Sometimes, bad shows happen to good TV characters. Alas, the world is imperfect. Maybe it’s time to liberate some of those worthy folks from mediocrity, and set them up in new series? Here are a few TV rescue missions, on the eve of March sweeps.
Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), “Grey’s Anatomy” — It’s time to spring Cristina from this fading star of a show, which is now in a codependent cross-promotional relationship with “Private Practice.” Of all the central players on “Grey’s,” Cristina is the only one I can still wholeheartedly root for.
She’s all business, and a bit of a bully, but in this group of doctors with no boundaries, that’s refreshing. Let’s send Cristina, with love interest Owen (Kevin McKidd), to an East Coast hospital where they can work on more fascinating medical cases. The show? “Yang, Seriously.”
Liz Cruz (Roma Maffia), “Nip/Tuck” — Oh no they didn’t. The “Nip/Tuck” writers are, of course, insane, and we love them for that. But to throw lesbian anesthesiologist Liz into a sexual affair — and possibly a marriage — with womanizer Christian this season is just too, too wrong. Time to save Liz from the shame and torment of “Nip/Tuck,” and set her up in a happily-ever-after lesbian sitcom called — what else? — “U-Haul.”
Charles Barker (Patrick Swayze), “The Beast” — Swayze projects a beautifully weathered dignity in his leading performance on this series — he’s somewhere in the vicinity of Clint Eastwood or Tommy Lee Jones. He’s a rogue undercover cop with a temper, a quiet sense of humor, and a workaholic’s ethos. Alas, the show is a generic urban crime drama with too much murky atmosphere and not enough original plotting. And Swayze is robbed of getting an acting challenge from his co-star Travis Fimmel as his partner. Before the show drags Barker down, let’s transfer him to “Unforgiven: The Series.”
Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson), “Law & Order” The once-great TV procedural has run out of creative steam, especially when it comes to the weekly crime plots. But Lt. Van Buren remains interesting, even while she is the longest-running regular character on the show. Thanks to Merkerson’s restraint, Van Buren has become a great example of a character who always leaves us wanting more. Let’s give her a domestic drama, track her family life with her husband and two sons (“Van Buren: Home Edition”?!) and let Merkerson bring on some of the depth she brought to her Emmy-winning performance in the HBO movie “Lackawanna Blues.”
Holly Harper (Patricia Wettig), “Brothers & Sisters” — Often, she’s the bad guy on this series, and that’s a good thing. Holly, the woman who had an affair with the late husband of Sally Field’s Nora, brings a welcome brittleness to this mush-pie of a soap opera.
She does what she has to do. Let’s free Holly from the contempt of the Walker clan and put her at the helm of a workplace melodrama, “Holly, Inc.”
