Plenty of BULL

Article first published as BULL Review on Seat42F.

CBS has a new hour-long procedural called BULL. The titular character runs a company that takes studying jury composition and manipulation to a whole new level. They analyze who is serving the court, create and test their own scenarios in the lab, and then apply them to real-world (well, fictional-real-world) cases that are being tried right now.

Michael Weatherly (NCIS) stars as Dr. Jason Bull, the head of the organization, who cannot stop evaluating people, making for kind of a lonely existence. He may be emotionally detached, but his office is very busy, with team members including Benny Colon (Freddy Rodriguez, Six Feet Under), Marissa Morgan (Geneva Carr, Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Danny James (Jaime Lee Kirchner, Mercy), Cable McCrory (Annabelle Attanasio, The Knick), and Chunk Palmer (Christopher Jackson, Oz), most of whom are familiar, forgettable types.

The concept itself sounds novel, right? We’ve got plenty of police and legal procedurals, but how many of them pay any attention to the jury, even for a single hour? In this, BULL is taking an entirely new approach to a tried-and-true formula.

But it’s going a little too tried-and-true. It’s very clear from the onset that this series will be case-of-the-week. Several good actors are brought in for the pilot, but while or two have recurring potential, for the most part, everything is over by the end of the hour. It’s a repetitive tact that has gotten very boring on dozens of other shows before this point, so I am more than a little disappointed that BULL follows that exact same, far-too-familiar pattern.

Not only that, it doesn’t even really stick to its concept. The soul of this is working with the juries and the lawyers, and that’s completely understandable. But the pilot leaves time not to just to tie up the court case, but to reveal the truth behind the case and follow it through to its end. There’s really no realistic way for Bull to be involved in that, similar to shows like Castle where a non-cop hero is somehow integrated onto the force, and because it’s a tag at the end of the installment, it feels super forced and hokey. If you’re looking for a grounded, realistic take on the judicial system, this program is not that.

All of it feels very scripted. From the techniques and technology Bull’s company uses, to the twist in their client’s story, to the attitudes of most of the characters, there is nothing fresh present. It’s a mishmash of what other series have done, poorly strewn together as if by someone who is familiar with this type of show, but who hasn’t made anything like it in the past.

Which may make sense when you learn that BULL was created by Phil McGraw. Yep, the Dr. Phil of daytime television fame. True, he had help from House executive producer Paul Attanasio. But BULL is based on Phil’s early career (presumably with a lot of liberties taken) and is from the brain of the former psychologist. Whether you approve of him or not, Phil has obviously had great success with one television program, but that does not translate into this new project, which is a totally different beast.

What strikes me is that, in spite of all the flaws, Weatherly is still good. He has embodied an interesting, complex character (only talking about the character, no judgment one way or the other on the real Phil), and it isn’t just a mimicry of the celebrity the show is based on. Unfortunately, that is not nearly enough to save the series, especially when his leading role is forced to exceed the bounds he should be constrained by. This series is absolutely one to skip.

BULL airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on CBS beginning this week.

No "Recovery" for THE NIGHT SHIFT

Article first published as THE NIGHT SHIFT Review Season 2 Episode 1 Recovery on Seat42F.

Last summer, NBC aired a drama series called THE NIGHT SHIFT. This week, The Night Shift begins its second year in the regular television season, an upgrade few summer shows get. Has the show, which I labeled “pretty much a waste of time for all but the most bored summer viewers” in my pilot review on this very web site, improved enough to justify such a promotion? In a word, no.

For those who are fans, though, and I know that everyone has their own preferences, so there have to be some people out there that like THE NIGHT SHIFT, a sizeable enough number to convince NBC that moving it was a good idea, I will strive to give you a tantalizing preview into this new season.

When last we left the cast, much turmoil was rolling through the hospital. TC (Eoin Macken) was having trouble concentrating on his job, having flashbacks to past trauma. Jordan (Jill Flint) disobeys orders, putting in jeopardy her position of power. And the relationship between Jordan and Scott (Scott Wolf) is falling apart.

As the season premiere, “Recovery,” begins, much of that has played out further. Jordan is no longer the head of the staff. Jordan and Scott are no longer together. And TC is suspended, not allowed to do his job. These are all natural progressions from the season finale, and should come as no surprise to anyone.

The love triangle between Jordan, Scott, and TC, is a key component of The Night Shift, and “Recovery” has fun with this. Just because TC is suspended doesn’t mean he isn’t around, and while Scott remains a recurring player, not a member of the main cast, both find their way into the hospital with Jordan in the premiere hour. Their dynamic is fundamentally shifted by the close of the episode.

More surprising, to me anyway, is that one of the main characters quits their job. I do not think this signals an end to this person’s tenure on THE NIGHT SHIFT, as an intriguing new opportunity presents itself, and the show will surely follow them down that road, too. But in a charged scene that I enjoy very much, perhaps mostly because it involves guest star Tim Russ (Star Trek: Voyager), this person is fed up and does not go quietly into the night.

There are also two major medical emergencies to keep the story moving. One is in the hospital itself and is due to equipment malfunction. The other is in a more exotic locale, providing the action-packed cold opening. Because there is little emotional investment in these incidents, since they are not happening to major characters, they’re more set dressing than plot. But the latter is definitely something that will hook in fans wondering if they should return.

There’s also a very sweet moment in which a doctor makes a very large personal sacrifice for the sake of a patient. It’s the kind of decision no doctor could possibly routinely make and keep their sanity and even a middle class lifestyle. However, the believability is not as key here as making one of the players look like a hero, which happens all the time in primetime scripted dramas.

And, just to lighten the mood, a prank war breaks out in the hospital, which is as fun as it is hokey.

Only one main player from season, Dr. Landry de la Cruz (Daniella Alonso), is not back, and no new players have been added to the core group. The show continues to star, besides those listed above, Freddy Rodriguez, Ken Leung, Robert Bailey Jr., Brendan Fehr, Jeanne Goossen, and JR Lemon.

The inherent flaw with THE NIGHT SHIFT is that it’s covering well-trod ground such giants as ER and Grey’s Anatomy have already done better, with little original to justify its contribution. That trend continues in “Recovery.” Had I never seen another primetime medical drama, I might be vaguely interested in the tension between co-workers and the unusual medical cases. But with so many better options readily available, it seems pointless to set a season pass for a series that barely rates that low level of interest.

THE NIGHT SHIFT airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.

Feel Free to Sleep Through THE NIGHT SHIFT

Article originally published as THE NIGHT SHIFT Review on Seat42F.

NBC’s new medical drama, THE NIGHT SHIFT, will feel awfully familiar to regular TV viewers, and not just because one of its stars has already been a main character in a medical show. It’s just like ER and Grey’s Anatomy, albeit not nearly as well written and with much weaker characters. When a series is popular, studios will strive to copy it to capture that popularity. But this series proves just how hard it is for lightning to strike multiple times in the same vein, making it pretty much a waste of time for all but the most bored summer viewers, a descriptor which should apply to no one, given the plethora of excellent options on cable and streaming.

THE NIGHT SHIFT has a large ensemble of varying characters that are familiar types. TC (Eoin Macken, Merlin) is a brilliant surgeon struggling with inner demons that make him a man hard to get along with. His ex-girlfriend, Jordan (Jill Flint, Royal Pains), is now his boss, and is the only one with the slightest chance of controlling him. There’s a money-obsessed administrator, Ragosa (Freddy Rodriguez, Six Feet Under), and a couple of fresh, new interns, Paul (Robert Bailey Jr., The Happening) and Krista (Jeananne Goossen, Alcatraz). In short, there’s no one original in this group.

The intern angle is one that is not going away any time soon in such shows. After all, they are a part of the staff, just as surgeons and nurses are, and so will be seen over and over. But can we not have a scene of them being pranked and another scene of one of them green enough to be shocked by a common malady? These are overused tropes, and we already inherently understand this is part of the job without having to be shown it so blatantly.

The administrative side is one not brought up in every hospital-based series, but it’s common enough that it isn’t new. I guess the writers have an opinion they’d like to express about how medical care is more important that paying bills, with the money guy demonized. But what discerning viewers should know is that the world is more complicated than that, and a sympathetic accountant who tries to find a balance would make a much more welcome, interesting part than a cold villain. Sadly, THE NIGHT SHIFT chooses to cast the latter.

Of course THE NIGHT SHIFT has a TC. It has to have a flawed leading man; that’s practically a required rule for all new shows at this point. But does his ex-lover, who clearly still cares about him, have to interact with him constantly, too? Does THE NIGHT SHIFT have to check off every single conceit of the genre, leaving no stereotype alone? The pilot is downright painful for these reasons.

One of the other main characters, not mentioned above, is secretly gay, something that comes out late in the pilot. THE NIGHT SHIFT makes a big deal of this, like it could hurt the guy’s standing if he admitted to being homosexual, even if those closest to him don’t care. Admittedly, this character, like many in the show, are military, and he’s in a particular part of the armed forces that hasn’t really integrated much at all yet. But still, this is 2014, where acceptable is becoming the norm and the issue seems tired, so while there is still discrimination that should be fought in the real world, it seems ridiculous to be played up this way on a TV show, something we’ve already seen before many times over. At last take a new angle on it, taking into account society as it currently is, not as it was a few years ago.

There are quite a few elements in THE NIGHT SHIFT that are tired. Jordan wants everyone to switch over the tablet computer records, which is played up like an innovative fresh concept. Grey’s Anatomy already did that over a year ago. A patient in the first episode has an unborn twin living inside of her, a case so rare, she’s going to get a free surgery to remove it. Except, that’s already happened on other medical shows, too, so how rare can it be? Either the gluttony of such dramas has reached a point where there is nothing new to say, unlikely, given how Grey’s and Nurse Jackie continue to impress week after week, or THE NIGHT SHIFT is just too lazy to find untouched ground, making its existence completely unnecessary.

There’s also a sense of forced urgency. Jordan tries to protect TC by saying he’s not replaceable. Really? They can’t find any other good doctors in the entire world that can do what TC does, yet he’s in a little place, barely acknowledged for his skills except by his co-workers? And when arguing about keeping the hospital running, it is claimed there’s not another center in ten counties to help out the population. Yet, the show is set in San Antonio, which has lots of different hospitals. It’s a major city, for goodness sakes! This just doesn’t make sense.

I do like the cast, which also includes Ken Leung (Lost), Daniella Alonso (Revolution), JR Lemon (Shadow Love), and Brendan Fehr (Bones, Roswell), but anyone can put together a decent ensemble at this point. What’s more impressive is using them well, which THE NIGHT SHIFT fails to do. Were this summer 2006 and the warm months were filled with reruns and reality shtick, this series might work. In the modern age, there are just too many better choices around.

THE NIGHT SHIFT premieres Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.

Chaos gives a fun pilot that doesn't feel like CBS

     The first thing that struck me about CBS's Chaos is that it does not feel like a CBS show. I say that as a compliment. CBS is known for its crime procedurals, which tend to follow the same formula most weeks. While the network has some truly excellent series that break the mold (for example, The Good Wife and The Big Bang Theory), Chaos is not what I expect from them. It feels more like a FOX offering, or perhaps NBC. As such, I applaud CBS for delivering a fun, highly enjoyable pilot.

     In the beginning, Rick Martinez (Freddy Rodriguez, Six Feet Under, Ugly Betty) arrives to work at the CIA, only to find that his job no longer exists due to budget cuts, a timely twist that I'm sure many viewers can relate to. Because his dream employer has always been the Agency, Rick begs Director Higgins (Kurtwood Smith, That '70s Show, Worst Week) for any position, listing his various skills, many self-taught. Higgins relents, placing him within a rogue-ish department known as ODS as a mole, assigned to report back to Higgins on any rules the other men break. Hesitantly, Rick agrees to accept the odd job.

     The colorful group of men that make up ODS, led by Michael (Eric Close), operate outside of direct oversight, having high connections that allow them to break the rules. They are onto Rick from the moment he walks in the door, and have him blackmailed inside of an hour. Most of the rest of the episode involves a real mission, where Rick struggles to earn their trust, and ends up siding with them against Higgins before the end of the pilot. Because the ODS guys are likable, while Higgins is almost villain-like, Rick must be with them in the scheme of things to make a valid central character. However, in the eyes of legality, Higgins is a hero trying to clean up a department of misfits.

     There is action and a little suspense, but the strongest element of this spy series is the humor. Rick swallows a live scorpion at one point. A team member, Casey (Tim Blake Nelson, O Brother, Where Art Thou?) is known as the Human Weapon. Another, Billy (James Murray, Primeval), speaks with a thick Scottish brogue after leaving his native country under suspicious circumstances. A CIA man with no office wanders the halls and tries to befriend others in hopes of landing a more stable assignment. I welcome very much these gags because we already have more serious series in the genre, and its nice to see a network show that holds fun in high regard.

     While every single main character shines and has distinctive characteristics right after the bat, I find Fay (Carmen Ejogo, Kidnapped, Away We Go) the most interesting. That's because her attraction to Rick seems genuine, but she works for Higgins, and was once married to Michael. As such, her loyalties are surely pulled in several different directions, and it's hard to know if she can be trusted or not. I hope the series goes on for quite a while before we find out Fay's true motivations.

     If you'd like to check out Chaos, it airs Friday nights at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

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Ugly Betty ditches the metal mouth and heads to London

   Ugly Betty has almost concluded it's four year run on ABC, but an important milestone was reached last week.  Betty (America Ferrera) got her braces taken off!  Kathy Najimy (Sister Act) was the orthodontist who got to do the honors, after a falling out with Betty's previous one, played creepily by Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family).  Of course, this being Betty, it was done in style, while the title character had her mouth stuck to a million dollar bra.

     I was slightly disappointed because most of this episode was fantasy, with Najimy playing a fairy godmother-type who showed Betty how her life would have been different if she had never worn the braces.  However, it was done to great effect.  Poor Justin (Mark Indelicato) was never born, Marc (Michael Urie) was the receptionist, Betty was evil, and Daniel (Eric Mabius) and Amanda (Becki Newton) were married, though they were cheating on each other.  This last bit was a little sad, as that is one couple I would kind of like to see end up together.

     That aside, the episode still managed to pack quite a bit of plot in around the dream sequences.  With the series finale looming, the plot involving Daniel and his family, as well Amanda's interaction with them, advanced quite a bit.  Betty's family also got some fun time, being there for Betty after the metal was out of her mouth.  It's a charming, quirky show, and there is nothing else like it on television, which is why it will be sorely missed when it's gone.

     In tomorrow night's episode, Betty will travel to London, England, where she will be reunited with best friend Christina (Ashley Jensen, Extras) and have a run-in with former flame Gio (Freddy Rodriguez, Six Feet Under).  As long as Betty gets one last encounter with Henry (Christopher Gorham), she will have a nice ending.  And it would be wise to bring back Daniel's brother/sister Alexis (Rebecca Romijn).

     Ugly Betty airs Wednesday nights on ABC at 9pm, but only for three more weeks.