Jay Leno's getting lousy ratings each night but NBC can take comfort in the fact that, week by week, they get closer to The Forgotten on Tuesday nights. Not because Jay's ratings are building but because The Forgotten's are sinking. And it's being blown away not only by CBS' The Good Wife but also by FX's Sons of Anarchy.
And that's just the ratings. In terms of entertainment value, the next night on CNN Campbell Brown presented far more enjoyment on her self-titled program as she spoke with the administration's very own Martha Mitchell, ladies and gentlemen, Valerie Jarrett.
"So do you think Fox News is biased?" Campbell Brown managed to ask with a straight face.
Looking several sheets to the wind, Jarrett snapped, "Well, of course they're biased. Of course they are."
At which point, Brown moved in for the kill, "Well, then do you also think that MSNBC is biased?"
Looking even more spaced out, Jarrett began to sputter insisting that she didn't want to "generalize" and tried desperately to back peddle. Brown, to her credit, refused to act as stupid as Jarrett seemed to think she was. Brown continued to press, "But you only see that at Fox News. That's all, that you've only spoken out about Fox News."
Eyes in panic mode, Jarrett insisted, "That's actually not true. I think that what the administration has said very clearly is that we're going to speak truth to power."
The sound you heard was the entire world laughing. At The Baltimore Sun, David Zurawik observed:
I am about 60 comments behind, and posting them now. But scanning them, I see many commenters mocking Jarrett's use of the phrase "speaking truth to power." Yes, I agree, it deserves to be ridiculed in this context. What's the great power the White House is fearlessly standing up to -- a cable channel? I think such a phrase from our collective past that has real resonance because it was once loaded with such intergrity, moral authority and wisdom when first uttered, is cheapened when used in such a blantantly and inappropriate political context.
"Truth to power." The poor little White House, having to speak "truth to power." Do you get for even a second how damn pathetic the current administration is? Barack couldn't, for even ten minutes, weather a Whitewater or any other media storm. He's been coddled and stroked by the media for so long that he can't even live with one TV outlet not cooing sweet nothings. Forget a hostile press, if he ever faced a working press, you get the feeling that he'd break down in tears. Or maybe storm out -- the way he did when the press dared to question him the way they would any other politician back in March of 2008.
Valerie Jarrett, the administration's freak show, really was a sight to behold on TV as she reminded the people of just how petty and pathetic the administration was. She truly made an impression.
Which is more than you can say about The Forgotten. ABC's hopped on to the Bruckheimer train . . . just as the engine was shuddering to a stop and the other networks were intent on debarking. So ABC gets Bruckheimer when all that's left to offer is a variation of CSI: Volunteers. Or maybe they're community organizers?
A bunch of losers with nothing better to do look into the missing person cases the police just doesn't have the time for. Doesn't have the time for? Yes, that would make this Bruckheimer's Cold Case if the posse had badges.
Christian Slater stands out among the posse as the haunted ex-cop Alex. TV always seems to be populated with these haunted cops and ex-cops. So much so that after awhile you begin to suspect that "haunted" really means: Doesn't work well others and can't perform solo.
Slater starred in last fall's heavily promoted My Own Worst Enemy and we took a pass on reviewing that NBC disaster. What it attempted to do was to give America the 2 Christian Slaters. The first is the Slater which America embraces with Heathers: JD, the over the edge, word slinging gangster. The second is pretty much everything he did after starting with Kuffs: Soulful boy. Christian veered back and forth between the two notes he can hit as an actor as he played a 'loose cannon' government agent and a 'nice guy' suburban dad.
The latter came off especially dull as dishwater so it's especially sad that this is the persona he's elected to go for in his second attempt at being a series star. Someone's wrongly hoping he'll come off brooding but he keeps coming across like a moody 12-year-old. At least he has a mood. The other five members of his team are forgettable.
It's not really their fault because they're not given that many lines. In fact, each week one character gets the bulk of the lines. No, it's not Christian.
Want to guess who it is?
The corpse.
If we've learned one thing about corpses from eight episodes of The Forgotten (six have aired so far), it's that they're incredible chatty.
Who knew?
And pseudo-philosophical.
They're dead.
You'd think they'd be moving on and you keep recalling the old adage about how they "tell no tales."
On this show they're caught up in a chatty, reflective mood and they want to share, in voice overs, all about their friends, their loves, even their pets.
In fact, maybe the FBI should add "highly talkative" to their profile of murder victims because, judging by this show, they all are. You start thinking that maybe they were knocked off just because they never shut up?
And, artistically, you long for a quiet moment until almost the end of the episode -- that's when you think "Bruckheimer!" And suddenly remember he's about to serve up some 'silent' moments with a bad pop song playing over shots of the cast.
And that's how The Forgotten plays out: Like a copy of every other Bruckheimer TV show -- a pale copy. A very pale copy. Completely forgettable -- if you don't believe us, check with any ABC exec.
