Aphelion Review # 26 --Tru Calling--

Tru Calling

A Sneak Preview of a New Fantasy/Sci-Fi TV Series
By FOX Television starring Eliza Dushku

Review by Dan L. Hollifield

Type of music/work:

Sci-Fi / Fantasy TV Series
Scheduled to air Thursdays at 8:00 - 9:00 PM ET/PT

Musicians/Performers/Author(s):

Production Company:
20th Century Fox Television and Original Film

Creator/Executive Producer:
Jon Feldman

Executive Producers:
Marty Adelstein
Neal Moritz
Dawn Parouse
Bob Goodwin

Director:
Phillip Noyce

Cast:
Eliza Dushku as Tru Davies
Shawn Reaves as Harrison
Jessica Collins as Meredith
A. J. Cook as Lindsay
Heath Freeman as Cameron
Zach Galifianakis as Davis

Tru Calling official website

General impressions of the album/book:

I enjoyed watching the pilot episode very much. If all the stories are as well done as the first, this could be a great show. It will appeal to several groups of fans on many levels. Excelent work by all involved!

Specifics:

I came into it cold, since the press pack was sent to me out of the blue. I looked over the background material and had my doubts, but watching the DVD turned out to be a delight. For such a complex premise, the pilot episode sets it all out quite well. I had expected to be a little confused, but everything was presented so well that I wasn't. We are introduced to the characters, see some odd things happen, and the story takes off. The pacing was well done- I never felt that scenes dragged or rushed. The actors were all hitting their marks. The characters felt right, like real people. The dialogue was great, sounded natural and not forced. All in all, a good pilot episode. I enjoyed it a lot.

Now its hard to predict future plot developments just from seeing the pilot episode, so I have no idea where the show will be going other than the "Groundhog Day" / "Quantam Leap" nature of Tru's abilities. If the writing stays at a high level, then this show will have everything going for it. Everyone in the cast and crew has proven themselves to be able to make a good, enjoyable film. Turning it ino a good series is going to depend largely on the quality of the writing. I hope that the series creator keeps a hand in the continuity and character development.

To sum up: I think this show has real posibilities if the present high quality of the pilot episode is maintained. Or even surpassed, as the cast and crew settle in and develop the show further. With the right writers, the series will grow into something even better.

Background info:

This is the first time I've been asked to review a TV series pilot, so I've had to adapt my normal review format. Normally I concentrate on plot points, character development, set and setting... All of those things are done by a writer for a book, the same things that are done by a group for a TV series. I don't usually do synopses but it would be unfair if I didn't in this instance. I'll quote from the press kit:

"What would you do if you could relive a day? If you're Tru Davies (Eliza Dushku, Faith of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'), you'd save lives. Tru is a smart and sexy recent college graduate who - when her high-powered medical internship falls through - finds herself working the midnight shift at the city morgue. One night, Tru questions reality when she thinks she hears a beautiful murder victim asking for her help. But the next morning, our heroine wakes up to find that she is back at the beginning of that very same day - twelve hours before a death that only she knows is about is set to take place.
Now with the clock ticking, Tru is compelled to traverse the city over the next twelve hours to try to prevent this tragedy, while at the same time rescuing members of her own family from their dangerous and self-destructive lives."

Review Copyright 2003 by Dan L. Hollifield




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