Against the unstoppable juggernaut of Fox's
American Idol and the can't-miss mysteries of ABC's
Lost, NBC's
Life is getting lost in the mix. But it shouldn't be. Its stories, and its actors, are too impressive and likable to go unnoticed...
Yet Life, whose newest episode premieres tonight at 9 ET, is getting trounced in its time slot. Not just by those two shows, but also by Criminal Minds on CBS, a much less inventive and entertaining police procedural. It's a shame -- and a lot of the shame belongs to NBC, for putting it in a time slot where almost any show is guaranteed to fail. I watch every Idol, and every Lost -- but I also watch every Life, just as faithfully. (Thank you, TiVo.)
If you have the capability to time-shift with a VCR or DVR, please record tonight's Life and give it a try. If you liked the witty banter of ABC's Pushing Daisies, you'll love Life. If you enjoyed the sardonic byplay of investigators on Homicide: Life on the Street, you'll love life. And if you treasure shows that give you defiantly unique cops -- such classics as Columbo and Twin Peaks -- you'll love Life, too.
Damian Lewis, who was dazzling in imported British dramas before dropping his accent to play Charlie Crews on Life, is a genuine-article TV star here. His character is given a compelling back story -- a cop framed for murder, who served many years in prison and in solitary before being exonerated, reinstated, and compensated with a small fortune. His years of confinement have left him different: zenlike in some ways, quietly intense in others, and addicted to the one thing he couldn't get in prison. Fresh fruit.
His partner, Dani Reese, is played by Sarah Shahi, who puts up with Crews and his weird ways with a mixture of amusement and exasperation. You might expect sexual tension as a subtext, but one way this show subverts the usual formulas is to get Reese involved, instead, with their mutual boss, Captain Tidwell, played by Donal Logue. Meanwhile, at home, Crews has opened his plush home to a fellow former convict, Ted, an embezzler played by Adam Arkin.
There's a secondary recurring plot, in which Crews stubbornly, obsessively investigates the murder that put him in prison. But you don't need to bother with any of that to five in and enjoy Life. The byplay between the characters -- between Crews and Reese, Reese and Tidwell, Crews and Tidwell, Crews and Ted -- is wonderful.
And tonight, as Reese gets farmed out for an undercover FBI job, Reese pairs with another cop, Brent Sexton's Robert Stark, who gets more screen time tonight than he's gotten all season. And he, too, is fun to watch. This is an ensemble drama with a light, deft touch, powered by some of the wittiest, most natural performances to be found in prime time.
Which reminds me: a recent New York Times review slammed Shahi, dismissing her performance as something subpar. Everyone's entitled to an opinion -- but in my opinion, she's subpar only in the golf-score sense. She more than holds her own with Lewis, and he's one of the best actors on TV right now.
But when not even NBC appreciates the true value of Life, why am I surprised?