Fox should be ashamed of itself, NBC too. There are now three shows about kidnapping, Vanished and Standoff on Fox, then Kidnapped on NBC. I'm hoping next season, multiple shows about TV-behind-the-scenes appear. Oh wait, that's already happened. I also want more reality shows with models, dancing celebrities and people making fart-noises with their armpits.
Vanished sustains itself with Da Vinci Code-esque cliffhangers every five minutes, not to mention the cast is so gorgeous, it's like looking at the sun. Standoff, not so gorgeous though it brags a Moonlighting chemistry between Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt, who couldn't be more average. Kidnapped, with the meatier talent of Dana Delaney, Timothy Hutton and Jeremy Sisto, premieres tonight at 10pm on NBC. ABC and CBS will follow suit, I'm sure. Then again, they already have Desperate Housewives and Katie Couric.
With so many kidnappings in the headlines, I can understand producers and writers decided this would be an excellent topic to grip American audiences--and it's so real. And yet, to a television-addicted viewer, the shows seem gimmicky and hollow. The misfortune of Vanished is: You can't polish shit. The pretty cast--and talent of Ming-Na, Essai Morales and Gale Harold--can't overcome a predictable script. Standoff has the problem of too little star power for what we've already seen enough to start a separate L&O franchise.
If this entertaining kidnapping happened on Mars, I might be more inclined to watch. Why do we need so much reality anyway? Kidnapping is just not fun.
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