thePeanutBloggery

What’s In the Spotlight

October Road
During its brief existence, The WB launched dozens of shows based on its early success with Dawson’s Creek. Some of them made it (Felicity, One Tree Hill), but most didn’t. The network seemed driven to make a specific model work – the return of the cute twenty-something prodigal son to his quaint hometown (Hyperion Bay with Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Glory Days with Eddie Cahill, The Mountain with Oliver Hudson). These shows looked a lot like Dawson’s Creek with loads of color and bright sunlight, and they all featured prominent soundtracks that rooted them firmly in the present. Perhaps folks tuned into The WB solely for the simplicity of teenage problems, because ultimately all the shows about adults failed.

On Thursday night, ABC premiered October Road, and it feels eerily like these WB failures, both thematically and stylistically. It’s the story of Nick Garrett (Bryan Greenberg) who left his friends behind ten years ago. Having written a best-selling novel about them, he’s now plagued with writer’s block, and he returns home to find new inspiration. Nick learns that lots of things change in ten years, and the creators of October Road need to learn the same lesson, as this derivative show feels dated and bland. It might turn out to be a good show, one can never judge for sure based on a single episode, but the unoriginal nature of the pilot doesn’t bode well.

(An aside – people who graduated from high school in 1997 did not listen to Boston and REO Speedwagon. Just because one of the stars is Laura Prepon doesn’t make it That 70’s Show.)

What They Said

It was a rush. (…) You know that feeling that I get when I hit the equal sign on the calculator, and the number on the calculator is the same number that’s on the worksheet? It felt like that, honey.”
Andy on Andy Barker P.I.

What They Played

The soundtrack pick of the week is from The Black Donnellys. The show may be losing steam, but its soundtrack is still going strong. “Waiting for My Real Life to Begin” by Colin Hay is available on iTunes.

Primetime Index

Without help from consistently high scoring shows like Friday Night Lights and Heroes, this week The Black Donnellys drags the index down to 6.83.