"LIFE" -- From Rand Ravich and Far Shariat, the executive producers of the feature film "The Astronaut's Wife," and David Semel, who directed the pilot of NBC's "Heroes," "Life" is a new drama about a detective who is given a second chance. Damian Lewis ("Band of Brothers") stars as complex, offbeat Detective Charlie Crews, who returns to the force after years in prison, thanks to close friend and attorney Constance Griffiths (Melissa Sagemiller, "Sleeper Cell"), after serving time for a crime he didn't commit. The cast also includes Sarah Shahi ("Rush Hour 3") as Charlie's skeptical, demanding partner, Robin Weigart (HBO's "Deadwood") as their hard-hitting lieutenant, and Adam Arkin ("Chicago Hope") as former cellmate Ted Early. "Life" is an NBC Universal Television Studio production. Rand Ravich is executive producer and writer; Far Shariat is executive producer; David Semel is executive producer and director on the pilot.
Basic storyline: Charlie Crews comes out of prison after spending 12 years inside for a triple murder he didn't commit. While there, he gets beat on regularly and reads about Zen. He gets millions in his settlement and has a fellow inmate, an ex-CEO who commited fraud, handle his finances. As part of the settlement, he is allowed back on the force and is promoted to detective. Since he was away for 12 years, he acts a little odd, spouts Zen sayings, and is a little behind on technology.
I've downloaded and watched the pilot screener from bittorrent. It sets everything up and it definitely has a good long term storyline. The only problem is that it's on NBC. We know what happened to Day Break and The Black Donnelys.
Also, the above blurb from NBC has a mistake. Constance Griffiths is played by Brooke Langton and not Melissa Sagemiller. They must have replaced her in the pilot and it was probably for the best. Brooke Langton is a much better actress than her.
Edited to add: I found a picture of Melissa Sagemiller in a promo picture for season 1. Yup. No way would she have had any chemistry with Crews.
Damian Lewis was good as expected. He was good on Band of Brothers and the only decent thing in the utter crap that was Dreamcatcher. Sarah Shahi is way too hot to be a cop but I'm not complaining.
13 episodes have been ordered. I hope this thing can actually last long enough on the air to complete its storyline.
Procedurals are a tough sell around here even at the best of times.
