Network: Fox; Genre: Crime/Mystery; Content Rating: TV-PG (some violence); Perspective: contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);
Seasons Reviewed: Series (1 season)
After months of delays and promising promos, Fox's latest crime series "New Amterdam" sneaks out onto the schedule during the 2008 writer's strike. And now we know what the hold up was. The high concept series is a total bore.
The premise is a juicy one. John Amsterdam (Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau) is a New York cop who happens not to be able to die. Several hundred years ago a voodoo curse was put on him, the rules of which stipulated that he would not grow old or die until he found his soul mate and their souls were wed. In the pilot episode, Amsterdam has a heart attack on the subway amongst a crowd of people and nearly dies. Now the hunt is on for the woman who made him mortal, all the while solving the crime-of-the-week while we get flashbacks of Amsterdam at various stages of his life through the centuries. A potentially cool crime premise, feminized so that our hero is looking for a soul mate and reminiscing about his past loves and betrayals.
The show has no teeth, no personality. The mysteries are blah, Coaster-Waldau is even more bland than Kevin McKidd in "Journeyman". It looks like a mandate went out to the networks that people might want something more than the usual crime series, there has to be a hook, something interesting to reel people in and - bang - hit them with the same recycled, by-the-numbers mystery they love. In the hands of Bryan Fuller this might have been something, but Fox's assembly line drama trips over itself at the sound of the starter pistol.
What I dislike most about "New Amsterdam" is that it inspires nothing more in me than something a pretentious high school newspaper play critic might say. The lead is wooden and lifeless. The story is amateurishly executed. The production would serve as a replacement for Ambien. It pains to me write that as much as it pains you to read it. But that kind of hack work is all that "New Amsterdam" inspires.
The show doesn't explore it's two stories. Amsterdam doesn't use the fact that he's been around for decades and can't die toward solving the mysteries. If you really want to see a clever crime series with a wild concept that was actually fully explored and better tied to the murder mystery element, check out Fox's "Tru Calling". Leave "New Amsterdam" in the past where it belongs.
* / 4
Seasons Reviewed: Series (1 season)
After months of delays and promising promos, Fox's latest crime series "New Amterdam" sneaks out onto the schedule during the 2008 writer's strike. And now we know what the hold up was. The high concept series is a total bore.
The premise is a juicy one. John Amsterdam (Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau) is a New York cop who happens not to be able to die. Several hundred years ago a voodoo curse was put on him, the rules of which stipulated that he would not grow old or die until he found his soul mate and their souls were wed. In the pilot episode, Amsterdam has a heart attack on the subway amongst a crowd of people and nearly dies. Now the hunt is on for the woman who made him mortal, all the while solving the crime-of-the-week while we get flashbacks of Amsterdam at various stages of his life through the centuries. A potentially cool crime premise, feminized so that our hero is looking for a soul mate and reminiscing about his past loves and betrayals.
The show has no teeth, no personality. The mysteries are blah, Coaster-Waldau is even more bland than Kevin McKidd in "Journeyman". It looks like a mandate went out to the networks that people might want something more than the usual crime series, there has to be a hook, something interesting to reel people in and - bang - hit them with the same recycled, by-the-numbers mystery they love. In the hands of Bryan Fuller this might have been something, but Fox's assembly line drama trips over itself at the sound of the starter pistol.
What I dislike most about "New Amsterdam" is that it inspires nothing more in me than something a pretentious high school newspaper play critic might say. The lead is wooden and lifeless. The story is amateurishly executed. The production would serve as a replacement for Ambien. It pains to me write that as much as it pains you to read it. But that kind of hack work is all that "New Amsterdam" inspires.
The show doesn't explore it's two stories. Amsterdam doesn't use the fact that he's been around for decades and can't die toward solving the mysteries. If you really want to see a clever crime series with a wild concept that was actually fully explored and better tied to the murder mystery element, check out Fox's "Tru Calling". Leave "New Amsterdam" in the past where it belongs.
* / 4