If you're looking for a match made in TV heaven, Monk and the new Psych (Fridays at 10 pm/ET on USA) fit the bill. As a Friday-night double feature of lighthearted mayhem (Psych follows Monk), they prove that few places are more fun than a crime scene, if you're in the right company.
"All guaranteed fun" is the operating principle behind Psych, a clever romp about charming slacker Shawn Spencer (James Roday, who should become an overnight star in this role
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Question: What's the deal with Thief? I thought it was fantastic. But I heard that it got terrible ratings and probably won't be coming back. Is this true?
Answer: The unofficial word is: Don't count on it being renewed. The ratings were lousy — no big surprise, given the time of year this limited-run series premiered. But besides welcoming back Andre Braugher to TV, there wasn't much buzz around the show, one way or the other. (And that's the real kiss of death for an FX show. ...
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Mae Whitman, Thief
While I really liked the unabashed Ocean's Eleven-ness of NBC's Heist, FX's Thief (Tuesdays at 10 pm/ET) serves up grand larceny with gripping grit and no gloss, as Andre Braugher's Nick Atwater plots out that "one last score" that will lead him and his band of merry bandits out of harm's way. Mucking up the mix is the professional pinch's stepdaughter, Tammi, already disposed to view her father figure through less than rose-colored glasses, then forced to question everything about their familial ties when tragedy robs the teen of her mother, Nick's wife. It's heavy stuff, but
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ThiefWow! For those of you expecting a slick heist show along the lines of The Italian Job, where everyone spouts witty one-liners and struts around like a peacock to the thumping bass of a techno dance beat... this isn’t it. This is more like Reservoir Dogs — without the humor. But seriously, didn’t you just know everything was going to go wrong from the moment Nick caved and let his crew deviate from the plan by swiping the bags full of Chinese mob money? In fact, after that, I’m not sure anything went right! The mob orders a hit on the thieves, Nick cuts his dope-fiend accomplice loose, then his wife makes an early departure from the series after a car accident... the only silver lining to all this tragedy is perhaps a budding relationship between Nick
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Fact: TV is oversaturated with crime dramas. But is the answer to suddenly make con artists the new action heroes?
At least the cocky crooks of AMC's Hustle ply their trade with charm. This month's arrivals are more problematic. NBC's glossy Heist, which premiered last week, annoys by being weightlessly glib, while FX's grittier Thief (Tuesdays at 10 pm/ET) bores by being relentlessly glum.
Set in New Orleans, Thief dishes up a surprisingly flavorless gumbo of guilt, grief and greed. A
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Question: When you write a review for a show that has yet to premiere, how many episodes have you typically seen? I would think it would be difficult to judge a show based just on a pilot.
Answer: Actually, it's not that difficult to judge a show based on one's first impressions. That's how most viewers do it, after all. The tricky part about reviewing off just a pilot is that when the pilot is all about setting up the premise of a show, you can't always tell from that what a regular episode would feel like. And there are times when so much more money is expended in producing a pilot that subsequent episodes never measure up. Which is why it's so valuable to have a weekly column, and especially these ongoing Web columns (including the periodic Dispatches) — the better to chart a show's ups and downs along the way. But to answer your specific question: This time of year, with mid-season shows that often have been in production for a while before they launch, I have the luxury of seeing
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