The pilot for Jean-Claude Van Johnson was a hilarious mix of spy movie and Hollywood satire, and I was really excited to learn the series had been picked up. Until I watched it.
The premise is actor Jean-Claude Van Damme is also a real-life spy. In the pilot, this premise was used to send up Hollywood and celebrity, as well as spy movies, but the rest of the series plays it much straighter. Yes, it's still got a silly plot and some goofy moments, but it's all played pretty straight and the Hollywood-parody stuff shows up less and less with each episode.
By the end this is a pretty straightforward, and not very good, spy movie. But because it started as a comedy, it still uses a lot of ridiculous comedic ideas, which ultimately just makes it seem really stupid.
How did it all go so wrong? Perhaps because the show's creator, Dave Callaham, who wrote the pilot, only wrote one other episode (which was more comedic than most of the rest of the series). Some series just need to all be written by their creator (i.e. Gilmore Girls).
Anyway, definitely watch the pilot but don't bother with the rest of the season.
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