Déjà view
-
- May
- 14
Well, this just bites it, doesn’t it? CBS has decided to put a stake through the hearts of scores of “Moonlight” fans by axing the romantic vampire detective series from its fall offerings. This after the show was beginning to garner that all-important four-letter quality — buzz — turning up regularly in magazines like TV Guide and People.
I have no doubt that Alex O’Loughlin, Sophia Myles and company will live to act another day. But still, what a disappointment. And for what? For shows about phony psychics and uncompromising investigative scientists and klutzy family guys and equally clumsy guys in love and destination weddings from hell and, oh, why even bother. We’ve seen it all before.
Honestly, I would gladly sacrifice “How I Met Your Mother” and “Rules of Engagement” (mid-season replacement) for “Moonlight.” Both suffer from “Friends”-itis. You know, the whole is supposed to be greater than the sum of its parts. Only on “Mother” and “Rules,” the whole is as uninspired as the parts.
That said, I’m happy to see Rufus Sewell (the uncompromising investigative scientist) and Simon Baker (the phony psychic) in the Eye Network’s lineup on “The Eleventh Hour” and “The Mentalist” respectively.
Sewell is a character actor trapped in the body of a Byronic leading man, which is probably why he blows hot and cold and never became a big star. Still, if you ever saw the miniseries “Middlemarch,” you know just how compelling he can be.
Baker has been a favorite ever since he galvanized CBS’ underappreciated “The Guardian.” There he was near-perfect as an incredibly self-centered lawyer and convicted cokehead — the product of a disastrous marriage — who was forced to develop some compassion while doing community service as a children’s advocate. The show was often heart-breaking TV, but it never got the traction it deserved.
Now Baker’s starring as a sham psychic-turned-detective, a role he’ll ace since he’s great at playing amoral men. But really it sounds suspiciously like “Psych” meets “Monk,” while “The Eleventh Hour” sounds like “House” meets “Bones” meets any of the “CSI”s.
Paging Yogi Berra.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 5:40 pm by Georgette Gouveia.
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Thank you for the article. Moonlight was gaining steam and BAM, CBS axes it. What is wrong with this network? They say they want more female viewers. HUH? Alex O’Loughlin and the romance between Mick and Beth brought in TONS of female viewers from all over the world.
Someone needs their brain examined over there. Seriously.