New Series Reviews: Bionic Woman, Cane, Private Practice, Reaper

THE BIONIC WOMAN (Science Fiction Drama-NBC)
STARS: Michelle Ryan, Miguel Ferrer, Molly Price, Will Yun Lee, Chris Bowers, Lucy Hale, Mark Sheppard
PREMISE: Based on the 1976-78 television series of the same name, producers David Eick and Ronald Moore (who successfully updated "Battlestar Galactica") have taken the same basic story--a woman who gets into a car crash and is outfitted with new technology, including legs and arms--and brings it into the more foreboding 21st century. This time, instead of Lindsay Wagner, the heroine is the attractive and capable British actress Michelle Ryan. In the new version, Jaime Sommers is a bartender with a dark side--and enemies at every turn. Bowers plays her boyfriend-scientist who helps build the new Jaime (hopefully, not with spare parts from China).
WHAT MIKE THINKS: This "Woman" has grown up, and all for the good. It's properly dark and gloomy, with better special effects and a deeper plot. Ryan is simply great as Jaime Sommers; she helps navigate viewers through a somewhat confusing pilot episode. The new "Bionic Woman" is not unlike the late, lamented "Dark Angel"--the Fox series of several years ago that had a shining star in Jessica Alba. "Bionic Woman" has a built-in nostalgia factor that will bring viewers in. Judging by the power-packed pilot, many will stick around.
PREDICTION FOR SUCCESS: "Bionic Woman" has to do battle with some tough competition--CBS' "Criminal Minds;" ABC's new "Grey's Anatomy" spin-off "Private Practice" (reviewed below); Fox's Americanized version of Gordon Ramsay's "Kitchen Nightmares" and The CW's new "Gossip Girl." NBC has a potential hit here.

CANE (Continuing Drama-CBS)
STARS: Jimmy Smits, Hector Elizondo, Nestor Carbonell, Rita Moreno, Polly Walker, Paola Turbey, Eddie Matos, Michael Trevino, Lina Esco, Alona Tal, Samuel Carmen
PREMISE: Smits plays Alex Vega, who is in the Cuban-based Duque family by marriage--and his competence in helping to run the family's rum empire leads the patriarch of the clan (Elizondo) to succeed him, at the expense of his own son Frank (Carbonell). As with any other good nighttime soap--oops, I mean "continuing saga"--there are romantic complications, deep dark secrets and clear-cut enemies and alliances.
WHAT MIKE THINKS: CBS has been the more conservative network of recent years, and it is trying to break out of that mold this season. But "Cane" is right in the groove of "Dallas," "Falcon Crest" and "Knots Landing"--prime time soaps that have done well for the Eye Network. "Cane" is in the mold of those past CBS hits, and hits its stride from the first few moments. A lot of the credit goes to Jimmy Smits, a very familiar television presence; his acting helps ground the show. But his supporting cast is top notch as well, and it's nice to see such veteran Latino talents as Elizondo, Carbonell and Moreno alongside him. "Cane" may not break new ground, but it's execution is beyond reproach.
PREDICTION FOR SUCCESS: Up against NBC's "Law & Order: SUV" and ABC's "Boston Legal," "Cane could find its own niche for survival--or it could die a fast death. Jimmy Smits' presence, however, could buy this well-done drama some time.

PRIVATE PRACTICE (Medical Drama-ABC)
STARS: Kate Walsh, Tim Daly, Audra McDonald, Paul Adelstein, KaDee Strickland, Chris Powell, Taye Diggs, Amy Brenneman
PREMISE: A spin-off of ABC's mega hit "Grey's Anatomy," "Practice" follows former "Grey's" regular Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery (Walsh) from Seattle, Washington to a "wellness clinic" in Santa Monica, California." Strickland runs the clinic; Diggs is her ex-husband who still works at the center; Daly is the supposed love interest (they shared a kiss in the May 2007 two-hour "Grey's" episode that was the setup for "Practice"); Adelstein is the randy, womanizing pediatrician; Brenneman is the clinic's psychologist that has love life problems of her own.
WHAT MIKE THINKS: "Grey's Anatomy" succeeded because of its charm and ability to restrain its potential excesses. But creator Shonda Rhimes has created a mirror image of "Greys" in "Private Practice"--and it's hands down the worst new series I've seen so far. There's so much whining, bickering and obsession with sex in the pilot, you want to put all these characters in one room, slap them silly and tell them to get a life. There's no focus on the "wellness center," and nobody seems to get any work done--well, except for Addison, who must deal with a pregnant teen and her angry dad. My test to tell if a show is good is when I don't look at the clock on my hard drive video recorder. With "Practice," I kept watching--and waiting for the pain to end. It's television medical malpractice in the first degree!
PREDICTION FOR SUCCESS: See "Bionic Woman" above. "Private Practice" got some decent sampling, but its pilot episode had slightly fewer viewers than "Bionic Woman." Considering how bad the first episode turned out, ABC and the producers had better make some fast changes or this "Practice" will close shop sooner than it thinks.

REAPER (Science Fiction/Comedy-The CW)
STARS: Bret Harrison, Tyler Labine, Missy Peregrm, Rick Gonzalez, Valarie Rae Miller, Donavon Stinson, Andrew Airlie, Ray Wise
PREMISE: Sam (Harrison) is your typical 21-year-old college dropout who lives with his parents and works at the neighborhood "big box" home improvement store. Unfortunately, his dad tells him the truth--he and Mom sold their first-born to the Devil (Wise) so that Dad could recover from a terminal illness. Now, poor Sam must work as a bounty hunter, sending bad people back to Hell.
WHAT I THINK: A mixture of some old and new ingredients, coupled with a lively and funny pilot and appealing characters in both Harrison and Wise as Satan himself, "Reaper" is a fresh spin on the sci fi genre, and so far, keeps any excesses in check. Labine provides great support as Sam's slacker sidekick; Peregrm is the co-worker whom Sam has a crush on. It's smack dab in The CW's target teen/young adult audience, and its should find a few souls--I mean, viewers.
PREDICTION FOR SUCCESS: "Reaper" should hold its own on CW, a network which needs the right audience, not a large one. But "Reaper" could face something worse than Hates after January--the return of the withering force known as "American Idol."

Until next time, happy viewing!