inplainsight-related stories
Posted Aug 10th 2009 3:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Industry, Ratings, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
A lot of times, the news about ratings isn't good. Or not good enough, so shows that you care about have to hope for the kindness of TV executives to give that show more time to improve or find a new time slot or something ... just to survive. That's why it's such a pleasure that
Burn Notice did great in the ratings for the summer season finale last Thursday. According to the numbers, 7.6 million total viewers were glued to the set, the most eyeballs for any scripted TV shows that night.
Continue reading Great news for Burn Notice
Posted Aug 4th 2009 8:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, OpEd, Law and Order, Pickups and Renewals, Ratings, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
Things are really cooking at the USA Network. Not only has the new show
Royal Pains been renewed for a second season, but
Burn Notice is also coming back for a fourth.
Law and Order: Criminal Intent is on the verge of being re-upped, and now
In Plain Sight has just gotten a pick-up for Season Three.
Wow! Talk about a winning formula. This part of the Universal family, as opposed to NBC, seems to have figured out how to make dramas work and work well.
Continue reading USA signs up for more In Plain Sight
Posted Jul 29th 2009 9:00PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Watercooler Talk, Celebrities, Reality-Free, Burn Notice, The Mentalist
Sometimes when I'm watching USA Network, I'm as tickled with the promotions for the shows as I am the shows themselves. That's saying a lot, because as a rule, networks are not very clever about commercials hawking their shows. However, USA is the exception to the rule. Just yesterday,
Kona wrote about the Psych promo that took a shot at
The Mentalist -- completely justified, too -- and here's another that caught my eye. It's a tribute to Monk.
This is the last season for
Monk, so USA gathered some of the stars -- in character -- from its other programs to give a little tribute to Adrian Monk. What a stroke of genius!
Continue reading USA scores with Monk tribute promo
Posted May 24th 2009 1:31PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free
In Plain Sight has become one of my favorite TV shows. I didn't think that way last year, its rookie season, when the show lurched a bit to try and find balance between Mary's professional life as a U.S. Marshal in the Witness Protection Program and her dysfunctional personal life with an alcoholic mother, a troubled younger sister with a drug-dealing boyfriend, and an on-again/off-again relationship with a hot Latin minor league baseball player.
When it went well, it was very satisfying, but the show seemed to be struggling to find its tone. Well, this season is a whole new thing. Perhaps there were changes behind the scenes, perhaps the first year was about shaking out all those story strands and building a stronger foundation, perhaps it was simply the actors getting more comfortable in their roles. Whatever the case,
In Plain Sight is now hitting on all cylinders.
Continue reading In praise of In Plain Sight
Posted Apr 20th 2009 12:04PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S02E01) After the harrowing
conclusion from last season, Mary Shannon was back and after 30 hours of sleep, she actually seemed ready to return to work. However, as Marshall soon found out, looks can be deceiving. Mary and Jinx and Brandi were still together and coping, but the effects of one of them nearly being raped, killing a man, concealing drugs, having their home turned inside out and suffering the indignity of the FBI invading every corner of your life took a toll. They thought they had come out the other side unscathed, but as the episode unfolded, damage was evident.
For Mary, getting back on a case, even as Marshall's sidekick, was a welcomed relief from administrative leave. Her denial of post-traumatic stress disorder was typical for her. In fact, she was suffering, but it manifested itself as a happy, chipper and congenial Mary. Stan, Marshall and Bobby D. were baffled by this alternate universe Agent Shannon, but for viewers wise to the ways of TV, it was clear that something was amiss.
Continue reading In Plain Sight: Gilted Lily (season premiere)
Posted Jan 5th 2009 5:19PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Sing with me: here's a story about a doctor who is busy caring for rich folks in New York... Okay, it doesn't have the bouncy tune of a Sherwood Schwartz theme song, but this new USA show sounds like fun.
USA has picked up Royal Pains, a new summer series starring Mark Feuerstein as Hank Lawson, M.D., a doctor who is on-call to some of the most demanding patients around, the richie-riches who live in the fashionable Hamptons of Long Island.
There are a few reasons to be psyched about this new drama. For starters, it's coming from the same network that brings us
Psych, not to mention
Burn Notice, Starter Wife and
In Plain Sight. In other words, USA has been doing very well in developing idiosyncratic, interesting comedy-drama series. There's no reason to think that
Royal Pains will be a dud.
Continue reading USA says yes to Royal Pains
Posted Aug 4th 2008 9:40AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, In Plain Sight
(S01E10) What does Mary expect? I mean, really, what does she expect! Okay, before we get to the gory details, let's talk about the case of the week.
Remember the Russian girl from the pilot? Natasha with the new boobs -- thanks to the U.S. government, our tax dollars -- has gotten a job at Headlights (nee Hooters) and has hooked up with a new guy.
Turns out he's Marshall's charge, another program member, Serge. The problem is not just the huge coincidence that they've hooked up, it's that she's a witness and he's a felon, they cannot stay together.
Continue reading In Plain Sight: To Serge with Love
Posted Jul 28th 2008 12:26PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, In Plain Sight
(S01E09) If you've invested in this show from the start -- as I have -- here was a really welcome episode to fill in the blanks. Finally, we were given a little back story about Mary, the place she's living, her obnoxious family, her frustrations with her life and even Marshall's unrequited (or so he thinks) leering for his partner. There was even some good character stuff for Bobby D -- whom Mary colorfully calls a "little prick" -- which was really nice.
I liked the case of a Chicago cop doing a
"Serpico" -- going undercover to rat out police corruption -- and winding up killing a fellow officer in self-defense and being forced into Witness Protection was on target. And unlike the ridiculous Russian girl in the pilot who was asking WITSEC for new breasts, this was a realistic relocation. He resented being stuck in Albuquerque, and proving that he wasn't a stone, he was attracted to Mary. Of course, Mary did cross a line by sleeping with the guy, but that was all right, too, because it proved that she wasn't a stone, too. And since it was back story, it was pre-Raphael.
Continue reading In Plain Sight: Good Cop, Dead Cop
Posted Jul 7th 2008 9:20AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, In Plain Sight
(S01E06) I thought this was one of the best
In Plain Sights so far. It wasn't the case, it was the character, in particular Mary's. We got major character development from the leading lady, the key to what she's all about and how she's come to where she is.
Episodes like this just make a show; they really do.
In Plain Sight is about Witness Protection, yes, but it's more about Mary Shannon.
Mary doesn't go looking for this case, she's just bringing in her crap car for service. Her mechanic is Scott, who it turns out, was Mary's very first WITSEC client. Mary gave Scott and his 10-year-old brother, Chris, new lives after they witnessed a bookie murder another bookie.
Parenthetically, Scott invites Mary and Marshall to watch Chris play basketball at the university. The kid's got mad skills and is projected to be an NBA star, natch, but something's amiss. Chris is hitting up Mary for $3,000, which we learn is out of bounds for decade-long WITSEC clients.
Continue reading In Plain Sight: High Priced Spread
Posted Jun 30th 2008 11:23AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, In Plain Sight
(S01E05) It was the best of
In Plain Sight, it was the less than best of
In Plain Sight. For starters, the only carry-over from the previous episode was Marshall's arm in a sling. Hey, what about his nearly dying and Mary's emotional breakdown in the waiting room? The lack of follow-through was stunning.
Granted, this show isn't a serial, but I did expect at least a moment between Mary and Marshall that would connect back beyond her quip in the art gallery. It was too glib. Would it have killed them to have a moment? I can imagine a fight in the writer's room over this point and keeping it light and unemotional won.
Continue reading In Plain Sight: Who Shot Jay Arnstein
Posted Jun 23rd 2008 11:23AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, In Plain Sight
(S01E04) Okay, this was the best episode of
In Plain Sight to date. Action-packed and filled with character revelations, if this is where
In Plain Sight is going, it's going to definitely make it beyond this premiere season.
The set up has Marshall and Mary taking custody of a seemingly innocuous, diabetic, asthmatic accountant/arranger for a hit man named Lola. He's been caught in an FBI sting and will go WITSEC in exchange for "delivering" Lola.
Expertly played by Dave Foley (
News Radio), he's just enough of an unctuous ass to make him amusing. When Mary throws him to the ground and pounces on him, he says, "Could you get off of me, you're not exactly petite."
The role was very much like Charles Grodin, a mob accountant, in the movie
Midnight Run, with Robert DeNiro as the bounty hunter forced to take him cross country. (If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and rent it; it's great!)
Continue reading In Plain Sight: Trojan Horst
Posted Jun 16th 2008 3:32AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, In Plain Sight
(S01E03) For a change of pace,
In Plain Sight opted for a mainly comic episode. The results were mixed. The comedy wasn't really all that funny, and the plot was plagued by more than a few inconsistencies and holes. But once again, what's keeping viewers from switching to another channel is Mary McCormack as Mary Shannon. She's really a compelling actress, and this Mary Shannon is a complicated mess of a very cool character.
Mary's newest witness to be protected is a con artist, bigamist scumbag -- Mary's words -- named Treena. She ripped off her previous husband while on a Hawaiian honeymoon, getting away with $10 million in conflict diamonds before being arrested by the FBI. When Mary is forced to take Treena under her wing, she makes no secret of her antipathy for people of her ilk, saying, "God I hate con artists, even more than murderers."
There's an instant conflict between Treena and Mary, the uncooperative witness and unhappy marshal. Mary suspects that Treena is playing her and the system. She warns her that if you hang onto garbage from your past, sooner to later it starts to stink.
The machinations to get Treena into the WITSEC program is the first leap of faith in the episode. The second comes when she allows her picture to appear in the newspaper, announcing her sixth wedding.
Continue reading In Plain Sight: Never The Bride
Posted Jun 9th 2008 10:22AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, In Plain Sight
(S01E02) Overall, a very good episode from Mary and Marshall as
In Plain Sight settles into the kind of show it's going to be. Far less frantic than the pilot -- which in retrospect looks like a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth -- this show dealt with one main issue and it was a touching one at that. The story starts 18 months earlier when Mary's assigned to place an 8-year-old boy who's seen drug dealers kill his mother in Witness Protection, which is virtually impossible unless she can find a family in the system who are willing to take on that responsibility.
I was stunned that she pulled it off, and when we were back in the present and we see little Lonny -- now Leo -- enjoying a perfect life with the Billups, I was skeptical. The adoption seemed too good to be true. Leo fit right in, taking care of the baby. Were the Billups for real? I thought there had to be something wrong, but it wasn't. I was just suspicious. It turns out there was a reason to show Lonny/Leo in such a happy family.
Continue reading In Plain Sight: Hoosier Daddy
Posted Jun 2nd 2008 10:08AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, In Plain Sight
(S01E01) You know that commercial that says, "The real question is, when you turn your car on, does it return the favor?" Well, over at USA Network, the question isn't whether "Characters Welcome" is their slogan, it's "Do I want to welcome these characters into my world?" In the case of their newest drama,
In Plain Sight, the answer is...I don't think so.
The series presents Mary McCormack (
The West Wing) as Mary Shannon, a U.S. Marshal for the Witness Protection Program, living and working in Albuquerque, New Mexico. To say that Mary is a bitch is an understatement. She's aggressive and grumpy and hard to take. As the pilot played out, Mary showed glimpses of a softer side, a need to fix the problems of others that led to her career protecting and serving those in the Witness Protection Program. However, unlike USA's other quirky character dramas,
In Plain Sight doesn't have the charm of
Burn Notice, the wit of
PSYCH, nor the whimsy of
Monk. It may be that this pilot was just overstuffed with too much of Mary's life, but overall, there's not much in Mary Shannon's life worth watching.
Continue reading In Plain Sight: Mary Sunshine (series premiere)
Posted May 23rd 2008 3:01PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Programming, Law and Order, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Just when you think it's over, they pull it back in! Actually, I think this is great news and nothing to bemoan.
USA Network has ordered 16 new episodes of Law and Order: Criminal Intent. The third spin-off from NBC's venerable -- 18 seasons strong --
Law and Order, CI moved to USA -- part of the NBCU family -- last year after six years on NBC. What's the difference between the shows on NBC and the shows on USA? Absolutely nothing. The quality of the show and the talent in front and behind the camera has remained the same, so I'm really happy that there'll be new
L&O: CI in the future. I prefer scripted drama to more reality TV.
Continue reading USA orders 16 new episodes of L&O: Criminal Intent
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