New Series Review: Smith (CBS)
09/19/06 06:18 AM
Premiering:Tuesday night, Sept. 19 at 9 central, 10 eastern.
Starring:Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen, Simon Baker, Amy Smart, Jonny Lee Miller, Franky G, Chris Bauer, Shohreh Aghdashloo.
Produced by: John Wells, Christopher Chulack, Brooke Kennedy
By ED BARK
Hooked by crooks? CBS hopes you'll be positively arrested when the less than dynamically titled Smith gets rolling.
Problem is, it never really does. Likeability isn't what it used to be on prime-time TV. Still, you still have to feel emotionally invested. And it's hard to muster much empathy, sympathy or anything else for this drama's gang of cold-blooded heisters. OK, contempt maybe.
Feature film tough guy Ray Liotta stars in his first TV series as career crook Bobby Stevens, whose day job is selling paper cups for a boss who's tired of watching him stare into space. Liotta clearly has had a little work done. Watching him smile or laugh is testament to that. Something's holding him back a bit, and it's not his overall stoic disposition.
Stevens and his wife, Hope (Virginia Madsen), parents of two grade-schoolers, live comfortably but uncomfortably in a picturesque suburb. She's got a problematic past, both have a problematic present. Hope seems to know that hubby's not really going on boring business trips, even though he does an Ozzie Nelson by telling her, "I'll be home in time for dinner tomorrow night."
In the meantime, Stevens and his gang of five are pulling off a really big robbery at a Pittsburgh art museum. The first episode begins with a taste of it before rewinding to "60 Minutes Earlier" (cheap plug of a CBS show) and then for good measure, "Three Weeks Earlier."
This allows us to meet all the gang members and see them for what they are. Jeff (Simon Baker) whistles while he murders two thuggish surfers who kick him off their beach. Annie (Amy Smart) is a "master of disguise," including Vegas chorus girl for starters. Tom (Jonny Lee Miller) is fresh out of jail after being convicted of a previous caper. It makes one makes one wonder how he released so fast. Were they robbing a lemonade stand or something while working up to the big time? Oh yeah, Joe (Franky G) is in charge of transportation.
Heist happens, eventually. CBS is dragging out Tuesday's premiere with "limited commercial interruptions" from Warner Bros. Pictures, sole sponsor of a show produced by Warner Bros. Television. Haven't they heard that synergy is so yesterday?
Other problems. Day turns to night in magically split-second fashion on Smith. And a museum guard trying to stop the theft is Swiss-cheesed to death, which makes it tough to have a rooting interest in any of these guys. Liotta's character responds by staring fixedly, perhaps communicating some sort of inner angst or turmoil. Or maybe he's really wondering how he plunged from Goodfellas to this.
Smith also has a pat scene between Stevens and his boss, "Charlie" (Shohrehh Aghdashloo), who's no angel.
"So what happened in Pittsburgh?" she asks.
"Stuff," Stevens elaborates.
"You ready for another job?"
"Three or four more, Charlie, and I'm out. I mean it, That's it."
He's probably got that half-right. Three or four more episodes might be all it takes for CBS to pull the plug.
Prospects: Decidedly dim opposite NBC's Law & Order: SVU and ABC's Boston Legal
Grade: C-minus