Review: Off ‘The Deep End’
by John P. HanlonYou may not know who Matt Long is but you might have seen the young actor in recent advertisements for his new ABC television show “The Deep End.” Long has appeared in a couple of major motion pictures including “Ghost Rider” and “Sydney White” but he will likely gain more notice for his new role on a disappointing television show that Variety.com noted is little more than a sibling show to “Grey’s Anatomy,” about lawyers instead of doctors. It is disappointing to see the engaging Matt Long is on a show like this, especially considering that he did far superior work on television several years ago on the WB program “Jack and Bobby.”
On his new show, Long plays Dylan Hewitt, a new idealistic associate at a law firm. The show revolves around a group of young lawyers finding themselves in “the deep end” of their profession as they start working full time in “the real world.” The first episode of the series showed the young characters dealing with work dilemmas that law school did not prepare them for. For instance, Hewitt had to fight for a mother to gain custody of her child against the wishes of his tough boss, played by Billy Zane. Hewitt is tempted to do the wrong thing in the case but inevitably he decides to do what is right for the child, a cliched plotline that falls flat.
However, the show seems to be far more interested in these young associates’ personal lives than their professional careers. Unrealistically, the personal indiscretions of these associates often take place in their new offices. When Hewitt arrives in his new office for instance, the lawyer he is sharing his office with has his pants around his ankles after an “encounter” with an office secretary. The show only gets worse in its first episode as the characters sleep around with each other nonchalantly. These are associates trying to have other people take them seriously and they act like a group of college kids on a long weekend. One new associate, in particular, even has time to ”get physical” with a client in the first episode (and in the second episode, he is kissed by numerous girls in his office as part of a kissing contest).
At its best, “Grey’s Anatomy” had some solid storylines going for it and it did not have to rely on characters sleeping around to find success. In its first episode, “The Deep End” has already hit a low point in that regard. In its review of the show, Variety.com noted that “when diving into a ‘Deep End’ that’s this shallow, the risk is that if you don’t hit the water just right there’s a good chance of breaking your neck.” Like that reviewer and myself, it seems like viewers were unimpressed with the new program as the show premiered to lackluster ratings last week. If those ratings remain low, “The Deep End” might not be around to make any waves.
It is unfortunate that actors like Long are wasted on this show. As I noted earlier, Long was previously on a brilliant show named “Jack and Bobby.” That show revolved around two young brothers and their liberal mother. The twist on that show was that one of the brothers would, years after the childhood depicted on the show, become a Republican and later become the President of the United States. It was a fantastic concept well executed but the promising show only lasted one season. Matt Long played the older brother Jack and he was great in it. (To watch full episodes of that program, click here because it looks like the show has not been released on DVD yet.)
Matt Long may have a long and interesting career ahead of him. I think he has great potential and that he deserves a great show to focus audience’s attention on him. Unfortunately, “The Deep End” is not that show. “The Deep End” is a disapponting show that would rather show viewers a youg cast of characters sleeping around with each other rather than an idealistic group of lawyers trying to make something of their law degrees. There is little reason to jump in this deep end. I give it a C-.
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30 Comments
I don't care if it's the second coming of L.A. Law and wins 43,000 Emmys: It has Billy Zane in it, and Billy Zane was in Valley of the Wolves, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_of_the_Wolves... and until he apologizes to the U.S. military for making a propaganda film for the enemy in a time of war, I won't watch ANYTHING he or Gary Busey make.
That's a shame. Matt Long really was excellent in Jack & Bobby. He was the only character on the show who wasn't irritating. The show itself was pretty good, though: decent storyline, solid writing, plausible character development. It deserved to last longer than it did.
Wow, a new show about lawyers…..how original…..
Prime time TV has 3 formulas they follow blindly:
Shows about cops
Shows about doctors
and shows about lawyers….
They fill these shows with pretty people, throw in as much sex as the censors will allow, and throw together storylines and plots as if they came from a cereal box.
BOOOORIIIIING……..
That's exactly what I was thinking. I'm surprised Zane has the nerve to show his face in this country after that atrocity.
Favorite Lawyer Joke:
Q: Why should attorneys be used in lab experiments rather than rats?
A: Three reasons:
1. There are a lot more attorneys.
2. Lab techs eventually become emotionally attached to the rats.
3. There are some things that a rat just won't do.
When I saw the ads for this I was saying to myself, "Just what we need on TV; another ***inappropiate word*** lawyer show."
Lol. First commenter beat me to it.
Screw Billy Zane.
Afternoon all. I haven`t seen this show however I did read some reviews about it and they all seem to be the same (as noted by the article). Billy Zane aside for a moment, it may have been interesting if the producer/creator of this show had taken a different approach. Rather then following the usual liberal formula for a show about lawyers, the demographics of the country seem to show that if they changed the premise slightly it may have been a hit (or whatever passes for a hit these days).
They should have followed a lawyer graduating from Harvard (or Yale, Columbia etc) who has undergone the liberal conditioning that a lot of the schools put the students through these days. Then have him practice law in reality and show the audience over a season his world-view changing. This doesn't mean that the conservative line wins every case but rather it also shows cases where common sense and fairness lose out to pocitical correctness and far left dogma.
I'd suspect that a show like that would have a good chance of attracting enough viewers among the majority of Americans that describe themselves as conservative.
Hey, I resemble that remark! LOL! I'm actually a conservative attorney that has a sense of humor!
As a lawyer, I can honestly say that I have never been drawn to watch dramas (or even so-called reality shows) based on my profession. Why? Because they aren't accurate and most of them are like this one – bed-hopping stories with no depth and no anchor in reality. It's like when my husband – an officer in the military – watches movies portraying the military. He goes nuts seeing uniforms and pins placed wrong, bad salutes and other commands.
I get the same way watching these shows. They are not accurate; they are OVERLY DRAMATIZED. And most people don't know that. Just like most people don't know that in the military they only time you are yelled at is in basic training and OCS. Otherwise, you do not conduct yourself at all times like a Drill Sgt. But that's what the public thinks.
Cont'd
Not saying there aren't smarmy lawyers out there, but some of the stuff they think we'll pull (like that Clooney movie that came out a couple of years ago), is just nonsense. Few lawyers would risk their licenses to pull some of the crap that the movie-attorneys do. And it's all to push a message or to be dramatic. It's just BS.
Also, I refuse to come home at night and watch an hour of anything related to what I do during the day, even if it is unreal. I want to escape.
I try to explain this to my wife, who is totally apolitical:
She – "Do you want to watch that new lawyer show/movie?"
Me – "No, because I already know what it will be about."
She – "I haven't even told you the name of it!"
Me – "It's about an (or several) idealistic young lawyer(s) who fights against a corrupt system and, against all the odds, wins. It also has the idealistic young lawyer co-incidentally fighting for favorite liberal causes and never for conservative ones."
After this, she watches the show, and later agrees that I pretty much nailed it. Poor her, I've ruined all lawyer shows for her now.
shows based on professions are never accurate
Not all the bodies in the mortuary fell into a industrial blender
Fema doesn't make decisions on where to put mines
lawyers do a lot of boring paperwork and research
most people that come into the ER are just broken bones
psychics aren't used that much
so it all comes down to interesing writing. If you don't have that, the show is a waste of everyones time.
I'm tired of the nurse/lawyer/cop with heart who struggles agains the administrator/system/brass shows.
Why won't sharks eat lawyers?
Professional courtesy.
I haven't seen this show yet but I can already foresee how it's going to evolve if it lasts long enough. They hook in a large audience with all the sexuality and then soon their cases revolve around moveon.org talking points. Boston Legal is the prime progenitor of this genre. I bet they pick one of the lawyers to be the token conservative to serve as comic relief like Denny Crane. Look for the usual assortment of TV bad guys: Christians, CEO's, ex-military, and, of course, conservatives – all of which will be invariably lily white.
Billy Zane hasn't done anything good since he starred with Nicole Kidman.
Juvenile, sophomoric, cringe-inducing, moronic, twenty-something, degenerate sludge–certain to irretrievably soil the consciousness. THAT's ENTERTAINMENT!…Don't go away–we'll be back after these messages!
Sadly, whenever the networks try to break the formula, not enough people watch (Lost being an exception). And before anyone chimes in with other examples, I'll offer up Firefly.
We go ballistic over inaccurate portrayal of the military in our house too. Folks that are too old, hair too long, uniforms that have been gussied up by a costume designer cause lots of yelling at the TV.
…yet another TV show about lawyers/doctors/cops. yawn.
I think the worst is the salute! My husband says that if an 18 year old private can learn to do it, then so can the actors. Shoot, we teach it to our children (5 and 7) and they know how to do it better!
Grey's Anatomy meets Boston Legal, nothing more. I give it six episodes, tops.
Know why lawyers wear neckties?
It keeps the foreskin from sliding over their heads…..
Zane always sucked. Except when he makes his appearances on RedEye — those are great.
My best friend is a lawyer. He knows the best lawyer jokes.
What actor alive can be more slimy as a bad guy character than Billy Zane?
None. None more slimy. He's
LOL, dont even get me started on that movie Iron Eagle. I was in the Air Force when that farce in disguise came out.
I haven't seen this show yet but I can already foresee how it's going to evolve if it lasts long enough. They hook in a large audience with all the sexuality and then soon their cases revolve around moveon.org talking points. Boston Legal is the prime progenitor of this genre. I bet they pick one of the lawyers to be the token conservative to serve as comic relief like Denny Crane. Look for the usual assortment of TV bad guys: Christians, CEO's, ex-military, and, of course, conservatives – all of which will be invariably lily white.
Billy can not help himself. His parents sent him to Francis W. Parker Day School, a progressive school in Chicago. When you go to a "day school" you can bet they will not produce too many NFL offensive linemen. They will produce lots of leftist actors like Ann Heche and Daryl Hannah.
Do you know what looks best on a lawyer?
A pit bull.
Do you know why lawyers are buried seven feet under instead of six?
Because deep down, they're good.
Billy Zane, like many actors, took a wrong turn in his career path and that path was populated with alligators, piranhas and sharks. He did a great job in "Sniper", played a great villain in "Dead Calm" and "Hillside Stranglers". He looked poised to step into stardom. Instead he chose to star in what amounted to soft porn flicks (that thing with Gina Gershon, a couple of others) and I think lost respect. About the same time, he lost his hair. Then the dreadful "Phantom" and it was all over. I'm sure he took the anti-American film because of his bank account. I don't see shows he's in because of it, but C. Looney, Damon, Gylanhaal etc all starred in anti American films and smear their country every chance they get, and they're superstars. As Kurt Vonnegutt would say, "go figure".
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