The murder of 'Club'
Chicago Sun-Times, Oct 11, 2007 by Doug Elfman
'WOMEN'S MURDER CLUB' Rating 1/2 out of 4
- - -
I was watching "Women's Murder Club" when I realized I didn't need my brain to pay attention to it. People just talked and talked about nothing. So I removed my head off of my body and stared in a deep coma. Ahh. TV, bad. Coma, good.
I tried to stay interested. I promise. But "Women's Murder Club" looks cheap and filmed too quickly. And I've seen more interesting storylines on "Matlock." Seriously. "Matlock."
Angie Harmon stars as a police detective, blah blah blah. Her ex- husband Tom, whom she still loves, becomes her boss, how awkward, blah blah blah. Her female friends work as a D.A. and a forensics body inspector, and one vomits at the site of blood, yada.
Together, these women solve crimes and talk to each other about the men they're sleeping with, or used to sleep with, or still pine for, or are cheating on.
"Women's Murder Club" will air on Fridays, which everyone in the business knows is the kiss of death. Fridays make money for nightclubs; they make mincemeat of TV.
"Women's Murder Club," based on characters in books by James Patterson, meets Friday as a corpse. DOA. Deep six. The big sleep. The great hereafter. Ann Coulter's heart. Soulless. Dead to the world.
A while ago, ABC gave critics a planned first episode that was not bad. The club of women leaned on each other nicely and didn't backstab each other. The actresses got up in front of critics this summer and talked about how great it was to be in a women- supporting-women show.
But reportedly, ABC scrapped that episode because execs thought its mysteries were too complex for stupid American TV viewers to keep up. I kept up. I thought it was fine. Not great, but good enough that I recommended it to my feminist mom, who loves "House."
But now, the new debut episode climaxes with a confusingly written yet completely unoriginal plot twist at the end. And the women characters are less confident than before, frazzled and more judgmental.
Here's a loving conversation from the earlier, scrapped premiere: "You know Tom getting remarried doesn't make what you had mean less, right? You'll meet someone."
Compare that to the new premiere, where woman C carps at woman B: "Given your usual terrible taste in men, I actually don't hate Luke."
So there you have it. Producers dreamed up a show about somewhat ideal women (smart, grounded, supportive), but second-guessed themselves and clubbed it into a sleep-inducing non-thriller about uneasy characters.
"Women's Murder Club": Welcome to Friday nights.
ON AIR:
FLIPPING THROUGH OTHER CHANNELS
COMING UP
"Lisa Williams: Life Among the Dead" (8 p.m. Friday, Lifetime): The Englishwoman with second sight goes to Hollywood to tell strangers what their dead brothers and moms are up to on the other side. It's the start of a second season. At 9, the new "America's Psychic Challenge" makes soothsayers compete. And at 10, the drama "Blood Ties" begins a second season of spiritual detective work.
"Wizards of Waverly Place" (8:30 p.m. Friday, Disney): It's a new comedy series where young wizards use their power to do things like appear in two places at once, so they can attend a function while also going shopping.
"Men in Trees" (9 p.m. Friday, WLS-Channel 7): The second season starts for romantic co-stars/real-life lovebirds Anne Heche and James Tupper.
'WOMEN'S MURDER CLUB' Rating 1/2 out of 4
- - -
I was watching "Women's Murder Club" when I realized I didn't need my brain to pay attention to it. People just talked and talked about nothing. So I removed my head off of my body and stared in a deep coma. Ahh. TV, bad. Coma, good.
I tried to stay interested. I promise. But "Women's Murder Club" looks cheap and filmed too quickly. And I've seen more interesting storylines on "Matlock." Seriously. "Matlock."
Angie Harmon stars as a police detective, blah blah blah. Her ex- husband Tom, whom she still loves, becomes her boss, how awkward, blah blah blah. Her female friends work as a D.A. and a forensics body inspector, and one vomits at the site of blood, yada.
Together, these women solve crimes and talk to each other about the men they're sleeping with, or used to sleep with, or still pine for, or are cheating on.
"Women's Murder Club" will air on Fridays, which everyone in the business knows is the kiss of death. Fridays make money for nightclubs; they make mincemeat of TV.
"Women's Murder Club," based on characters in books by James Patterson, meets Friday as a corpse. DOA. Deep six. The big sleep. The great hereafter. Ann Coulter's heart. Soulless. Dead to the world.
A while ago, ABC gave critics a planned first episode that was not bad. The club of women leaned on each other nicely and didn't backstab each other. The actresses got up in front of critics this summer and talked about how great it was to be in a women- supporting-women show.
But reportedly, ABC scrapped that episode because execs thought its mysteries were too complex for stupid American TV viewers to keep up. I kept up. I thought it was fine. Not great, but good enough that I recommended it to my feminist mom, who loves "House."
But now, the new debut episode climaxes with a confusingly written yet completely unoriginal plot twist at the end. And the women characters are less confident than before, frazzled and more judgmental.
Here's a loving conversation from the earlier, scrapped premiere: "You know Tom getting remarried doesn't make what you had mean less, right? You'll meet someone."
Compare that to the new premiere, where woman C carps at woman B: "Given your usual terrible taste in men, I actually don't hate Luke."
So there you have it. Producers dreamed up a show about somewhat ideal women (smart, grounded, supportive), but second-guessed themselves and clubbed it into a sleep-inducing non-thriller about uneasy characters.
"Women's Murder Club": Welcome to Friday nights.
ON AIR:
FLIPPING THROUGH OTHER CHANNELS
COMING UP
"Lisa Williams: Life Among the Dead" (8 p.m. Friday, Lifetime): The Englishwoman with second sight goes to Hollywood to tell strangers what their dead brothers and moms are up to on the other side. It's the start of a second season. At 9, the new "America's Psychic Challenge" makes soothsayers compete. And at 10, the drama "Blood Ties" begins a second season of spiritual detective work.
"Wizards of Waverly Place" (8:30 p.m. Friday, Disney): It's a new comedy series where young wizards use their power to do things like appear in two places at once, so they can attend a function while also going shopping.
"Men in Trees" (9 p.m. Friday, WLS-Channel 7): The second season starts for romantic co-stars/real-life lovebirds Anne Heche and James Tupper.
Comments