I am – Hercules!!
A drama from writer-producer David Maples (“Rugrats,” “Teacher’s Pet,” “Huff”), “In Plain Sight” follows Albuquerque-based U.S. marshal Mary Shannon, assigned to the witness-protection program. The show stars beautiful Mary McCormack, who first made an impression with Stephen Bochco’s superb but short-lived “Murder One,” then became Howard Stern’s wife Alison in “Private Parts” before morphing into NSA official Kate Harper on the non-Sorkin seasons of “The West Wing.” USA Today gives "Sight" two stars (out of four) and says:

… It's a formula, but it's one that is fairly well-suited to viewers' summer desires. And as long as Sight sticks to the workplace, the formula pretty much works. …

Entertainment Weekly gives it an “B” and says:

… Director Mark Piznarski knows how to lay a series' groundwork, a talent he's proved by helming the pilots of shows ranging from Everwood to Veronica Mars to Gossip Girl. …

TV Guide says:

Mary Shannon is my favorite type of TV hero: funny, sexy, smart and smart-mouthed. As played to the sardonic hilt by Mary McCormack (The West Wing), she’s impatient with authority, as scrappy and tough as you’d expect from a U.S. Marshal assigned to the top-secret witness protection program, yet soft when it matters. Jim Rockford would have adored her. … When she goes home, though, Sight stumbles, introducing a wayward sister (Nichole Hiltz) with dangerous baggage and an infantile mom (Lesley Ann Warren) who should be put in witless protection. The show is entertaining enough on the job that it doesn’t need so-called comic relief. …

The New York Times says:

… one of the worst pilots in cable television history, a near fatal combination of cliché and overkill. … Fortunately the episodes that follow are less desperate to please, and leave room for better-wrought plots and talented guest stars to tell a story. “In Plain Sight” has hidden promise.

The Los Angeles Times says:

… Sunday's long pilot is somewhat overworked and overwritten, with a surfeit of likely suspects -- including bickering wiseguy types I'd hoped not to see for a while after "The Sopranos" cut to black -- cluttering up an already confused and finally tiring mystery. … Later episodes, however, trim the weeds and turn down the gas, and by Episode 4 -- a desert stand-off scenario featuring comedian Dave Foley as a mouthy prisoner -- it is clicking quite nicely. …

The Washington Post says:

… "In Plain Sight" would amount to very little without an actress of McCormack's talent and temperament in the central role. She has Shannon down pat from Moment One, not that, in her hands, there's anything pat about her.

The Chicago Tribune says:

… a rare misstep on the part of USA Network … another attempt at mixing the jokey and the serious within a loose procedural format. But "Sight's" writing is distressingly predictable, and McCormack's character is the least interesting thing about the show. …

The San Francisco Chronicle says:

… It's mediocre. … Unfortunately, both McCormack's character, Mary Shannon, and "In Plain Sight" itself are unoriginal copies of so many other characters and shows that it's hard to remain interested for 20 minutes, much less 76. And it's a real shame, too, because McCormack, given better writing, could really bring life to a hard-nosed workaholic U.S. marshal. …

The Salt Lake Tribune says:

… feels forced, its portrayals too broad. … If the crime cases that Mary takes seem interesting, it's because whenever the show cuts to her family's domestic squabbling, it devolves into a complete bore. …

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

… opportunity for lighter moments, coupled with the complicated nature of Mary's character, makes "In Plain Sight" a little less vanilla. …

The Boston Globe says:

… could double as a handy guide to cop-drama mediocrity. … does precisely what a TV drama ought to do if it's aiming to be bad, but not bad enough to be scorned as completely awful. With supporting characters ranging from the dully vacant to the self-consciously quirky, and with crime plots that are as engaging as a game of Go Fish, "In Plain Sight" inspires mid-level irritation, mild disinterest, passing disappointment. …

Variety says:

… feels stale and nondescript, while falling short in the combination of drama and whimsy that ignited USA's "Burn Notice." Mary McCormack is equally unimpressive as the flawed, narration-heavy lead, and if "Sight" pulls its own disappearing act, given the evidence, the investigation should be brief.…

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… The pilot has its problems. McCormack's Shannon has more testosterone than a Marine platoon and her partner gets lost in her shadow. Fortunately, the excesses also were obvious to others, as well. In subsequent episodes, McCormack dials back her character, Weller gets more to do and the series gets more watchable. Apart from its New Mexico setting and its witness protection angle, little stands out here. Stories are less than suspenseful and characters are mainly two-dimensional. On the other hand, McCormack's kickass performance is a pretty good alternative to network reruns or mind-numbing reality slop. …

10 p.m. Sunday. USA.

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