NBC Pilots

So, you may or may not know this but you can rent 3 free pilots from your local friendly Blockbuster: Chuck, Journeyman, and Life. It says Bionic Woman is on there, too, but that's a damn lie.
Here's what you need to know:
Life stars Damian Lewis, who was stellar on Band of Brothers, and apparently now has a lisp -- that's what 12 years in jail for a crime you didn't commit will do to you, apparently. The man's British. I wish he'd just play it. There's also that hot Latina girl from The L Word. She's straight here. But not. Because she has a drug problem! Haha.
The pilot was ok, but it didn't really hook and sink me. Can zen and vengeance live together in the same, red-headed man? I don't know, and honestly, I don't think they care anymore than I do.

Journeyman is better. There's a Quantum Leap sort of problem, but he keeps going back to his real time. And his only guide as to what's happening to him may be his SPOILER ALERT not dead ex-fiancee/love-of-his-life. The last few minutes of the episode are extremely moving, and pretty consciously so. But as great as the frame is, the story within, "Neal Gaines," the guy Mr. Journeyman is tracking? Dull beans. They need to work on their stand-alone stories better.

Chuck's kind of cool, if painfully confusing and a total knock-off of Jake 2.0 with a bit of Alias and The 40-Year-Old Virgin stuck in for good measure. I didn't know Echo Park was so pretty. I didn't know that the new cool thing was shows starring "Jims" from The Office, self-aware, dorky, and still hipper-than-thou guys stuck in crap jobs. The sidekick's annoying, the reason why superspy hottie in the beginning gets killed and Chuck doesn't unclear, and the "how is this going to last for 100 episodes" overwhelming. But Chuck's affable, his spy/guardian a better actress than the posters would suggest, and there's a guy called Captain Awesome. He should get his own spin-off when this goes belly-up.

So. Just watch FNL. And 30 Rock. None of these pilots really rocked my world... though I guess they all have potential.