Tuesday, June 9, 2009

The Listener - Mental - Medium

It's summer. There's not much to watch on TV as regards dramas. So, I'm trying to like The Listener.

Granted, I've only seen two episodes, but here's my problem. It's hard to think "drama" when the show's main character, Toby Logan played by Craig Olejnik, bears a striking resemblence to Dana Carvey, one of my favorite funnymen. Just to be sure, I ran this notion past my wife, and she too had observed the similarities.

Still, aside from that, I'm liking the show so far. I like what's going on between Toby and his ex-girlfriend Dr. Olivia Fawcett, and Detective Charlene Marks portrayed by ex-model Lisa Marcos. And there's something likeable about his partner/buddy/regular guy Oz Bey.

Admittedly, the EMT thing doesn't thrill me, but, for now, during these stark days of summer TV viewing, I'll put up with it.

While we're talking about shows meant to rival The Mentalist, we should talk about the FOX offering Mental. This show might be of interest to students of Psych 101, but probably not to the rest of us who have learned long ago that psychotic people are not very much fun. Personally, I've had my fill of them.

Then there's Medium starring Patricia Arquette. A favorite of my wife and me, it was dumped by NBC and immediately picked up by CBS for the fall season. Thank God. I thought this last season had some of the best episodes of the entire 5 year run. Reportedly, NBC thought the show was "aging, as we were getting younger." Yeah, sure, as can be verified by the torturous Law and Order trilogy. There's a good reason why NBC is last in the ratings - it's being run by a bunch of idiots. And here I am holding 700 shares of parent company GE. Talk about idiots.

2 comments:

Ace Toscano said...

For some reason, I continued to watch Mental. I pray that it gets pulled off the air. It sucks. I find that I don't care about its plots or its characters. After a few moments of this show, I become overwhelmed by a feeling of not giving a shit.

Ace Toscano said...

A couple more episodes of The Listener and I've about had it. The show's set in a big city - I'm not sure, I think it's Toronto - yet, coincidentally, it's always his EMT unit that's at the scene, always Detective Marks on the case, and always Dr. Fawcett and always her hospital. Just a little too coincidental. And even if this isn't taking place in Canada, just the notion that it is sours my stomach. I got into DaVinci's Inquest a few years back only to find the series died an unnatural death with everything up in the air. Thanks a lot, aye.