I am – Hercules!!
An “Ally McBeal”-ish dramedy, from “Brothers & Sisters” writer-producers Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim, “Eli Stone” is about a heterosexual San Francisco corporate lawyer who one day – as he tries to cavort with his corporate-lawyer girlfriend – gets a vision of dancing ex-“Wham!” frontman George Michael. Other visions follow, the results of an inoperable brain aneurysm, and the title character finds the visions reshaping his life. The series stars Britisher Jonny Lee Miller (“Trainspotting”) doing an American accent, plus Natasha Henstridge (“Species”) and Victor Garber (“Alias”).
TV Guide says:
… Watching Eli take on seemingly hopeless cases with the help of a ditzy young associate (Julie Gonzalo in a thankless role) offers lump-in-the-throat moments aplenty. There's a glow about Eli as he confronts the new magic in his life. Where he goes, I want to follow. …
Entertainment Weekly gives it a “B-plus” and says:
… Cornball? Yeah. But so what? … With these superb supporting players helping drain away any potential drippiness from the show's magical-realist trappings, Eli Stone proves as solid as a rock.
USA Today gives it three stars (out of four) and says:
Eli Stone is adorable. Now if it would just stop trying so hard to make us adore it. … this highly enjoyable mix of faith and fantasy will do better in the long run if it can learn to lay back a bit — like by resisting the urge to put its lead, the instantly likable Jonny Lee Miller, through ever-cuter contortions simply because he's able to carry them off. …
The New York Times says:
There is really no good reason for “Eli Stone” to be quite as much fun as it is … “Eli Stone” is committed to a quaint, flimsy populism and a kind of 12-step “God is where you find him” spirituality. Faith and science are necessary if unreliable co-dependents. …
The Los Angeles Times says:
… a likable midseason comedy-drama … The CGI apparitions are not always convincing, and the musical production numbers, which come at least once an episode, not as marvelous as they might be -- but these things are just the stuff of music videos. And as in all legal dramas, there are straw men everywhere. (The writers decide who wins.) What makes the show worth watching are some old-fashioned character relationships; no single performance tears up the place, but together they make something interesting. …
The Washington Post says:
… Fetched far and already limping if not quite lame …
The Chicago Tribune says:
… The attempt to address so many intriguing spiritual and moral issues is admirable, but to stick with the show, we have to invest in Eli and the people in his world — whether he's a visionary, a sick man or just kind of weird. "Eli Stone" is not quite there yet; the characters are pretty thinly drawn in the first few episodes, and the law cases seem heavily tilted toward the "little guy" side. But even without George Michael's prompting, I've got faith that the show could deepen and become addictive, given that co-creators Marc Guggenheim and Greg Berlanti have heartfelt character dramas such as "Everwood" and "Brothers & Sisters" in their background. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… There are plenty of these fantastical, quirky scenes in "Eli Stone," where song-and-dance numbers spontaneously generate, then stop, leaving Eli looking like a deranged fool, much the way that Ally McBeal looked during her long, popular run. But is that a good thing or a bad thing? And when does cloying become annoying? … engaging and compelling and different, though not without some considerable flaws. In "Eli Stone," Berlanti benefits from great casting, strong acting and mostly inspired writing. Just when you think the show is going to be stupid, the writing stands up, managing to be both funny and moving. When the writing falters - it has a love affair with sentimentality and easily plucked heartstrings - the actors step up and save the scene. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
… not innovative TV, but it effectively entertains in tonight's premiere … Still, "Eli Stone" risks becoming a prisoner of its own formula if it hews too closely to its procedural elements and doesn't do more to explore the notion, as posited by Dr. Chen, that Eli may be a prophet of some sort. Only by embracing its more offbeat attributes will this "Stone" roll on.
The Portland Oregonian says:
… "Eli" falls short, not just of the sky-high achievements of "Lost," but also of the vaguely similar "Pushing Daisies" (also on ABC) and Fox's short-lived "Wonderfalls" from a few years back. …
The Boston Herald says:
… The production values are high and a sequence re-creating the famous biplane chase from “North by Northwest” in an upcoming episode is clever. But “Eli Stone” isn’t “Boston Legal.” The casework is shoddy, baffling and detracts from the character interplay. Why would Eli’s higher-ups keep him on after his first case in which he went against them? I’m afraid the viewing jury at home will rule canceled by reason of insanity - or delusions of grandeur. …
The Boston Globe says:
… ultimately feels so unoriginal. Despite a good cast led by Jonny Lee Miller as Eli, and despite the happy San Francisco setting, "Eli Stone" is a bag of too-familiar tricks. All the hallucinogenic quirkiness - flashes of dancing lawyers and low-flying prop planes - is tired and tiring. After tonight's decent-enough premiere, the series falls into the sort of self-conscious surrealism (a dying man singing "Good Lovin' ") and absurdist, button-pushing legal battles (suing the Catholic Church to contest an annulment) that "Ally McBeal" did to death. …
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… With "Eli Stone," Greg Berlanti's Midas touch -- he already has two other shows on ABC, "Brothers & Sisters" and "Dirty Sexy Money" -- is very much in evidence. His new series is more quietly manipulative and less dramatically satisfying than the others, and yet Berlanti and co-writer Marc Guggenheim have no trouble creating enough moments to propel the series straight to viewers' hearts. …
Variety says:
"Eli Stone," it turns out, is 2008-speak for "Ally McBeal," which represents both a good and bad thing. The ABC series -- whose protagonist is either a modern-day prophet or suffering the hallucinatory effects of a brain aneurysm -- indulges in amusing flights of fancy, segueing from a dancing baby to dancing lawyers. Those quirks, however, can be a little too precious at times, and the show wraps this life-changing scenario in a conventional legal franchise that feels more like a throwback than a leap forward -- as if cribbed from David E. Kelley's well-worn yellow notebook. … At least initially, though, "Eli Stone" doesn't pursue its premise with the kind of gusto its hero is counseled to apply to his life, which is enough to make you wish those responsible for the show had a little more faith of their own. …
10 p.m. Thursday. ABC.
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