At the CW, the desired audience is teen and preteen girls whose parents apparently don't care what they watch. This time, instead of focusing on young, languid, half-clothed degenerates, the network has found a show that focuses on young, athletic, half-clothed college students.
But it's a CW college, so the students aren't working in classes. They're on the cheerleading squad, and even the smart one turns stupid to make the grade. The show's going for a Glee vibe, but instead of feeling uplift and inspiration as you watch the skin-baring cheer performances, you feel a little cheap.
On Terriers, it's the characters who are delightfully cheap, living on the edge of society in a town that seems at least slightly removed from the rest of the world.
In real life, Ocean Beach is a funky neighborhood in San Diego, but here it's promoted to a full-fledged municipality with a police force, from which the (now recovering) alcoholic Hank Dolworth has been booted. Teamed with Britt Pollack, an equally unemployed partner of less-specific origins, he operates as an unlicensed, unlisted, unassuming private eye who'll do just about anything to stay above water.
Jeff Bridges would be perfect for the part, but he was unavailable, so the producers hired Donal Logue and paired him with Michael Raymond-James, who became available after it turned out that True Blood's Rene Lenier was not the friendly guy everybody thought, and had to be killed.
Both men have relationship issues. Dolworth's trying to hang onto his newly engaged ex-wife. Pollack and his girlfriend, not engaged, are taking tiny steps toward parenthood by adopting a dachshund.
