Show Spy is a TVSA column that takes a look at the latest new shows on the international TV circuit. The column will keep you scooped on the hottest, newest international trends in TV (without any spoilers!) and will also give our take on whether or not we think one of our channels should buy it for us.
I've always liked Christian Slater - since he first blew my hair back in the movie True Romance - most specifically: in the steamy, phonebooth sex scene between him and
Patricia Arquette (Allison in
Medium).
....
Where was I? ... haha! I've lost my train of thought. If you've seen the scene you'll know why. If not - please watch to see-and-slurp.
Over the past couple of years he's obviously been trying to launch a TV career along the lines of
Kiefer Sutherland's but he's failed bigtime.
First there was that terrible, short-lived series
My Own Worst Enemy where he played a guy who has two personalties: by day he was a suburban husband/by night a spy who killed.
The show ran on M-Net Action with no buzz at all and got cancelled internationally after nine episodes - for being rubbish.
Unfortunately it's the same thing with his latest TV endeavour The Forgotten, which premiered in the US at the end of September.
The scenario: a group of self-appointed amateur detectives go searching for missing people.
The group comes together out of a shared need to find answers. They say they feel that missing people have the right to have their stories concluded so that they aren't forgotten - which is fair enough.
The trouble is everything about the show sucks: the plot's full of holes, the script sounds contrived and simplistic; and the characters are poorly written and realised.
The task-force group consists of various characters and none of their backstories are exciting or filled with enough emotional motivation for them to be passionate about what they're doing. They're also all so similar (they even look the same) that you can't tell them apart.
Christian Slater plays former policeman Alex Donovan, who's daughter disappeared 8-years ago - his reason for joining the group - but it isn't convincing that this has happened to him. His backstory gets revealed at the end of the first episode and by then I was so irritated with everything I honestly didn't care.
That's the feeling I had throughout - so what? Who cares?? I didn't feel close to any of the characters and didn't care whether or not they solved the case - especially because the case itself was beyond ridiculous.
In the end they discovered that the episode's missing person had been murdered and the reason for her murder was so far-fetched it went over the edge.
The murderer was completely unsuited to the murder and not in a "What a surprise - cool," kind of way. More: "Puhlease, they obviously wrote the murder before choosing the murderer and then didn't know who to blame."
It's all so iffy I wouldn't watch episode 2.
Verdict: Thumbs down!
Should one of our channels get it for us? No-no! It's a total waste of money. They may be tempted because it sounds good: not only for Christian Slater but it's made by Jerry Bruckheimer (The Amazing Race, CSI, Cold Case and many more) so you'd think it would be top class.
My rating of it: 3/10 (only for the names associated with it)
I'd like to see Christian Slater in something successful. Maybe he'll try something else and it'll be a case of third time lucky.
Other Show Spy columns:
Shark Tank (an update on this: it's been renewed for more episodes.)