Roush Review: Remakes and a Retread
Jan 17, 2011
by Matt Roush
Does no one have an original idea in TV land anymore? Judging from tonight's latest batch of mid-season offerings, it hardly appears so. Programmers have either gone to England for inspiration, rarely improving on the source material, or back to the drawing board of tried-and-true formats like the courtroom drama, resulting in an unhappy epidemic of deja view viewing.
The best of tonight's premieres is Syfy's remake of Being Human (9/8c), and even it is a pale imitation of the provocative British original. Given the relatively limited reach of BBC America, and the inexplicable reluctance in some corners to embrace anything with a European accent, I get why Syfy would snap up and adapt this fetching premise for the American audience. In terms of production and casting, though, it leaves quite a bit to be desired.
For the unacquainted, this is the story of three supernatural roommates sharing a house in working-class Boston: an immortal and broodingly Byronic vampire (Sam Witwer, who comes the closest to embodying the spirit of the thing), a mild-mannered werewolf still awkwardly adjusting to his monthly curse (Sam Huntington, whose rhythms are a bit too sitcom-like) and a female ghost (shrill Meaghan Rath) who can't leave the house in which she died under mysterious circumstances. If all of this is new to you, the appealing mix of humor and horror may very well hook you. If you've already fallen in love with the British version, as I have, this uneven carbon copy will seem wildly unnecessary. And like me, you'll just find yourself counting the days until BBC America begins airing new episodes later this year...
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