August 28, 2006
The Dead Zone and Psych
Network TV isn't was it used to be 10 years ago. A flood of reality TV and the 3 second attention span of TV execs have hurt the quality series based television shows. Where the networks have slipped, the cable networks have picked up the slack with several original series of their own, as I mentioned in my post on Entourage. Two USA original series that I recently got started on are The Dead Zone and Psych. They have a seemingly similar premises - psychics, but they are totally different in execution.
The Dead Zone stars Anthony Michael Hall as a man who acquired psychic abilities when he awoke from a 6 year coma following a near fatal car accident. He sees a whole lot of bad stuff, and the plot of the series revolves around him trying to stop what he sees in the future. He also has to deal with 6 years missing from his life, which separated him from his then fiance and his son who was born after his accident. The series is based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, and there's a motion picture from the 80s based on the book also. You can read a more in depth plot summary at TV Tome.
The Dead Zone has some neat and original story ideas and a very engaging long term story arc. The acting is pretty good overall with some occasional dips in quality. Some episodes vary greatly in tone and it also suffers from what I term Smallville "freak of the week" syndrome. A lot of the episodes that stand independent of the major story arc have the same formula. Johnny sees something bad about to happen; he tells people but they don't believe him; he tracks down as much evidence as possible which sometimes gets him into trouble; in the end he narrowly saves the day and is redeemed in the eyes of non believers. While this case-closed-by-the-end design is no different than a show like CSI or Law and Order, in those shows there is no engaging long term arc to tease you while you work through the cookbook episodes. The Dead Zone's long term story involves conspiracy, the government, and armageddon, and it's what brings a sense of urgency to the show. Those warnings aside, I think the show is still pretty good and worth a try. Season 5 just ended tonight, but it's best to start from the beginning if you can.
Psych is a comedy about a son of former detective who has convinced the local police department that he's psychic. He solves cases for them using skills he's picked up from his dad, but passes his skills off as psychic abilites. James Roday is excellent in the character and is reason enough to try the show. The snappy dialogue and his delivery provide plenty of comedy, especially his interaction with his sidekick, played by West Wing alum Dule Hill. While the comedy doesn't have the brilliance of The Office or character power of Entourage, Roday and Hill defintely bring a lot to the table. It's only been 8 episodes so far, but they haven't been repetitive and I'm still into each episode, though the plots are on the predictable side. You're really not watching Psych so much for the plot though, more for the dialogue and interaction between characters. At the end of each episode they show 'psych-out' moments which include outtakes and Roday and Hill singing various hits from the 80s and 90s. I think these are hilarious and add to the endearing silliness of the show. The show I'd say it's most similar to is Scrubs in the way that you enjoy instead of dismiss the silliness.
Some rambling: Oddly Scrubs, Psych, and The Dead Zone all have Caucasian lead characters with African-American sidekicks. I realize now that I don't have a Scrubs blog entry, along with a bunch of other shows which I watch or have watched. I guess that means there'll be more TV blog entries coming soon. I made my comment at the beginning about broadcast vs cable, because neither of these shows would have a chance of surviving on broadcast networks at all. Shows that don't cater strongly to the mainstream or that don't pick up ratings quickly will get the axe. Also, if you are already acquainted with these shows and with their sibling, Monk you should check out some of the cross promos USA has run for these shows at Youtube. (Monk/Dead Zone, Monk/Dead Zone, Monk/Psych, Monk/Psych) They definitely support the spirit of USA's tagline for these shows, "Characters Welcome."