ONE SEASON WONDERS: Charlie Grace

CHARLIE GRACE

Programming Details:
September 14, 1995 - October 19, 1995
6 episodes
ABC

Starring: Mark Harmon, Cindy Katz, Leelee Sobieski and Robert Costanzo
Created by: Robert Singer

Plot: Charlie Grace (Harmon) is a former Los Angeles police officer who was kicked off the force for busting his fellow officers. Now divorced, he has opened a private investigation business while also taking care of his daughter, Jenny (Sobieski). Rounding out the main cast is lawyer Leslie Loeb (Katz) and a police officer who remains a rival, Artie Crawford (Costanzo).

Brief Pilot Review:
Before he began his long, long run on a different crime procedural, NCIS, Mark Harmon tried his hand at a PI drama. Charlie Grace is a really gentle version of a procedural despite a few fight and action scenes. The dialogue moves slow and the plotting is predictable so it feels like it goes on and on. That being said, the narration from Charlie at points in the episode feels a little bit old hat now but I don't think was as common back then and Harmon delivers them well. He actually delivers the voiceovers better than his lines in the pilot. Leelee Sobieski of course went on to bigger things as well but is not given a lot to do as the 12 year old daughter. 

For being a PI drama set in Los Angeles, it doesn't have the slickness that PI dramas so often do and it seems like it is by choice. This show wanted to be something more than that, it wanted to be a rich character drama especially with it exploring so many of Charlie's familial and professional relationships. But it doesn't succeed because it just feels too boring. It need to either be rich in character development or sleek in production and Charlie Grace was neither of those so nothing really works.

What Went Wrong:

In the mid 1990s, any show on Thursday nights not on NBC had a tough road ahead of it because NBC was dominating from start to finish. In addition to dealing with NBC, Charlie Grace had the added trouble of CBS moving Murder, She Wrote from its longtime Sunday home to 8pm on Thursday and there was probably more crossover there even then the second season of the behemoth Friends. The difficult (perhaps impossible?) timeslot meant it never really had a chance but it didn't even show signs of life. Critical reaction was muted at best and everyone pretty much realized it was a sacrificial lamb. It hardly seemed worth getting invested when it surely was one of the "most likely to be cancelled" shows before it even premiered.

ABC made a very bold (and perhaps foolish in retrospect) move in the Fall of 1995 by trying to launch three new dramas on the night. Charlie Grace kicked things off at 8pm followed by soapy family drama The Monroes at 9pm and the high profile Murder One at 10pm. With Murder One getting a late start, the trio of dramas aired just once together as Charlie was off the lineup after October 19 and never heard from again. Before Harmon started his insanely long and successful run on NCIS, he was in the cast of Chicago Hope and had a well received arc on The West Wing. Creator Robert Singer became involved with a long running drama as well in Supernatural. Leelee Sobieski found success in films before retiring from acting at an early age in 2012.

Tomorrow: A recap of my Bewitched Episode Guide!

Next Wednesday: A look at 2000s flop Welcome to New York!