Angie Harmon appears to be having a blast in her new ABC drama, “Women’s Murder Club” (8 p.m. Fridays, KMGH-Channel 7), and I think I know why. Her character actually has a back story — and some emotional substance. And she actually gets to act.
Oh, how freeing that must be for her. Not to knock Harmon’s former show, “Law & Order,” the beloved king of bare-bones, just-the-facts- ma’am crime procedurals. But some viewers — and most actors — prefer a little personality with their dramas. That’s why we’re encouraged this season to see shows such as “Women’s Murder Club” and, yes, even the delightfully daffy “Pushing Daisies” (7 p.m. Wednesday, Channel 7) putting unconventional twists on the stodgy network procedural. In very different ways, both are proving that the case-of-the-week format can, indeed, bear the brunt of character- driven storytelling.
On “Murder Club,” Harmon plays Lindsay Boxer, a driven San Francisco homicide cop with three gal pals who huddle up to solve crimes. But they also talk a lot about their romantic lives, their hopes and dreams and even their fashion choices — sometimes while a cold corpse is splayed before them.
Some of the dishy “Murder Club” gab sessions feel contrived and awkwardly tacked on to certain scenes. Also, the show has had some difficulty working Lindsay’s friends — a medical examiner (Paula Newsome), an assistant D.A. (Laura Harris) and a crime reporter (Aubrey Dollar) — into the mix.
So far, the show feels more like “The Angie Harmon Club” than an ensemble piece, not that there’s anything wrong with that. The raven-haired beauty, with that faintly husky voice, is magnetic in the role. Her Lindsay exudes a steely strength — just watch her take down a perp with a single kick to the noggin — but she also has a sense of vulnerability to her.
Just like “Murder Club,” “Pushing Daisies” presents a homicide per week, albeit very weird ones. On this enchanting fantasy, murder victims get blown to smithereens by reading scratch-and-sniff books or trampled by racehorses.
As with a typical TV procedural, “Daisies” guides viewers through the case, presenting clues and suspects and the occasional red herring until all is neatly resolved by the end of the hour. But unlike those other shows, private eye Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) has an ace in the hole — a shy piemaker named Ned (Lee Pace) who, with a single magical touch, can bring the victims back to life and get them to rat out their killers.
Of course, the cases in “Pushing Daisies” are besides the point.
We’re much more interested in the offbeat, yet endearing, romance between Ned and Charlotte “Chuck” Charles (Anna Friel), the childhood sweetheart he heroically resurrected but now must keep at arm’s length because another touch will return her to the grave — forever.
There was some initial skepticism over whether the show could sustain its whimsical premise. But “Daisies” remains fresh largely because it has avoided being just a simple case-of- the-week procedural. Its characters have deepened over the course of the season and new wrinkles have been added to its narrative.
