My Own Worst Enemy

Tim

Creative Writer
First episode of this new series just aired.

http://www.tv.com/My-Own-Worst-Enemy/show/75339/summary.html

The story unfolds in the first episode explaining everything, so I won't post it here. Just get it watched as it's almost novel enough to be worth the time spent.

Basically the show reminds me and a lot of others of the British scifi drama Jekyll, with James Nesbit. Two characters in one head, with the associated contact between the two being the same, even to the same cutting off of messages. It's almost like someone watched Jekyll and decided the premise would be good for a spy drama. But here Christian Slater, even with his character of old at work, doesn't quite (with the direction and filmography) reach the scary imagery of Nesbit's:Jekyll. But still, it has to be watched (at least the first episode) to see what has been done.
 
I caught this (don't blame me, the wife is a Slater fan) and while it was not a bad start it also did not make me think "Oooh, I have got to watch the next episode!" and so I don't even have it set to record on the DVR.

Of the two alter-egos, Edward Albright and Henry, I found the 'dark' side, Edward, to be the more interesting. Henry seemed just a bit too ready to accept the fact that he does not really exist and that he leads a double life. For a family man, Henry also did not seem too fazed about literally blowing up two bad guys so perhaps there is more Edward in Henry then there should be.

I suspect that this and the US remake of the Eleventh Hour will be amongst the first shows to be killed off this season.
 
Looks like I was right about at least one of the shows...

From Wired:
NBC is cleaning house after the failure of Heroes to gain traction with viewers.

The latest domino to fall: The Christian Slater vehicle My Own Worst Enemy, which failed to hit the jackpot by hitching a ride on Heroes' time slot, instead crashing and burning after only nine episodes.

The mind-control drama was scheduled to complete 13 episodes and wait for further instructions, but it looks like the ninth episode will be its swan song, according to Variety. It isn't the only Universal Media Studios property on NBC scheduled to shutter: Lipstick Jungle is also on the chopping block.

Throw in the recent firing of Heroes producers Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander, and it's clear that NBC wants to shake up its prime-time roster.

It needs to: My Own Worst Enemy was a clunky secret agent mess masquerading as a morality play about self-awareness, while Heroes is more or less the same, with an important caveat: It has gone on for three seasons. Really, how long does it take to figure out who you are, especially when you're just a tool for someone else?
 
This show never really appealed to me...apparently I wasn't the only one.
Even my wife, who is a big Slater fan, never liked it. She saw the premiere episode and that was enough for her.

I could see Slater doing any TV role as a dark character (ala "Edward") but this particular show just did not offer enough to keep viewers coming back. If it was a 2-hour TV movie aired during the holidays instead of a series, I think it would have garnered better results.
 
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