J: Week 3 (Midseason first impressions)

In my week 1 post, I mentioned that I wanted to check out The Carrie Diaries and Deception and I actually got around to them, so here are my mini-reviews:

The Carrie Diaries - I watched all of Sex and the City (and the first movie) but I can't say that I ever had the burning question - what was Carrie Bradshaw like as a teenager? The show is based on a book by Candace Bushnell, who also wrote the book the original series was based on, so I'm not questioning the legitimacy of its origins, but I guess I'm not sure what the logic behind making the show at all is. Are they counting on fans of the original SATC to be interested in a high school show? I feel like that was the same sort of logic behind the new 90210. Then again, that's still on the air, so what do I know?

But anyway, even though this show is from the same people as Gossip Girl and part of it is set in New York City, it actually read a bit younger because it seems to be trying to be more of a family show. The main cast includes Carrie, her father, and her younger sister, Dorrit (Charles Dickens reference??) as they are learning to cope with the recent death of Carrie and Dorrit's mother. Carrie has a circle of friends including a quiet Asian girl called "The Mouse" (I feel like I should be slightly irritated by this stereotype but she's played by Knives Chau! From Scott Pilgrim! ) and a couple, Maggie, who's cheating on Walt, who's still in the closet. Then there's the love interest, Sebastian, and some annoying "popular" girls.

As with all pilots, the episode was mainly setup. I found myself liking most of the characters, but it didn't necessarily grab me as something being worth watching weekly.

Deception - I guess NBC is trying to get in on the success of Revenge and Scandal? The premise sounded somewhat interesting to me - cop returns to the privileged world she grew up in to investigate the murder of her former best friend. But I couldn't even get through the first episode...I felt like it was just trying too hard with the flashbacks and everyone's dark secrets and ulterior motives. Meh. Even Victor Garber couldn't save it for me.