Saturday, September 25, 2010

PILOT REVIEW: The Whole Truth

THE WHOLE TRUTH










Starring: Rob Morrow, Maura Tierney, Eamonn Walker, Anthony Ruivivar, Sean Wing, Christine Adams
Created by Tom Donaghy
Written by Tom Donaghy, Directed by Alex Graves

The Whole Truth is a new legal drama from Jerry Bruckheimer's company that devotes equal time to the prosecution and defense. Assuming the set up is the same every week, it begins with an arrest and arraignment and then follows each side's preparation and then the trial and verdict. At the end of the episode, we find out through some way if the jury made the right call. The defense team is led by Jimmy Brogan (Rob Morrow) and the prosecution is led by Kathryn Peale (Maura Tierney). Adding to the dynamics is the fact that Brogan and Peale are old friends from law school. The rest of the ensemble make up the two teams.

There is nothing unique or new about The Whole Truth even with its double-sided view. The show attempts to display both sides but ends up nearly having a split personality with two many cuts back and forth, particularly in the beginning. Morrow and Tierney are serviceable in their roles but the writing is not strong enough to make a compelling legal drama. The trial scene was solid but again it was nothing we haven't seen on Law & Order or any other legal show in the last 20 years. The show is also not very visually appealing and looks cheaper than some of the other new dramas this fall. There was also one too many contrived plot points - the daughter testifying, the cancer-stricken wife dying, it was all too easy to predict.

Considering how poorly it debuted on Wednesday night on ABC, don't expect The Whole Truth to be around long. And it shouldn't be. There's nothing mind-blowingly awful about it, it's just not very good. The "gimmick" of this show (going back and forth) falls flat. I wouldn't hold my breath for better episodes in the future. The particular case they had in the pilot was ok, and that's what I would expect in the future. It's not worth your time.

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