by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
After the disaster that was Runaway, the extremely short-lived drama starring Donnie Wahlburg that aired three times before being canned, The CW has been hesitant to unveil any new scripted shows, sticking to its lineup of old stand bys like 7th Heaven and Gilmore Girls. With both of these shows signing off for good in the next few weeks and summer break on the horizon for all the other shows, it’s time for the CW to take a leap and reveal their mid-season replacements. The first one out of the box is Hidden Palms, a mystery/soap opera that will air at the end of this month. I happened to stumble upon the pilot episode online and my first impression is cautiously optimistic.
Johnny Miller (Taylor Handley) has a number of skeletons in his closet. His father committed suicide right in front of him a year ago and the teen found refuge from that terrible night in drugs and alcohol. Fresh out of rehab, Johnny is making a reluctant new start in Palm Springs with his mother Karen (Gail O’Grady) and step-father Bob (D.W. Moffett). Johnny soon discovers that the surreal desert oasis of a town seems to have some secrets of its own when he meets Greta (Amber Heard), a hopelessly beautiful girl who is smart and charming, but oddly secretive when the subject of her ex-boyfriend Eddie comes up. Johnny’s next door neighbor, Cliff (Michael Cassidy), is only slightly more forthcoming about the mysterious Eddie. He reveals that the teen recently died under odd circumstances but won’t say anything more.
The cut of the pilot that I saw revealed that the adults in Johnny’s Palm Springs neighborhood are hiding things too. Cliff’s mother Tess (Sharon Lawrence) appears to have OCD and an addiction to plastic surgery. Nicole Bilderback played the mayor’s snobby wife who seems to hate everyone around her, including her step-daughter (Dana Davis). Then there was an over-the-top threesome involving a married couple (played by Valerie Cruz and Jason Winston George) and a property inspector. Apparently the pilot was retooled a couple of months back and a lot of the adults’ storylines were either completely revamped or taken out altogether, which, in all honesty, is a relief.
Hidden Palms premieres May 30th at 8 pm on The CW and the ad campaign is already in full force. So far the netlet has aired several cryptic commercials during peak viewing times, the ads accompanied by a website: 08nova.com. Initially, the site had a simple countdown clock, ticking away the seconds until the premiere. Now, the site has five of the ads and links to sites about Palm Springs and poet Pablo Neruda, who was mentioned in the opening minutes of the pilot by Johnny’s doomed dad. There’s no telling if this site will turn into an Alternate Reality Game or if it’s simply a device to get the buzz started. Either way, CW fans are paying attention and message boards for the show on TheCW.com and IMDb.com have had a marked increase in activity over the past few weeks.
Written and produced by one of the major names in teen soaps, Kevin Williamson, Hidden Palms will immediately appeal to those yearning for a show to replace The OC, especially since two of the stars had minor roles on the series. It seems like much of the material that brought the show down has been replaced since the pilot leaked onto the internet. What seemed like a combination of all the bad parts of Desperate Housewives mixed in with the characters of The OC now appears to be a tighter, more focused teen drama, more like The OC meets Veronica Mars, a much more palatable mixture in my opinion. Hidden Palms doesn’t appear to be as good as Williamson’s hit Dawson’s Creek, but it does have a little something that will no doubt please those who are intrigued by the idea of another teen soap. If you’re one of those people, be sure to tune in on May 30th to see if Hidden Palms is for you.
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