I am – Hercules!!


A drama from screenwriter Mark Friedman (the 2006 Sam Jackson-Jessica Biel soldier drama “Home of the Brave”), “The Forgotten” follows a former cop who, haunted by the abduction of his daughter, leads citizen volunteers who work to identify murder victims the cops have given up on.

It’s hard to know what attracted ABC to the pilot since its script is undistinguished and its leads were recast over the summer; Christian Slater (“My Own Worst Enemy”) now plays the franchise’s central character. Maybe it was just the name of uberproducer Jerry Bruckheimer.

USA Today says:

… to the extent the show has tonal problems, those can be tweaked. You have good actors working for a proven producer in a proven format. That may not guarantee you a great show, but it could bring you a sturdy piece of weekly entertainment. …

The New York Times says:

… in every way a generic Bruckheimer procedural. Its look and pace closely resemble those of “Without a Trace”; it puts its dead victims on screen to observe the action, a device borrowed from “Cold Case”; and it has the stilted, overexplanatory dialogue that somehow characterizes every series in the Bruckheimer canon, regardless of show runner or writers. … may not be distinctive enough to catch on, but fans of Mr. Slater can hope that the show’s writers give him something to play besides the melancholy renegade in future episodes.

The Los Angeles Times says:

… there are so many things wrong with "The Forgotten" that it's hard to know where to begin. … In between a regrettable "The Lovely Bones"-like voice-over from the victim, dialogue that is laughably self-important ("This is where it ended for her, and where it begins for us," Donovan intones at one point) and ghostly glimpses of the dead, an only barely believable murder mystery emerges.

The San Francisco Chronicle says:

… goes well beyond familiar as it takes obvious to new levels and hammers home every missing-person and investigative trope you can think up. TV viewers don't deserve to be condescended to in this manner. And there's also the issue of the dead providing the voice-overs. Not a great idea. Not as unfortunate as the show's title, however, which should describe the fate of this series in the fall onslaught all too well.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

… just another run-of-the-mill crime procedural. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Newark Star Ledger says:

… Slater actually does some interesting work as Alex — he’s jittery and more desperate than he was on last year’s NBC flop "My Own Worst Enemy," offering the edge he had in his early career work without the annoying Jack Nicholson impression that came with it — but he’s hamstrung by corny dialogue, as well as a hoaky device that has each episode narrated, in non-specific fashion, by the murder victim in question. …

The Boston Herald says:

… The worst new series of fall, ABC’s “The Forgotten” calls to mind a TV show that was conceived on toilet paper, sold to drunken network executives and brought to the small screen by felons working off their court-imposed community service. …

The Boston Globe says:

… I liked this show, more or less, not least of all because the investigators - they call themselves “The Forgotten Network’’ - aren’t especially angst-ridden. There’s something mildly cheerful about them, perhaps because they are all choosing this work rather than fulfilling their professional duties. … if you’re not a fan of procedurals, “The Forgotten’’ won’t change your mind. But there’s plenty here to satisfy those of us who definitely are.

Variety says:

… while the pilot is a polished enough product, the term "product" clearly applies. In that respect, "The Forgotten" might hang around for awhile -- but the show proves utterly forgettable.

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… Slater has TV charisma, and the rest of the cast is energetic and earnest. But even if you put the reasoning part of your brain on autopilot, you still can't avoid the sloppy melodrama that washes over this show like an oil spill on a coastline. …

10 p.m. Tuesday. ABC.