I am – Hercules!!


A supernatural hourlong from writer-producers Ron Koslow (“Beauty and the Beast”) and Trevor Munson (“Lone Star State of Mind”), “Moonlight” follows a convertible-driving Los Angeles vampire private detective (Australian Alex O'Loughlin) who falls for a blonde young mortal (Britisher Sophia Myles).

“Moonlight” is no “Angel,” but what could be? (It did, for the record, have “Angel” co-creator David Greenwalt on staff as showrunner for a few weeks; he moved on, citing health concerns.)

Jason Dohring turns up in a supporting role as a very old vampire, as if to remind us he played a supporting role on “Veronica Mars,” a much better Southern California P.I. series. Rudolf Martin guest stars as a faux vampire, as if to remind us he played Dracula on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” a much better contemporary Southern California vampire series.

Had “Angel” never existed, it’d still be easy enough to identify “Moonlight” as generic, substandard television. Nothing in it feels fresh or inviting; it’s refried Anne Rice, dumbed down for broadcast, unevenly acted and hobbled by leaden wit.

Oh, and "Veronica" fans will be able to guess the real murderer the minute he comes on screen.

USA Today says:

… When it comes to grand-scale theft, it's hard to be more obvious than CBS' vampire-detective drama, Moonlight. It's basically Angel without the search-for-a-soul underpinnings that gave Angel depth, and with a more ponderous script and less adept cast. OK, so maybe it isn't Angel after all. …

The New York Times says:

… the producers are onto a conceit that seems purely accidental. Vampires with a conscience are like cheerleaders in habits: what precisely is the point? … “Moonlight” demands that we question the grounds for its existence. …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… It seemed a perfect marriage, a modern "Night Stalker," appealing both to fans of "Buffy" and of "CSI." But something got lost between concept and execution, and instead of suspense we get silliness, as if the creators (Ron Koslow, Trevor Munson, Chip Johannessen) were determined to use only the clichés of both genres. …

The Chicago Tribune says:

… a very terrible show. Actually, "Moonlight" is almost in the "so bad it's good" category. There are any number of nearly entertainingly bad things to pick apart, if you enjoy that sort of thing. The direction is flat-out awful (there are many choppy shots from bizarre, if not inexplicable, angles). Much of the dialogue is groan-inducing, the acting by some of the guest actors is jaw-droppingly wooden, and I guessed who the villain was way before the halfway mark. …

The Washington Post says:

… The most disappointing thing about this sanguinary pretty boy is that show creators Trevor Munson and Ron Koslow decided to make him a private eye. Oh, jeez, another one? And that means yet more murders and the solving thereof on what's clearly become the Criminal Broadcasting System, all crime all the time. When the narration changes from vampirical studies ("when you live forever, the past always catches up with you") to private-eye cliches ("a murderer was loose in the city"), one's heart may sink. The producers appear eager to avoid what makes their show unique. … It doesn't go quite far enough into uncharted territory but gets off to a basically promising start nonetheless, and executive producer Joel Silver (of "Lethal Weapon" and "Die Hard" fame) has seen to it that the show has a classy, snazzy surface. …

The San Francisco Chronicle says:

… just flat-out awful … may well be the worst new fall show. … It's just heinous. Absurd, laughable, painful to watch - you name it, "Moonlight" has it all. Woeful acting? Check. Cheap effects? Check. Worst writing of the new season? Check. Predictability? Pretensions? Faint imitations of superior shows? Someone at CBS shouldn't just have their neck bitten, but sliced through, for this one. …

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer says:

… an example of evil rendered poorly. It's another one of those way-out shows CBS is hoping will make viewers sit up and take notice. This vampire detective show (sorry, can't resist this) is one that first bites, then sucks. Hard.…

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

… displays none of the depth of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" nor the romance of Lifetime's Canadian import "Blood Ties." Instead, "Moonlight" is just a weak, generic private-eye drama with a vampire story overlay; it's "Angel" with much less creativity and more familiar, conventional plots. …

The Boston Globe says:

… As Mick St. John, vampire gumshoe, O'Loughlin is a flatliner. He sleepwalks through "Moonlight," … Much of "Moonlight" is amateurish, but nothing is more amateurish than the artificial chemistry between O'Loughlin and Myles, who looks like Kate Winslet. They exchange lines of dialogue with a stilted rhythm and no natural flow. Not that the script offers much to inspire an actor. The procedural case in tonight's episode is dashed off and obvious, as the pair investigate a professor obsessed with vampire mythology. …

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… gives short shrift to crime solving. In the two episodes provided for review, criminals are barely more than one-dimensional comic book villains. Instead, the focus is on the dangerous and forbidden relationship between Mick and Beth and his efforts to keep his past a secret. Whether there's enough material there to knit together a series remains to be seen. …

Variety says:

… the series makes scant use of its undead hero's abilities, while burdening him with a clunky Raymond Chandler-style narration … in the early going, he's more Mannix than Lestat, and other than a physical resemblance to Kate Winslet, Myles' damsel is a poor construct, owing both to the character's cliched nature and a rather uninspired performance. … does little more than serve up another moldy procedural with a splash of crimson, one which might finally prove that the easiest way to kill a vampire is with apathy.

9 p.m. Friday. CBS.

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