'The Listener,'
we've heard it all before
Canadian import brings nothing new and lots that's old
By Tom Conroy
Jun 4, 2009
In its ongoing effort to fill primetime with the cheapest possible programming, NBC has purchased the U.S. broadcast rights to the Canadian drama series “The Listener.”
Unfortunately, in this case the network got what it paid for.
Reminiscent of those hour-long dramas that ran on basic cable before basic cable got good, “The Listener” (premiering tonight at 9) comes complete with a generic premise, stock situations and by-the-numbers directing and acting.
“The Listener” chronicles the adventures of a paramedic, Toby Logan (Craig Olejnik), who can read other people’s thoughts, sometimes in audio, sometimes in video.
Like the paranormally gifted heroes of such previous series as “The Dead Zone” and “Early Edition” (as well as countless other TV shows and movies), he decides to use his gift for do-gooding rather than personal profit.
In a way that’s not explained in either of the episodes NBC made available for reviewers, the telepathic flashes come randomly. The timing seems to be based on the needs of the writers to either stretch out or resolve the story so that it ends in 43 minutes (plus commercials).
Sometimes helping and sometimes hindering Toby’s investigations are his paramedic partner, Oz (Ennis Esmer), who might as well be wearing a sign that reads “Comical Sidekick,” and Detective Charlie Marx (Lisa Marcos), an unusually sexy police investigator who might as well be reading a sign that says “Love Interest.” (She also represents another TV cliché: the total hottie with a boy’s name.)
In a nod to reality, at one point an associate does ask Detective Charlie how come the same paramedic always seems to be mixed up in her cases.
Occupying the Ex-Girlfriend slot is Dr. Olivia Fawcett (Mylène Dinh-Robic), who tends to be near the emergency room whenever Toby delivers a patient so that they can banter sexily about their relationship.
Toby is haunted by childhood memories of his mother, who seemed to have something to hide when she burned down their house and gave him a fake name. It’s unclear what she was afraid of, but chances are it was a huge government conspiracy or an unscrupulous, all-powerful corporation. (This is assuming that Canadian TV producers are as paranoid as the average American ones.)
The dialogue is either bland or clumsy. Discussing a suspect, Detective Charlie says, “He’s got a rap sheet that runs like an encyclopedia of dysfunction.”
The plotting isn’t much better. The premiere, in which Toby helps an accident victim whose son has been abducted, ends with a literal cliff-hanger. The second episode provided for review, in which Toby tries to rescue a street kid trapped in a life of crime, is capped off by a flat, unfunny scene featuring Toby and Comical Sidekick.
It is something of a novelty for American audiences to see a television show (or a movie, for that matter) that was shot in Canada but doesn’t pretend it takes place in the U.S. At one point, we even see Toronto’s landmark CN Tower.
Maybe it’s still cool in Canada to shoot indoor scenes in a soft, hazy light, with every window in the background a big, fuzzy blur. In American series nowadays, that look is often used to indicate that we’re seeing a flashback.
That would help explain why “The Listener” provokes such a strong sense of déjà vu.
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