New CBS musical tone deaf
By Casey Gillis on Oct. 18, 2007
The characters on “Viva Laughlin,” which premieres at 10 p.m. tonight on CBS, are prone to spontane-ously breaking into song.
But they don’t warble original tunes — they sing along to well-known ones, like Elvis’ “Viva Las Vegas” and Blondie’s “One Way or Another.”
This, ladies and gentleman, is what CBS is calling a “mystery drama with music,” which occasionally uses “upbeat contemporary songs to accentuate the drama and humor and advance the story,” according to press materials.
Um, not so much. It actually makes the show feel more disjointed and random than it already is. And it might help if there was actually an interesting story to accentuate.
Here it is, in a nutshell: Ripley Holden (Lloyd Owen) is two weeks away from opening a casino in Laughlin, Nev., when one of his investors, Buddy Baxter, pulls out.
Desperate, Ripley approaches his nemesis, rival casino owner Nicky Fontana (played by Hugh Jackman, outfitted in some seriously shiny suits straight out of the 1950s), for help.
In between all the random sing-alongs, “Viva Laughlin” is chock full of cheesy dialogue and bizarre situations. Case in point: after his son helps him out of a jam, Ripley thanks him by saying, “That blemish, red zit thing on your face is clearing up real nice.”
Huh? I think a simple “Thanks, son,” would have sufficed.
Then, before you know it, Ripley’s problems have only escalated. Buddy is found murdered — in Ripley’s office, no less — and his wife, Bunny Baxter (a boozy Melanie Griffith), accuses Ripley of the crime in front of a room full of cops.
Will he go down for a murder he didn’t commit? Will he get the money to open up the casino?
Do I actually care?
Not really, and neither will you.
After tonight, the show moves to its regular time period, 8 p.m. Sundays.
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