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Herc Feels The Full Weight of CBS’ 3 LBS!!
I am – Hercules!!
It’s a CBS medical drama from Peter Orko (“Dead Like Me,” “Boston Public”) about an irascible genius brain surgeon. It stars Stanley Tucci (“Murder One”), Mark Feuerstein (“Good Morning Miami”), Indira Varma (“Rome”) and Griffin Dunne (“An American Werewolf in London”).
I haven’t yet found a review of it that doesn’t mention “House.”
Tucci’s great. Really great. Way better than James Woods is in “Shark.” Feuerstein was a lot better on “The West Wing” - but who wasn’t? The script is more comfortable perhaps with the science than the characterization and dialogue. I didn’t hate it, but I’d be shocked if I started watching it.
But what matters Herc’s opinion?
Entertainment Weekly gives it a “C” and says:
… In this new CBS medical drama, no one pauses to explain that 3 Lbs. isthe weight of the human brain. That's about the only point of subtlety in the Nov. 14 pilot for this House wannabe … The only real reason totune in to the pilot is to catch the lovely Madeline Zima as a violinist stricken with a brain tumor. She played sweet-faced Grace Sheffield on The Nanny years ago; here she's a sad-eyed young woman who will make you weep...if you make it through the whole hour.
TV Guide says:
… Like on House, we go inside the body, zooming from nerve endings to the mind's exotic landscape, where surreal images convey mystery maladies. If only 3 LBS were as provocative. The conflict between all-logic Hanson and touchy-feely new associate Jonathan Seger (puppyish Mark Feuerstein) is awfully familiar. Still, the cases have potential. And I wouldn't be surprised if some of House's audience bleeds over to 3 LBS the way many Grey's Anatomy fans are drifting to ER on Thursdays. …
The New York Times says:
… The network chose the title “3 Lbs” to remind viewers that no matter how much the series looks like “House” on Fox and “Grey’s Anatomy” on ABC, it’s about brain surgeons, and that is completely different.… The question is not whether “3 Lbs” is familiar and predictable, but whether “3 Lbs” is entertaining. It is, and mostly because it is so familiar and predictable. …
The Chicago Tribune says:
… the flirtations feel as mechanical as everything else in this cobbled-together drama, which, if it has one saving grace, gives Tucci a showcase for his finely honed wit. … It’s not quite “House” with a lobotomy, but so far, there’s no beating heart at the center of “3 lbs.” …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… Almost too fittingly, into a television season packed with good but not great dramas, comes yet another. Did a memo go out? "Listen, this year, we're opting for a whole lot of good. Nobody's allowed to be great. Good luck and pass it on." How else to explain CBS' brain-surgery hospital drama, "3 lbs."? … giving an hour to good-looking people telling decent stories is not much to ask, but "3 lbs." proves conclusively that reinventing the hospital drama is, in fact, brain surgery. …
The Washington Post says:
… Anyone who might -- on some wayward if not perverse impulse -- be pining for yet another prime-time medical drama should be warned that there is absolutely nothing new about "3 Lbs." … As the sensitive one (Jonathan Seger, who arrives at Hanson's brain clinic in the first few minutes), Feuerstein is all starry-eyed and soulful, making the doctor as obnoxious in a sappy way as Hanson is in his crabby way -- two equally objectionable opposites. … all plays as horribly posed and corny, and using Coldplay's affecting "Fix You" to accompany a montage sequence helps for only about three minutes. The significance of the song is obvious in context, but viewers who manage to slog through the whole hour might think that it's the show rather than its characters who need the fixing, and that's assuming a cure even exists. When, by the way, does Jack Kevorkian get out of prison?
The Boston Herald gives it a “C” and says:
… Given the setup, you may be expecting a show like ‘‘Nip/Tuck” or ‘‘House,” but ‘‘3 Lbs.” harks back to ‘‘Trapper John, M.D.” It’s more sedative than stimulant.…
Variety says:
… there's commerce, perfunctory competence and a whole lot of "me too"-ism here, but precious little magic. Just how House-like is Stanley Tucci's Dr. Doug Hanson initially? He doesn't like speaking to patients, fires off smartass remarks and is personally damaged in some small way that doesn't take shape in the premiere -- before the condition simply disappears in the second and third episodes, which is probably just as well. … during the premiere, Hanson casually refers to the brain as "wires in a box," which is precisely what legendary CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow warned television would become should its stewards fail to safeguard its higher aspirations -- a particularly apt metaphor for a program this pedestrian. …
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… lacks a dramatic spark. Characters aren't fully formed; stories aren't arresting. Sometimes it even seems like the show was created from the transplanted organs of other series.… Tucci's skills as an actor are not debatable and his being recast into the lead (and given producer credit) likely took the show up a notch. Great care is evident in the way cases are explained and presented and in the production design. With all that, though, there still needs to be compelling characters and engaging stories, both of which are present here only in trace amounts …
10 p.m. Tuesday. CBS.
CW?? It’s a done deal!!!
Cheapest “Mars” Ever!! Both seasons!! $29.99 Each!!
$29.99 Veronica Mars: The Complete First Season!!
$29.99 Veronica Mars: The Complete Second Season!!
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These seems like a TV movie not a series.
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This seems like a TV movie not a series.
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...they need an actor that was a regular on "Blackadder."
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Except Blackadder WAS his cranky bastard tour de force, wasn't it? Oh, well. Looks like someone will have to come up with an original idea, or at least a fun spin on a formula.
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Smith. That was the most underrated crime show to get cancelled. FUCK CBS!!
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When networks can't put together 'must-see' shows for the likes of Stanly Tucci, James Woods, and Joe Pantoliano. We get this thing that doesn't sound promising, the lousy 'Shark', and the didn't-even-make-it-to-air 'Waterfront'. Way to keep great talent from coming to TV, guys.
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You can see the final 3 episodes that werent televised at cbs.com
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DID YOU KNOW BEES AND DOGS CAN SMELL FEAR?
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They are the staple shows of TV since it's invention. There is always a prime time example of each of these at any given time in TV history. It's because they are interesting jobs of people who run into new people all the time, which works well for the story/character of the week. Personally I had enough after hill street blues. It's all the same old drek anymore, with different actors playing the roles. Think about the shows you watch. How many are about Doctors, Lawyers, or Cops? Of those I only watch CSI anymore. A hybrid doctor/cop show formerly known as 'Quincy'.
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That is all.
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...the brain weighs 3 lbs and life weighs 21 grams, what does the soul weigh?
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But I'll keep House, thankyouverymuch.
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about a serial killer that spans three concurrent series: a police drama, a c.s.i. type show, and a courtroom drama?
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Does he give up being a brilliant brain surgeon to raise his family in a small Colorado town? Or crash on a mysterious island? Or face day-to-day struggles with his clinical detachment? Or have to decide whether he can use a coma patient as an organ doner? Wow, there's just an infinite amount of plots they can explore. Okay, maybe only five.
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survive and prosper. Smash them together and make Tucci and Woods determined to destroy each others lives, using their skills with medicine and the law. Oh, and they should be in love with the same woman. Unknown to them she has multiple personalities due to a brain tumor and has committed a series of murders. Woods and Tucci love different personalities. Her various personalities both help them with their schemes and foils them. Oh, and something supernatural. In the fourth season some aliens invade, but they look just like Hugh Laurie.
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He is absolutely fantastic in "After Hours". I was always confused why he wasn't in more stuff.
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Doctors. Because everyone likes to go to the doctor and hospitals are always fun and interesting to visit. They should devote a whole show about doctors. And the doctor or doctors should have an eccentric personality. That's never been done before.
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regularly. Ever. Usually, I hate the damned things. But Hugh Laurie is godlike in it. The rest of the cast is pretty good too. I like House because EVERY character is pretty screwed up. They serve as excellent foils for House. To really make a successful House rip-off, one cranky doctor surrounded by wholesome, caring saints won't do it. They all have to be bastards in their own way. On House, even Cameron, that Pollyanna in a lab coat, has her unlikeable moments. It doesn't look like that is the case with this Tucci brain thing.
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they were playing something that sounded like Massive Attack's Teardrop during a scene in this episode. It's like they are rubbing "the House thing" in everyone's faces.
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The wife in Rome is in 3lbs. I can watch her any day of the week and twice on Sundays.
The show is alright, no real new teritory broken, but Indira Varma, Indira Varma.....mm...mmm...good. -
Indira's rather yummy. I thoroughly enjoyed her period-accurate braless wardrobe on Rome. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear she'll be back from Rome second season. They ARE still having one, aren't they?
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...a great cast. Well, I should qualify this by saying I got pissed off at the opening credits, with the internal body effects being such an Obvious Rip from House, that I could not stand to watch for another minute. This seemed to me at moment one to be one of those "House is killing us in the ratings, we gotta get us one of those" programming things that is just offensive at a fundamental level. They tried this with Friends, they tried it with Seinfeld, they try it with all the reality shows.So Few Original Concepts On TV, So Many Channels and Slots. All the cable channels looking for programming, filling their time with syndicated repeats. SciFi airs professional wrestling for God's sake! And the best they can do is counter House with a feeble clone? "Ours is different because it is an ensemble medical mystery hour about BRAIN surgery--But we know you will like it because it is Just Like That Other Show You Already Like"Pathetic
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...couldn't stick thru an episode of that either. Wood's rapid-fire, loud, i-am-godlike-kneel-lowly-dogs character is an annoyance, and it seemed to be the only note he could play in this show. He is better than that, but this show is showcasing his worst acting, not his best.
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