To be honest, I was a little uneasy about the whole concept of "Glory Days" in the first place. Not only has it replaced "Jack and Jill," my personal favorite of 2001 (though apparently I was the only one who appreciated it due to the fact that it was cancelled), it has temporarily stolen "Felicity's" time slot.
Knowing that the show was created by Kevin Williamson ("Dawson's Creek"and "Scream") and stars the aesthetically appealing Eddie Cahill, I decided to give it a chance. While the sign welcoming visitors to Glory reads "Welcome to Glory, the Island of Happiness," I found myself stranded on the island of "been there, done that" teenage angst and ridiculously uncanny mystery plots.
Yet, for some inexplicable reason and, like most of the cheesy WB shows we all know and love, "Glory Days" may just be my guilty pleasure this winter.
The series focuses on Mike Dolan who, after publishing a best-seller based on his hometown of Glory Island, returns home to try and patch things up with family and friends who are not pleased with the brutally honest way Dolan describes them in his "fictional" book. Dolan receives a letter that reads, "You were right. It was an accident," from his father, whose death was the subject of his novel. Since the letter was postmarked from Glory, Dolan decides to return home to seek some answers.
Yet before he even returns home, Dolan witnesses a murder aboard the ferry and becomes a key investigator in the case just moments after his arrival. Dolan bumps into his childhood friend, now sheriff of Glory, Rudy Dunlop (Jay R. Ferguson), who isn't too pleased with Dolan's description of him in his book as the gay village idiot.
In fact, Rudy isn't the only one in Glory upset with Dolan for exposing the Glory Island locals. Dolan's mother (Frances Fisher) spills ink all over him when she sees him, his icy older sister, Sara, is a breeding ground of sarcastic remarks and super single mom Hazel (whom Dolan labels as his father's murderer in his book) is anything but happy to see him when he dines in her restaurant.
Dolan's spunky younger sister, Sam (Emily VanCamp), is the sole citizen of Glory happy to see him.
Ellie Sparks is the wacky coroner who keeps dead bodies in her garden to study how they decompose (alright, so maybe she isn't a very typical character). Only on the WB could a coroner be a sexy blond who just so happens to be the only other person on the Island not bothered by Dolan's book and who, by strange coincidence, also ends up teaming up with Dolan to solve the mysteries of the Island.
Will the stunningly handsome lead character become romantically involved with the other beautiful blond lead character who happens to be the same age and in the same line of work as he? No way!
Okay, so the drama is a little predictable, but the mystery element certainly is not. Surprising plot twists keep the viewers watching. Despite the humdrum melodrama, I found myself unable to change the channel or get up from my seat throughout the entire show.
While "Glory Days" did hold my attention, I felt as though I was watching scenerios and plots I've seen a million times before -- the small town (Glory Island, meet Capeside), the teenage prankster (Zane, meet Pacey Witters), the independent single mother (Mrs. Dolan and Hazel, meet Lorelai Gilmore) and sexual tension between the detective team (Mike Dolan and Ellie Sparks, meet Mulder and Scully).
The show marks not only the first time the mystery drama has been introduced to a younger audience on the small screen, but it is also Cahill's first lead role. Despite his unforgettable cameos on "Friends," "Sex and the City" and "Felicity," the rising star displays about as much personality as Bernie in "Weekend at Bernie's."
But for some reason, I can't think of anything better to do on a Wednesday night than to stare into Cahill's beautiful blue eyes for an hour as he scrambles around the Island trying to solve mysteries "Murder She Wrote"-style.
Cahill possesses a passive charm that has captured the hearts of viewers everywhere. In fact, the premiere of "Glory Days" on last Wednesday captured over 3.5 million viewers in the 9 p.m. hour, surpassing "Felicity's" season average of 3.3 million. The show also performed better than "Jack & Jill" did a year ago this week in most of the key demographic groups and ranked number two for it's time period among the nation's teen demographic.
The show is cleverly written; the plot twists in the pilot episode were very creative (and arguably very, very bizarre). Yet the show still reeked of that saccharine, deep soul-searching melodrama characteristic of both the WB and Kevin Williamson. Despite the attempts to make "Glory Days" a suspense thriller, it is inevitably a soap opera with a slight fear factor.
After last week's pilot episode, teens across the nation (myself included, I will not deny my growing attraction toward the show) are dying of suspense as they wait for next week's installment. Will Ellie and Mike get together? How did Dolan's father really die? Is Rudy actually gay?
In tonight's episode, Dolan investigates a musical prodigy, accused of murdering his piano teacher, whom he thinks may be possessed by the devil. So tune in tonight to "Murder He Wro-", er, rather, "Glory Days" and discover the mysteries of this winter's newest guilty pleasure.
