I am – Hercules!!
A bland Canadian “Dead Zone” knock-off from writer-producer Michael Amo, “The Listener” follows a Toronto paramedic who secretly uses telepathy and clairvoyance to fight crime. The resulting show is undistinguished, leaden and pedestrian, especially considering it’s about a guy with superpowers. “24” vet Colm Feore plays Toby the Listener’s mentor and confident, so not all the acting is bad, but lead Craig Olejnik is both pretty and pretty stiff, and the same can be said for Lisa Marcos, who plays his gorgeous cop adversary. A piece of me wonders if NBC picked it up to make Matt Parkman and “Heroes” look a lot better by comparison (which it does). You’re advised to switch over to sister channel USA for the far more entertaining “Royal Pains.” Entertainment Weekly gives it an “C-minus” and says:

Finally, a convincing reason to move Jay Leno to 10 p.m. … This guy Toby the Listener wouldn't even qualify for NBC's Legion of Substitute Heroes.

USA Today says:

… even if The Listener were the only choice, this half-baked Canadian import still wouldn't be worth choosing. Badly acted and cheaply made …

The New York Times says:

… a ponderous exercise in the paranormal. … feels like late-night cable for an insomniac …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… It's a promising enough premise, if a bit silly, but it gets very muddy, very fast. …

The Chicago Sun-Times says:

… It's getting a little old, isn't it? …

The Washington Post says:

"The Listener" lists, and finally tips over. Except for some appealing qualities in its young star, Craig Olejnik, the new NBC series premiering tonight is just another loopy downer … Near the hour's end, Toby laments of his gift that "all my life I told myself . . . 'Make it go away,' " and many a viewer will be wishing the same thing for the series.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

… lacks any of the requisite elements -- the charm of "The Mentalist," the characters of "CSI," the twisty stories of "Law & Order" -- that encourage viewers to come back for more. … That's the thing with procedurals: They must have a hook that's rooted in something more than a gimmick (e.g., telepathy); even some minor but noteworthy character elements would help. But "The Listener" is tone deaf to that need.

The Boston Herald says:

NBC gives us another excuse to close our borders: the Canadian import “The Listener,” a dumb drama that stretches a squib of a story across an hour. … When the mystery is finally explained, you’ll be left wondering - if you haven’t found the energy to hit the remote - why so many people would behave so stupidly. …

The Boston Globe says:

… a show so stunningly derivative that it feels a little bit insulting: They really think we have the bandwidth for another one of these? …

Variety says:

There's nothing wrong with U.S. networks picking up the occasional Canadian import, but to have a chance at working, such a show can't be as bland and colorless as "The Listener" … …

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… a serviceable supernatural drama with legitimate narrative potential that's undercut by its visually bland presentation and geographically nonspecific execution. … the kind of stock procedural that can only be described with such words as "solid" and "workable," and it can't really be liked or disliked. It's anywhere and nowhere.

9 p.m. Thursday. NBC.

Galactica: The Complete Series

Galactica: The Complete Series (Blu-ray)