Techtite's TV Reviews!

" I'm hoping that FOX gives this series a Melrose Place style overhaul and gives it another chance. The cool location, and talented cast, deserve a good chance."

---from the review

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I wonder, wonder, wonder if this series will survive... Especially given FOX's track record lately. In the good old days, they'd give Melrose Place the chance to revitalize its cast and writers, and the rest is network history. Now; FOX can't even give a critically acclaimed series like Wonderfalls a fair deal. It's like they're so delusional about a low-expenses reality TV series karaoke bar, all other intelligent drama fare falls flat. Come on, FOX; you have a series here with a cute cast, and a great setting. Drop that Simon Cowell fan newsletter and get to work keeping this series afloat. It could be the next Melrose, with just a few little tweaks. I'm absolutely sure of it.

North Shore

A Review by Techtite

Why am I not loving this series? It has great stars, it has a great location (Hawaii), and has some good scripts. I'm just not feeling deep rooted love for North Shore, however, leading to me wondering if it needs a good Melrose Place overhaul (and no, I don't mean heather Locklear). Much like that series' saccharinely sweet first episodes, there is no villain here, nor any decent peril, angst, and therefore, no strong emotions. Maybe that's the problem. I just can't put my finger on anything else in error.

Consider the locale. This series is set in a flashy hotel in Hawaii. Add to that a very impressive lead character roster: hotel owner Vincent Colville (Sex and the City's James Remar), Vincent's right-hand-man Jason Matthews (Kristoffer Polaha), the sexy hotel hostess Nicole Booth (Brooke Burns), the rugged bartender Frankie Sean (Jason Momoa), the perky yet spunky barmaid M.J. (Nikki DeLoach), young lifeguard-on-duty Gabriel (Corey Sevier), and even the newcomer, "concierge" hostess Tessa (The O.C.'s Amanda Righetti). So, no; the problem isn't the location, nor the stars' sex appeal, which is rampant.

Maybe the problem is the "no antagonists" angle. There's this ongoing story about how Nicole is the long lost love of Jason yet is about to marry a guy who's the right-hand man of her father who wants to buy the hotel right from under Vincent's nose while making Jason nervous he'll lose both Nicole, and his job, forever. Get that? Yet none of this is very exciting. Add to the story troubles all the lesser story fare, such as the way-too-incessant times Gabriel gets in trouble, only to be chewed out by Jason 100 times stronger than he has to be. Dude; he's the life guard, not the island's governor! In short; when it comes to the majority of the cast, this show's writers are taking it too soft.

Not that all characters are getting the cold (if not boring) shoulder. Consider all the cool plot lines that newcomer Tessa (Righetti) is getting. She starts her new job after escaping the clutches of her lothario boyfriend, who is a petty thief and hotel guest hustler. Then there's how she wants Nicole's job --very badly-- and is willing to bend the truth of every little mistake Nicole makes to get it, whenever speaking to her boss, Vincent. See; this is the sort of antagonist this hotel needs. Yet I'd still say the hotel needs at least one added villain to make the series work. It's a drama after all; not "The Love Boat docked on a beach."

Mind you; this series' best sales pitch --to me anyway-- was Brooke Burns. It's neither the fault of this series, nor Brooke, that certain personal matters befell the actress prior to this show's first airing (two words: Bruce Willis). People used to her perkier character on Baywatch, or her bubbly, lively personality as the host of Dog Eat Dog, may wonder why she seems so somber here. I don't know. All the publicity blitz (not to mention her smiling mug on the cover of a TV Guide promo) implied her character was as lively as she's always been. I'd say they simply wanted to give her character a gritty edge, but come on:. Whatever. Just give Nicole a bubblier personality. Think about it: she's engaged to be married, and the lead hostess of a ritzy beach hotel. Lighten up girl.

Not that the series doesn't have potential. It's just that nothing seems to be happening here...with cute people...in a flashy beach resort...in Hawaii. Here's how saccharinely sweet some episodes are; in one episode, M.J. and her boyfriend are horseback riding, when they get lost, only to come across a marijuana field. Turns out they've stumbled across a drug dealer's secret plantation. D'oh! Yet even though the two lovebirds are kidnapped and blindfolded at gunpoint, and thrown into a secluded shack for safekeeping, this story still has a "Brady Bunch" finale. Turns out that the drug dealer is an old high school chum of M.J.'s. Oh, hi; long time no see! How are you! Big hug! <Groan!> Such is the flawed scripts of an otherwise promising TV series.

Not that I would've wanted M.J. rescued by a S.W.A.T. team only to nurse a gunshot wound, or anything like that at all. It's just that when you have a series that is so sugary sweet that even a drug dealer is as sweet as the mailman from Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, you can get a cavity from such sweetness, you know what I mean? Heck; at this point I'm worried I'd break a tooth with the "jawbreaker" sized saccharine, in these way too sugary scripts. This is a drama, not a sitcom. Where's the tension?

Mind you, I'm giving this series a lot less flak than the airing-on-same-day new summer series, The Casino. Yes, that series suffers from a similar flaw, in that it's a show set in a flashy hotel, where nothing seems to happen at all. I'll give this series a modest, moderate thumbs-up, if just because its potential is so much better...if given the fair chance it truly deserves. The setting is there, as well as the talent, for a great series. The ball is now in the script writers' court, to make this series truly fly.

                                                                    ---Techtite

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