Author:
Alex J.
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Date Posted: 23:18:29 06/14/04 Mon
I just got through watching the pilot of "The North Shore". I went into it thinking, "this may not be a really great show, but it will be a fun way to chill out for an hour". After watching the pilot, I was not disappointed. It didn't blow me completely away... I have to watch a few more episodes for that. But it is a good-looking show with interesting characters, a great locale in Hawaii, and of course, muscular tanned Adonises for the girls, and shapely figured beauties for guys like me, LOL. The main characters were Kristoffer Polaha as the affable general manager of the fictitious "Grand Waimea" luxury hotel, "Jason Matthews", and Brooke "Baywatch" Burns as the seductive new head of guest relations, "Nicole Booth". Jason and Nicole were a former couple who had a wedge driven between them by Nicole's unseen Trump-like father. Now fate has brought them together as Nicole secures the position Jason wanted. The idea is for them to maintain a working relationship, but you all have seen stuff like this... which means, naturally, it won't be easy, as there is still the pre-requisitive "sexual tension" between them. I've seen a little of that... and to me, right now, that's all it is, just a little. But Polaha and Miss Burns are likable, and hopefully they will work out the kinks in the weeks to come. Of course, they aren't the only stars in the show. There is a well cast group of performers who will grow on you if the scripts do them justice. There's veteran actor James Remar as "Vincent Colville", the "Waimea's" owner who bounces back and forth between fatherly figure and cranky boss. There is teen heartthrob-in-the-making Corey Sevier as surfer/lifeguard "Gabriel Miller", who is featured prominently in tonight's show, and will bring in the 18+ crowd. There is actual Hawaiian-born Jason Momoa (Miss Burns' "Baywatch Hawaii" co-star) as what my girlfriend called him "totally hunk-o-rama" bartender "Frankie Seau", obviously a man of secrets, as he is a man of few words, judging by the pilot. He and Miss Burns even brought back a little "Baywatch" fun in a small subplot involving a pain-in-the-butt guest and his car. There is Jay Kenneth Johnson as adventurous "Chris Remsen", and it could be a three-way toss-up between him, Momoa, and Sevier... not to count Polaha out, but he is obviously taken by Miss Burns at the moment. There is "O.C." refugee Amanda Righetti as con-artist turned concierge "Tessa Lewis", who wasn't in the pilot, but who will be the featured player in next week's show. (I'm not entirely up on hotel lingo, so if someone can tell me what the hell a concierge is, let me know, OK, LMAO...) Which leads me to one more character... she is the main reason I'm tuning in to North Shore and is already my favorite character, and not just because of the talented actress playing her... the one and only Nikki DeLoach as the scrappy waitress and budding t-shirt designer "MJ Bevans". Those who know her as an MMCer, the lead singer in Innosense, and the sweet female co-star in the movies "Gunfighters Moon" and "Traveller", will be surprised to see that she can play a hard-edged gal as well. She's Jason's surrogate sister who always has his back, and will let Nicole know in no certain terms she will not stand for Nicole breaking Jason's heart. The certain feud between Miss DeLoach and Miss Burns on the show could be reminiscent of such soap quasi-feuds such as Jennie Garth and Tiffani Theissen on 90210, Hilarie Burton and Sophia Bush on One Tree Hill, and Heather Locklear and... damn near everybody else on Melrose Place. But MJ is one tough cookie, and obviously takes no prisoners, as when in a brief moment of support for Nicole, she gets up in a lecher's grill when he called Nicole a b***h (MJ: "Say that again and I will have the cops drag your sorry a** off this property!!!") And of course, from what I hear, there will hopefully be steaming heat between MJ and Chris. Now as I mentioned, this ain't "Masterpiece Theater", but you know what, I could care less. I like a guilty pleasure every so often and "North Shore" provides me with just that... nothing all too serious, just a straight out escape. That's all I ask for. Yeah, it does need some work in the script department (the pilot suffered just a little from all that talkiness), but this is a likable, well-photographed, pleasing show for those who, like me, just want a getaway from reality shows for a little while, and prefer to chill in the luxurious paradise, the sunshine, and the Pina Coladas. And of course, the more I see of Nikki, the happier I am. My review (and again, this is just MY opinion): *** 1/2 stars
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Two Ace of Base songs performed....
blains bday
Rhona and En Vogue on Tom Joyner's Morning Sky Show this morning
