Abigail Spencer graduates from “All My Children” and a slew of primetime guest roles (including “CSI,” “Gilmore Girls”) to her own hour-long drama, “Angela’s Eyes,” on Lifetime beginning at 8 p.m. Sunday.
Spencer isn’t a household name unless you’re a soaps fan, but that could change with “Angela’s Eyes,” a better-than-average Lifetime effort.
Upon learning that her seemingly “average” American parents were actually CIA agents who gave information to the Eastern Bloc in Europe during the Cold War, Angela Henson (Spencer) joined the FBI. Her parents are in prison for treason; she’s locking up bad guys thanks to her innate ability to tell when someone is lying.
A consequence of her troubled family history is an inability to trust – a problem when it comes to romance.
Spencer is surrounded by men – a tough partner, a tech genius, a stern boss and a boyfriend – but it’s her intuition that saves the day. This program is on Lifetime, after all, where a woman’s sixth sense counts for more than hard fists and a handgun. Also, because it’s Lifetime, the fact that Angela is emotionally unavailable to her boyfriend will be a large part of the story.
The hour comes with impressive credentials – the producers of “Crash” had a hand in the series – and Spencer is a promising lead. Angela/Abigail does have fetching eyes, and the story hints that it may evolve into something more complex.
Are her parents trying to send her coded messages? Is her younger brother Jerry (Paul Popowich) right to believe in their parents’ innocence? The FBI agent wrestles with long-
repressed Mommy and Daddy issues, all in a day’s work.
This series doesn’t intend to pack the action-adventure punch and violence of the realm of Sydney Bristow of “Alias.”
The problem is that Angela, with her truth-seeking eyes, runs around seeking her own personal truth and family history in a sort of “Closer”-lite, making like Kyra Sedgwick but without the nuance.
Why do we get that sinking feeling every time a Lifetime hour veers into personal, emotional terrain and away from a supposedly urgent storyline that consultants have assured the network that this is what women want?
Why is it so hard to balance the two, the way Sedgwick’s “The Closer” does?
For now Lifetime has scheduled the hour neatly paired with reruns of “Medium.” Created by Dan McDermott (“The Omen”) and executive produced by Tom Nunan and Cathy Schulman (“Crash”), “Angela’s Eyes” deserves a peek, even if only a squint.
Goooooal!
World Cup follow-up: Variety reports that Italy’s win in Sunday’s final against France scored a record audience of 23 million in Italy, while roughly 17 million watched stateside.
A huge 84 percent of the audience had their sets tuned to the game in Italy. In the U.S., preliminary estimates show ABC’s coverage average about 12
million viewers – three times the audience that watched the 2002 final. Spanish-language broadcaster Univision averaged more than 5 million viewers – about 70 percent greater than the 2.9 million for 2002.
“Dan Rather Reports,” premiering on Mark Cuban’s HDNet in October, will feature the former CBS anchor in an hour- long weekly news program, with field reports, interviews, investigative pieces and possibly a “reporter’s notebook,” according to the network. It will be “completely uncensored” and will reflect “the signature qualities of its host with a focus on accuracy, fairness and guts.”
Impressed by the Edward R. Murrow movie, “Good Night, and Good Luck” – Dallas Mavericks billionaire owner Mark Cuban was a producer – Rather approached Cuban and struck the deal for HDNet.
The network headquarters is Denver; Rather will be based in New York. Rather and Denver- based HDNet co-founder Phil Garvin are interviewing producers. “We’re not raiding CBS News,” Garvin said.
HDNet has more than 3 million viewers and offers three hours of news and documentary programming on Tuesday nights.
“If you doubted HDnet’s commitment to news and documentary, this puts us on the map,” Garvin said.
TV critic Joanne Ostrow can be reached at 303-820-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
