PERCEPTION

ABC NETWORK

STARRING Eric McCormack - Daniel Pierce ( Will and Grace)
         Rachael Leigh Cook - Kate Moretti (Robot Chicken, Psych)
         Arjay Smith - Max Lewicki
         Kelly Rowan - Natalie Vincent (The O.C., Boomtown)


It isn't very often that something original comes along these days, it's all been done before, but Perception is quite original. I'm not saying that it is good, but it does have an original idea.The main character of the show is a college lecturer in neuroscience  who also acts as a police expert. There is a little twist, however: he has psychiatric issues himself which include full blown hallucinations, an aversion to crowds and difficulties with social interaction. He employs a student called Lewicki to keep him to a routine. Despite these setbacks he has a brilliant brain and deductive powers to rival those of Sherlock Holmes.

The show manages to be in places both gritty and witty, presenting the viewer with main characters that are likeable.In each episode Pierce has to balance his advisory work with his academic work and his episodes of psychosis. He refuses to take medication.The problem with the show is there is no depth of plot. Pierce lectures on mental functioning so every week he is called in by Moretti to advise on a case that revolves around a person with mental problems. Pierce outlines the condition and each week a different mental illness is covered (The concept of what exactly mental illness is , of course is open to discussion. I use it here only to indicate that in the story this is how people are categorized).

Pierce is often in conversation with his dead girlfriend as well as other spooks. Each week a different ghost, sometimes historical ghosts will help him to solve the case. Excuse the pun but this is really a crazy premiss: that a police department would use as a consultant a man that is schizophrenic, not on meds and who talks to non existent people. Obviously somebody sat in an ideas conference one day and said: "Hey I have a great idea for a police consultant with a twist - lets make the lead character a schizophrenic who just happens to be an expert in mental illnesses!" To bypass this awkward plot hole Pierce becomes a police consultant because Moretti was a student of his.

Rather annoyingly his apparitions solve the case(s) by coming up with big hints and clues for Pierce: so really he is projecting his own thoughts through his hallucinations. His dead girlfriend seems to serve the purpose of helping him deal with situations and rationalize his behavior. As is the case with TV detectives he always comes up with the answer out of the blue towards the end of each episode.

I can't help feeling that Perception is nothing but a novel idea. The plots aren't good enough to stand up as an average detective series but there are not enough laughs in it to call it a comedy. My feeling is that the comic element should be beefed up because the show is weak as a detective series. Some of the writing though indicates that it could easily be turned into a comedy spoof. It is on the ABC network which probably means it may not reach the end of season one, let alone get a season two if it doesn't get ratings quickly.

In closing, this is not a program that will make many of us rush home to see it, or have us set the Tivo to record it. It is, to use an old adage Chewing gum for the eyes. I perceive a short run for this show.