Human Target, "Lockdown": No one dies harder than Christopher Chance

Another fun "Human Target" last night, with Chance working his way through a secured office building, Winston and Guerrero pulling an Aunt Linda and a bunch of recognizable guest stars playing largely to type (Kevin Weisman as a lovable dork, Autumn Reeser as a lovable and cute dork, Mitch Pileggi as a tough guy administrator, etc.), and a few more hints about Chance's backstory.

That said, the show at the moment doesn't have enough meat to really justify the episode-by-episode blog treatment, does it? It's basically "Burn Notice" on a broader canvas with much less of a serialized element (and suggests Dan was right on yesterday's podcast when he said "Burn Notice" shouldn't avoid arcs, but just bad arcs). It's fun, Mark Valley is a good action hero, Chi McBride and Jackie Earle Haley have turned into a good comedy duo, and... that's pretty much all I got, week after week. So I'll keep watching, but may reserve future posts on it for episodes that more explicitly break the mold in some way.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

Human Target, "Run": Planes, trains, now automobiles

I've spent so much time over the last few days trying to dig out from under the blizzard that I'm going to be behind on my TV viewing for a bit. I did manage to watch last night's "Human Target" while resting my weary extremities, and thought it was a mostly fun one, even if the quality of the stuntwork in the car chase/fight sequence was diminished by the horrid green screen work. (There are moments when this show looks like it costs a lot to make, and then others where it looks like it has the same budget as '70s "Doctor Who," and occasionally those moments collide.) Given the breakneck pace of it and a good guest star turn from Kristin Lehman(*), I'm surprised it was moved so far back in the order, since I believe "Run" was the first or second episode produced after the pilot.

(*) As someone who has paid close attention to the ups and downs of the career of Chi McBride, it was amusing to see him have a few brief reunions with Lehman, who was one of his co-stars in "Killer Instinct" - or, as Chi calls it, "Kill It, It Stinks."

It's definitely not a show aiming for subtlety or deep characterization, but I like the three leads and it appeals to 13-year-old Alan, who occasionally still gets to control my viewing choices.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

Human Target, "Sanctuary": Bulletproof monk

My brain's starting to pay the price from staying up til the middle of the night to write last night's "Lost" review, so I don't have much candle power left to write about tonight's "Human Target," which was a fun mash-up of "Die Hard," Indiana Jones and six other pop culture influences, and gets extra credit just for Chance's use of a censer. Top that with some good Chi McBride comedy and some very interesting shadings for Guererro and it was arguably the strongest episode so far - albeit of a show that seems content to operate on a fairly lightweight, but well-executed, level.

Plus, after all my comic book nerditry on today's podcast, I had to appreciate a good "Crisis on Infinite Earths" gag.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

Human Target, "Embassy Row": Every girl crazy for a sharp-dressed Chance

A quick review of last night's "Human Target" coming up just as soon as I change clothes right before I leave for an event...

Last week's "Rewind" was the fourth episode produced, but Fox pushed it up, no doubt because they felt it was a stronger episode than "Embassy Row." This happens a lot with new shows, and with a fairly episodic series like "Human Target" it's less of a big deal than when it happens to something like "Firefly" (which, coincidentally, co-starred tonight's guest star, Sean Maher). And having watched "Embassy Row," I understand Fox's reluctance to put it out front and center.

Three episodes into the series (let alone two, had we not had the shuffle) feels way too early to be doing an episode that casually tosses the premise aside. I'm not saying that "Human Target" shouldn't be allowed to do episodes not built around Chance playing bodyguard(*) - frankly, it would get dull if they couldn't do a change-of-pace show now and then - but when you do it this soon, it sends a message that you don't have a lot of confidence in the core concept. And given that they already abandoned so much else from the comic book character, I'm starting to worry that the creative team doesn't know what it wants to do beyond "Let's do an action show with Mark Valley!"

(*) Yes, in the end, Chance and company wound up saving Maher's life (and Chance's own), but the primary focus here was on revenge, not protection.

And while there are certainly worse ways to spend an hour than watching Valley beat people up while Chi McBride and Jackie Earle Haley get on each other's nerves, I tend to like my shows to have a more clear sense of identity than that - even if they're telling stories about a man with dozens upon hundreds of identities himself.

There were some decent action beats, and Valley had good chemistry with guest star Emmanuelle Vaugier, but overall "Embassy Row" felt pretty disposable. We'll see if it was just a blip or a sign of further trouble ahead, but we're in the managing expectations period for a new show. And after mostly liking the first two episodes, I don't want to start thinking of "Human Target" than more than it's capable of (or interested in) being.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

Human Target, "Rewind": Fakes on a plane

Still recovering from press tour, but I enjoyed the second episode of "Human Target," even as I wondered what sort of vehicle Chance's adventures will take place on by the end of the season. (A riverboat? A dirigible?) Good to see Chi McBride out in the field, good to see Courtney Ford in a much less annoying role than the one she played this season on "Dexter," and some big pieces of Chance backstory got dropped.

Just as soon as I pull a Crazy Eddie, please tell me what you all thought. Click here to read the full post

Human Target, "Pilot": Chance is

I reviewed "Human Target" in Friday's column, but I have a couple of spoiler-specific thoughts coming up just as soon as I learn to live in the now...

First, it's very strange to see Tricia Helfer playing the helpless, complaining woman in need of rescue here, since after all her years on "Battlestar Galactica," I could very easily see her as a female version of Chance telling her own whiny client to shut up while she kicks some butt. (Also weird seeing Mark "Duck Phillips" Moses as a disgruntled, gun-and-bomb-toting hostage taker.)

Second, do not expect the Danny Glover cameo to lead anywhere. It was just something the producers tried, both to hearken back to the '80s action movies that are partly this show's inspiration, and to give a sense that Chance is always moving on to the next client. At one point, they wanted to try to get a similarly famous star to cameo each week, but that proved impossible.

Third, I'm a fan of the Vertigo version of the comic book character, and I was briefly annoyed that the show bore so little resemblance to either the Peter Milligan comics or even the original Len Wein version. But in the end I let that go and accepted this was an action show that happened to borrow the title and the name Christopher Chance, turned my brain off and had fun watching stuff blow up.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

'Human Target' & '24' review - Sepinwall on TV

In my latest column, I review "Human Target," which debuts Sunday on Fox:

"Where's my vest?" one of Christopher Chance's clients demands after she discovers he's been wearing a bulletproof vest while protecting her from an assassin, in the pilot episode of "Human Target." (Sunday at 8 p.m. on Ch. 5)

"I'm your vest," Chance tells her.

Chance is the bodyguard of last resort, the guy you go to when you know your life is in danger but, for some reason, the authorities can't help. He is very good at what he does, but he's also reckless and possibly unhinged.

"Am I crazy?" he tells a man with a gun on him. "I'm assuming that was a rhetorical question."

And, as played by the charming, rough-and-tumble Mark Valley, he's a very entertaining action hero.

You can read the full "Human Target" review here - including a sneak peek at the show's wicked awesome title sequence. At the tail end, I talk a little bit about the new season of "24," which I won't be writing about going forward.

I'm swamped at press tour, but I'll get up some kind of post for after the "Human Target" pilot on Sunday, possibly just to gauge your reaction. Click here to read the full post