Post by Forever Xena on Dec 5, 2005 2:52:11 GMT -6
'Commander' changes just dressing up its flaws
By David Hiltbrand
Inquirer Staff Writer
Can this administration be saved? We're talking about the presidency of that Connecticut Yankee played by Geena Davis in ABC's Commander in Chief.
The show started with massive approval ratings. Thanks to the 16 million viewers who tuned in for the debut, Commander in Chief was the only new series this season to crack the Nielsen Top 10. But the polls, um, ratings, have been trending down.
On Tuesday night, the massively promoted addition of Mark-Paul Gosselaar to the cast swelled the audience back up to 13.6 million. But CiC still finished third in its 9 p.m. time slot behind NBC's Biggest Loser finale and Fox's House.
So what's the rub? It's obvious people were drawn to the concept of a female chief executive. They wanted to like the show. But the weekly serving of hokum and sanctity is proving tough to swallow.
After a gripping pilot in which Mackenzie Allen (Davis) inherited the Oval Office, CiC devolved into a dull and predictable mix of international and very domestic affairs. "How do you expect me to root out that terrorist camp in Lebanon when my teenager just got caught cribbing his history paper off the Internet?"
The show's creator, Rod Lurie, clearly envisioned CiC as an exploration of a woman trying to balance her career and her home life on the world's largest stage. But making her such an involved mom also makes her a rather implausible leader.
How does she find time at the end of the day to check on the kids' homework and boost her daughter's self-esteem? Shouldn't she be sitting next to the sultan of Bhutan in the East Room, listening to Yo-Yo Ma saw away on the cello?
The other sticking point is that President Allen and her staff all seem so faultlessly noble and principled. That simply doesn't jibe with the Washington we know, where if you're not under indictment, you're clearly not trying very hard.
Maybe the saintly quality of her character explains why Davis seems to be having trouble getting a handle on the role. She delivers her lines so stiffly, it sounds as if she just underwent a dental procedure requiring novocaine.
Meanwhile, the show was failing on two fronts. Neither the political nor the personal stories were very interesting. After a handful of bland episodes, ABC deposed Lurie and replaced him with veteran TV producer Steve Bochco (Hill Street Blues). This was the week in which Bochco's influence was supposed to emerge.
The most salient change was bringing in Gosselaar as political consultant Dickie McDonald. (Think James Carville without the swampy Nosferatu vibe.) When your audience is 61 percent female, as CiC's is, it makes sense to augment the stud quotient.
Let's hope they give Gosselaar more to do in subsequent weeks. His primary focus on Tuesday was ordering up a beauty makeover for press secretary Kelly Ludlow (Ever Carradine, in what may be prime time's most laughably miscast role).
Other changes include moving the stories involving the first children onto a remote back burner and inviting the president's battle-ax mother (Polly Bergen) to live at the White House.
A number of flaws have yet to be addressed. The president is still too good to be true. On Tuesday, she threw over a fiercely held political policy because someone gave her a sappy, handwritten greeting card. Imagine how quickly she'd cave if Cindy Sheehan camped on her lawn.
And the whole show needs to be opened up to reflect the complexity of Washington and the constant demands on the president. As it is now, the entire federal government consists of Donald Sutherland. One man, a thousand votes.
The network's stated reason for dismissing Lurie was that he was tardy in delivering finished episodes. That problem apparently hasn't been fixed, judging by Tuesday's Thanksgiving-themed show. You missed the holiday by about a week, fellas.
Well, you won't have CiC to kick around anymore. Not for a while anyway. The next fresh episode isn't scheduled until Jan. 10.
Maybe ABC is pursuing the Rose Garden strategy.
By David Hiltbrand
Inquirer Staff Writer
Can this administration be saved? We're talking about the presidency of that Connecticut Yankee played by Geena Davis in ABC's Commander in Chief.
The show started with massive approval ratings. Thanks to the 16 million viewers who tuned in for the debut, Commander in Chief was the only new series this season to crack the Nielsen Top 10. But the polls, um, ratings, have been trending down.
On Tuesday night, the massively promoted addition of Mark-Paul Gosselaar to the cast swelled the audience back up to 13.6 million. But CiC still finished third in its 9 p.m. time slot behind NBC's Biggest Loser finale and Fox's House.
So what's the rub? It's obvious people were drawn to the concept of a female chief executive. They wanted to like the show. But the weekly serving of hokum and sanctity is proving tough to swallow.
After a gripping pilot in which Mackenzie Allen (Davis) inherited the Oval Office, CiC devolved into a dull and predictable mix of international and very domestic affairs. "How do you expect me to root out that terrorist camp in Lebanon when my teenager just got caught cribbing his history paper off the Internet?"
The show's creator, Rod Lurie, clearly envisioned CiC as an exploration of a woman trying to balance her career and her home life on the world's largest stage. But making her such an involved mom also makes her a rather implausible leader.
How does she find time at the end of the day to check on the kids' homework and boost her daughter's self-esteem? Shouldn't she be sitting next to the sultan of Bhutan in the East Room, listening to Yo-Yo Ma saw away on the cello?
The other sticking point is that President Allen and her staff all seem so faultlessly noble and principled. That simply doesn't jibe with the Washington we know, where if you're not under indictment, you're clearly not trying very hard.
Maybe the saintly quality of her character explains why Davis seems to be having trouble getting a handle on the role. She delivers her lines so stiffly, it sounds as if she just underwent a dental procedure requiring novocaine.
Meanwhile, the show was failing on two fronts. Neither the political nor the personal stories were very interesting. After a handful of bland episodes, ABC deposed Lurie and replaced him with veteran TV producer Steve Bochco (Hill Street Blues). This was the week in which Bochco's influence was supposed to emerge.
The most salient change was bringing in Gosselaar as political consultant Dickie McDonald. (Think James Carville without the swampy Nosferatu vibe.) When your audience is 61 percent female, as CiC's is, it makes sense to augment the stud quotient.
Let's hope they give Gosselaar more to do in subsequent weeks. His primary focus on Tuesday was ordering up a beauty makeover for press secretary Kelly Ludlow (Ever Carradine, in what may be prime time's most laughably miscast role).
Other changes include moving the stories involving the first children onto a remote back burner and inviting the president's battle-ax mother (Polly Bergen) to live at the White House.
A number of flaws have yet to be addressed. The president is still too good to be true. On Tuesday, she threw over a fiercely held political policy because someone gave her a sappy, handwritten greeting card. Imagine how quickly she'd cave if Cindy Sheehan camped on her lawn.
And the whole show needs to be opened up to reflect the complexity of Washington and the constant demands on the president. As it is now, the entire federal government consists of Donald Sutherland. One man, a thousand votes.
The network's stated reason for dismissing Lurie was that he was tardy in delivering finished episodes. That problem apparently hasn't been fixed, judging by Tuesday's Thanksgiving-themed show. You missed the holiday by about a week, fellas.
Well, you won't have CiC to kick around anymore. Not for a while anyway. The next fresh episode isn't scheduled until Jan. 10.
Maybe ABC is pursuing the Rose Garden strategy.