The is how reminds me of a couple of the '90s syndicated series like "Sinbad: The Seven Seas" and "Young Indiana Jones Chronicles." Kid-friendly adventure series with a bombastic score and cheesy special effects.
Times have changed though and TV has grown in leaps and bounds. Next to the output of J.J. Abrahams and Joss Wheedon, the show's attempts at building some grand mythology is so vague ("we must recover 'the magic'") it's kind of laughable.
It's nice to see Rebecca Romijn doing something different on TV and it's nice to see Noah Wyle on TV at all, and Cassie (the frazzled redhead) is the kind of character I tend to fall in love with on screen (see Emma on Glee). but the characters are all a little flat. The jewel thief is a one-note antagonist in someone else's movie, not someone who has as much screen time as this guy has, though I do give the show points for combining their token Asian and token Brit into one character.
The above two paragraphs, however, are written with my head. On paper, this show doesn't cut it against so much great programming that's on TV right now. However, I do find it watchable and am continuing to watch it, 3 episodes in.
It's definitely a show that knows what it is (a bit cheeky, tenuous grasp on reality, stock kid-friendly characters that act rather predictably) and runs with it. If it's cartoonish, that's because it's made in the style of Sunday morning cartoons. Coming at the show on its own terms will definitely help you enjoy this.
Times have changed though and TV has grown in leaps and bounds. Next to the output of J.J. Abrahams and Joss Wheedon, the show's attempts at building some grand mythology is so vague ("we must recover 'the magic'") it's kind of laughable.
It's nice to see Rebecca Romijn doing something different on TV and it's nice to see Noah Wyle on TV at all, and Cassie (the frazzled redhead) is the kind of character I tend to fall in love with on screen (see Emma on Glee). but the characters are all a little flat. The jewel thief is a one-note antagonist in someone else's movie, not someone who has as much screen time as this guy has, though I do give the show points for combining their token Asian and token Brit into one character.
The above two paragraphs, however, are written with my head. On paper, this show doesn't cut it against so much great programming that's on TV right now. However, I do find it watchable and am continuing to watch it, 3 episodes in.
It's definitely a show that knows what it is (a bit cheeky, tenuous grasp on reality, stock kid-friendly characters that act rather predictably) and runs with it. If it's cartoonish, that's because it's made in the style of Sunday morning cartoons. Coming at the show on its own terms will definitely help you enjoy this.