Channel Surfing with CT: THE FORGOTTEN, GLEE & MY ANTONIO

Don’t be surprised if ABC’s THE FORGOTTEN is one of the just-begun season’s first casualties. Not because it’s a bad show — which it’s not, particularly — or because it’s basically COLD CASE: SPECIAL VOLUNTEER UNIT — which it is, basically — but rather because it premiered last night with almost no buzz. I’d be willing to bet that most of you are sitting there right now saying, “I never even saw an ad for that! What’s it about?” This happens every season… network’s decide early on which shows to throw their advertising budgets behind and, in doing so, basically allow others to become… well, forgotten. So while you’ve seen a barrage of ads for COUGAR TOWN, FLASH FORWARD, EASTWICK and MODERN FAMILY,chances are THE FORGOTTEN managed to sneak onto the airwaves without you even being aware of its existence. (I only happened to see an ad yesterday for the first time.) Plus it had the misfortune of airing against CBS’ THE GOOD WIFE, one of that network’s most trumpeted offerings. The show itself is well done, for what it is. Christian Slater — who plays former-cop-turned-volunteer-identity-sleuth Alex Donavon — kinda winces his way through, looking almost as if he blames all of us for not watching MY OWN WORST ENEMY and keeping him employed by that much smarter show. But Bob Stephenson (JERICHO) is downright fun to watch as Walter, a guy who we learn via a brilliant throwaway visual idolizes NYPD BLUE’s Sipowitz and thinks he’s a lot better at this whole crime-solving thing than he is. Of course, each member of the squad has a personal reason for doing what they do… I guess nobody does the right thing just ’cause it’s the right thing to do anymore. And given the whole SCOOBY-DOO vibe, you can’t help but view Anthony Carrigan’s scruffy young sculptor, Tyler, as the group’s Shaggy, making it a tad odd when an uncooperative potential witness refers to Walter by that name. All in all, there’s a lot here that works, and you could certainly do worse than to spend your time with this rag-tag team of investigators. But do it now, because I suspect it won’t be around long.

Having seen tonight’s GLEE in advance, all I will say is this: Watch it. You will laugh. You will cry. You’ll thank me.

 
There is something so wonderfully cheesy about MY ANTONIO that I can’t look away… and I’ve tried. Oh, how I’ve tried. For one thing, it has to be the most gorgeously filmed reality show in history, making the most of its lush Hawaiian setting not to mention the chiseled landscape of the hunk around whom it revolves, model-turned-actor Antonio Sabato Jr. Better still, it’s cheese on a stick with not a single moment feeling at all real thanks in large part to the star’s ex-wife, Tully, being “unexpectedly” thrown into the mix and the number of women apparently cast for no reason other than their unbalanced natures and potential for drama. Weirdly, what makes the whole thing work is the seeming sincerity of the man around whom all this drama swirls. Sure, he’s an actor… but he was never this good of one! And besides, anyone who doesn’t melt the second he flashes those gorgeous dimples is probably dead inside.