DRAMA
On paper this new series has the potential to be a Law & Order-like staple for FOX. Each episode focuses on the deliberations of a different New York City jury, with flashbacks to the trial testimony. After the verdict is rendered, we finally see the crime and learn whether the jury decided correctly. I can already imagine the spinoffs—The Jury: Court of Special Cases; The Jury: Sequestered and Stir-Crazy. But before thinking too far ahead, let's consider a few unfavorable signs in the first two episodes (airing back-to-back June 8 before the show settles into the 9 p.m. slot June 15).
It looks like a rule in this jurisdiction that all lawyers must be young and pretty. "He's good, that D.A.—he's cute too," a female juror says of prosecutor Keenan O'Brien (Jeff Hephner). Model-actress Shalom Harlow is cast as Melissa Green-field, one of the regular defense attorneys. Not to denigrate her legal skills, but she might consider a change of venue to The O.C. Gritty Gotham should have more room for physical imperfection, like the gray hair of Judge Horatio Hawthorne (played by executive producer Barry Levinson).
Some of the jury-room dialogue rings awfully false. A middle-aged woman notes a defendant's marijuana use and calls it a "gateway drug" that could lead to "worse addictions." A younger man cracks, "The St. Louis arch is the gateway to the West—do you pass through it on your way to California?" Now there's an out-of-the-way reference. And speaking of attempted humor, bailiff Steve Dixon (Adam Busch) is equally tiresome whether he's drooling over intern Maugerite Cisneros (Cote de Pablo) or just jabbering.
When the jurors aren't trading zingers, the show addresses some serious questions: Should a 15-year-old be tried as an adult for a crime he allegedly committed at 13? Can a jury's deliberations truly be free from media influence? The format keeps the drama moderately interesting, but it could be so much more.
Sci Fi Channel (Mon.-Thurs., June 7-10, 9 p.m. ET)
THRILLER
Sci Fi Channel calls this four-part miniseries "D.O.A. meets 24." I hate it when they use a formula as a selling point, but Five Days delivers on the promise of suspense.
Physics professor J.T. Neumeyer (Timothy Hutton) visits his wife's grave and finds a metal briefcase containing the police file on an unsolved murder: his own. In five days, the upstanding widower is due to take a bullet in a sleazy strip joint. Once he's convinced that this discovery is no hoax, J.T. starts working feverishly to change his destiny, despite the insistence of a weirdo grad student (Hamish Linklater) that any tampering with the future will throw the whole universe out of whack.
Hutton's J.T. is increasingly desperate but never out of control. Gage Golightly is winning as his bright, resourceful daughter, and Kari Matchett is effectively ambiguous as the girlfriend with a past. Though Randy Quaid plays a homicide detective as if he were still stuck in The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire, you'll want to stay with this clever puzzle till somebody works it out.
DOCUMENTARY
Bette Midler
A&E (Wed., June 9, 8 p.m. ET)
Liza Minnelli
A&E (Fri., June 11, 8 p.m. ET)
Biography is big on divas this week. Midler and Minnelli each get the two-hour treatment, and praise is heaped upon them.
Lyricist Fred Ebb calls Liza "the greatest female performer I've ever seen." Producer Craig Zadan (Chicago) acclaims Bette "the greatest live performer of our generation." Could they battle for the title on pay-per-view? Sometimes the homage-payers get stuck on one note. Portia de Rossi, Mia Farrow and Liz Smith all term Liza--you guessed it--a survivor.
What makes these profiles worthwhile are fresh interviews with the subjects and clips that attest to their singular talents. Both Liza and Bette come across as frank and funny. After we see a highly emotional scene from The Rose, Midler jokes that scenery is her "favorite food." It's possible, of course, that the divas would grow testy if Biography put more emphasis on their personal problems and career setbacks. But in these life stories the bad stuff is just a springboard for the next comeback.
ABC Family (Sun., June 6, 8 p.m. ET)
COMEDY
Here's a thoroughly innocuous TV movie, unless you're shocked at the idea of a couple having premarital sex that one of them rates as an "8.0 on the Richter scale." But really, how many dozens of times have you seen this story?
After a year and a half together, Michael (Joseph Lawrence, whose Run of the House won't be back in the fall) and Kelly (Maggie Lawson from It's All Relative, also a goner) decide to tie the knot—with the firm understanding that their wedding will be small and informal. But her mother (Marilu Henner) insists on a big church to-do, and his mom draws up a mile-long guest list. Michael and Kelly's friends spout nonsense about "the rules of engagement," and these rules appear onscreen in case we want to jot them down. It's getting so darn complicated—will the lovebirds call the whole thing off?
Lawrence and Lawson are a pleasant twosome, but the banality of this is simply too much.
For Love or Money (NBC, June 7, 9 p.m. ET) Sixteen women compete for one man, but they don't know how much dough they're playing for. That's just one of the new wrinkles in the two-hour season debut.
Return to Titanic (National Geographic Channel, June 7, 9 p.m. ET) A live transmission from the ship's deep-sea resting place highlights this special.
Blow Out (Bravo, June 8, 9 p.m. ET) You've seen The Restaurant. Now think The Salon. Celebrity hairstylist Jonathan Antin opens a new Beverly Hills salon in this reality series premiere.
Reno 911! (Comedy Central, June 9, 10:30 p.m. ET) Lt. Dangle is promoted to a big job in Carson City, but first he has some scores to settle in the funny Cops spoof's season opener.
MTV Movie Awards (MTV, June 10, 9 p.m. ET) Lindsay Lohan hosts; Eminem performs. And don't forget the coveted award for best movie kiss.
Sure, Fantasia has claimed her Idol crown and The Bachelor has handed out his last rose, but don't worry. There's plenty more reality TV coming. Besides returning faves (The Amazing Race, For Love or Money) a number of new shows are on the way.
NEXT ACTION STAR, NBC (June 14). Would-be action heroes compete to star in an NBC movie. One male and one female winner get chosen.
THE CASINO, FOX (June 14). Survivor/Apprentice creator Mark Burnett follows casino owners Tim Poster and Tom Breitling as they try to bring Rat Pack flair back to Las Vegas's Golden Nugget hotel and casino.
OUTBACK JACK, TBS (June 22). Twelve women are parachuted into the Australian wilderness to bemoan ruined manicures and fight over the affections of Aussie hunk Vadim Dale.
THE TWO TIMER, ABC (June 23). A self-styled Hollywood ladies' man named Chris attempts to juggle a slew of girlfriends at the same time.
- Contributors:
- Terry Kelleher,
- Amy Bonawitz.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
