Royal Pains
Stars: 3.5 out of 5

Stars: Mark Feuerstein, Paulo Costanzo, Reshma Shetty and Jill Flint

The Big Idea: After the death of a wealthy patron gets Dr. Hank Lawson (Feuerstein) booted from the Manhattan hospital where he works and his insensitive fiancé dumps him, Lawson’s bro Evan (Costanzo, from Joey) convinces him a weekend in the babe-laden Hamptons is just the thing to cure what ails him. While vacaying in the beach playground to the rich and famous, Hank saves a woman’s life at a swanky soiree, prompting the town to claim him as their “concierge doc.”

To Watch or Not to Watch: Absolutely, if for no other reason than because Feuerstein, who’s done more than his fair share of time in lame sitcoms (Good Morning, Miami and Caroline in the City) and good guest-starring gigs (The West Wing and Once and Again), has finally landed in a series worthy of his leading man charms. And he is charming … the 75-minute premiere is a bit bogged down with the obligatory setting up of the series’ premise, but Feuerstein saves it by making you care about Lawson’s chance to redeem his career, maybe spark a new romance with a local hospital administrator who, like him, cares more about patients than money, and, hey, because he is now living in that beach playground to the rich and famous, have some fun in the sun.

The show, a perfect addition to USA’s addictive character-driven dramedy line-up and a fitting companion to Burn Notice‘s third season (which premieres tonight at 9PM ET), also promises to get even better, particularly as Hank interacts with the locals. The best part of the premiere is when he goes all MacGyver to perform impromptu surgery on Tucker, a wealthy haemophiliac teen whose parents are MIA. Hank and the kid bond, and the good doc promises him that he’ll check in on him once he returns from the hospital; Feuerstein has confirmed that’s part of the show’s continuing storyline.

TV Screener Tidbit: Like USA’s other series, Royal Pains will also feature plenty of guest stars, including Campbell Scott and Christine Ebersole in the premiere, and Andrew McCarthy, who’ll play the father of Hank’s teen pal Tucker.

TV Screener Tidbit #2: In addition to his TV and film work, viral video fans may remember Feuerstein from “Lazy Monday,” the “West Coast answer” to Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell‘s classic “Lazy Sunday,” the Chronicles of Narnia rap, clip.

Royal Pains premieres June 4, at 10PM ET on USA Network

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• Filed in Drama, Dramedy, Review - TV
• Tags: Andrew McCarthy, Andy Samberg, Burn Notice, Campbell Scott, Caroline in the City, Chris Parnell, Christine Ebersole, Drama, Dramedy, Good Morning Miami, Hamptons, Hank Lawson, Jill Flint, Joey, Lazy Monday, Lazy Sunday, Mark Feuerstein, medical drama, medical dramedy, medical series, Once and Again, Paulo Costanzo, Reshma Shetty, Royal Pains, The West Wing, USA, USA Network

It’s like Grease-meets-Fame-meets-Freaks and Geeks-meets-Square Pegs, with a dash of every other great teen/high school drama thrown in for good measure. And, it’s peppered with Journey songs. What is this delicious mix of pop culture goodness? It’s Glee, the new dramedy that’s getting a cushy premiere slot tonight: the post-American Idol hour (9PM ET on Fox, or whenever they decide to end the constantly-in-overtime AI).

First things first, Glee is wonderful. It’s sweet, funny, sincere (sometimes painfully so, as many a drama and choir geek will probably attest), and though I’m not a huge fan of musical theater that doesn’t feature some sort of performance by Nathan Lane, the song-and-dance numbers performed by McKinley High’s glee club are just plain fun.

The show, in case you’ve somehow missed all the hype during Idol, revolves around small-town teacher Will Schuester (Tony-nominated Matthew Morrison), a former glee club member during his own high school days, who volunteers to become advisor to the current glee clubbers in an effort to help them prove they’re not second-class citizens to the school’s jocks and celebrated cheerleaders (the “Cheer-ios,” whose advisor is the always delightful scene stealer Jane Lynch from Party Down, Talladega Nights and The 40-Year-Old Virgin).

Will, whose prickly home life has led to a bit of disconnect from his own once bright and hopeful outlook, has the super peppy, ambitious and talented Rachel (Spring Awakening star Lea Michele) to lead the way. And once he, well, blackmails (hey, this is a show from Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy – it’s sweet, but there’s still some of that trademark orneriness in there) secretly-talented singer and football star Finn (Kyle XY‘s Cory Monteith) into joining the singing squad, they may just have a shot at, well, if not greatness, something akin to not sucking, either.

Sounds like the perfect summer show, right? Something that not only we in the 18-49 demo can enjoy, but something that might actually get the ‘tween and teen set to peel their eyes away from the Internet and their Xboxes long enough to watch, right?

Yep, it was the perfect idea to premiere it post-Idol, at the end of the TV season, right before the summer TV schedule kicks off … and then put it away and not air it again for several months, when it will live in the Wednesday at 9PM timeslot on Fox’s fall schedule.

Bottom line: Don’t miss tonight’s premiere. And then don’t forget how much you liked it when it finally airs again in a few months.

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• Filed in American Idol, Comedy, Drama, I Love TV!
• Tags: American Idol, Comedy, Cory Monteith, Drama, Dramedy, Glee, Jane Lynch, Journey, Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison, Musical, Ryan Murphy, Summer TV

Chuck. You love it, or you’ve never seen it; that’s pretty much the TV viewerverse at this point, with the unfortunate reality that those of us in group one are far outnumbered by those in group two. Having just put forth maximum effort on Chuck’s massive, multi– pronged, cast– supported Save the Show campaign, loyal Nerd Herders remain anxious for any hint of news before NBC makes its official schedule announcement next week. Here’s the latest scoop on the show’s future, courtesy of EW.com’s Michael Ausiello:

Question: What’s the latest on Chuck’s renewal? –Dave
Ausiello: Warner Bros. and NBC are haggling over money. Shocking, I know. If a deal can be worked out – and I have every reason to believe it can (and will) be – it’ll be back for a 13-episode third season.

This, for fans, is horrible news. A 13-episode order is one thing for a new midseason replacement. Sometimes you have too much quality merchandise for the schedule. (And sometimes, not). Regardless, there’s no shame in a new show being given a concentrated opportunity to establish itself, with the fall failures cleared away. Some huge hit shows have started that way – Moonlighting, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Office , as a few examples.

But that’s not the case for Chuck. Its 2007 starter season was cut short, courtesy of the industry-wide writers strike. The recently-concluded second season gave the showrunners and writers the chance to really hit their stride, showcasing the entertaining action-dramedy blend that inspired such intense fan loyalty. A 13-episode order, bluntly, kills, or at least seriously weakens, the fan commitment.

The way I see it, Chuck returns at the start of the next season, ends after 13 episodes, and leaves a nine-month forget-me gap until it’s renewed (or not). Or, a 13-episode third season doesn’t return until midseason, to the considerably less excitement of fans who’ve had nine months to forget about the show/find other new favorites/decide to move to Hawaii and pursue their dream job of becoming a Benihana chef, thus leaving them less time to watch TV at all. Either way, a nine-month time out – time enough to bring a new life into the world, after all – is also just about enough time to slow walk Chuck to a premature grave.

Anyone disagree?

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• Filed in Chuck, TV News, Uncategorized
• Tags: Benihana, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Chuck, Dramedy, EW, EW.com, Michael Ausiello, Moonlighting, NBC, Nerd Herd, The Office, writers strike, Zachary Levi