I was undecided about whether I wanted to tune into the new drama on CBS called Smith starring Ray Liotta and a noteworthy ensemble cast, but made the decision to give it a chance largely due to my female insensibility; basing my decision merely on the fact that the cast included one Simon Baker, the hunky Aussie that I had just “fell in love” with (if I were not already married to my wonderful husband), while watching a silly romantic comedy a few weeks back entitled Something New . Of course that is not what I told my husband. I just asked if he wanted to watch with me, in which case he did since he enjoyed Ray Liotta’s performance in Goodfellas.

We both came away with mixed feelings after an hour of so-called high stakes drama and action. My opinion of the new series is that I was not impressed by the acting all-around, maybe it was just the lack of dialogue that left a bad taste in my mouth. The whole storyline just seemed so ridiculous to me, almost contrived. The plot lacked substance. I didn’t care about the characters introduced in the pilot and it seems to me, if you want an audience to come back, you need to grab a hold of them by their heartstrings. I’m still trying to figure out if it was the lack of dialogue that left me wanting more or the lack of emotion in the acting. I was disappointed because I respect and admire the few cast members that I have heard of, especially Shohreh Aghdashloo, of House of Sand and Fog and 24 fame. Her role as the menacing behind the scenes ring-leader that doles out the “jobs” this wild bunch carries out, is just corny to me. I felt is was just a waste of her talents.

I don’t want to get into the back story of this drama for the ones who intend on watching this show but have not had a chance to - so I will just give my thoughts on how I viewed the show. My greatest peeve was the graphic violence just for violence sakes...my hero, Simon Baker turns out to be a cold, heartless, soulless excuse for a man who will kill someone with a bullet to the head without batting a perfect eyelash. If there were some explanation as to why he is such a violent individual, maybe I would have felt some empathy towards him, not the killings, of course, but him, as a person. But the producers of this show did not spend enough time on developing any of the characters personalities, or their history so this pilot was just in one word, lacking.

Who knows, there could be more substance in future episodes, and you may begin to believe that Ray Liotta actually cares about his family, but in this one hour, all I was left with was a bunch of talented actors who were given one or two liners the whole show, no real emotion from any of them, and a feeling of not really hating, but also not really liking the show - indifference I suppose; and that my friends, does not a show make.