Friday’s no longer the black hole of TV programming it used to be, and all the networks are airing actual first-run, primetime programming. Only two of those shows are 2011 premieres, however.
CBS’s “A Gifted Man” is the network’s token “Talkin’ With Ghosts!” program, albeit with a medical drama twist that is very similar to “3 lbs,” another medical drama that aired for about 10 seconds on the network back in 2006. (“Talkin’ ‘Bout Brains With Ghosts!”)
But is this medical drama about a neurosurgeon who talks with the ghost of his dead ex-wife while also occasionally saving the lives of the underprivileged worth watching? In short, not really. Despite the involvement of Jonathan Demme as executive producer, and the presence of the excellent Jennifer Ehle as the dead wife, the show is just deadly dull. I watch it whenever I want to take a nap.
The evening’s other new offer is NBC’s “Grimm,” the first of two shows about fairytales to premiere this season. We’ll talk about the other one (“Once Upon a Time”) on Sunday, but I’ll say that so far I am not overly impressed by either of them.
“Grimm” has a slight advantage just because unlike with “Once Upon a Time,” the whole premise doesn’t seem quite so “WTF?” and silly. Sure, a show about a detective who can see the true fairytale villains (in all their awful CGI guises) that inhabit everyday criminals may SOUND silly, but…
OK. It’s silly. And, at times, it takes itself too seriously. But I’ll admit to laughing a few weeks back when Silas Wier Mitchell’s blutbad, (Big Bad Wolf), accidentally tore the arm off a bad guy.
If the show can ramp up the dark humor a bit more, (and there’s hope of that, as former producers of “Buffy” and “Angel” are involved), I’ll stick with it…
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