend from across the street (Charlene Charles, know to Ned as "Chuck), who had to move away after her father died. Killed on a cruise arranged by a travel agent, the travel agent posts a reward to find Chuck's killer, so the pie maker and the detective try to find out what happened to her. Ned cannot bring himself to kill Chuck after reviving her, because she's beautiful and he realizes he's always loved her. Boom, the evil funeral home owner drops dead, and Chuck becomes a part of the team.

As unrequited love stories go, this one definitely has a twist: the lovers can't get together, not because they don't want to admit their feelings for each other, but because if he touches her, she will die.

The dialog on the show is kind of convoluted but has promise. The dead-pan delivery of the lines, particularly by Chuck, also have potential. I just was not grabbed by the show. I didn't really care what happened to any of the main characters, and rather than finding the no-touching love interest funny, I just found it painful.

I checked out the ABC web site for the show, and the upcoming shows sound interesting. They apparently get in the business not only of finding out who the killers are but also granting last wishes of the deceased. The contraption Ned installed in his car so he can "touch" Chuck made me chuckle. So, it's worth giving it another shot.

Reaper

A report on one of my latest forays into network Television.

Reaper
I caught the premiere of this show, whose premise I liked: slacker Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison) finds out his parents sold his soul to the devil, collection due the day he turns 21 (which is when the pilot takes place). The devil (Ray Wise) doesn't want to drag Sam to the underworld, at least not yet: there's a job to do. Sam is to collect the souls of escapees from Hell, by sucking them up in a mini-vac (Dirt Devil brand, naturally). Sam confides in his friends from the hardware store where he works, Jack-Black-alike Bert "Sock" Wysocki (Tyler Labine), unaware-of-her-brains-and-beauty Andi (Missy Peregrym), and a quiet fellow named Ben (Rick Gonzalez). His friends also include sassy Josie (Valarie Rae Miller), the only non-slacker among them (she works for the distract attorney).

While the premise shows promise, I was not overly impressed with the execution. The Sock character is tired, done much better by Jack Black in School of Rock. Sam's love interest is Andi, who is also his ex-girlfriend. They broke up when Andi's father died, and that is somehow keeping Sam from getting together with her again. She doesn't seem to mind that he now chases demons for Lucifer, so I'm not sure what's keeping them apart. The other characters didn't have enough to do to judge where they are going.

Conclusion: not sure it's worth persuing, but still on the TiVo.

Journeyman, dead or alive

Am I the kiss of ratings death? Is my championing a show mean it won't last? You know how it feels when you pay attention to a sports team, they start losing? That's what I'm talking about. Last winter I got really interested in Raines, the short-lived detective series starring Jeff Goldblum. While it didn't knock me flat, it was good. It was different, interesting, and starred a fantastic actor. Did it last? No. Half a season, that's it.

Now comes Journeyman. I was immediately interested because it stars Kevin McKidd, who was fantastic in HBO's Rome. I also liked the time-traveling premise. I awaited the previews eagerly but failed in downloading Amazon Unbox on my home computer. Then I saw that most of the critics were not complimentary. Sigh.

I actually got to watch Journeyman in real time for its premiere. Having heard about an episode over-packed with information and other bad things, I guess my expectations were lowered. Therefore, I really enjoyed it. (Low expectations + good product = perception of greatness.) I found the premise interesting. Yes, it was a little mystifying for the first half of the show, but that mimics the experience of Kevin McKidd's character, Dan Vassar. I was caught when Livia, the long-thought-dead love of his life, turns up traveling through time as well. Now that's interesting! No wonder there can be a love triangle that includes a dead woman.

One overview of the show called Monday night at 10 p.m., the show's current slot, a "death spot." I have to agree, it's far from ideal. I believe Gray's Anatomy started out in a 10-11 p.m. slot, so it could work. But then again, I'm interested in it. Maybe not.

Update, October 3

I see that there are some positive voices out there for Journeyman (like this one), yay! I couldn't stay up for it this week and have it TiVoed. Plan to watch it tonight.

Watching Raines - or not

What is wrong with the viewing public? A repeat of Shark on on CBS beat a new episode of Raines on NBC, starring the wonderful and quirky Jeff Goldblum?! I've been following the ratings at Entertainment Now for all of two weeks, so I don't know what the numbers mean. But they make it easy to see who wins.

I'm not knocking Shark, which stars the equally charismatic and gifted actor James Woods, because I haven't been watching it. I tried it, it didn't appeal (even though it is supposed to House with lawyers). But really, people won't give up a repeat to try something new?

Raines has a wonderful premise, that of a homicide detective who hallucinates that he's talking to the victims. It has the versatile actor Matt Craven as Raines' boss, a super-good female uni cop (played by Linda Park of Startrek: Enterprise), a goofy/dopey white male uni (actor-comedian Dov Davidoff of Third Watch), a smart and slightly snarky young female desk jockey (Nicole Sullivan from MadTV), Raines' shrink (Madeleine Stowe), and occasionally, his dead partner (Malik Yoba).

Most of all Raines has Jeff Goldblum, with his sly smile, big brown eyes, his soft and sometimes stuttering delivery. Although Raines is eccentric and sarcastic, Goldblum also brings a sweetness to the role. Raines can wield a gun and has no problem using it, but he's the farthest thing from tough-guy cops like Micheal Chiklis' Vic Mackey from the Shield, which is also set in LA.

To be fair, Raines is not going for the realism of gritty shows like The Shield, or HBO's fantastic The Wire. The show takes it cue from Raines himself, a would-be writer who moved to LA because of Raymond Chandler mystery novels. Although set in the present, the whole show has a noir feel that harkens back to the 40's. With Jeff Goldblum as mediator, it is an entertaining mix.

So if you haven't already, I recommend giving Raines a try. What have you got to lose, except a rerun?

Cross-posted to Blogcritics.