"Human Target" (HT) is damned good television. When an episode is lacking, it still manages to be an above average action romp with slight comedic elements. But when it's working, the show isn't like anything else on television. In all honesty, it's more like a big budget, action film on the tube. Yet, this isn't getting good ratings, which puzzles me. But before I cover this, I just want to acknowledge what makes HT so great.
The first season worked primarily due to charisma and interaction of the three leads. All of the primary actors nailed their roles. Christopher Chance (Mark Valley) is the headliner with a shady past. A pretty boy/face breaker, he's an expert on keeping people alive due to him formerly being an expert on taking people out of the equation. Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley) is a walking oxymoron. He looks like a nerd, but has a real mean streak and the skills to back it up. Winston (Chi McBride) is more or less the straight man. Large and in charge, he's the rational one who points out just how ludicrous some of the circumstances they find themselves in are. Season two saw the addition of Ames and Ilsa Pucci. Ames (Janet Montgomery) is a thief and serves as the rookie of the team. Even though she's just starting out, she has enough moments to let you see she can pull her weight. Ilsa Pucci (Indira Varma) is the moneybags who enables all the fancy equipment and air travel. She's also an absolute stranger to the world she's entered and serves as a reason for most of the craziness to be explained for the audience.
The action is better than what's found in most summer movie fare. There are car chases. There are really cool shootouts. Blow-up-able objects have a tendency to fulfill their purpose. There was even a passenger jet flying upside down, all to put out an onboard fire. But hand to hand is the soup du jour, and HT delivers with bone-crunching satisfaction. All I can say is Valley really knows how to sell a punch. He also really knows how to sell a kick, an elbow, a knee, a headbutt and any combination/variation of the basics.
The writing on HT makes each episode into a fully developed story and not just a juxtaposition of loosely related scenes. Characterization is tight, consistent and never betrayed for the sake of the plot. The threats are almost always interesting and well balanced against the good guys. The structure of an episode can't be taken for granted. Sometimes an episode starts well into the storyline, and we have to catch up via flashbacks—as in season one's "Baptiste". Other times an episode is more chronological in nature, but throws a seriously wicked curveball—just like in season two's "Kill Bob". Through it all is a very wicked and subversive humor that permeates every line of dialogue and every punch thrown. For the most laughs, however, you can never go wrong with Winston and Guerrero. The two are extraordinarily mismatched. This leads to any number of insults, threats and snide remarks that feel like two stand-up comedians sniping away at each other.
Yet, despite all of this, HT doesn't get the ratings. And, this is what puzzles me. I hear the most coveted demographic for advertising dollars are adult males, age 18-34. Yet, this show, which is tailor made for us, is struggling? I was talking to someone about this, and she brought up a valid point.
In the box office, the proof is in ticket sales. This is why the biggest blockbusters of a year are always action oriented. Check out the haul of 2008's "Dark Knight" vs. "Mamma Mia". Bruce Wayne stomped Abba's arse. But on television, success isn't determined by cold, hard cash. It's determined by ratings.
Isn't it odd that in the theaters, properties like "The Bourne Identity", "Spiderman", "RED" and "Inception" rule the roost? Yet, on TV, shows like "Human Target", "Detroit 187", and "Chase" struggle, while "Glee", "The Good Wife", and "Grey's Anatomy" rock out. So the same people who pay to see movies, don't watch television? It seems rather incongruous.
Maybe the television execs are wrong about the strength of their preferred demo. Maybe we don't watch TV, even though the Superbowl is the biggest programming event of the year. It's entirely possible guys really could be immersing themselves in overly dramatic, masculinity challenged narratives. Who the hell am I to judge? On the other hand, there could be another reason for the discrepancy between the big and small screen.
You can't give the over 100 million dollars generated by the "Dark Knight" to "Mamma Mia" or "Sex & the City". A ticket sale is a cash medium that involves thousands of people. However, in this digital age you could probably skew TV ratings like no one's business. Like all data, it can be interpreted, misinterpreted or even faked any which way but lose. Anyone who's taken basic statistics knows this.
Does anyone know of any males, age 18-34, that regularly watch "Glee", what with the singing and dancing? If not, then how could it be a success without us? So is it then possible the failing of action driven shows like HT and the success of menial fare like "Glee" could be due, in no small part, to fraud in both how the ratings are collected and construed.
I'm really pulling for "Human Target" to be renewed. It's one of those rare shows that actually delivers in a way standard TV generally doesn't. It's always a blast checking in on Chance and company, and a third season can deliver the success this property deserves. However, if this second season is the last one, it's been a swell ride and I've said my piece.
The first season worked primarily due to charisma and interaction of the three leads. All of the primary actors nailed their roles. Christopher Chance (Mark Valley) is the headliner with a shady past. A pretty boy/face breaker, he's an expert on keeping people alive due to him formerly being an expert on taking people out of the equation. Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley) is a walking oxymoron. He looks like a nerd, but has a real mean streak and the skills to back it up. Winston (Chi McBride) is more or less the straight man. Large and in charge, he's the rational one who points out just how ludicrous some of the circumstances they find themselves in are. Season two saw the addition of Ames and Ilsa Pucci. Ames (Janet Montgomery) is a thief and serves as the rookie of the team. Even though she's just starting out, she has enough moments to let you see she can pull her weight. Ilsa Pucci (Indira Varma) is the moneybags who enables all the fancy equipment and air travel. She's also an absolute stranger to the world she's entered and serves as a reason for most of the craziness to be explained for the audience.
The action is better than what's found in most summer movie fare. There are car chases. There are really cool shootouts. Blow-up-able objects have a tendency to fulfill their purpose. There was even a passenger jet flying upside down, all to put out an onboard fire. But hand to hand is the soup du jour, and HT delivers with bone-crunching satisfaction. All I can say is Valley really knows how to sell a punch. He also really knows how to sell a kick, an elbow, a knee, a headbutt and any combination/variation of the basics.
The writing on HT makes each episode into a fully developed story and not just a juxtaposition of loosely related scenes. Characterization is tight, consistent and never betrayed for the sake of the plot. The threats are almost always interesting and well balanced against the good guys. The structure of an episode can't be taken for granted. Sometimes an episode starts well into the storyline, and we have to catch up via flashbacks—as in season one's "Baptiste". Other times an episode is more chronological in nature, but throws a seriously wicked curveball—just like in season two's "Kill Bob". Through it all is a very wicked and subversive humor that permeates every line of dialogue and every punch thrown. For the most laughs, however, you can never go wrong with Winston and Guerrero. The two are extraordinarily mismatched. This leads to any number of insults, threats and snide remarks that feel like two stand-up comedians sniping away at each other.
Yet, despite all of this, HT doesn't get the ratings. And, this is what puzzles me. I hear the most coveted demographic for advertising dollars are adult males, age 18-34. Yet, this show, which is tailor made for us, is struggling? I was talking to someone about this, and she brought up a valid point.
In the box office, the proof is in ticket sales. This is why the biggest blockbusters of a year are always action oriented. Check out the haul of 2008's "Dark Knight" vs. "Mamma Mia". Bruce Wayne stomped Abba's arse. But on television, success isn't determined by cold, hard cash. It's determined by ratings.
Isn't it odd that in the theaters, properties like "The Bourne Identity", "Spiderman", "RED" and "Inception" rule the roost? Yet, on TV, shows like "Human Target", "Detroit 187", and "Chase" struggle, while "Glee", "The Good Wife", and "Grey's Anatomy" rock out. So the same people who pay to see movies, don't watch television? It seems rather incongruous.
Maybe the television execs are wrong about the strength of their preferred demo. Maybe we don't watch TV, even though the Superbowl is the biggest programming event of the year. It's entirely possible guys really could be immersing themselves in overly dramatic, masculinity challenged narratives. Who the hell am I to judge? On the other hand, there could be another reason for the discrepancy between the big and small screen.
You can't give the over 100 million dollars generated by the "Dark Knight" to "Mamma Mia" or "Sex & the City". A ticket sale is a cash medium that involves thousands of people. However, in this digital age you could probably skew TV ratings like no one's business. Like all data, it can be interpreted, misinterpreted or even faked any which way but lose. Anyone who's taken basic statistics knows this.
Does anyone know of any males, age 18-34, that regularly watch "Glee", what with the singing and dancing? If not, then how could it be a success without us? So is it then possible the failing of action driven shows like HT and the success of menial fare like "Glee" could be due, in no small part, to fraud in both how the ratings are collected and construed.
I'm really pulling for "Human Target" to be renewed. It's one of those rare shows that actually delivers in a way standard TV generally doesn't. It's always a blast checking in on Chance and company, and a third season can deliver the success this property deserves. However, if this second season is the last one, it's been a swell ride and I've said my piece.