Remember Defying Gravity, Flash Forward, The Forgotten (Christian Slater), Dollhouse, Eastwick, Happy Life, Head Case, Kings, Mercy, Mental, Miami Medical, Raising the Bar, the Listener, the Philanthropist, Three Rivers, The Beautiful Life, and Trauma? All those dramas died just last year. Well maybe 2009-2010 was a particularly brutal year. How about 2008-2009's season of Crusoe, Cupid, Dirty Sexy Money, Easy Money, Eleventh Hour, Eli Stone, The Ex List, Fear Itself, Harper’s Island, Knight Rider, Life on Mars, My Own Worst Enemy, Privileged, Reaper, Starter Wife, Swingtown, the Unit, the Unusuals, and Valentine. And that’s just dramas!
So here's the big question this week: What makes a lasting drama show?
Is it a smart concept like The Event? Is it a good piece of writing like Lone Star? Is it exciting action like in Undercovers? Is it the cast like Blue Bloods? I’m convinced it’s none of these things. And while time slot and scheduling are pivotally important, I’m convinced this isn’t the most important thing either. The answer: It’s the characters. Not the cast, mind you. The characters.
The shows that last have charming and likeable characters that we want to invite into our home week after week, whether they are the fun-loving gleeks on Glee, or the engaging detectives on Fringe or Law and Order: SVU. So as we explore this season’s roster of pilots, ask yourself, do you want to spend time with these characters?
WEATHERS THE STORM
Slick and taut, this Kurtzman and Orci (Fringe, Transformers) show demonstrates some exciting, suspenseful scenes. While some of the cop conventions are familiar, the characters are charming, specifically Alex O’Loughlin’s McGarrett and Scott Caan’s Dano. The show wraps up its revenge story for McGarrett’s father in the pilot, leaving it little place to go other than a slick cop show, but that may just be enough. It dominates its time slot with a squad of cops you want to take you around the sexy world of Hawaii justice.
This surprise gem, Jim Belushi and Jerry O’Connell are charming and entertaining Vegas lawyers, who provide a different vibe through the myriad of legal dramas by battling in the seedy and colorful courtrooms of Vegas. And not only are they flashy, but they invariable show heart for their clients and clever tactics over their competition. Plus with some interesting personal lives, these are two lawyers you'd want to hire. They shouldn't have trouble defending their right to practice.
What else could you need besides Maggie Q? This TV Show picks up where the movie franchise left off, and while the tone and packaging reeks of a glossy and over-the-top CW production, it does what any good spy TV show must do. Gives us a spy we want to spend time with. The Division has been turned into spy school with some quirky secondary characters, but the real winner is the entertaining Maggie Q who sizzles every time she’s on screen. This show should kill in its niche market on CW.
MAY PULL THROUGH
Detroit 187
Somewhere between the moment Michael Imperioli's Detective Fitch has a staring contest with his latest perp, and the moment rookie Detective Washington answers his cell phone in the middle of an arrest, missing the bad guy dragging the playground slide away, you know this show is trying something new. It's clever. And while some of the cop conventions are familiar, the world is salty and fresh and the characters are engaging and quirky. Let's hope the show continues to deliver and bring audiences back for another beat in Detroit.
With some really smart writing and a charming fantastic performance by James Wolk, this show tries some new territory with a very morally ambiguous con artist in love with two women. But in one of the toughest time slots on TV, this show leans entirely on our young hustler’s charm and it may just be too smart for network and may have done better on cable. If you want a good show, check this out before the Star wanes.
While slightly implausible to follow an entire family through the various aspects of the judicial system, with two brother cops, one lawyer sister, and the chief of police father played by Tom Selleck, the family is entertaining. Walhberg and Moynahan give great performances, and the weekly case forces the family to explore their different views on how justice is won. If this family can engage enough viewers to move to a different time slot, it may survive the tough New York beat.
GOING TO BE BLOWN AWAY
What’s it about? We don’t know. Maybe we’ll keep watching to find out. Maybe. The Event delivers glossy execution, with the central storyline featuring a ragged hero who must go to great lengths to find his missing wife. And while it pulls on the heat strings, it doesn’t establish likeable characters, spending the rest of it’s time creating the mystery. Remember Lost wasn’t just a mystery show, it also had the survivor angle and some likeable characters we wanted to hang out with. I think this Event will be over soon.
Holy paint by the numbers. A reckless tough chick US marshal who plays by her rules. Quirky partners and the fresh ambitious newbie. The giant seal in their office screams desperate. It felt like our villain got more screen time then our hero. Yes, everything about this show follows the formula, but the various weekly chase doesn’t really engage the characters with much complexity. These heroes are too cold and phony, and without much more going for it, I doubt this one will make it to the finish line.
It’s Mr. And Mrs. Smith, only campy, cheesy, and a tad annoying. This husband and wife duo comes out of retirement to work together and get a chance to reinvigorate their stale marriage. Unfortunately, we never know why things got stale (not all marriages do) and the rediscovery of the romance falls flat. Their banter feels phony and unrealistic to the moments at hand. This cute JJ Abrams idea will most likely go under.
Sometimes we follow the prosecution and sometimes we follow the defense. Unfortunately this show never really makes anything of this novel delivery, which instead makes us more apathetic about the judicial outcome. The cases aren’t ground-breaking, but more importantly, the two lead lawyers, Rob Morrow and Maura Tierney, just don’t grab us. They have no real vulnerability and nothing makes us want to spend more time with them. And that’s the real truth.
This documentary style show tries where others have failed, to show the struggles of twenties-somethings in a group friends format. But this style separates us from the characters, because we never see them real enough. It constantly has to explain the presence of cameras and the characters are always aware. And surprise, surprise, stereotypes have grown up to defy their stereotypes! The love triangles are obvious, the storylines apparent, and none of these characters are engaging enough. This probably won’t last this generation of TV.
Ultimately my picks to survive to next year are Hawaii 5-0, Nikita, and Defenders, although I’m curious to see Law & Order: Los Angeles, Ordinary Family and some of the others en route. Detroit 187 may last if it finds the right time slot. A gritty cable channel like A&E or AMC would be wise to pick up Lone Star if it falls off the network roster.
ero. He 
Sometimes it’s just the right thing to do. These heroes rush into the fire at risk of their only personal jeopardy. They never leave a man behind. They fight for a higher cause. This is Spiderman or Superman. This is Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) in Spy Games or Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) in Training Day. Even Dirty Harry falls into this category, ultimately driven by the right thing to do. They got involved to make the world right with unflappable ideals. That’s why if the fight isn’t personal, they’ll make it personal, because an affront to anyone is an affront to them. Instead, these heroes make personal sacrifice. Their loved ones suffer, often finding pain or emotional danger. This makes it hard because sacrifice for the greater good doesn’t fit in their moral wheelhouse. What do they do when their cause competes with personal needs and the safety of loved ones? And even if they overcome that, in the end, they must ask if the ends justify the means? Just because they can see morality, does that give them the right to impart justice?
There’s something going on here. And these heroes have to get to the bottom of it. It’s the classic thriller. Plenty of action heroes enter this area by picking up a gun and busting some heads on their investigations. Whether these heroes are law enforcement officials, or simply an average joe, they start the story as cogs in the wheel, unaware of what’s really going on. But as they get pulled in, they learn about a mystery or a conspiracy. It’s Jerry Shaw (Shia Lebouf) in Eagle Eye, Jason Bourne, or Ethan Hunt (Mission Impossible). These detectives learn not to trust anyone. At every turn, allies become enemies, and enemies turn out to be red herrings. With all this uncertainty, it’s hard to even trust oneself and one’s instincts. Internal struggles are common, like the redemptive story is Frank Horrigan (Eastwood) in the flick In the Line of Fire, or Gittes (Nicholson) in Chinatown. In the end, they must have faith in their premonitions, but uncovering the secrets are usually enough to eliminate the villain’s power.
The best of the best. These assassins, mercenaries, and experts know their trade and they have rules to keep themselves safe. They are calm, objective, thinking men who can outthink their rivals and threats. This is Leon the Professional, Daniel Craig’s James Bond, or George Clooney in the newly released The American. In Spy Games, Robert Redford as Nathan Muir knows that sacrifices have to be made to stay safe, and he never sticks his neck out for someone if it goes against his rules. They leave men behind. But ultimately these heroes get pulled into a job or situation that tests their morality. Their emotions get the best of them. How far will they bend their rules to finish what they started. This was the fantastic change to James Bond’s character in Casino Royale: before he was a playboy with no emotions, he was tested by his emotional involvement. These professionals are extremely dangerous, and when they finally enter the fray, they are near impossible to defeat, as long as they can keep a level head over their flaring feelings.