Undercovers Season 1 (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

It's a bit ironic to start a thread on a show I don't plan on watching...

 

I watched the premiere of "Undercovers", J.J.Abrams new show, last night. As my wife describes it, it's Hart to Hart meets Alias: sexy married spies making cute while doing exciting espionage around the world.

 

It's enjoyable. The leads are attractive and charismatic. The action is fun, the patter smart and sassy. The locales are varied. The supporting characters suffer from being one-dimensionally annoying, but there's room to grow.

 

The weakness, for me, was it simply didn't give me anything new or exciting to be worth following regularly. As an action show, it suffers from having the action being interrupted by meet-cute moments between the married couple and not being a filled with skilled fight-actors. As a character drama, it wastes a lot of time on spy stuff that are necessary process for an Alias but interrupt a more Felicity-type show. And as a mythology show...where there is nothing.

 

Except...it seems the creators noticed something was missing. The one hour pilot gave an adequate introduction, suggesting a procedural spy-action show with no over-arching story that requires watching every week. So in the middle is a throwaway scene, I think crudely done quickly with obviously low-budget rear-project car-driving scene, of their handler saying, 'they know nothing about their true purpose'. It feels bolted on, not fitting the show

 

Maybe they finished the show and realized they forgot to actually have the show be what it's about. Or meant for the super story to evolve organically over the season, but found test-audiences need something up front to stay interested. I don't know. It didn't work for me.

 

So I'm not watching this show this season. It's a good show, but I don't have time for good shows when there's enough great shows to watch instead.

 

But if it turns out this is in fact the must-see show, that the plot evolves to something incredible, I pick it up in reruns and watch live next season.

 

[mattCR]

I tend to agree. The problem was the action was so formula it wasn't very exciting, and the drama element just didn't work. I'm not sure whether it's a serious drama or a semi-comedy(?) Because you've got offbeat moments that seem like they should be funny (the handler eating in his boxer shorts; the back and forth over who dated who, etc.) but it just came across as forced.


Which is too bad, because the cast seems pretty good.. just the material they have isn't very good.
 

Compare to "Nikkita" Questionable cast on that show, but at least the action sequences are interesting.

 

[DaveF]

I almost turned it off when they used an infinite resolution ATM camera in the first half hour.

 

I felt that forced aspect with the dialog: it felt like the writers were trying to just a bit too hard to be witty and hip at times.

 

[Citizen87645]

All I have to say is the spy couple is HAWT!!!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yes, I think Gugu Mbatha-Raw is probably one of the most attractive actresses I've seen in recent memory. I don't think this show is going to make it so I'll watch whatever episodes that make it on the air just to see her.

 

 

 

 

 

Crawdaddy

 

[Citizen87645]

The woman who plays her sister ain't half bad either.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Okay, this thread is a little late, though I did have it programmed to record on my DVR, I finally watched the series pilot. Basically, 2 former spies who are married to one another, but never worked together in the past have now been paired up and put back into service. The 2 lead actors have oddly looking names (Boris Kodjoe and Gug Mbath-Raw), but they are very pretty people, and have nice chemistry on-screen. The episode was a little too cutesy with the aftermath of violent encounters, and it could get a bit flirty and not be hard-hitting spy drama. It'll probably be low-priority viewing for me if I get around to the episodes this season.

 

Airs on NBC on Wednesday at 8 p.m. EDT. From the fertile espionage-minded JJ Abrams.

 

[AlexF]

My impression is that it was kinda intended to be a light version of the classic spy thing, kinda sorta like the Mr. & Mrs. Smith movie with Bradgelina. From the bits and pieces of the pilot I saw, that's pretty much how it played out.

 

[Walter C]

I caught part of the Pilot when it came on USA, and as Dave said, a cross between Hart to Hart and Alias. Looks like a fun show to watch. Hopefully, I will watch the entire thing when I get around to it this week.

 

Also, it does seem like the return to the 70's and 80's one-hour shows, in terms of the shows that have come out the last couple years.

 

[Simon Massey]

For me it felt far too much like Alias albeit with a nice chemistry between the leads,

May give it a couple of shows to see how it goes

 

[Walter C]

I watched the first 2 episodes, and thought both of them were fun to watch. It definitely feels more like a show that I would watch on USA, along the lines of Burn Notice, Covert Affairs, and White Collar.


I didn't mind the Hoyt character or "Rick Simon" himself. But that agent that slept with Sam Bloom, just seems very out of place and annoying.


I hope USA picks this up, should it struggle on NBC.

 

[Nick Martin]

Trivia: The conductor of the orchestra in tonight's episode was longtime JJ Abrams collaborator and recent Oscar-winner Michael Giacchino.

 

[mattCR]

Based on the thread traffic, this should be no surprise: cancelled. Last episode airs Dec. 1

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by mattCR

Based on the thread traffic, this should be no surprise: cancelled. Last episode airs Dec. 1

I expected this result even though I watched every episode. It actually makes it easier for me to just watch Human Target in that timeslot.

 

[mattCR]

They have announced that the show ends at #13... and that episode ends in a cliffhanger.


http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2010/11/undercovers-cancelation-ep-josh-reims-im-really-proud-of-the-show.html

While only the next three episodes have airdates so far, Reims tells us that fans will enjoy how the series wraps up its run. "I think the episodes are getting stronger every week," he says. "And I'm sorry we have to stop at 13, because we had so many more stories to tell with these people. Not to mention we have a great mythology arc that runs from Nov. 13 and ends with a cliffhanger."

So, for those that don't want to get involved in a show they know will end with an unresolved cliffhanger, now is the time to bail.

 

[Steve Meil]

This show is just horrible- I got to the third episode before I turned it off for good. The acting and writing is just as bad. It seemes like a bad version of Alias without all the charm.I am glad its canceled