Pilot Review: Life

Life (NBC)
Premieres September 26 at 10pm

This show is through-and-through trite from the first moment. Scratch that, the second moment. The first scene quickly catches the audience up on the fact that cop Charlie Crews served twelve years behind bars for a crime he did not commit before being released and reinstated. He is not some hardened, pissed off criminal as you might expect but rather a strange "House" wannabe who stares off into space while telling people to flush their stash of pot because the other cops are on the way. Actor Damian Lewis, who should not take full responsibility for his dismal performance, is paired with Sarah Shahi, who is on her way downhill with this show. After a starter role on "Alias" a few years back and fascinating turns on "The L Word", "The Sopranos", and "Sleeper Cell", she does what? A procedural cop show. And surprise - her boss wants her to spy on Charlie to try to get him kicked off the force. That has never happened before. Every scene, every conversation feels overdone to death. There is really nothing to recommend about this show except if you are a car enthusiast: Charlie mumbles "I am not connected to this car" for about five minutes straight as the camera zooms in on his car for a nifty car commerical smack dab in the middle of the show.

How will it work as a series? Well, he already went back to prison to interview someone in the FIRST EPISODE, so let's see how fast that gets old. If Sarah Shahi can bring out some of that talent she has shown, maybe she can try to save the show, but prospects are not good.
How long will it last? I give it three episodes.

Pilot grade: F