In the spirit of reviving questionable Fox primetime soaps from the 90s, the CW offers TBL for your viewing pleasure, its modern-day analog for Models Inc. If we're lucky it will have a similarly short lifespan.
Co-created by Ashton Kutcher, TBL details the life of a group of aspiring models who share their agency's NYC flophouse. There's Raina the model with a heart of gold whose Fashion Week runway has made her the talk of the town, Sonja the washed-up supermodel with a secret child, Chris the Iowa farm boy who execs think might have the look, Isaac the child model finding it hard to get gigs as an adult, and on and on. You get the point. Think America's Next Top Model meets Melrose Place.
What should come across as an interesting premise (fashion-related shows are pretty hot right now) instead falls terribly flat. The pilot opens with the aforementioned runway show at fashion week, complete with all the flash and gloss you'd expect in a CW show. Once you crack through the veneer though, there's not a lot of substance. With so much "real" fashion on the tube these days, it's easy to see that this is not it. Photo shoots, go sees, runway shows, none of them are particularly well done. Unfortunately for TBL it's these things that are supposed to make the show unique.
Add to that the poor acting (Mischa Barton as usual is especially poor as the pathetic Sonja), predictable plot, and characters straight out of "Screenwriting for Dummies" and were left with not a whole lot to entertain us. Watch only if you're a masochist or can't get enough of that CW thang.
Note: I'm up-to-date on my viewing, but behind on my posting. One hour dramas will continue to get full write-ups, half-hour shows will get capsule reviews, and kids' shows are going to be lumped into one big post.
3 comments:
Yes, please keep posting summaries/reviews! Also, "flophouse", lolwut?
I forgot to mention this in my initial post, but this is one of those shows where the age discrepancy between actor and character is really jarring.
It's a fairly major plot point that the new it girl is underage (16, I think). The actress is 21, and looks the part. It really lost any of its remaining credibility at that point.
And yeah... flophouse. What's it to you?
Ha! Cancelled after just two episodes. Apparently even CW viewers have (relatively) discerning taste.
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