Easy to forget...

The Forgotten - ABC, Tuesday Nights at 10PM

The fall TV season unveiled another new show last night…The Forgotten. I was actually looking forward to seeing this one because it stars Christian Slater from (among other things) last season's prematurely yanked My Own Worst Enemy on NBC. Despite what the critics had to say about MOWE, I actually enjoyed it and found it getting better with each episode. I was very disappointed not to get to see where that all may have went (my take: Henry and Edward would eventually merge into one conscious being).

Besides, anyone who knew me 'back in the day' knows that I have adored Christian since his Gleaming the Cube days! Pump Up the Volume was an essential film in my adolescence. He was a genius in Heathers. So I swore one day I'd be Mrs. Christian Slater…well, that didn't happen and despite his rocky path in life, I still love him. That's why it is so unfortunate that he is associated with this easily forgotten Bones/Scooby-Doo knock-off.

Here's the basic plot - a group of every day people (Slater's character was once a police officer) belong to the Midwest chapter (Chicago) of a national organization whose members search out the identities of Jane & John Doe victims that the police have given up on. They also seek to solve their murders. Slater's character began working with this group after the unsolved abduction of his own daughter two years previous. Other people have their own reasons - some are simply bored with their everyday lives. The group has been successful enough that the police give them some cooperation - and Slater's ties to the department seems to come in handy.

There is little to say positive about this show. Most of the characters are cookie-cutter space wasters. The victim's voice-overs do not add to the show and are not very effective in producing empathy for them. The "artist" of the group seems to be the most realistic of the group, but his character is so similar to Angela on Bones that it should fall under some sort of copy-right infringement. Plus the guy reminds me of Heroes Milo Ventimiglia…but I like Milo. Everything seems to come pretty easy to this group - making one wonder how the cops couldn't figure it out as well. Some of it is far-fetched…like deciphering the brand of black nail polish from a photo of the victim's hand. Mainly I'm just amazed why anyone speaks to these people - they have no authority. C'mon!

I know this show underwent a major cast change and ultimately a change to the pilot…and plus the pilot is rarely a good indicator of what the show can be (remember the Friend's pilot?)…so I'll watch again next week. Everyone deserves a second chance…but if this gets aired past 6 episodes I'll be very surprised. Too bad - I love seeing Christian on TV each week.