TV Reivew: Smith

Genre: Drama

Channel: CBS

Season: 1

The Premise: Normal, traveling cup salesman, family guy is actually a master criminal.

Why this should be good: Other than a few liberties, this is based on a true story. There really was a guy, living in suburbia, who seemed to have it all. His neighbors loved him. Women envied his wife for having such a great husband, men envied him for being the perfect husband, dad, scout leader, etc.

Also: Virginia Madsen. I think I have had a girl-crush on her since I saw her in The Creator in 1985 opposite Peter O'Toole, Mariel Hemingway, and Vincent Spano. Is it the hair? The voice? I don't know, but I've always thought she's had the 'it' factor. So why is she regulated to a minor boring existence in the pilot? The real wife actually knew what her husband was doing, does Virginia Madsen know what Ray Liotta is really doing on his business trips, or does she think he is having an affair?

What's not working: It's slow. I've never been more disappointed that they skimped on commercials. Seriously. I needed more breaks. Also, Ray Liotta will never be a guy other guys want to be and women wish they married. When was the last time anyone every looked at Liotta and said, he's such a nice guy? Hell, his nicest role was Field of Dreams, and he basically said next to nothing and he still seemed like he'd kick your ass half the time.

And, this amazing crew still had a lot of things go wrong. Is that the suspense? That these guys are going to screw up periodically, so it's not a question of will they screw up, but when will they screw up, and how serious will the screw up be?

I swore I'd give it a second episode. So, here's the deal, I'm rating this now, and after I see the second episode, I'll come back and tell you if my opinion has changed.

AV Rating: 1.5/5 Stars. Skip it.