(September
20th, 2007. - Editor)
Michael Vartan (Alias), Dylan McDermott (The Practice), Christopher
Titus (Titus), Joshua Malina (The West Wing), Nia Long (Premonition),
Paige Turco (Party Of Five), Peyton List (Day Break), Wendy Moniz (Nash
Bridges), Jessica Collins (The Nine) and Amy Sloan (The Heartbreak Kid) star in the one hour
serialized drama Big Shots airing Thursdays on ABC.
Four friends at the top of their
game take refuge in their
friendship, discussing business, confiding secrets, seeking advice and
supporting each other through life’s surprising twists and turns.
Until the women
in their lives enter the room. Lines between business and friendship blur
when these competitive but dysfunctional CEOs get together at their
country club for a round of golf, or a strategy session. James Walker (Vartan)
just became the president of Amerimart Industries following the
unexpected death of his former boss, who it turns out, was having an
affair with Walker's wife, Stacey (Monist).
Duncan Collinsworth (McDermott) is the head of Reveal Cosmetics. He is a
man who runs a company that
claims to understand women, but there are some serious flaws in his
on-going sexual relationship with his ex-wife Lizbeth (Turco),
who is now seeing another man, and his non-existent relationship with his
daughter, Cameron (List), who recently dropped out of college. Brody Johns
(Titus) heads Alpha Crisis Management, where he advises his clients how to
get themselves out of tight situations and how to improve their image. But he spends the majority of his
day in a never-ending attempt to please his spoiled, demanding and so
far unseen wife, Ginelle. Karl Mixworthy (Malina) makes a lot of tough decisions
as the head of Fidelity Pharmaceuticals, but he can't find a way to
rekindle his marriage to his wife Wendy (Sloan) and leave his mistress,
Marla (Collins). Together
these achievers in the world of business, work to overcome their
romantic shortcomings and relationship hurdles, on their way to success
in the bedroom and the boardroom.
If you have been watching TV long enough, you see ideas for shows come
around again and again as networks struggle to recreate that magic combination of
characters and situations that has been a success in the past. This one
hour offering is essentially the same format we have seen many times
before in shows from thirtysomething to Knott's Landing. But because the
characters, actors and situations have all been updated, this effort has
a fresh chance at success. The strength of the scripts and the acting
will have to remain high if they want to keep the audience that should
be attracted to this well made, but complex, pilot episode. The viewer has
a lot to absorb with this large cast of characters and larger series of
sub stories created by Executive
Producer and Writer
Jon Harmon Feldman (American Dreams). The real test, as always, is to see if the second and third
episodes gain or lose audience in those critical
follow up weeks. I like the first episode of this drama. I like the
characters and the performances by all of the members of this large
cast. I think the audience will like it
too, at least for a while. But in order to remain successful, this show
will have to walk a very fine line. If their characters spend too much
time on the conservative side of the line, their lives
are too dull for TV and if they cross over to the wilder side, they can quickly become too outrageous to be
believed. Capturing the correct level of human drama
is the key to success, and I have to wonder if this good looking, but
poorly structured, effort has the legs to make it in the very competitive
TV landscape.
I'm hoping this show makes it. But I have my doubts. There is
real chemistry between the male cast members, but the writers have
strapped them into a premise that could spell disaster. The idea that in
the 21st century, men are the new women. If they are allowed to overcome
this premise, the show has a chance. If it becomes the focus of the
show, this one will be among the first casualties of the fall season.
-- Editor --
