Hankering for a bad sitcom masquerading as an idiotic procedural?
The terrible “Mysteries of Laura” is the latest creation of writer-producer Jeff Rake, who earlier created 2002’s short-lived “The $treet” and 2004’s short-lived “Miss Match” and wrote six episodes of 2013’s short-lived “The Tomorrow People.”
It stars Debra Messing (“Will & Grace,” “Smash”) as a single mom who solves a homicide every week.
It’s way worse than it sounds.
And of course something this awful had to be overseen by talent-challenged pretty-boy writer-producer Greg Berlanti, longtime “Dawson’s Creek” showrunner, writer of the “Green Lantern” movie, and creator of such craptastic one-season wonders as “Jack & Bobby,” “No Ordinary Family,” “Political Animals” and “The Tomorrow People.” (To be fair, Berlanti also co-created “Arrow,” which will probably run 11 seasons – but whose ratings would have gotten it booted after 11 episodes were it broadcast on any network but The CW.)
... Yes, Mysteries of Laura, you can have it all! You can be a terrible cop show and a terrible parenting show. You can be a ridiculous drama and an unfunny comedy. You can try to glom on to the legitimate problems of working mothers yet insult them, and your audience in general, in the process. …
... In a fall season with a lot of mediocre shows (plus some with the potential to be good), here's one of the few truly awful ones …
... What a big mess, and what a disappointing waste of Debra Messing …
... The ingredients here need time to jell, and the writing needs to move beyond generic glop and take advantage of Ms. Messing’s full range of talents. …
... none of it is funny enough to compensate for its complete conflict with any semblance of crime investigation. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
Still clamoring for “Matlock”? How about “The Father Dowling Mysteries”? NBC’s new lighter-than-air cop dramedy “The Mysteries of Laura” brings to mind those late 1980s, early 1990s stalwarts. Viewers who come to TV for smart, serious, sophisticated fare will likely hate this show while viewers just looking for something innocuous and entertaining will be more forgiving.
... somewhat violent and tepidly convoluted …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
... a pleasant and generally enjoyable show that doesn’t overtax the brain. In other words, standard fare for broadcast television. …
... The resolution to the crime is the most ridiculous, cliched answer to any TV crime ever, one that makes Laura look stupid when you think about it. …
... Am I Hooked? Sadly, no. … the home-life stuff, especially the misbehavior of the kids, is tough to take. …
... Having survived all the snark about scarves (and Leo!) during her troubled tenure on Smash, Debra Messing now presides over NBC's annoyingly cutesy fallen soufflé The Mysteries of Laura like a self-deprecating good sport once again saddled with unfortunate material. … This is the kind of show Will and Grace would have turned off before the first commercial break. …
... Your breaking point may differ, but mine came somewhere between the time the twin boys urinate on each other in public and when they knock hot coffee onto a woman without being asked to apologize. …
... the riddle that goes unsolved is why anybody who watches the first hour should be inspired to return for another. …
... In this case, nobody had the guts to say, "This is a terrible script. It should be completely rewritten by someone who can write." Nor did they say, later, "We just pissed away millions of dollars on this crappy pilot. Can we just agree that we've made a horrible mistake, not pick this up and pretend it never happened?" …
10 p.m. Wednesday. NBC.
