TV reviews

So here we are at episode three of 3 Lbs. (aka the sub’s nightmare: is it 3lbs? 3 Lbs? 3lbs.? All these spellings and more are available from CBS). Time for some sort of verdict.

Unfortunately, it’s still too early for the Carusometer, since the show isn’t obviously bad or obviously brilliant. It’s also been rushed onto the screen to fill a Smith-shaped hole in CBS’s schedule, so we should probably make allowances while the production team catch their collective breath. Therefore, I’m going to stick with it for a couple of more episodes before passing final verdict.

All the same, although it started off reasonably well, it’s already developed a formula. While it’s not House‘s formula, to which the show bears more than a passing resemblance, it’s a formula all the same:

1. a couple of people come down with brain problems of some variety (this week: an aneurism and prosopagnosia, handily also the cover story of the current issue of New Scientist, for those who want to know more), the symptoms of which are then mocked up with CGI, dream sequences, etc
2. the brilliant surgeon, Stanley Tucci, who’s more like Alec Baldwin in Malice than Hugh Laurie in House, says he’s going to fix it and explains how
3. his touchy-feely co-surgeon, Mark Feuerstein, argues about how to deal with the family and the patient’s feelings
4. they operate and mop up the general emotional/physical mess afterwards.

Meanwhile, Indira Varma gets to be kooky with the b-story patient, and we all learn a little something about the brain at the same time. Marvellous.

Without the mystery that is the central element of each episode of House, we’re left merely to gawp at how great/caring these surgeons are and discover how weird the brain can make things when it goes wrong. The characters aren’t quite compelling enough to make up for this deficiency, so we’re left with a show that comes across more like a Discovery Science documentary on how particular conditions can be treated than a drama in which we can become involved.

Still maintaining a general thumbs up for it, but as House learnt early on, it needs some variety if it’s going to become a fixture in our viewing diaries.

I was wondering a while back if three episodes were enough to really know if a show is good or bad. I then expanded my reviewing policy to include fifth episodes if the third episode was on the cusp.

Smith was very much on the cusp by its third episode, after which it was cancelled. But CBS was nice enough to put the remaining episodes onto its InnerTube service. So it’s an interesting test of this new policy: cancel at episode three, or wait till episode five before making a final decision.

I’ve now managed to wade my way through the remaining four eps and I have to say, if they’d let it get as far as the fifth episode or possibly even the sixth, I think Smith would have started to have found its feet. While Ray Liotta’s and Virginia Madsen’s storylines were still a bit dull, Jonny Lee Miller and Simon Baker were starting to develop an entertaining double act. They were also managing to inject some excitement into the storylines. Had the show progressed, I’m pretty sure TPTB would have given them more to do and made Smith a lot more entertaining to watch.

So the moral of the story is, if it’s on the cusp, always wait until the fifth episode. At least. Particularly if you’re a big US network.

Since we’re only two weeks in, thanks to a double-bill last week, it’s probably a little early for the Carusometer, but I thought I’d let you know how Day Break was going.

The action’s slowed down a little since its high-octane opening, although only a little since there are fights, shoot-outs and screeching cars aplenty still to be found. The deadly seriousness of the first two episodes has disappeared slightly, too, and a few welcome traces of humour are sneaking in.

But there are signs the format is starting to wear a little, even though the days Taye Diggs lives are proving to be reasonably varied. There’s a little too much repetition for comfort and the low-down on the plot against Diggs is taking some time to emerge. Beyond a mail-order hourglass, we’re not seeing much by way of explanation as to what could possibly be causing Diggs to relieve each day, so a certain degree of frustration is creeping in. Without some interesting human relationships to draw us in, it’s proving hard to stay motivated in watching the show.

So despite still being well made and well put together, Day Break is slowly sinking down the Carusometer. I’ll let you know in a fortnight if it’s been worth sticking with.