BIONIC WOMAN, 9 pm-- Evil secret government agency creates bionic soldier. When she goes terribly wrong, they try to put her down. She comes back meaner and madder than ever and rams a truck into one of the doctors and his unsuspecting fiancee. Doctor sews her up with anthrocytes (microscopic intelligent chips that cause rejuvenation, agility and super strength). Patient wakes up a new woman. New Bionic Woman must face old Bionic Woman (not Lindsay Wagner).
While it is a much darker remake, and the special effects are infinitely better, the pilot felt rushed and unemotional. Thus far, gotta say, not loving the NBC premieres...
What I did love, though, was the homage to the special effect noise the 70s show used to employ to symbolize her bionic powers. It was subtle, and felt more like background music, but it was there; a modernized version of it.
Also, Michelle Ryan as Jamie Sommers was vulnerable and likeable because she is so "Plain Jane" and full figured. My only hang up with her is that she's not as toughened or hardened as I like my female supervixens. But I'll give her some time.
Final verdict: NBC thinks we're stupid. There's no other excuse as to why they're feeding us pilots stripped of intelligence and development, and instead are giving us episodes chock full of flash-bang-boom.
Meanwhile, on ABC...
(Take notes, NBC)
PRIVATE PRACTICE, 9pm--Dr. Addison Montgomery moves to LA and works in a private practice with a quack, a shrink, a surfer, an internet-sex addict and a recent divorcee. Sounds drama-full? It is. Love it or leave it, the show follows Shonda Rhymes GREY'S ANATOMY formula: quirky, zany characters encountering rare, unique case studies that lead to some personal growth via humor and the occasional life threatening condition. To differentiate between shows, brighter colors were utilized both on set and in wardrobe, and Addison has adopted a goofy attitude. Kate Walsh does a good job with the script, and the rest of the cast stands their ground, too. It's always fun to see Tim Daly in a show that hasn't been cancelled (EYES, anyone). However, I was very sad to see Merrin Dungey be replaced. Who says the Francinator couldn't play that role? While this wasn't the pilot (the pilot aired during a regular GREY'S episode), it was still an engaging show. Think of it as GREY'S all grown up and living in the LA sunshine, instead of all that dreadful Seattle drizzle: It's a little bit shallow, a little bit smarmy, a little more realistic, but just as fun.
Final verdict: I'll likely get my weekly dose. GREY'S is still better, but this is a worthy spin-off.
DIRTY SEXY MONEY, 10pm-- If the cast of GOSSIP GIRL matured some 20 years, they'd be the Darlings: the uber-rich, old money, spoiled brats of ABC's latest drama, DIRTY SEXY MONEY. Peter Krause stars as Nick George, the lawyer with a soul (always an oxymoron, in my humble opinion) who inherits daddy's job as the Darling family lawyer. Along with a staggering paycheck, Nick George inherits all the drama that goes along with the numerous Darling spawn. There's a crooked priest, a married government official involved with a transvestite (played by the divine Candis Cayne), a druggie, and a Paris Hilton-ite.
The zany, offbeat music tells the audience that the show should be funny, and some moments were, but the first half of the show felt dirty, for lack of a better word, with its sickening display of wealth and smarmy-ness. It isn't until the near end, when we discover Nick George's father had been having an affair with the Darling matriarch, and that it could have had something to do with his death, that the audience finally has a reason to believe that do-gooder George has a real motive for working with the family he hated as a child.
For all the hype and the subway ads, MONEY did deliver. Leave it to ABC to present a well-written, well-acted, believable pilot.
Final verdict: If it doesn't get cancelled, it will become America's guilty pleasure. You can take that to the bank.
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