'In Plain Sight' on USA HD

There was a USA-HD dedicated thread about a week or so back that had some posts on this show, as well as Burn Notice, but apparently in the course of some kind of merger, In Plain Sight got excised. (Sure hope it wasn't a mod who didn't like her lips-job )

So far, this is shaping up to being the go-to hit of the new summer season. Its about a female witness protection marshall named Mary Shannon, and played by Mary McCormack. Frankly, I had never heard of, nor seen Ms. McCormack before, but now that I have, I am definitely 'Hot for Teacher'.

Its pretty clear that the character was written specifically as a showcase for her talents, and for the most part it succeeds. How can you not like a wise-cracking tough blonde badass with a good BS meter?

Since I really enjoy the show a great deal and think it has real potential, I decided it deserved its own thread as well.

The Pros: Mary is gorgeous and can act (go figure ). Her sidekick is Marshall Marshall Mann (not a typo, obviously someone's idea of a bad joke) who is kind of an interesting and goofy character, but they both seem to be having fun with their ambiguous relationship.

The Cons: To balance out the action and to *cough* develop *cough* character, they have saddled Mary with an incredibly irritating mother and a good-looking sister who have moved in with her, apparently for the sole purpose of convincing people that its a 'human drama' as well. The program grinds to almost a dead halt whenever these other family members are given screen time.

Similarly, the show can go south sometimes on its own, again as part of the 'drama', as witnessed last week when Mary spills her guts out about her gambling-addicted father at a Gambler's Anonymous meeting. The whole episode seemed to be not much more than a set-up for Mary to emote sorrow, and came across forced.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed several other aspects of that episode (collegiate point-shaving), and the series to date has been sparked with good humor, which permits the Pros to outweigh the Cons by a pretty decent margin.

Anyone who wants to check it out, its on USA-HD on Sun at 10:00 PM, and the episodes that have already aired can be found at the USA website.

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Palladin

Chance favors the prepared mind

Same here. She IS the show. 'Private Parts'. Damn, I thought there was something vaguely familiar about her, but people kept mentioning shows I never watched. Thanks, I'm going to have to rent it again.


My guess would be that having introduced it, they're letting it cook on the back-burner until the foreshadowed ep where the sister's boyfriend shows up, the sister confesses her sins to Mary, and Mary has to either 'take-out' or arrest the boyfriend, or as a slight twist, the sister herself ends up in the witness protection program.

Or if I really want to get selfish and morose for a moment, Leslie Ann Warren throws herself in the path of a bullet intended for sis, and we are regaled with a truly happy ending.


Its funny, but it surprised the hell out of me that just after I posted this thread and went back to look for typos, that ad was directly under my post and I figured uh oh, someone's going to think I've joined the legion of shills at this website.

But come on, Vision, we've been on enough of the same threads for you to know that if I had any juice at USA, I'd be busy sniffing around Mary's trailer on the set, instead of wasting my time here. Did you miss the pilot?


Ken, I knew you were the name on the surgery, so I decided to throw in a nod and a wink to the mod who had raised this issue previously.

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Palladin

Chance favors the prepared mind

I'd agree, the first 3 eps definitely overshadowed the subsequent ones.


Sorry, didn't catch it. Could you throw me a link? I'd be interested in reading it. I think one potentially beneficial fix, if they could afford it, would be to re-cast Joanna Cassidy as Mom, and Missy Pyle as Sis in recurring roles. They both had great chemistry with Mary, and played off each other pretty well.


Now, I think that's part of the USA 'Characters Welcome' approach. Someone decided it would make her character seem more interesting and 'quirky', if they made her strong-minded and a skinflint. I think the car was intended to support that approach. Okay. We got the message. Let's ditch the wheels and move on.


Again, we are in complete agreement. A little honing of the concept would be helpful.

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Palladin

Chance favors the prepared mind

The first 2 were my favorites so far. I think anyone who caught the pilot and then tuned in, say 2 weeks later to a scene that didn't include Mary, would probably think they got the wrong channel.

I think the central problem is that the show is being greedy and wants to be everything to everyone, which traditionally has been the fastest way for a series to blow its own foot off. The first (pilot) episode was rough and gritty and appealing in its own way. But it seems like the producers are now trying to woo the female audience over, and think warm and fuzzy will grab them.

That kind of waffling is generally a recipe for disaster. I'd love to see the demographics for this show, because I'm betting its not getting much of a female audience. Men are most likely the key audience here, and this series (like every other) has to stay the course to survive, and really can't afford to meander into 'the tough-hearted broad with a heart of gold' cliche, without losing the men in the process.


I'm on board with that, and I think Mary and this series can probably deliver even more than USA expected, but they have to pick a direction and stay focused.

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Palladin

Chance favors the prepared mind

Unfortunately, it was the only thing about last night's ep that doesn't make me regret holding off another week before starting this thread.

Arggh, this show is incredibly frustrating. Don't get me wrong, any skin by Mary or Brandi can only enhance this show. But the main problem goes back to the statement in my earlier post. They're trying to be everything to everybody, and its clearly NOT working. I can see how the wheels on the creative team must have been turning. 'Okay, if we throw guys some skin (see pilot ep - Mary was smokin!)and get them hooked, we can probably blend in some trite feel-good crap and palm it off as a drama for the ladies with a strong female role figure.

Last night was really poor as far as storyline and scripting went, and its such a shame because this show has such a good premise and leading actress. It's like the amateur baker that starts out with a nice basic recipe, but then gets unsure, and starts throwing everything in 'just to be safe'. If by any chance anyone connected with the show is reading this thread, the simple answer is STOP. Go back and re-watch the first few eps and use those as a guideline. Get back to those roots. This show is capable of being smart and great fun (as well as pulling down respectable numbers), but that's never going to be fully-realized with the schizoid approach. It would be a real shame if this show doesn't succeed, for all the wrong reasons.

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Palladin

Chance favors the prepared mind

Yeah, I think Fred Weller's doing a good job as Marshall Mann. The sarcastic delivery is on an even keel with Mary's, and the deadpan reactions to Mary are handled well. The whole bit with him not being able to look at her directly while she's busting out of the Maid of Honor's gown, was choice.


Whoa, Mike you need to ease back on that throttle, son. We may want to toss out some of the bath water, but there's still a baby somewhere under all that Mr. Bubbles.

Honestly, I think they've already done some good initial work in Marshall's direction, and not a whole lot more for him will be needed.


I think that will happen. But keep in mind, he's kind of like Earl Holliman in Police Woman. He's there to support Pepper Anderson, not displace her.

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Palladin

Chance favors the prepared mind

I know this sounds kind of strange, but I'm starting to wonder if the biggest problem might be the ratings. They're real good. In fact, better than they should be for this freshman show. Now if the creative team goes back to re-tool it, and in a worst case scenario, the ratings fall off a little while they're doing it, there'll be more than enough finger-pointing to take their eyes out. Its one thing to try to 'fix' a loser that's already halfway to the Gulag. No one has any great expectations for it, so when it nose-dives, everyone can shrug good-naturedly as it was a chronic condition from the start and sinking fast.

BUT, when its a brand new show and its doing real well in the ratings, the stakes are higher, as no one in Hollywood wants to be branded as having killed the proverbial golden goose. Quick way to end your career. Might as well start writing your tell-all memoirs for Reader's Digest.

And I'm still curious about the male/female demographics ratio for this program, and how they might skew things, but that's more in fredfa's department than my own.

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Palladin

Chance favors the prepared mind