Speaking of sucking, I caught a new show on CBS last night. It's called Moonlight and it's got a total hottie in the lead role as a Private Investigator in LA who happens to be a vampire with a set of "personal guidelines" regarding who he can and can't feed from. He's also got a beautiful blonde foil/love interest who, in her role as an investigative reporter, finds herself investigating the same cases he does.
Been here before, right?
Blonde not pictured (and it's not because she's a lesbian).
I'm not saying that they're the exact same show. I mean, Moonlight actually lets their vamps go outside (one even has a pool), and they have do have an easier transition from upstanding-member-of-society to scary-ass-vampire. Then again, since CBS' guys seem to have access to actual doctors during the day, I'm thinking it's a botox thing.
Let's see, what else is different? Admittedly not much....They both have a serious problem getting their un-dead freak on...they're both Private Investigators who like to brood...They both have classic convertibles...They both have sidekicks with English accents...they both attract women who wear completely inappropriate outfits for their jobs...they both find themselves throwing all the good lines to the presumably-good-but-deliciously-evil-other-vampire-sidekick.
Wait, I've got it...Moonlight's missing the black guy with anger management issues and the green guy who runs the karaoke joint. Then again, the show's on CBS. If they're not being arrested on CSI (just pick one) or are Ed Bradley, faces of color are pretty hard to find on that particular network. That reminds me: where the hell was Warrick when the rest of the team was combing the desert on CSI? He went back to the lab about 20 minutes in, and we never saw him again. The "entire team" is banding together (plus extras), Greg's flying a huey, and Warrick isn't there? Yeah, something doesn't add up....
I'm not saying that you can't use the same settings or basic concept. If there was a rule like that, we'd never see ER or Grey's Anatomy, and our source of all medical drama would remain, forevermore, General Hospital. That would be a McDisaster...seriously. I'm just saying that if you're trying to court viewers in the all-important 18-49 viewing group, don't give us something we've already seen before, done much, MUCH better.
