Pilot Reviews: Bionic Woman, Life
Michelle Ryan as the Bionic Woman and Damien Lewis in Life on NBC
Pilot Review: Bionic Woman
This NBC pilot has already been ordered to series and will air Wednesday’s at 9pm. But judging from the pilot, this won’t be on the air for long. The series is an updated version of the 80s show that starred Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Summers. Now Jaime is a young bartender (Michelle Ryan from East Enders) who gets in a horrible car accident and loses her legs, an arm, her eye and an ear. They are replaced by state-of the-art bionic parts and she now must decide how she is going to deal.
Done well, this show could have been interesting sci-fi. But NBC made a huge mistake in hiring Ryan, who is a mediocre actress at best, and doesn’t have the charisma, vulnerability, or even likability to play the Bionic Woman. She is our lead character and yet there is no reason whatsoever to care about her. Instead, she is overshadowed by Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galctica’s Starbuck) who was originally hired to play “a bad Bionic Woman who dies” in the pilot, but was so good, she was hired as a recurring. (Note to Ms. Sackhoff: You need a better agent. You shouldn’t be stuck in this crap). Also overshadowing our Bionic Bore is Mae Whitman as her younger sister (who is deaf – an interesting difference from the original pilot script, and tough role that Whitman nails) and even Miguel Ferrer (Crossing Jordan) as… well, I couldn’t figure out what he did, but he appeared up to no good.
Apart from a couple of scenes with Whitman, and most scenes with Sackhoff (especially a semi-interesting fight scene at the end) this show is hopelessly boring. Skip it.
(FYI: It’s up against Private Practice [ABC], Criminal Minds [CBS], Bones [FOX], and Gossip Girl [CW].)
Pilot Review: Life
Another NBC pilot, Life is an interesting idea that is DOA. The biggest misstep was in the casting of Damien Lewis (Band of Brothers) as a cop wrongfully accused of a crime (and sentenced to...life). When he is exonerated, he sues the police force, and yet returns to his former job as a detective. His colleagues aren't sure what to make of him, and doubt whether they can trust him. His experience has arguably made him a better detective, albeit unorthodox in his methods.
The biggest problem with this pilot is in the casting of Lewis, who makes strange choices that result in a character that is not only unlikeable, but downright annoying. He is twitchy and bothersome, where the character should be enigmatic and driven. One can't help but wish he'd never been let out in the first place. Sarah Shahi fares better as his partner who genuinely doesn't seem to care what people think of her. Shahi brings what Lewis should - a commanding, take-no-prisoners (wink) presence. The result is an oddly uneven show with an annoying lead. Skip it.
{Life follows Bionic Woman on Wednesday nights at 10pm. It airs opposite the new show Dirty Sexy Money [ABC,] and CSI: NY [CBS.]
