Network: ABC; Genre: Family Drama; Content Rating: TV-PG (for language and adult situations); Classification: contemporary (Star range: 1 - 4);
Season Reviewed: series/Season 1
The summer of 2004 was a pretty good one. Prompted by the success of premium cable and the clearly archaic sweeps calendar (see 'Quintuplets' for more commentary on this new scheduling) this summer brought us a host of new shows and new episodes. Unlike past seasons this made the case that the summer wasn't going to be a dumping ground for reality series and burn-off shows (sorry Drew Carey, ABC screwed you). 'The Days' rolls out for an all-to-short 6-episode run with a smashing opening sequence, a title of triple metaphors, a downright lovable ensemble cast and the simple fact that it is a good old fashion genera-bending domestic drama. From it's cop-drama camera work and touchy subject matter (the finale finds young Natalie in an abortion clinic) it's certainly a force to reckon with.
We follow - wouldn't you know it - the Day family as they each encounter one cataclysmic disaster after another, all crammed in the course of 24 hours. Imagine if David E. Kelley was writing for '7th Heaven' and you'll get close to the show's mix of humor and melodrama, off-the-wall absurdity and stark realism. We've got father Jack (David Newson) in something of a mid-life crisis after quitting his job and being reduced to walking around eating all day, mother Abby (Marguerite MacIntyre) now pregnant and supporting the family and dealing with ex and "what-if" guy moving in at work, and kids Natalie (Laura Ramsey) who in a twist is dealing with a pregnancy of her own and the associated high school stigma, young genius Nathan (Zach Mauer) and Cooper (Evan Peters), our narrator and classic loner who winds up with the school hottie (unbelievably) without raising an eye-brow and (even more unbelievably) struggles to keep his creative integrity with her. The cast is solid with David Newsom and Laura Ramsey standing out as magnificent.
But, confound it, at the script level, 'Days' doesn't do it's lofty aspirations justice. Creator John Scott Shepard is trying way to hard to impress for his first series outing. The show clunks along in the pacing department and builds the stories around some bizarre stuff - such as an American school where the high-status sport is soccer or MacIntyre's plot-line which is like something out of 'Ally McBeal'. And far to often the show sinks into melodrama in which the characters do a lot of crying but the director can't quite find the right emotional beat to bring us with them.
The weakest element, I think, is the Cooper character. Peters does a fine job portraying the artistic, cynical teen, but the character is as interesting as a freshly painted wall. We've seen this tortured teen angst act before. And, yes, Cooper does speak with the accurate realism of a kid who seeks to question and explain the greater things in life despite his limited experience, but for the show to use his teenage quasi-existentialism as it's narration is questionable. I'm sure it seemed original in the writer's room and given time I might respect the base novelty of it , but right now it just makes the show itself sound somewhat... embarrassing.
I absolutely love what 'Days' is trying to do and lightly recommend it for those who don't mind their TV absurd. It will be hated by the young 'O.C.' crowd who, by the way, don't seem to have been schooled on 'Boston Public', 'Nip/Tuck', 'Everwood', 'Third Watch' and every other network show that has depicted a (major) character having an abortion. It is a welcome middle-ground between the insanity of most dysfunctional family shows and the tedium of sappy, good-natured faith-based family dramas - not quite fitting into either mold which is a big selling point. Shepard's series is undeniably on shaky footing, but it shows promise and more than that has an unexplainable "something" that makes me love it like a smelly, disgusting wet dog you'd bring in out of the rain. We could be seeing the beginnings of a new cult underdog series.
After a limited 6-episode run it's fate is up in the air as of this writing. We won't know how good dramas like this really are until we've seen them put their characters through a few more harrowing paces and really get some mileage out of them. Imagine all that could happen to the Days and the infinite ways they - and the show - can evolve. 'Days' has the makings of something truly fun. It scrapes and crawls into the likable column because of it's cast, ambition and rich potential. The chemistry is the thing here and despite it's mountain of many tiny flaws, I'd come back for more and would be excited to do so. It just shows what having good characters will make you put up with.
* * ½
