TVSquad

(S01E01) "Are we supposed to love this job or hate it?" - Dylan Hewitt

I like this show! Let's face it. Grey's Anatomy is dying, and The Deep End is Grey's Anatomy (the early years, that is), only with lawyers. It's got plenty of snappy dialogue, romantic sparks, inter-office power struggles, handsome people in nice clothes, office sex, Black-Eyed Peas tunes and cupcakes! What's not to love?

Breathtaking vistas? Wild animals? Vibrant culture? Life Is Wild, the new fish-out-of-water drama on the CW promises all these things, and yet, doesn't quite deliver. It's more of a "Life Is Mild" -- a generic family drama set in a lush South African locale -- that strips all the color out of the scenery by weighing down its story with bland characters played by nondescript actors stuck in unoriginal situations.

For real excitement and back-stabbing familial drama in the South African wild, check out the spectacular Meerkat Manor on Animal Planet. My family may be late to the game (Meerkat Manor is now in its third season), but those meerkats have us absolutely riveted. And maybe that's why I had a hard time getting excited by Life Is Wild. There's no real sense of danger. Unfortunately, this fictionalized African drama just can't compete with the real life-and-death struggles of those photogenic meerkats.