Monday, April 18, 2011

Z's Pilot Preview: "The Secret Circle"

I had a tough time picking the show to “review” this week.  If you can’t tell, I’m trying to do one new high profile drama from each of the major networks…but the CW kinda threw me a curve ball.  I used to love the CW and watch many of its shows religiously, but honestly, I haven’t heard much about any of their new pilots, so here goes nothing…

The Secret Circle – CW

Description (from Deadline) - "Based on the book from The Vampire Diaries author L.J. Smith, drama tells the story of a young woman (Britt Robertson) who moves to a new town and discovers that not only is she a witch and part of a secret coven, but also the key that will unlock a centuries-old battle of good vs. evil."  (From IMDB) "The "Secret Circle" series follows 16-year-old Cassie, who moves from California to live with her mom in New Salem and falls in love with a mysterious boy named Adam.  But, when she enrolls in high school there, she realizes that he, she and all the other elite students at the school are witches!  She befriends their leader, Diana, but soon discovers that Adam and Diana are dating, which leads to a whole bunch of complicated drama."

Will "Secret Circle" be the next "Vampire Diaries?"

First Impressions: The best part of the show description are the words “The Vampire Diaries” which is obviously a big hit for the CW.  The CW also had a decent hit with Charmed a few years ago, so maybe...witches are back?  Robertson is also lovely (she was the star of Life Unexpected).  My only problem with witch themed shows is that the girl power heaviness sometimes doesn’t leave room for good male characters and multiple love triangles/choices which I think are kinda essential to the success of any CW show.  Overall: B (for…b…witches).

Source Material: The fact that this is based on a series of books from the author of The Vampire Diaries sounds like a hole in one.  I mean, could the CW have it better?  On the negative side, the books lag in sales on Amazon compared to The Vampire Diaries…but that seems normal since one is a popular TV show and one isn’t.  On the plus side, the reviews on Amazon for The Secret Circle are really good/enthusiastic, so that’s a plus. Overall: A-

Actual Idea: Sounds good to me, I mean, I was always a bigger fan of the more “realistic” CW shows, like Gilmore Girls, Felicity, Everwood…or even Gossip Girl as opposed to Charmed or Smallville.  But clearly, fantasy fits with The CW brand (see once again, the success of The Vampire Diaries).  Other than that, the characters are the right age for a CW show, so yeah, sounds good.  I still have some reservations about a witch show… not all fantasy is created equal.  Vampires are sexy and teenagers love sex, but witches are…not as sexy.  Just look at the pilot Betwixt from last season.  It was about changelings and it failed to get picked up.  Also, how many male leads are in Secret Circle?  Like I said before, the life blood of these types of shows/movies are romantic triangles/dilemmas ESPECIALLY between 2 (or more) guys: are you on Team Edward or Team Jacob…Dawson or Pacey…Noel or Ben…Dean or Tristin/Jess/Logan, Chuck or Nate or Dan.  And yeah, I don’t watch The Vampire Diaries but the poster kinda says it all.  One chick, and two hot vampire dudes.  These scenarios not only provide a sort of wish fulfillment for teen girls (who wouldn’t want to choose between 2 hot guys?) but also allows a fan base to connect and get involved with the guy they like better.  From the description, it looks like the romantic triangle in this works the other way (2 girls want one guy).  Hopefully, there’s another guy for the lead girl in this.  Overall: B+

Show Title: Deadline calls it The Secret Circle and IMDB just has Secret Circle, I think the “The” is better (let your audience shorten it when they talk about it if they like) but either way, it sounds good to me.  As a title, it’s a little cryptic but since I think witches don’t sell to older teens as well vampires, it’s good that the show doesn’t jump right out to hit you over the head with the fact it’s witches.  Also, “secret” and “circle” evoke witchey imagery, and yeah, it’s based on a series of books, what else are you gonna call it?  Overall: A-

Writers: Andrew Miller and Kevin Williamson.  Miller has written a couple movies and is most well known for creating the show Imaginary Bitches (which I think was an online show?).  I heard it was very good and very funny, so that’s good, although this show sounds darker (but maybe having a writer with a sense of humor will lighten things up).  Williamson wrote Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, created Dawson’s Creek, and developed The Vampire Diaries.  Obviously, an impressive resume for both teen entertainment as well as fantasy and horror.  Overall: A

Cast: Robertson is lovely and from what little I saw of LUX before its cancellation, she is a relate-able and talented actress.  I worry though, that one cancelled show suggests she doesn’t have the right appeal for the CW audience?  Or maybe LUX just didn’t have the right appeal.  Other than Robertson, I recognize Thomas Dekker as the male lead.  He was briefly on Heroes but is most well known for playing John Connor on The Sarah Connor Chronicles.  Not sure if he’s “hot” enough to play a guy that two girls are fighting over but maybe I’m just getting old.  More importantly…is there another guy in this???  IMDB shows mostly female actresses.  Right now, that’s my biggest sticking point.  I cheated and read the Wikipedia for the books and it seems like most of the focus is on just the one guy, but there is another guy in the coven.  I think this won’t make a splash with teen/college age girls (or their Moms) without at least two guys to fight over/more guy options.  Overall: B- (for possible lack of BOYS)

Director: Liz Friedlander.  Privledged, One Tree Hill, Melrose Place, The Vampire Diaries, 90210…yeah, she’s done all the right shows. Overall: A

Producers: Miller, Williamson, Leslie Morgenstein.  You already know about the writers, and Morgenstein has produced Pretty Little Liars as well as Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries, so clearly, these are the right people for this project.  This show did have a bit of a revolving door of producers with Liz Craft and Sarah Fain both departing (too many cooks in the kitchen).  While any type of shake up so early on worries me, the people working on this are obviously incredibly competent people who have been very successful in this genre.  Overall: A-

FINAL ANALYSIS:

Overall Grade: B+/A-

Will it get picked up?  Yes. Why wouldn’t the CW want a new show “from the people who brought you The Vampire Diaries?”

Will it survive season 1?  Yes…BUT!  I’m gonna go out on a limb and say despite the high grade for this show, I’m not so sure about its survival.  The possible lack of male characters and romantic possibilities REALLY worries me.  While it might seem like a small thing, writing this review has made me think it’s THE thing.  Just look at a show like Pretty Little Liars which seems more based around a group of girls.   A quick look at the IMDB message board when I wrote this post showed such topics as “I cant get enough of the Ezra + Aria relationship!” and “Ezria is not only boring, it’s WRONG.” Or, a look to the Gossip Girl board (a show with "girl" in the title) and we’ll see these threads: “Question for Chair fans…why?” as well as “Anyone who is BOTH Chair and Dair fan?”  Clearly, these romantic storylines are a HUGE draw.  I will say the fact that the description of Secret Circle mentions a romance is a BIG plus, however, the lack of variety/choices might turn off potential fans who don’t connect.  I could easily see this show on life support after season 1 and dying the same type of death as LUX.  That being said, LUX did get renewed (after a midseason start) so I’ll assume this can do the same…for now.  Also, I mentioned Betwixt before, another book based fantasy show that the network passed on.  The failure of that show makes me think that while vampires are in, other fantasy archetypes may not be.

Will it be good/will I watch?  Maybe/nah.  It might be fun/a guilty pleasure, but I probably won’t watch.  This isn’t really my kind of CW show, but that’s okay, I don’t think I’m the target audience anyway.  I will say though, writing this review made me curious to see if the show will exceed my expectations, or if the lack of romantic possibilities will be its downfall.

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