Memphis Beat premieres tonight

     I am quite fond of Jason Lee.  I loved him in all of the Kevin Smith movies and I was happy for him when he got the title role in My Name Is Earl, though I'm still a bit bitter the show didn't get a proper finale after four seasons.  I celebrate his successes and feel bad when he doesn't do so well.  After watching the first episode of his new show for TNT, Memphis Beat, I am not sure whether to be happy or sad for him.  It's good that he's headlining another cast, and cop shows do pretty well on television.  As far as cop shows go, it's decent.  But it's mostly just a serial crime show, or so it appears from the first episode, and his talent goes beyond such drivel.  Sure, there's a Memphis charm, good music, and he gets to sing in the pilot, "That's Alright, Mama".  It was enough for my to set my TiVo to record the second episode next week, but far short of earning a season pass.

     Other things Memphis Beat have going for it include a couple of the supporting cast.  Alfre Woodard (Desperate Housewives, The Family That Preys, True Blood) is his new boss, Lt. Tanya Rice, who is bringing a motherly quality to the M.P.D., although a brief scene with her calling her daughter proves that she isn't as good a child rearer as she pretends to be.  I love Abraham Benrubi (ER, Men in Trees), but although his name was in the opening credits, he had scant seconds of screen time in the pilot.  The other actors in the show were not memorable, at least in the first episode.

     TNT already has a few crime-based dramas, and they do pretty well on the network.  Memphis Beat will certainly add to that portfolio.  I just wish it had dared to go a little further, like Justified.  Shows in this genre are better if they are about the characters, more than the crimes.  This series has a hint of character drama, mostly in the annoying, uninspired scenes between Dwight (Lee) and his mother, Paula Ann (Celia Weston).  On a side note, will television shows please quite tossing in the mother, as if that makes up for their serial nature?  Although it sometimes work, it's a tired premise, and often doesn't.  It certainly does not here.

     Memphis Blue premieres tonight at 10pm on TNT.

Merci Mercy

    When NBC announced a new medical drama about nurses called Mercy, eyes, including mine, rolled.  Don't we have enough medical shows?  Not only that, but no less than two others were also premiering this fall.  However, Mercy has somehow set itself above and pack, and proved that there can still be fresh, fun medical shows.  I credit the amazing cast, all of which are wonderful, but I'm going to focus on the Top 5, hard as it was to choose 5.  Mercy airs Wednesdays at 8pm, and just returned to the air this past week.

     Virtual unknown Taylor Schilling stars as Veronica.  She is delightful, pretty, and sympathetically human.  The blond is really trying to make things work with her childhood sweetheart, Mike (Diego Klattenhoff), despite his cheating ways while she was in Iraq.  However, she also cheated on him during her second tour.  She is doing a highly entertaining job balancing all the personal crap with her job.

     Fresh off of the canceled Men in Trees, James Tupper plays the aforementioned lover, Dr. Chris Sands, who followed her home and is now a doctor at the hospital where Veronica works.  (Side note, Diego Klattenhoff was also recurring on Men in Trees near the end).  He gets to talk a lot more on this show, and it doesn't hurt.  Unlike many dramas, it does not seem inevitable that he will end up with Veronica.

     I'd never heard of James LeGros (Ally McBeal), but his performance as Dr. Harris has been the most interesting so far.  He started as a total jerk, and then, after his wife's murder, he became a grief-stricken total jerk obsessed with not letting anyone else die.  He manages to convey a character who doesn't fall into stereotypical growth, but gets to explore strong emotion in a very satisfying way.

     Child star Michelle Trachtenberg (Gossip Girl, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is also a nurse at the hospital, young, green, and gullible.  Her character, Chloe, is not just the comic relief, however, as her attempts at love have been well performed as well.  She adds an element to the show that is completely necessary to the series's success.

     Kate Mulgrew, perhaps best remembered as Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager, is quickly establishing a new character to remember, Veronica's mother.  She plays the alcoholic matriarch of a "white trash" Irish Jersey family.  She has taken to the role with relish, and always steals the scene when she appears on screen.  Hopefully an upgrade to series regular will soon be forthcoming.

Prep & Landing lands gracefully

    Disney launched a new Christmas special this week on ABC called Prep & Landing.  I don't want to overplay it, but I think it will become an oft-rerun show.  It stars Dave Foley's (News Radio) voice as Wayne, an elf who has been on Santa's prep and landing crew, the advance team to prepare homes for the big guy, for well over two hundred years and is ready for a promotion.  He assumes he will naturally get one, but when he is passed over in favor of his partner, whom he trained, he loses his Christmas spirit.  Assigned a new partner, Lanny (Derek Richardson, Men in Trees), Wayne slacks off and disaster strikes.  Though it was only twenty-two minutes, Wayne still found time to save the day and remember what his job is all about, of course.

     The animation was reminiscent of Toy Story, and the humor is as well.  It brings to mind when Disney made good cartoons, as have been lacking lately, unless the Pixar name is attached as well.  Perhaps the company had something to prove before their new movie, The Princess and the Frog, comes out this Christmas.  If so, it was a good move.

      This special was totally appropriate for the entire family, and even us older people will find plenty to smile about.  The characters are fun, the pacing is perfect, and the story has heart.  Rounding out the cast are Magee, the control center elf, voiced by Sarah Chalke (Scrubs), and the little boy in the house, Timmy (Mason Vale Cotton of Desperate Housewives).  All in all, I do recommend it, and give it about an A-.  Check it out!