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Something fans of Nancy Drew and Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
...can agree on: Veronica Mars, a TV show with a heroine that bridges the gap between brainy sleuth and smart-mouthed, demon-destroying slayer. |
Hidden Gem: Veronica Mars is the best show no one watches
By Rob Owen
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
 Finally, something fans of Nancy Drew and Buffy the Vampire Slayer can agree on: Veronica Mars, a TV show with a heroine that bridges the gap between brainy sleuth and smart-mouthed, demon-destroying slayer.
Midway through its first season on UPN, Veronica Mars (which is shown at 9 p.m. Tuesdays) is the best character-driven mystery you're not watching - if the ratings are to be believed.
On a Tuesday night last month, Veronica Mars landed in sixth place in its time period in national overnight household ratings with just 2.6 million people watching. The WB's competing teen soap One Tree Hill had almost double the number of viewers. Season-to-date, Veronica Mars ranks No. 159 out of 214 prime-time broadcast network series.
Fans of quality TV are missing out. Veronica Mars offers a mystery of the week plus a strong female lead reminiscent of Buffy. But unlike the vampire slayer, high school student Veronica Mars doesn't fight demons, at least not of the scaly-skinned, green-blooded variety.
Veronica lives in the fictional upscale community of Neptune, Calif., with her private-investigator father, Keith (Enrico Colantoni). She helps him with his work, but pursues her own investigations, too. Veronica also has a continuing project: Investigating the murder of her best friend, Lilly Kane, whose demise set in motion a variety of changes in Veronica's life.
As is pretty much always the case with the best shows on TV, Veronica Mars qualifies by virtue of its writing.
"I think that's what people are responding to, a female heroine they can relate to in a different sort of way," said Mars creator Rob Thomas at a UPN party in January.
 Thomas has a history of working on critically acclaimed, low-rated series, most notably ABC's 1998-1999 romantic drama, Cupid, starring Jeremy Piven as a man who thinks he's actually the god of love.
Despite low ratings, UPN seems supportive of Veronica Mars. Ratings are slowly growing, and Veronica routinely improves upon the ratings of its lead-in, the incompatible sitcom Eve.
"I'm confident UPN wants desperately to pick us up," Thomas said. "I think if they have any excuse to pick us up, if (our ratings) go up at all in these last 10 episodes, I think we'll be back next year."
In an effort to goose ratings further, Alyson Hannigan, a co-star on Buffy, joined Veronica in a recurring role last month as the spoiled-brat sister of Veronica's one-time nemesis, Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring).
The next new Veronica episode will be shown March 29.
Growing interest in the show can't be attributed only to the smart plots or the ongoing mystery of Lilly Kane's murder.
 A lot of the show's success goes to its star, Kristen Bell, a smart, funny self-effacing actress with a theater background (The Crucible and Tom Sawyer on Broadway) who appeared in the first season of HBO's Deadwood as a young con artist who met an ugly fate.
"Halfway into shooting the pilot, we said, 'She's a star,'" Thomas recalled.
"I knew I had the right girl for the part."
Bell plays Veronica as a young woman confident in her detective skills and her ability to adapt to the hand life's dealt her.
At a January press conference, Bell said she had a good high-school experience and never felt like an outcast, but she understands how Veronica appeals to teens who are made to feel unwelcome in their high-school hallways.
"That's the cool thing about Veronica, she doesn't let it affect her, or she's made a decision in her life not to let it affect her," Bell said.
Despite her sad state in the premiere episode - friendless, date raped, abandoned by mom, dumped by her boyfriend - Veronica bounced back. Though generally lighter in tone since the pilot, viewers continue to see flashbacks to Veronica's old life that both advance the show's continuing murder mystery and depict Veronica's growth from naive teen to savvy, sassy PI.
"The sad realization is there are a lot of kids that have that kind of hand dealt to them at a young age, and that's why you're sort of prematurely jaded and bitter," Bell said. "What I love about Veronica is that she makes the decision to turn her life in a different direction. She could be crying in her bedroom all day and she could be reclusive, but she's not."
| | [by roadi (Journal Now) ] [0 comments]
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