Ellen Gray: NBC's new show 'Deception' offers same drama
* "DECEPTION." 10 p.m. Monday, NBC10. "REVENGE." "Scandal." And now "Deception." I'm not sure who's naming TV shows these days - perhaps the same people who christen perfumes? - but if you're trying to distinguish NBC's new drama about Rich and Powerful People With Secrets from the ones that are already on ABC, the title "Deception" is probably not going to be much help.
* "DECEPTION." 10 p.m. Monday, NBC10.
"REVENGE." "Scandal." And now "Deception."
I'm not sure who's naming TV shows these days - perhaps the same people who christen perfumes? - but if you're trying to distinguish NBC's new drama about Rich and Powerful People With Secrets from the ones that are already on ABC, the title "Deception" is probably not going to be much help.
Which could be the point. Like the covers of paperbacks at the airport, a generic-sounding title may signal fans of a certain kind of prime-time soap that what's inside is meant for them.
Though it may feel like a cruel joke to anyone tuning in Monday expecting to find "Revolution" (which will be returning March 25).
And it makes me sad for ABC's short-lived "Dirty Sexy Money," which was either a little too far ahead of the curve or too verbose. If only they'd called it "Dirty." Or "Sexy." Or simply "Money."
I loved "Dirty Sexy Money" and count "Revenge" - and, yeah, lately, even "Scandal" - among my guiltier pleasures, so I can't blame NBC for wanting a show like this.
As long as the network realizes it's deceiving no one if it pretends "Deception" is anything but what it is: far-fetched, formulaic and maybe a little late to the party.
Meagan Good ("Think Like a Man") stars as Joanna Locasto, a police detective who's asked to cozy up to the fabulously wealthy Bowers clan, in whose home she'd grown up - as the housekeeper's daughter.
Joanna's ex (Laz Alonso), an FBI agent, suspects that the death of heiress Vivian Bowers, who'd once been Joanna's best friend, wasn't an accident and wants her to reinsert herself into the family to find the truth.
And if you're buying any of this so far, I don't want to hear complaints about anything that happened on "Homeland" this season.
Victor Garber plays Vivian's father, a pharmaceutical mogul who retains a soft spot for Joanna and welcomes her back like a prodigal daughter. Not so friendly: Vivian's formidable stepmother (Katherine LaNasa) and her older brother Edward (Tate Donovan, who did a memorable stint on "Damages").
Something's definitely rotten in the rarefied state of the Bowers and it may involve a wonder drug that's not so wonderful. And, of course, Vivian, whose wildly public life nevertheless concealed some secrets.
The three episodes I've seen didn't give me more than a sense that she must have been the fun one, if only because the rest of the family's pretty dour. Which makes the appearance of John Larroquette as a kinky former family friend (and U.S. senator) all the more welcome.
Because if you can't have fun with a show like this, what's the point?
Hanging offense?
Daniel Day-Lewis may have done everything short of exhuming and debating Stephen Douglas in his effort to transform himself for his role in "Lincoln," but Billy Campbell ("The Killing") apparently isn't a Method guy.
Campbell, who'll play the 16th president in an upcoming National Geographic Channel adaptation of Bill O'Reilly's "Killing Lincoln," said Friday during a Television Critics Association news conference in Pasadena, Calif., that what screenwriter Erik Jendresen ("Band of Brothers") put on the page is what we'll get.
"I essentially opened myself up to Erik and to the script," he said.
NatGeo president Howard Owens, apparently worried that Campbell might be selling himself short, quickly added that growing up in Virginia, the actor had been a Civil War re-enactor.
For which side?
"Oh, well, I was part of the 19th Virginia Rifles," Campbell said. "So I re-enacted for the Confederacy. But a lot of us flip-flopped. I had uniforms for the Union as well."
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Blog: EllenGray.tv