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'Palmetto Pointe,'
so very minor league
Mess of a steamy teen drama from the i network
By Steven Rosen
If the all-around lousiness of
“Palmetto Pointe” were only due to a too-rushed production
schedule, that could be corrected. But this new teen drama from the
i network is so seriously flawed as a story, judging by the debut episode,
that it may be beyond repair.
Yet amid the problems, one thing is sure evident. This
is quite a sexy show for a family-oriented broadcast network.
Previously known as PAX TV, i also promotes Dick Van Dyke’s
“Diagnosis Murder” as a programming highlight. If this is how
the network
wants to change its image (the “i” stands for independent
television) and lure younger viewers, “Palmetto Pointe” is
making the point. But it will be a struggle to lure an audience
used to the higher entertainment values of “The OC,” “Dawson’s Creek” or even golden oldie, “Beverly Hills
90210.”
The production schedule was so tight that the network wasn’t even
able to send out a screener until just days before last Sunday’s 8
p.m. debut. And that episode suffered from terrible sound mixing,
with treacly, hyperemotional rock songs constantly bursting out while
characters are talking. Often the dialogue is buried by the bad
music, leaving one to wonder what's being said. In the way it uses
music, the teen drama comes across as a poor man’s “OC.”
Executive producer Tim Casey may be able to remedy some
of these production issues as the series progresses. But can the boring, facile and poorly
set-up story be salvaged? Probably not.
“Palmetto Pointe” is set amid upper-income white
graduates of Palmetto Pointe High School in the Low Country around Charleston, S.C. Everybody has first names as decorously fluffy as those of
teen-oriented clothing stores in expensive malls – Tristan, Logan, Callah, Millison, Lacy, Murphy.
Glum, temperamental Tristan (Tim Woodward Jr.) has
returned home with his Tallahassee summer-league baseball team to play
against Palmetto Pointe. He’s hoping
to reach the major leagues eventually. His return isn’t widely
heralded, however. He left on bad terms with his older brother
and jilted girlfriend, Lacy (Madison Weidberg). His best
friend, Logan (Brent Lovell), has his own problems with a drunken,
abusive father who wants him to attend the family alma mater.
But head writer Tripp Weathers doesn’t give even
these stale ingredients their due. Instead the first
episode turns into a trite sports story as Tristan attempts to pitch
a perfect game while his old classmates watch in the stands. It’s
hardly the kind of everyday crisis that a teen audience can relate
to. And this all ends with calamitous editing, reaching a climax in
which flashbacks meld into
rushed attempts at plot advancement as the music blares and time
runs out.
The erotic undercurrent of several scenes is
surprising, given the network. True, these kids do spend hot
summers at the beach or poolside. That’s to be expected. But when
Lacy emerges from a swimming pool in a skimpy black bikini, the
camera not only zooms in on her jiggling breasts but
replays the close-up several times.
Later she gets even with Tristan by forcing him to
strip to his baseball jersey and jock strap on a road, then drives
off with his clothes and leaves him briefly exposed.
Unfortunately, “Palmetto Pointe” in its debut was
also left all too exposed by its own deficiencies. This is
definitely minor-league television.
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Sept. 1, 2005
©
2005
Media Life
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Steven Rosen is a Los Angeles writer.
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