PILOT REVIEW: Save Me

SAVE ME

Starring: Anne Heche, Michael Landes, Alexandra Breckenridge, Madison Davenport, Heather Burns

Created by John Scott Shepherd
Written by John Scott Shepherd, Directed by Scott Winant

Save Me is a new sitcom about alcoholic Beth Harper (Anne Heche) who nearly chokes on a sandwich during a drunken night. When she lives, she suddenly seems to have a direct connection to God and sets about changing her life for the better. That means reconnecting with her estranged husband Tom (Michael Landes) and rebellious teen daughter Emily (Madison Davenport). Also in the main cast is her husband's mistress Carly (Alexandra Breckenridge) and an estranged friend Jenna (Heather Burns).

THE GOOD: I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed Save Me. It won't become appointment viewing for me but it was better than I thought it would be. Anne Heche is interesting and enjoyable in the lead role and manages to carry a bizarre concept pretty well. The supporting cast is solid and there were some funny moments in the pilot including the relationship between Heche and her on screen daughter Madison Davenport. The concept, while strange, is something different for a network sitcom so that counts for something.

THE BAD: Even though I applaud it for its unique premise, I have a little bit of a hard time getting past it. It's just such an odd concept and I think it might start to wear thin quickly. There were also some pretty cliche moments such as a honking truck covering up a swear word, which has been done countless times in sitcoms. The ending of the pilot also was a little crazy, the whole show has a Desperate Housewives feel which might be appealing to some, but that's not appealing to me.

BOTTOM LINE: NBC ordered this show early last year and it seemed to be one of their early priorities but then it wasn't on the fall schedule and never made it to midseason which shows that they soured on the premise. I can imagine that's because the unique premise doesn't hold up over multiple episodes (though I did watch the second episode that aired last night too and was surprised by it as well). Despite me being somewhat surprised by the show, I don't think it would have been a hit for NBC and probably would have just added to their list of cancelled freshmen sitcoms.