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Herc Says TRUST ME,
It’s No MAD MEN!!

Published at: Jan. 26, 2009, 10:43 p.m. CST

I am – Hercules!!
A TNT hourlong about ad execs from writer-producers Hunt Baldwin & John Coveny (“Fastlane,” “Nip/Tuck,” “The Closer”), “Trust Me” stars 45-year-old Canadians Eric McCormack (“Will & Grace”) and Tom Cavanagh (“Ed”), as well as Monica Potter (“Boston Legal”), Sarah Clarke (“24”), Tim Russ (“Star Trek: Voyager”) and Griffin Dunne (“An Amercian Werewolf In London,” “After Hours”). To demonstrate how to do this kind of show correctly, I direct you to the 23-year-old Tom Hanks vehicle “Nothing In Common,” or even to the 27-year-old Tom Hanks sitcom “Bosom Buddies.” Tom Cavanagh is no Tom Hanks. As it is, this show tries very hard to manufacture comedy and yields (at least for me) nil laughter. The show’s creators apparently have an background in advertising, but you’d never know it from watching the series; too much of it smacks of miserable sitcom contrivance. And “Trust Me” is in no danger of making anyone forget about fellow basic cable advertising drama “Mad Men,” which is the best show in production at the moment and sits at the top of my season-pass manager. “Trust Me” is not permitted anywhere near the Tivo – and if it sneaks into my suggestions menu I will skip over it like a bad commercial. Entertainment Weekly says:
… Will & Grace’s Eric McCormack and Ed’s Tom Cavanagh individually seem like nice fellows, but together, as wisecracking admen, they are well-nigh insufferable. … They squabble with sitcom-style jokes — ''I’ve been carrying you so long, I have scoliosis'' — but this is an hour-long drama trying to cross Mad Men with Aaron Sorkin-style walk-and-talk dialogue. It’s a clever concept that curdles with cutesy self-consciousness. …
USA Today says:
… Though the script is the major problem, some blame must go to Cavanagh. He is among TV most naturally likable performers, but he has become locked in a man/child persona that's showing signs of wearing thin. He plays it well, and he has wrung some interesting, darker variations on the theme. But there comes a time when enough's enough, and this one may be it.
The New York Times says:
… clever and likeable — which, incidentally, is what most commercials try to be. … Mr. Cavanagh, who was mawkishly cute in the role of a small-town lawyer on “Ed,” here is more bearable as a charmingly glib, but mostly annoying, sidekick. … Ms. Potter, who is very, very funny but also touching, is one of the best things in the show. …
The Los Angeles Times says:
… they chose the milieu to explore the creative process among a group of people with a collective-neuroses score high enough to maintain a smart and breezy comedy. Which "Trust Me" promises to be. …
The Chicago Tribune says:
… “Trust Me,” which perks along energetically but lacks emotional heft, may be one of those shows that stacks up on my TiVo, along with other shows I don’t get around to viewing. …
The Washington Post says:
… dumb, numbing soullessness. It has the emotional intricacy of a Ritz cracker. … they're a couple of goofs who jabber like parakeets and bicker like cranky codgers, a sort of summer-stock Felix and Oscar, only not funny. … Supposedly adding to the hilarity are Mike Damus and Geoffrey Arend as Tom and Hector, two smart-alecky scamps who sit around all day scoffing at co-workers and trading cracks that aren't remotely wise. Griffin Dunne, a serious actor who likes to take his roles seriously, seems out of place (more power to him) as Tony Mink, one of the confusing pyramid of bosses to whom our heroes answer.
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
After a series of solid doubles, TNT has finally smacked itself into the big leagues with its best drama to date … Right out of the gate, the series is surprisingly solid. What it ultimately becomes bears watching.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
… a not-bad/not-great series that's more interesting for the ideas it puts forth than it is entertaining. …
The San Diego Union-Tribune says:
… starts off with a blast of promise, and then it just bobs away. … doesn't settle down long enough to make us care about any of it. …
The Boston Herald says:
… “Mad Men” without the smoking. And without a whiff of the talent, the imagination or the wit. … features grownups acting like 7 year olds in Gap clothes and either speaking fast or shouting at each other, a sign of actors trying to cover for the deficiencies of the script. “Trust Me,” there’s more entertainment to be had from watching a test pattern for an hour.…
The Boston Globe says:
… No, it's not "quality cable TV" or Top 10 list material, and it's marred by lapses into character cutesiness. But still, I liked it. It's likable. …
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… isn't going to be for every taste. It is, for one thing, profoundly pessimistic and contemptuous. But it masks the darkness in a stylistic sheen of witty patter and characters who arrive at the table surprisingly fully formed. …
Variety says:
… lacks a much-needed creative spark … qualifies as an underwhelming addition to the Turner channel's portfolio …
10 p.m. Monday. TNT.

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