'Shark' on CBS

Probably need more than one whole episode to render a judgement. Rome was not built in a day. I see your point, it was surprising that the pilot was not stronger. It seems many of the new shows try to cover a lot of ground quickly in terms of backstory and establishing the characters, and it makes for weak initial shows. I think this one has potential as the storytelling picks up steam (presuming it does). Woods is awesome when the script turns him loose to machine gun his lines (as in the final cross of the witness).

P.S. Does anyone know the name of the actress that portrayed the defense attorney - her face was familiar, but I can't place her.

Liked the show, but the video quality reminds me of NBC.(not a good thing)


Justice is better than this show.

I have a solution. Let James Woods be James Woods. Let him be what a true shark is, single minded, aggressive to kill, wanting to kill... living to kill.

Instead they want to make this into a redeeming, moral shark. Screw that horsebleep.

And he should be banging blondie, what's her name in a loveless relationship.
And I mean as in lacking in any tenderness at all, because she wants it that way.

Alrighty then.

Shark sucks and Justice does too. I will give them both a few episodes before I quit watching them, if they are not canceled first.

You mean Jeri Ryan..... Yes, " Resistance is futile "

Laters,
Mikef5

(From Marc Berman's Friday, September 22, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )
Primetime Ratings For Thursday, September 21st

While there is, no doubt, room for two big hit shows in one time period (with a combined 47.18 million viewers for Grey's Anatomy and CSI last night), both networks lost considerable oomph at 10 p.m. opposite the season-premiere of NBC's still potent ER. The premiere of Eye net legal drama Shark scored an 11.1/17 in the overnights (#1), 14.95 million viewers (#2) and a 4.2/11 (#3) among adults 18-49.

Percent Audience Retention
Shark out of CSI Overnights: 74
Viewers: 68
A18-49: 56

Percent Audience Retention (Second half hour)
Overnights: 11.6/18 to 10.6/17 (- 9 percent)
Viewers: 15.41 to 14.49 (- 6)
A18-49: 4.5/11 to 4.0/11 (-11)

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/newslett...ider/index.jsp

Oh yeah, Jeri, I want to be assimilated................

I thought it was pretty good, James Wood is entertaining on screen. Plus it was nice to see a teenage girl who actually has a good head on her shoulders as opposed to the characters on 24 or Vanished or just about any other show.

I'm disappointed with this show. James Woods was terrible. After seeing him in "Once upon a time in America", his TV appearanced are weak. J.Ryan is showing her age BADLY!

I turned this show off after it was half-over. (Maybe I missed something good).

Mike

I kind of agree, but I was impressed with James woods performance nontheless. Justice I think has more facets to it; Shark is mostly just Woods. I think it's worth giving it at least one more week to see how the series develops.

Justice is more entertaining and interesting IMO. Shark has Woods, nothing more. The supporting ensemble is very unremarkable and given little to do except run around like little Hobbits in search of the miniscule clue in the reports. Ryan is given too little to do as well. They obviously want to set up some outside story with the father/daughter conflict, but that seems iffy. Woods is better at his over-the-top lawyer schtick than Garber is in Justice, but Justice is better overall. Garber (though getting raves from most) seems almost TOO over-the-top as an actor in a part, not a zealous lawyer. It's simple scenery chewing with little bite. I like Woods more, but the show....well, better get better quick.

Just curious, do you like any pure 100% legal/courtroom drama's? Boston Legal? The Practice? Law and Order shows (besides Trial by Jury) don't count because they are at best 50% detective show, 50% drama.

It just sounds like you are giving up too easy on legal/courtroom dramas in an age where we have been lacking in the number of pure 100% legal/courtroom dramas.

I predict both shows will last longer than previous legal drama attempts such as Trial By Jury, The Jury, and Century City, with Shark lasting longer because of its timeslot and CSI lead-in (Justice will die a quick death when LOST hits the air).

two words on why this show is bad:
Spike Lee

I dropped Justice after the first episode. I still think I might follow Shark, mostly for Woods.

- Tom

Most surprising to me was the tone I suppose. In the early going I realize they were trying to cram alot of exposition in, and very tread-worn exposition at that, but the cursory, perfunctory zip-toe-through-the-disillusionment pace lap seemed to set the stage for severe gravity deficiency. I wasn't feelin Woods' shock or torment or soul searching.

Now grant we have seen this salvation conversion any number of times -- THE VERDICT comes to mind: promising career aborted in self-sustained alcoholic immolation, last-gasp chance for redemption presents in the form of a noble cause to be fought -- so perhaps the mind set was to blast past it, but in the process, I think a tone of superficiality and lightweight artifice invaded and remained through this debut.

One specific of this was the critical pivotal of Woods striding confidently into something uncertain. Someone is dead; suspect in adjoining room. Reveal to man flanked by two suits on a swivel stool. He whirls to intone: "Boys, this is my lawyer, might as well release me now," (or words to that effect). Cut to reaction shot. Woods turns his back on defense.

Very slick, surface.....and ultimately uncompelling.

We start to see some of the wit and zing we expect when Woods lays down the Shark diet regimen for his minnow minions and the followup of the somewhat contrived trouncing of an upstart in mock cross. Even the inevitable courtroom confrontation with the defendant picked up a little Woods heat in spite being rewarmed from the pages of the Perry Mason primer AMBUSH ANGLES EQUALS SUDDEN SHOCKING VERDICT TURN, but none of it had the really tasty multi-layered appeal of a good Sorkin-penned dialogue tapestry and one wonders what attracted Woods to this particular project -- sounds like it could be right, but then there's the execution.

In general in was well-crafted and thought out and unfolded pretty smoothly. I LOVED that the Woods/ex-spouse relationship was blissfully rancor free, the daughter was underplayed with some thoughtfulness and verisimilitude -- very, very rare and should be applauded whenever, wherever it occurs.

Yet somehow the whole effect was less like a meal of tuna chunks and more like a plankton soup with tidbits of half-eaten leftover flotsam thrown in.................

I enjoy Justice for what it is and the same goes for House. Shark was ok, but i'm tunning in for HD Sarah Carter and HD of the daughter. I'm in my early 20's so it isn't sick or anything lol.

Watched 25 minutes (it was a struggle) and was very disappointed with the writing, casting, and over-acting.

James Woods with young brown hair? Didn't like the color job, which looked very artificial and is unforgiving in HD. Must be the same colorist who worked on the Shatner and Spader hair over at "Boston Legal". Should be fired.

Deleted the recording, and deleted the "series".

One less thing to consume DVR hard-drive in this busy very-HD new season.

Topic title edited.

Yeah, whatever, she's beautiful. A fine actress as well...

Not well enough written to watch again. Waste of a great actor.

hey, I did like the music on this show. Lyle Mays/Pat Metheny-ish.

It came on last night so I thought I'd give it a try - I'm a big James Woods fan all the way back to Videodrome. This show is so tired / formula / cliche it's pathetic. Are computers churning out this garbage? That's about twenty minutes of my life I'll never get back. What a honker! And that die job on Woods IS pathetic. The two hottie assistants with the love/hate relationship, wow, who thought of that one? Does everyone in every office (except Woods, of course) have to look like a freakin' model, a la CSI, and every other tired, crappy crime/doctor/legal show on TV? Who watches this crap?

Apparently you did. But don't feel bad, I did too. And I even have another one on the DVR that I'll probably watch. Want me to make a DVD and send it to you?

I agree -- the amount of beauty on TV makes me sick. And what attorney in real life would resort to dying their hair and then doing a bad job of it? Even a fanciful depiction of the legal profession or a crime lab needs to have at least some grounding in reality.

(From Marc Berman's Friday, October 20, 2006, Programming Insider column at Mediaweek.com )

At 10 p.m., it looks like CBS' Shark is positively settling in with a 10.2/16 in the overnights (#2), 13.61 million viewers (#2) and a third-place 4.2/11 among adults 18-49. Keep in mind that baseball on Fox dominated the hour. Although retention for Shark out of CSI of 73 percent in the overnights, 67 percent in total viewers and 62 percent among adults 18-49 could be better, this is similar to former occupant Without A Trace out of CSI in its first season. In other words, get used to James Woods.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/newslett...ider/index.jsp

This remains the highest rated program my wife and I aren't watching. We're thinking of picking it up in reruns, as long as its reruns are up against reruns of ER and Six Degrees, which is the case for next week's rerun of the Pilot.

Shark is the best new show of the season, bar none.

So I guess you are wrong.

The problem with Jeri Ryan in this show is that we are not seeing enough of her.