Moonlight: It Both Bites and Sucks!
Cliff Lipson/CBS
I wrote a bit the other day about the various trends of the new season--rich peeople, superpowers, nerds, etc.--but there's an unusual little meta-trend that crosses a few of these genres: Nostalgia for Shows You Didn't Realize Anyone Was Nostalgic For. A few shows this season are echoes of cult shows from the past. We've discussed the Quantum Leap-ness of Journeyman. Pushing Daisies--a quirky critic's-darling romance involving magic powers--is a little bit like a hyperstylized version of 1998 quirky critic's-darling romance Cupid. And CBS's Moonlight, a detective show that pairs a vampire private eye with a comely web journalist, has more than a few echoes of 1987-90 cult hit Beauty and the Beast.
It shouldn't be surprising, since Moonlight comes from Beauty's creator, Ron Koslow. But this plodding, overserious drama doesn't come close to its predecessor (or at least my memories of it), much less Angel, which redefined the vampire-as-TV-hero in the meantime. Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin) has spent the last 60 years as a vampire, having been "turned" by his young vampiress bride. (Because you know how those vampire-mortal mixed marriages go, what with the arguments about how to raise the kids.) Mick is one of the good vampires, he tells us, meaning he doesn't kill victims but gets blood from a "dealer." He dispenses with several other myths: holy water won't hurt him, nor will a stake in the heart (burning and decapitation work); he sleeps in a freezer, not a coffin; he likes garlic.
We learn all this in an incredibly lame expository device, a fantasy-sequence interview at the outset of the pilot--that's right, a literal interview with the vampire--and things just get more intrusive-voiceover-y and laughably noirish from there. (Sample dialogue: "My guy at the morgue, Guillermo, deals in information and blood. Tonight I needed both.") Mick spends his nights using his supersenses to solve mysteries and trying to protect people from the less-scrupulous undead, and in the course of one case, he encounters reporter Beth Turner (Sophia Myles), whom he saved from a vampire as a girl, though she doesn't remember it. He finds himself drawn to her, but afraid to reveal his predilection for quaffing the red stuff.
So: you have your operatic immortal-love story intended to make us weak in the knees, plus a procedural crime element, because this is still CBS, after all. But the mystery in the pilot is unmemorable, and try though O'Loughlin does to sell Mick to us with his big puppy-dog eyes, neither he nor Beth are vivid enough characters to make us feel the love. Vampirephiles are better off Netflixing old seasons of Angel to enjoy on Friday nights. Moonlight is undead on arrival.
-
1
Reading about this show makes me regret more than ever that the proposed Spike spinoff never got off the ground.
-
2
I would think you would have mentioned Forever Knight as a parallel for Moonlight; it actually had a vampire police detective as well. Amazingly it also ran on CBS.
-
3
Gerik: Good point: The sensibility of Moonlight, though--or the sensibility it's trying to have--seems closer to Beauty and the Beast than to Forever Knight. (To the extent that I remember Forever Knight, which I barely do.)
-
4
You raise a good point: despite all the talk of many of this year's shows being out-of-left-field fantasy/sci-fi concepts, they have been done before, on network TV no less. I'd also add to your list that Bionic Woman is far closer in tone to CBS's underrated Now and Again than its original namesake, and Reaper is similar to Fox's also underrated Brimstone, with the Devil also the star of the show there.
Heck, I'm surprised there are no betting pools on which, if any, of these shows will last longer than their spiritual ancestors. I'd personally bet on Reaper, which only has to outlast the 7 aired (out of 13 produced) to qualify.
-
5
@ Southern Bell: INDEED. I would much rather see Spike back in action than this Moonlight crap. This sounds like a bad Angel rip-off, or a bad rip-off of several different things. If I want to watch a vampire detective show I'll pull out my Angel DVD set.
This, of all the shows premiering this month, is the one I have been consistently un-excited about. Plus it has Logan from Veronica Mars in it (I think), who I NEVER could stand.
-
6
It's a shame this show is poor considering I thought some of the last minute re-casts were for the better. We've got Dohring from Veronica Mars and the under appreciated Shannyn Sossamon. For shame.
-
7
It would have been interesting to see how the show would have evolved if David Greenwalt ("Angel" co-creator) had stayed on board; he's done a good job of joining series ("Jake 2.0", "Kidnapped") and improving them, if not making them into ratings successes. There is a certain poetic (albeit creepy) element to the Mick/Beth relationship, and Mick's uneasy alliance (and probably-inevitable conflict) with Josef has potential. But O'Laughlin uneasily straddles the gulf between "brooding" and "glib" without succeeding at either, the novelty of casting Dohring as Josef seems as if it will wear thin soon, and Sophia Myles was almost as bad as the dialogue. Not good, IMO.
-
8
Sorry but I loved the show and can't wait till next week. I found the show by accident and found I couldn't change the channel'
-
9
I enjoyed the show also, I feel like it will take a season to fully develope the characters b/c no one knows where to take the story lines, I think Sophia and O'Laughlin need to push towards building a better romance, Writers are pushing them too close too soon. Plus if the writers would cut the velvetta cheese lines out it would be sooo much better... Less knowledge is better people! work on developing those cheep special effects. But I love the show and I know it can only get better!
-
10
I LOVED IT! I loved the characters! Cant wait till friday night!
-
11
I feel that all the people responding negatively that openly admit they never saw the show need to zip it and open their minds and ears a bit more. This show takes more than one episode to get into and I can think of no decent show that does not fit that characterization. Moonlight only suffers from a couple of on and off writers that lack the ability to write well. Most of the episodes are competant and interesting. As to comparing this show to Angel...another show where the hero has to fight all manner of demons...it does not compare. Mick fight humanity at it's worst. The cheesy plastic face masks in Angel are not the same. Moonlight is a great show. Just give it a chance. If anyone is interested, please go vote at pcavote.com for Moonlight to beat the final run for best new drama. You do have to create a username...but I have never received any junkmail as a result. Show CBS we like Moonlight and the critics can go sit and spin.
-
12
I just love the show and can't wait till the following week.
-
13
This is a phenomenal show that gets better with every new episode!! I cannot wait for the two new eps in January! Too bad the strike is causing havoc or we would be getting more of this fantastic show.
You can still vote it Best New TV Drama at http://www.pcavote.com for another 8 days!
- poniewozik Loved the season. Mrs Tuned In wd have put u on the main list RT @boredtodeath Thank u for incl us in Time's Top 10. We'll take hon mention. - 6 hours ago
- poniewozik @carr2n Virgin is the best, LAX-JFK - 7 hours ago
- poniewozik Did NPR interview abt multiscreen multitasking. After, automatically reached for iPhone in pocket. Like don draper wd have for cigarettes. - 8 hours ago
Most Popular »
- Best of the Decade: Sci-Fi Movies
- CNN Poll: Man Made Global Warming Takes a Hit
- Why Wells Fargo isn't paying back TARP
- "How Will Dave Ever Make Fun of Sex Scandals Again?"
- Is Harry Reid Burning Out?
- How Will Obama Pay For Stimulus 2.1? (or 3.0, 3.1, whatever you want to call it)
- A Jobs Speech with Elbows
- War of the Supermen: Q&A With Matt Idelson
- The Health Reform Abortion Wars, Part Deux
- Economists Growing More Wary of the Senate Health Bill
- The Truth Behind the Leaked Climate-Change E-Mails
- Mexico Witness Protection: Corrupt Program, New Killings
- Tiger Woods Must Face His Fans' Moral Outrage
- Helicopter Parents: The Backlash Against Overparenting
- Taiwan: World's Lowest Birthrate Could Affect Society
- How Strong Is the Evidence Against Amanda Knox?
- Creating Jobs: Can Obama Government Boost Employment?
- U.S. Doesn't Know Where bin Laden Is; Time to Let Go
- That Viral Thing: Facebook's Secret Code
- Humanure: Goodbye, Toilets. Hello, Extreme Composting
Quotes of the Day »
RSS