ABC's Wednesday Night Lineup Launches Five New Shows - Page 3

While the movie is a great one, the television pilot feels a little too much like Desperate Housewives with magic. The three female leads all acquit themselves well, particularly Price, whose Joanna is the quickest to embrace her new found witchiness. However, Gross comes off as less a likable Devil and more of an evil donkey. The woman are supposed to be seduced by him, and while they certainly swoon here, the exact reasons for their swooning are wholly unclear to the audience. Whatever magnetism or power Darryl has over them doesn't translate to the viewer.

There's certainly nothing wrong enough with the Eastwick pilot where it's clear that the show can't be great, but the pilot itself isn't great. It does, however, show definite potential. It's got good source material and even if it doesn't follow that material, a great basic concept on which to build. If Gross and the writers can figure out a better way to present Darryl and the witches' growth can be developed in interesting ways the show could be well on its way. The latter here may be far more important than the former, and also far more difficult. Should the witches become too powerful too quickly the show may veer too far into the fantasy realm, and if they don't learn fast enough, it could become overly mundane.

In the final summation, the vast majority of ABC's all-new Wednesday night lineup is already great fun or shows the potential to be fun. Even with the big names they managed to attract, it's still a risky proposition to launch an entirely new set of shows on a single night. They may, however, strike it rich.

Article Author: Josh Lasser

Josh Lasser, formerly known as "TV and Film Guy," and complete with a Masters Degree in Critical Studies in said areas, gives his opinions on TV, Film, and Entertainment in general. All of which he does in a shameless attempt to try to get paid to do the exact same thing. …

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