[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

No Subject



Rock, roll and chills
By Hal Boedeker | Sentinel Television Critic
Posted August 12, 2001

With Elvis sightings, rumors that Paul McCartney died decades ago and the
myth that bluesman Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil, rock 'n' roll
would seem the perfect backdrop for horror stories.

Two new series set chilling tales against the music world but with sharply
different results. VH1's anthology Strange Frequency, debuting Saturday,
goes for Twilight Zone eeriness with dramas of fame, pain and drug abuse.

WB's Dead Last, premiering Tuesday, aims for Ghostbusters giddiness with
comedy about a three-member band that can see ghosts. The series, however,
consistently misses that target and settles for cuteness or sentimentality.
These rockers are about as tough as the Carpenters.

Strange Frequency is more successful, even though its dark stories are
predictable and more unpleasant than haunting. Even so, the series can boast
that it has true rock credentials with Roger Daltrey of the Who as host.

In the first episode, Daltrey puts in a colorful appearance as a creepy
talent scout who coaxes a guitar technician (James Marsters of Buffy the
Vampire Slayer) to guitar virtuosity. The technician takes an unusual path
to stardom: buying sheet music of a Jimi Hendrix composition and playing it,
despite being warned that doing so will conjure the devil.

The talent scout has an insinuating manner and says things like, "Rome
wasn't burned in a day." Yet the technician doesn't realize who he actually
is until it's too late.

Daltrey plays a second, well-camouflaged role as the store owner who sells
the Hendrix composition. Marsters portrays the put-upon technician with
brooding sexuality that will be familiar to Buffy fans, and his presence is
another incentive to watch.

The second episode of Strange Frequency is a grim, intense anti-drug story
about a musician (John Hawkes) battling addiction. A mysterious woman (Patsy
Kensit) comes into his life and says, "I've heard you channel heaven through
your guitar."

She reminds him that he has never written a song while sober. He dubs her
his muse and falls off the wagon.

He tries to get straight. "We're a team, baby," she tells him.

Too late, he realizes who she actually is -- is there a pattern to the
storytelling? The tale swings between powerful and overwrought before
delivering a good twist ending. Kensit gives a sly, scary performance as an
unmovable force.

The actors are the main draws in Strange Frequency. Later episodes will
feature Wendie Malick, Peter Strauss, Stuart Margolin, Charisma Carpenter,
Ally Sheedy, Pam Grier, Jason Gedrick and Illeana Douglas. They are reason
enough to keep watching and to hope that Strange Frequency graduates to more
sophisticated storytelling.

        -Brian in Atlanta
         The Who This Month!
        http://members.home.net/cadyb/who.htm