A Little Late: Two New ABC Shows

I watched these two episodes a few weeks ago and never got around to renewing them. The first was the two-hour "Grey's Anatomy" episode which serves as a pilot for the Addison-led spin-off "Private Practice" recently announced for this fall. The second was the preview episode for "Traveler", which airs at some point this summer.

I will not comment too much on the non-Addison-featuring "Grey's Anatomy" segments from the episode. I have always found the show to be cheesy and over-sentimental, not for my tastes. Having watched most of the episodes I have seen before the introduction of Addison, I immediately did not like her upon first seeing her in this episode. Perhaps it is just in this episode, but she comes off as over-excited and far too chipper for her own good. This spin-off seems like a nice premise, fun enough hopefully without being too serious. If it ventures into the territory of extreme plot-ignorance, like "One Tree Hill" and "Smallville" have done, it could be in danger. But I am generally impressed, especially with the fantastic cast. Merrin Dungey (Francie from "Alias"), Amy Brenneman ("Judging Amy", which I never watched), Paul Adelstein (Agent Kellerman on "Prison Break") and Chris Lowell (Jonathan from the awesome short-lived ridiculousness that was "Life As We Know It") all get great new roles that allow them to continue using their talents. Best of all, however, are the roles given to two great actors whose recent roles on shows have been less than excellent. Taye Diggs, cast in the unfortunate ABC drama "Daybreak", gets a chance to relax after trying to stop the same day from happening all over again. Tim Daly, amazing in the very short-lived ABC dramedy "Eyes" and fresh off a great guest-starring role on "The Sopranos", also has a great role, playing excellently off the sexual tension between Addison and himself.

B


"Traveler" is a different story altogether. The cast is not a marquee, all-star list, but rather includes Aaron Stanford (the fire-wielding Pyro from "X2" and "X-Men: The Last Stand) and Logan Marshall-Green, whose guest roles on "24" and"The O.C." have been memorable in a bad way. The premise here is interesting, but a bit abstract. I have no real idea where they are going, and it seems to be constantly in danger of becoming too obsessed with government conspiracy (like "24" is now, and like "Daybreak" was from the start), and not in a good way like "The X-Files." We do not know the characters well enough to really care about what happens to them, and they have already been caught and escaped too many times, and I personally would love if they stayed in New York City, because I love anything filmed in the city (except "Heroes", but that is a topic for another time). Definitely an intruiging concept, but where (and most importantly when, giving that the air date keeps changing) it will go is a bit trickier. I will stay tuned for the remaining seven episodes, if they even all air.

C+