Clearing through the television pilot clutter to find two good new shows.
The law of television pilots: Most are awful. Of the 50 or so that are made, only about 15 will get picked up and of those, maybe one will become a hit show. Most picked up pilots are so unwatchable that one wonders how they were ever made in the first place. (NBC’s Caveman being a case in point.) But every so often a pilot is so good that one can actually looks forward to the next episode. ABC’s Women’s Murder Club, and the CW’s Gossip Girl are two such pilots. Perhaps the key secret ingredient is to be based on a series of books?
Women’s Murder Club
Angie Harmon plays Lindsey Boxer, a San Francisco detective and de-facto lead of the women’s murder club, both the show and the namesake group within. Based on the James Patterson novels, the drama is about a group of powerful women who use their respective influence to solve murders.
If you have the connections, why not use them? Along with Harmon’s detective, there is an assistant DA, a medical examiner, and a reporter – all jobs that require their presence at murder scenes. Post murder these women meet pool their resources and get to the truth. Think of it as the ol’ girls club.
Never has Angie Harmon owned a role like this one. Tough, sexy and in control, she is a woman other women want to be like and men want to me with. (Especially Matt Davis’s mayoral aide.) As yet, the other women’s roles aren’t as fleshed out, but hopefully there will plenty more episodes for that.
A shame this show is stuck on Friday night. It deserves better. Watch it.
Gossip Girl
This CW teen drama is based on the young adult novels by Cecily von Ziegesar and produced by Josh Schwartz (The OC). Blake Lively (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) plays Serena van der Woodson, the former Queen Bee of a New York City-based high school clique, returned home after a mysterious time away. She returns to find her best friend Blair (the radiant Leighton Meester) has taken over her status and wants nothing more to do with Serena. Could this be because Serena had a one night stand with Blair’s boyfriend (Chace Crawford), or is there something more sinister afoot? Will Serena handle her banishment by cozying up to Dan (Penn Badgley, looking sexier than he did in John Tucker Must Die) and making friends with his sister Jenny (Taylor Momsen)? It’s all chronicled in a blog written by the mysterious Gossip Girl.
This is pure teen melodrama, but guiltily addicting. The CW may have a hit with this one.
