June 18, 2007

What to Watch: Coming Up on Cable

Tube Stake: Programming Reviews by Seth Arenstein

THE CLOSER: Destined for another ratings-grabbing season

• MONDAY, JUNE 18

The Closer, season 3 premiere, 9pm, TNT. This ratings hit represents formulaic television at its best. The good guys always win; the cases can all be solved in 60 minutes; and the loveable lugs surrounding deputy chief Brenda Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick, one of TV’s most alluring 42-year-old females) are a diverse crew in terms of their ethnic makeup, gender, style and philosophy.

But this formula isn’t automatic. Viewers will realize that next month when TNT premieres Saving Grace (on July 18) which hews closely to The Closer’s game plan, going with a slightly more unorthodox, but no less sexy, female cop, played by Holly Hunter.

So, why is Grace headed for a life of mediocrity while The Closer, whose season 3 premiere tonight returns the series to an excellent level, seems destined for another ratings-grabbing season? The Closer’s writing is just a tad crisper and more intelligent than Grace. This makes its ensemble characters more interesting.

SEDGWICK ON TNT: Don't mess with Brenda Johnson.

On The Closer, police work, to a large extent, is the attraction. The cases on The Closer contain a slew of twists, whereas Grace’s are less mysterious and less compelling. Oh, and Brenda isn’t followed by an angel plucked from the Harley-Davidson catalogue, as is Holly Hunter’s Grace.

Making News Texas Style, 9pm, TV Guide Network. We decided to give this reality/docu series about a Midland, Texas, CBS affiliate another chance this week. After all, this is TV Guide Network’s first foray into a reality series. Unfortunately, the weaknesses of week one’s pilot are evident in ep 2, which premieres tonight. The storytelling is long-winded, lacks depth and is stretched out to fit a 1-hour slot. In addition, it seems the nature of TV Guide Network’s viewers, who are tuning in to quickly check listings, has led the producers of this series to recap the action constantly. For channel surfers this is fine. For viewers who’ve been watching this series from the start, it’s cumbersome.

In tonight’s ep, two stories make up the bulk of the hour. One is interesting—a double murderer/sex offender is fleeing police—while the other is merely titillating, featuring the station's sports director hoodwinked into playing in a charity basketball game against local Hooters girls. While the stories unwind, before and after the commercial breaks we’re inundated with reminders of what we’ve already seen. Although it's tedious, we’re guessing at least some portion of the viewing audience won’t mind seeing another close up of the sports director’s comely opponents, cavorting in their buttock-hugging shorts.

Heartland, series premiere, 10pm, TNT. Perhaps buoyed by the success of ER reruns, TNT tries its hand with an original medical melodrama. Of course, the differences between ER, which, at its height, was one of NBC’s best, and Heartland are huge.

ER was and continues to be an ensemble show. NBC has the money to make such a show successful. TNT, with a smaller budget, makes Heartland a vehicle for Treat Williams, whose rugged handsomeness remains and smugly smooth delivery are his most vital assets. Once we find out whether the Williams’ Dr. Nathaniel Grant, a gifted organ transplant surgeon, has saved the patient du jour (in the pilot he does — what a surprise) and whom he sleeps with (his ex-wife or the sexy nurse whose age is about half his), the episode’s over.
 
It’ll be interesting to see where Heartland goes from here. Will it develop the characters around Williams? The relationship between Williams and his ex, Kate Armstrong (Kari Matchett), seems the most promising and complicated. Still attractive, the former Ms Grant works in the hospital as an organ recovery coordinator, putting her in close quarters with her ex-husband. Usually the surgeon and the coordinator act professionally around each other. When they don’t, we get a taste of the type of marital discord that could inject life into the otherwise mundane Heartland.  
    

All times ET/PT unless otherwise noted.