Show: Valentine (The CW)
Episode: “Pilot” – Series Premiere (Season 1)
Premiere Date: Sunday, October 5th, 2008
Rating: 1.5 out of 4 Stars
Quick Synopsis: This arrow misses its target.
Long Synopsis: A family of Greek gods living in Los Angeles use their powers to bring together couples that are meant to be together. Things aren’t going very well for them lately and they need to find a way to change things up, before it’s too late for them. So, the head of the family decides to hire a mortal that seems to know something about modern love. In this first episode, they attempt to get a couple of long-time friends to see they should be with each other.
Review: Valentine is a show that sounded interesting and looked like it might be fun. A romantic dramedy with a solid cast of recognizable actors. But, it turned out not to be all that dramatic, funny or even romantic. Or, maybe it was just too late when I watched the first two episodes a couple of weeks ago.
So, I popped in the DVD to watch the first episode again and see if I missed something. Unfortunately, a second viewing didn’t help. It wasn’t any funnier, dramatic or romantic the second time around.
The show is basically a procedural, but instead of finding who committed a crime, it’s about finding a way to get soul mates together. The team will set out each week to get a pair of should be lovebirds to pair up.
The team is made up of Jaime Murray (Dexter, Hustle), as the goddess of love herself, Kristoffer Polaha (Miss Guided, North Shore), as her son Eros, the god of erotic love, Autumn Reeser (The O.C.), who communicates with the Oracle of Delphi, and Patrick Fabian (Veronica Mars), among others.
I like procedurals, especially when they have an interesting twist or great characters. This has a decent twist on the genre, but I didn’t really like any of the characters. Actually, the only character I liked at all, was part of the couple of the week in the first episode, so that doesn’t really bode well.
Overall, it was a disappointment. What it could use, is a god of humor, cause that is the aspect of the show that is severely missing.
Its only scripted competition in the first hour of primetime on Sundays is FOX’s The Simpsons and King of the Hill. On the reality side it is going up against ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, CBS’ The Amazing Race and NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Since, I don’t watch any of those, I was really hoping this would be good.
Valentine premieres tonight, Friday, October 5th on The CW.
