ABC has a supposedly new show about lawyers premiering tonight. And I have finally seen the FX animated series that premiered last week, and…
That Animated Spy Show
Safety Rating: Blech! Disgusting!
Friendly Rating: Blech! Disgusting!
Quality Rating: Blech! Disgusting!
The less said about Archer, FX’s new show about a spy tied to his mommy’s apron strings, the better. The show, which airs at 10 p.m., is about little more than being crass for the sake of being crass. Plot? Okay, I didn’t get that far before the urge to scrub myself clean of this ridiculous dreck overcame me and in the name of my sanity, I turned it off. Even if they eased off from what I saw (including torture, negative stereotyping, inebriation and naked bodies), it would still be grossly inappropriate and it was still just… dumb.
The Deep End
Safety Rating: Ethical dilemmas abound and some moderately graphic sexual behavior between consenting adults.
Friendly Rating: Can’t see most kids wanting to watch this.
Quality Rating: Mostly boring.
Okay, I get that lawyers are not considered the most amiable of the human species. But even the supposedly sympathetic characters in this drama about first year lawyers, airing at 8 p.m. on ABC, are pretty unlikeable.
You’ve got a boy scout, a horn dog, a cute girl with no spine and a hard-charging daddy’s girl determined to show she’s better than everyone else. And they’re all working for the Prince of Darkness, one of the partners whose idea of ethics depends entirely on who’s paying the bills.
There’s lots of sex talk, some sexual behavior and a couple bedroom and seduction scenes just in the pilot. Heaven only knows what’s coming, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they get the violence in, too.
The sad thing is that the result is actually rather dull. Yes, there is all this internecine political jockying between the three principal partners. There are life-changing cases to be decided. There are young people realizing that in the real world you actually have to work (what a shock). But the result is tepid, at best, probably because the characters just aren’t very appealing or interesting. In fact, they’re all kind of self-involved even as they’re trying to prove to us they’re really concerned about others. Feh. Even the bad guy lawyer is drawn so broadly you can’t imagine anyone taking this jerk seriously.
One would hope that this would get better, but why bother when there are better shows about lawyers? Naturally, I can’t think of one right now, but I know they exist.
Anne Louise Bannon
Your Family Viewer
I thought the show was hilarious. It never claimed to be sweet and innocent. Why else would it be on FX at 10 PM?