Kat with a K

Pilot Review: Outlaw

Outlaw, the new Jimmy Smits legal show, officially premieres tonight, but NBC aired a preview of the whole pilot earlier in the week, and I was kind enough to watch it so you don't have to. Really. DON'T.

June Thomas watched it the night before I did, and she warned me that it was "worse than The Deep End." Now, this might not mean much to you, because no one watched The Deep End. Except me. And June. You know why? Because it was awful. And yes, Outlaw is worse. The premise is kind of dumb. The writing is abysmal. The characterization is heavy-handed. Most of the acting is laughable. And it goes without saying that all the legal stuff is completely unrealistic.

One good note: I don't think Jimmy Smits is capable of being anything but charming. His acting range runs from "sincere awkwardly charming" to "smarmy and fake-ly charming," and he's definitely on the smarm end of the spectrum here, but still. Even this show can't really make him hard to watch, and he's doing pretty well given the material thrust upon him.

Honestly? I'll probably watch a few more episodes, out of loyalty to Smits (and director Marcos Siega), and to see if it continues to be this awful or somehow manages to get even worse. But if you don't have any ridiculous TV loyalties or need to see complete trainwrecks, I'd pass on this one.